What if I told you that WFH doesn’t have to be confined to the four walls of your London 5-bed shared flat? What if I told you that with a couple of hours spare (and 8.2km), you could feel like you’ve snuck a cheeky COVID-compliant vacation (or four) in during lockdown, without the jetlag, luggage limits and airport transfers? 

Allow me to introduce you to the other, more exciting, more enticing WFH: the Walk-away From Home, East London edition. Dress warm, grab your passport mask and check in aboard ‘trip WFH to LDN East’. 

Substitute the pre-departure pint with a brew from your local cafe - I kicked mine off with a takeaway coffee at my local, Long Shot in Aldgate East,  which is the perfect hand warmer in place of gloves. Equidistant from the triad of Limehouse - Stepney Green - Mile End, will be our departure point. Whichever direction you are heading from, begin by walking along Regents Canal towards Limehouse. 

Here, instead of  marveling at the seemingly endless palette of white clouds shortly after take-off, instead add the citrus palette of autumn colours reflected on the canal. People are in good spirits despite the lockdown, revelling in the one luxury of freedom. Bask in the sunshine, dodge some cyclists and walk along until you reach our first transit - The Limehouse Basin... 

… Or what I’d like to think of as mini Monaco except with houseboats, not yachts. Take a moment to read the info-boards around the area about biodiversity conservation in the canal to support migratory water birds. It will feel like visiting an outdoor natural museum without the visitor passes and tourist queues. 

When you are ready, continue walking towards Canary Wharf along Narrow Street. It might seem paradoxical to be heading towards the office hub of the city in the WFH era but hang in there. Also, be on the lookout for the lane adjacent to 12 Narrow St which will lead you to … Dubai... (ish).

Ok, minus the celebrity DJ and overpriced tipple, although, people seem to have adapted effectively with portable Bluetooth speakers, a picnic blanket and tinnies. If there is one thing the Brits do well, it is deploying a summertime soirée any time, any season. You’d be tempted to stay longer and watch the waves hit the shore(ditch) - but we have more cities left to pretend to be in, and without the hangover too.

All this walking and sighting does call for a refuel and fret not, Pret is not your only option. There are several independent cafes dotted along the way and queues were forming for takeaway coffees and late afternoon lunches at this little Italian deli called Bello de Nonna.

I poked my head in and was greeted by a heady whiff of coffee beans and freshly baked pizza dough, accompanied by a loud, friendly bellowing of “Ciao!”, transporting you straight from Wapping to Venice. Inside is a family run cucina serving everything from croissants to coconut pistachio cannolis. 

Take yours away to the King Edward VII Memorial park which is a couple minutes around the corner, where you can enjoy your lunch break on the many benches overlooking the River Thames - I promise you will not miss in-flight microwaveable ready-made lasagna!

When you are ready to depart, prepare to exit the park and cross over to our next transit - the “Golden Gate Bridge”

If you fancy making a pit stop at the San Francisco landmark, try heading to East London’s version instead, less glamorously named the Shadwell Basin Bascule Bridge. By this point, it is inching close to 4 pm and as if on cue, the sun really is starting to turn golden. 

London Bridge may be the namesake icon of this city, but this might just be my new favourite bridge - sorry Fergie!

Ladies and gentlemen, with minimal delays and steady weather conditions, we will shortly be landing at Shadwell Pier which is our final destination for today. 

Here, we don’t have to draw parallels with anywhere else in the world because as with everywhere we’ve explored so far, this is well and truly ours - from the sun setting just a little bit too early to the mounted police on a majestic white horse doing the rounds in the neigh-bourhood. 

We may not have been able to hop on flights like we had planned to this year, but what we can do is jump on the opportunity to explore the hidden (now not so hidden) gems that are right here at our doorstep.

Go on, share this slice of London with each other and I hope you have a pleasant flight around the world (fine, East London) in 11,953 steps. Happy WFHing! 

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Written by Allysha Michael 

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