All the little things about living in Leeds you’ve actually missed over summer

Livin la vida Leeds


Summer seems to last forever when you're back home, away from your fave city, and we really have missed you Leeds. From the highs (constant partying) to the lows (essay deadline time), we've missed them all. Here are a few things we can agree that everyone misses about Leeds over the summer:

Mad nights out

Admit it, although you once thought they were amazing, the crappy clubs in your hometown can now never compare to the nights out in Leeds. Even though you only have a few flashbacks of each messy Leeds night, they still manage to leave a massive hole in your heart while you're home over summer. From Beaverworks dirty house nights, to singing your heart out to Ignition Remix at Pryzm (your guilty pleasure) these nights are one of your favourite things about life in Leeds. And of course the night wouldn't be the same if you didn't finish it off in Leeds tradition by stuffing your face at the nearest maccies.

Wavy garms

You've got so used to seeing the edgy Leeds look during term time that you forget just how edgy it actually is. That is until you're walking around your hometown over summer getting confused stares for your three sizes too big adidas jacket, tie-dye scrunchie and fishnets. Now that you're back at uni you fit right back in, so get your hair up in a top knot and stock up on your glitter and sequins, Leeds is waiting for you!

No parents nagging (sorry mum and dad)

As much as you love your parents and your home luxuries (their Sunday roasts do make a nice change from living off pot noodles), you have to admit there is a great sense of freedom in coming back to Leeds. Ah, the beautiful feeling of not having to be impossibly silent coming in from a night out, and no one forcing you to get out of bed when you have the worlds worst hangover the next morning. No one tells you for the tenth time to walk the dog, and (as gross as it is), you're free to go a week without washing the pots, until they've piled up into a mountain of dirty dishes and you literally can't put it off any longer.

The uni fam

You and your housemates have become like your own little dysfunctional, alcoholic family. Every night is like the sleepovers you haven't had since primary school (although with a lot more vodka involved). No matter what boring job you've got to do, now that you're in the "adult world", whether its shopping for cleaning products or sorting out bills, there's always a friend to do it with. Besides, it just wouldn't be the same if there wasn't someone there everyday to distract you from ever doing any work and coaxing you into a Netflix marathon instead.

The city that never sleeps

There's nothing like the constant sound of sirens in the distance, or party-goers singing at their top of their voices in the street at midnight, and there's always some house music thumping from somewhere. Yet somehow when you're back home everything seems all too silent and you can't sleep without it. What's also loved about Leeds is you never have to walk for more than 5 mins to get what you need, with shops and takeaways down every road, and we all know too well the constant temptation of Deliveroo.

You're alright I guess, Leeds. And you do give us some pretty pics for insta.

You're alright I guess, Leeds. And you do give us some pretty pics for insta.

Dreaded revision seshes

Uni is all about pulling all-nighters in Eddy B and Laidlaw. Yes, they're terrible but in a weird way you've missed them. Or maybe you just miss the every half-hour breaks you have at the vending machine, taking snapchats of your friends instead of actually doing work, or the proud feeling you get after you've highlighted a few lines in the past hour.

These walls have seen so many of your emotional breakdowns that this place has become like your second home.

These walls have seen so many of your emotional breakdowns that this place has become like your second home.

Alcohol, alcohol everywhere

Everywhere you look in Leeds you will see a Red Stripe can in hand. This is the city where drinking is so rooted in the culture, that there are pubs on every corner, and every couple of months one of your mates will ask if anyone fancies doing the Otley Run (again). In Leeds no one judges you for drinking mid week, hey, not even mid day when you and half your course make a cheeky visit to Spoons in between lectures. Where else but Leeds could you get away with this?

When your flat's bottle collection becomes your proudest achievement.

When your flat's bottle collection becomes your proudest achievement.

The paradise that is Hyde Park in summer

The sunshine, the tunes, the smell of weed … It wouldn't be summer in Leeds without it.

Everyone's the same, literally

All Leeds students are one and the same. We all console each other on a night out when you say you've got a 9am in the morning, and then in every 9am you see everyone walking around with the same dead look in their eyes, but we all still congratulate each other for actually going in. All Leeds students are in love with Bakery 164, live in our Nike Air Max's and none of us can resist a bit of Tom Zanetti. You don't feel this sense of unity in your home town, but in Leeds you fit right in. So to all Leeds students reading this, you don't need to worry anymore, summer's over now and you're back where you belong.

Featured image credit to David Martin, CWPhotographics, University of Leeds, RossParry and SWNS.