How a spur of-the-moment decision to self isolate from my iPhone forced me to overhaul online obligations, address “nomophobia” and assess my post-pandemic smartphone habits. — One slow and stuffy Wednesday afternoon in the height of summer 2021 — about 6 weeks after UK lockdown restrictions had begun to ease — I notice that the stifling heat absorbed by the city’s towering high-rises isn’t the only thing contributing to the rising level of stress hormones multiplying…

Thoughts drift Moods change Feelings fade; All depends on the weather We are fickle beings Complex atoms Too easily thought of as what we strive to appear as In reality, It’s different; Curtains closed Phone off and lights dimmed We feel the truth inside us as bright as the screens we pour over

I won’t remember 2020 as the year of face masks, quarantine and hand sanitising. Oh no! 2020 will be remembered as The Year I Spent Glued to My Sofa, having succumbed to the temptation of the small screen’s most enticing content: Reality TV. — The year is 2019 B.C. (Before COVID) and I’m pretty confident in my taste in television. I reckon myself an aficionado of the hard stuff; a smattering of documentaries, a thriller here or there, a drama that pulls on your heart strings thrown in for good measure. …

As more and more people across the UK turn to food banks for help during this difficult period, find out how this pop up food bank in London’s East End is caring for the community. — It’s raining — pouring, if I’m honest — and despite the sun’s best efforts to break through, menacing clouds continue to assemble overhead. Despite the grey and grizzly start, the weather is not my primary concern this morning. Instead, I am consumed by an overriding sense of duty as I…

Whether you are trading internationally, freelancing for clients overseas or planning to move abroad, managing your financial affairs in multiple currencies can prove stressful — and expensive!— for even the most organised person. In this guide I will review the features of a multi-currency bank account and evaluate the pros and cons of both business and personal use. — What is a multi-currency bank account?

Now officially the world’s largest live streaming service for gamers, Twitch TV allows users to “watch and chat to millions of other fans from around the world.” Originally founded in 2011 by US entrepreneur and avid gamer, Justin Kan, Twitch recently reported a record number of users participating in online…

A fire broke out in a terraced house in London on 18 January 1981, claiming the lives of 13 young black people. Why did the families of the victims initially assume the New Cross fire was a racist attack? Forty years ago on Sunday, 18 January, a fire broke out…

Though the fog thickens As we journey down this road Unsure of destination Threatening to implode Though it appears impenetrable By the light we took for granted Streets once walked With those since departed Though grey skies threaten to return Those we love, lost The speed at which we moved Unaware of the cost Though in carrying this burden Disconnected, restrained Banished to remote islands United by pain

It is September 2019 and I’m flying back to the UK, having squeezed every last morsel out of my two year working holiday visa. I am truly gutted to be leaving the West Coast of Canada. If my reluctant homecoming featured in a movie montage it would be accompanied by Nelly Furtado’s All Good Things (Come To An End). — True to form, I began plotting my next getaway before the wheels had hit the tarmac at London Heathrow. Both my boyfriend and I wanted to escape the doom and gloom of a drab British winter and were discussing the prospect of heading overseas again. We decided on a trip…