Field Notes: The Media School Travel Blog

Having an internship in London and no car to drive there means choosing between two options: walking there or taking the London Underground, also known as the Tube.

Being several days into the trip, we had already had time to “practice” and get used to riding the Tube around the city. However, this morning — my first day at my internship — was both my first time riding it during rush hour and the first time it rained on the trip.

I took a dry run — in both senses of the word with today’s rain — of my route Monday, but my starting point changed. So last night, I charted out the bus and train line (bus 23 and the Circle Line, if you were wondering) I would need to take to get to the office.

Google Maps said the journey would take 44 minutes door to door. I gave myself a little more than an hour to get to the office today, just in case.

And it’s a good thing I did.

The first step of the commute was to wait for the 23 bus to arrive. Luckily, one was pulling up just as I walked to the stop, and I was able to hop on. Double-decker buses, in addition to holding more people than one-story buses, are also fun to ride. Maybe it’s the novelty of them, or maybe there’s something about running upstairs in a moving vehicle, but — sorry IU — the A bus could never match that.

After, unfortunately, getting off the bus a few stops too early in the rain, it was time to wait for the Circle Line train.

Several other trains crisscrossed to their respective destinations before the one I wanted arrived. The fun of riding the train wore off as it stopped and was constantly held up by the train in front of us.

As the time inched toward 10, I became anxious. Eventually, we reached my station, and I ran out and made it to the doors of the office.

And with two minutes to spare.