I am grateful to be living near to so many of the friends and family who love me. Every now and then, however, I miss the vibrant energy of London. These lists of things I love about London and Cape Town are by no means exhaustive, but the top-of-mind items right now are as follows.

I miss London when…

View of the East End and Canary Wharf from my window at the Royal London Hospital

• The shop assistants in a Cape Town music store don’t know who Sophie Ellis-Bextor is (let alone when the album she released almost eight months ago is going to reach South Africa).
• I can’t find a WiFi hotspot.
• I spend two hours at the bus station waiting for a bus whose driver has decided he doesn’t feel like going back to work after his lunch break.
• It rains.
• South African politics seem to be a lost cause. I loved the open discourse between the UK government and its public, facilitated by organised protests and shows like Question Time.
• I watch a British film/series.
• I listen to dance music. Or maybe I just miss dancing in general.
• I can’t find clothes I like in my size. The H&M launch in Cape Town could not happen soon enough.

I love being in Cape Town when…

View of Table Mountain and Cape Town from Blouberg

• I drink good wine and eat good food. Thank heavens for bobotie, potjiekos, melktert, koeksisters, droëwors, Ghost Pops, biltong, Bakers Eet-Sum-Mors, Bakers Romany Creams, Bakers Nuttikrusts, Bakers Zoo … ah, you get the idea: Bakers biscuits are awesome.
• I can hear the ocean while lying in my bed at night.
• The sun shines.
• I have at least one friend in common with every new person I meet.
• Elephants wander into my backyard … just kidding!
• I watch the sun set over the ocean.
• The cost of living is relatively manageable.
• Random strangers on the street offer to help me get my wheelchair up a hill.
• I see all the open space around me and the plants that remind me Cape Town has more endemic biodiversity than anywhere else on earth.