Four days in London

This past week I was lucky to be able to travel for work, I’ve only done an international trip one other time during my time at Amazon, this felt like a really nice way to see a new city and also engage with my team across the globe. My team met to discuss food waste across Amazon, it’s an area of sustainability that I work on by helping us better report on the data we receive. But this trip to London allowed me to meet team members I wouldn’t normally talk with and also do a site visit where I learned much more about the processes and mechanisms we’re using today to avoid food waste. There were many learnings but also many places of opportunity for us to do better.

While I was in London I noticed many things that are different than Seattle. People are kind in both places but people in London are more willing to talk to you, even if it’s just to say hello or help you if you look lost. I also noticed it’s so much more social, after work I’d see pubs and restaurants packed with people, they really do seem to have work life balance figured out. The city is dense, it has a lot of people in it, and from what I can tell they’re from all different types of backgrounds - both culturally and career wise. I saw many people dressed in suits downtown, but I also saw many people dressed in smart casual or even very casual but styled outfits. It’s really nice to see a city so in tune with their own sense of style, everyone was unique but somewhat trendy.

I left Seattle on a Sunday, got to London on Monday at noon, then worked from Tuesday-Wednesday and had the chance to venture out a bit on Thursday. During the adventure day we went to Dover - to see the white cliffs of Dover. It was a beautiful little city on the edge of the English Channel. We went to Dover Castle, had coffees, took the train, walked the city, and even got a glimpse of France from across the channel!