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How Hard Was It Really to Get a UK Visa? (Spoiler: Not the Part You Think)
The visa itself wasn't the hard part. The hard part was everything happening around it — the house, the school transition, the job search, the emotional weight of an international move landing all at once.
hicksondiaries
1 day ago3 min read


The World Cup Brought Millions of Brits to America. Here's What the Party Doesn't Show You.
My partner is British. Before I ever considered moving to England, I visited at least a dozen times. Not weekend trips — real visits. I stayed with family. I walked the streets in every season. I sat in the pubs and the parks and the supermarket queues. I thought I understood what life here would look like. I was completely wrong.
hicksondiaries
Jul 254 min read


Britain Is Melting. And It's the Most British Thing I've Ever Witnessed.
I say that with full affection, because I have now lived through enough British summers — and British heatwaves — to understand that the way this country responds to extreme heat is one of the most purely British things I have ever encountered. It is simultaneously catastrophic and deeply, deeply funny.
hicksondiaries
Jun 273 min read


What Nobody Tells You About Living Without a Schedule
I’ve been free for a while now. Free from the alarm. Free from the commute. Free from the meetings that could have been emails, the emails that should have been nothing, the relentless performance of being productive for someone else’s bottom line. And I want to write something honest about it. Not the version I’d put on camera. The real one. Because freedom, it turns out, is complicated. Finding myself again — slowly The first thing I noticed was that I didn’t know what I ac
hicksondiaries
Jun 114 min read


Education Opens Doors. Knowledge Lets You Walk Through Them.
Let me be clear from the start: I’m not here to trash formal education. Degrees matter. Credentials matter. The structure, the discipline, the exposure to ideas you never would have sought on your own — all of that is genuinely valuable. But there’s a version of “educated” that looks great on paper and falls apart the moment life gets complicated. And there’s a version of “knowledgeable” that has no letters after its name and yet navigates the world with remarkable clarity. T
hicksondiaries
May 155 min read


5 Things I Noticed About the Monarchy This Week (As an American in the UK)
After our livestream on Tuesday, I realized I’m still very much wrapping my head around this whole “living under a monarchy” situation. And then King Charles casually shows up in the US this week and suddenly this is my entire personality. I’m Googling lineage charts. I’m saying things like “soft power” out loud. I’m becoming… that American.
So let’s talk about the five things that shocked me most about the British monarchy this week — sprinkled with a few moments where I, a
hicksondiaries
May 13 min read


Three Surprising Aspects of British Culture That Americans Often Miss
While it may seem trivial, queuing can be a significant aspect of social interaction. Understanding its importance can enhance your experience in the UK.
hicksondiaries
Apr 173 min read
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