Since TikTok is such a popular social platform, we can find that its members come from just about every place in the world.
And while that means even Antarctica has at least one TikToker in it, the expansive nature of its community also allows us to get an inside look at places we may not have otherwise known even existed.
But in addition to towns that are unlike anywhere else in the world, the eagerness of these users to share their tales can give us new perspectives on places we thought we knew.
For instance, those who have been to the historical fortress that now takes on a more tourist-friendly role as England’s iconic Tower of London may be surprised to know that there are actually people living there year-round.
And thanks to one woman’s video series, we don’t have to use our imaginations to figure out what that must be like.
Since January of 2021, Megan Clawson has been telling her audience on TikTok about her life in the historic and well-traveled fortress.
According to Insider , she came to reside there after her father became one of the 32 Beefeaters that both guard the premises (and the crown jewels) and guide guests through the tower and its extensive history.
Clawson explained that this isn’t a job they give to just anyone as somebody needs at least 22 years of military experience to become a Beefeater.
Since her dad was in the Royal Air Force for 30 years, he made the cut and she was allowed to come with him.
And while she feels privileged to have such a unique experience, there are some bizarre facets of living there that are less convenient than our day-to-day lives.
For instance, we don’t have to walk half a mile every time we order a pizza, but that’s part of Clawson’s life because she can only meet delivery people at the tower’s front gates.
In her words, “I can’t actually put in my own address [because] if a delivery driver tried to get there, he’d end up face to face with a whole group of security.”
Clawson went over a few more of her tower apartment’s eccentricities in a video uploaded on June 10, 2021.
The window we saw above features arrow slits installed when the Tower was first built, but Clawson also explained why she has a One Direction towel hanging next to her bed.
As we can see, it covers a window that would otherwise give visiting tourists a direct line of sight into her bedroom.
She also noted that any living space in a medieval tower is going to come with a lot of stairs, which makes it challenging to come home from a night of drinking.
But in another video, she mentioned that the trade-off from these inconveniences is that she has easier access to one of the world’s most exclusive pubs than most of us ever will.
As we can see, this is known as The Keys and it’s the last of the 12 taverns that used to dot the tower’s grounds.
What makes The Keys so exclusive is that entry is entirely dependent on a formal invitation from one of the Beefeaters, who are also known as Yeoman Warders.
As Clawson put it, “Even the prime minister would be turned away at the gates without a formal invitation from a Beefeater.”
h/t: Insider
