Poppy girl

I 1st joined BE many years ago with home sickness, and found it a comfort, but as the returns to the UK increased I realised every time that it was the memories that drew me back, and I wanted it to be as it was on certain dates and occasions if that makes sense, just as it had been in the past, sadly it never really was people got older (as do we all) buildings changed shape, the local pub crowd was no longer, the milkman had long gone and many other things which for me made me realise I was living in the past.

I did not move away from the UK because I hated it all those years ago, I wanted to also see the world, which is just what I did, the point I was trying to make earlier is........that for the folk that do leave the UK and think they want to return, before they do anything, think long and hard, if that step in time is still there, as you remember it in your minds eye...

No not everyone leaves because they dislike the UK or their homeland, but for the people that have done just that, weigh up the pro's and cons, basically if you left because you disliked it in the 1st place why would it be any different now!!......Maybe you didn't realise what you had, we are all different

mono

For the hard of reading, I never said everyone here is a fool. I said that people that make the assumptions that I listed above are foolish. Because they are.

shelley748

Trouble is with your previous post is that there are a lot of things you cannot research about a place until you are actually there. EG Hydro costs,, real cost of heating a home, car insurance costs real job market (Workopolis gives impression loads of jobs, but you try getting one of them!!)

mono

Sorry - fail to see what this has to do with anything I said, ever.

I said that it is hard to research a place fully until you actually live there. Which is true.

That was my point.

What is your point?

lilybilly101

I totally agree with this. Many forget there are a whole range of reasons for leaving as you say. I like the moving back forum because we can talk freely about most stuff and not be judged but elsewhere you can obviously be ripped to pieces and spat out again! Not pleasant!

lilybilly101

I think you've confused what Mono is trying to say. He's pointing out the many, many reasons people leave.

lilybilly101

Maybe you just read the numbered items and not the top -

'Too many posters on BE make the following mistakes .....'

quoll

I'm with mono on this one - you do have to read the first sentence then the last comment falls into place. Most of the comments purporting to disagree with what he said were in fact agreeing with him!

obewan

Oh dear... you didn't really read the first post, or my other post where I answered this same question??

Here you go then....

Xebedee

It never ceases to amaze that with 300 million people here in the US, I have to go onto the (anonymous) web to find common sense which is so relevant to my own (anonymous) existance.

You'd assume that its because only expats might grasp such concepts, but in my experience its just not the case on this side of the Atlantic.
A cultural thing, perhaps.

England has changed massively since I fell off a plane in LAX many years ago. The country, by and large, doesn't resemble itself anymore, yet amazingly its still home in a very unique way.
I've conceded that America will be home and make the best of it until I decide otherwise. There is so much to be had of life, that living in the past and dreaming only of the future strikes me now as such a waste, I can honestly see this now after many years of unhappiness living in a shadow of homesickness.

I think whatever takes you to that place in your heart and mind where you can comfortably come to grips with the present and what is more important, enjoy it for what it is, then that something is a gift.

Homesickness still hits like the sledgehammer it is, but the blows are softer now and the rebound is faster, it seems. So maybe it'll never go away? Who the hell knows.

Sorry if this sounded a little preachy, but whats the point in experience if you can't share it? Maybe some anonymous person might actually believe in the stuff I just wrote............

All the best.

dunroving

I'd ask how do you "know" you're not seeing what you want to see ... I could equally say I've been lurking on here since 2002 and I "know" the number of MBTTUK threads/posts is no different than it's ever been ... but then again, I am thinking of going back to the US, so maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see.

Taffyles

I think leaving UK because you can't stand to live there anymore is as dodgy thinking as going back to UK to relive old memories.

Of course the UK has changed, nothing stays the same. And going home would be different (in some ways) from when you left...that's not to say its worse, there are many changes for the better IMO. UK wages are now higher than US, for example.

However, the same applies to the US, which has changed drastically too in the 18 years I've been here, and many things not for the better. In fact if you really pay attention to the politics of this country, there's some downright scary stuff going on. I know more than a few expats who have been content enough for years but now want out.

I think the NHS is one of the main reasons many ex-pats finally end up going home. Also certainly in the US, the recession, credit crunch and housing fiasco has seen many people wiped out and bankrupted..through the lack of a social safety net, they've lost mostly everything they had. This probably has a lot to do with more people returning home.

TorquayGirl

I think the grass is always greener on the other side, however I am one that is returning. I have lived a fun single life in Canada and the USA since 1983.... so my personal return has nothing to do with Christmas as I am Jewish, I have been gone a long time from the UK so I am not returning because of being homesick..... I for one am returning because as a single mother of a 4 year old child, with all my family in the UK.... I want to return to home, quite simple really.... I miss home after all this time of yearly visits.

NOW holding American citizenship we can always return here to to AZ if I find that I have made a sentimental decision based on being with family a reason to return home with my American born son, and that turns out to be a bad decision...

I am hopeful that I return and hold me head up high, as I have always been proud to be English even when living away for so long. My school friends, my family are all happy and as my Gran said.... its about time you came home!... that says it all...

xxxxx

johnh009

Of course, I believe that there are many like myself who just have a sense of adventure. I have just spent almost 24 successful years in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada and now I feel it is time for a change. In retrospect, I think I stayed too long. I could go on about the things I do not like here but there are pros and cons everywhere. I feel that anyone who has the same sense of adventure should come at least for a while and try and make a go of it. I am now looking forward to exploring the UK and continental Europe again.

TorquayGirl

good points made, thankyou.... certainly some of them are the reason for my return.