Muswell Hill

There has been a lot on this NG recently about people wanting to move back to the UK, or actually doing it. If you wouldn't mind, perhaps you could share some of the reasons for moving or wanting to.

I wouldn't mind moving back, my motivation: health care costs and higher education costs for the nippers in the USA. Also, I miss a decent newspaper in the morning and the BBC....

Cheers,
MH

dunroving

Not having to deal with interminably complicated immigration regulations.

louiseinfrance

I miss going to a real pub, sainsburys, tv, proper currys, kebabs after a night out , decent drunken nights out, fashion, uk sense of humour, feeling like a real brit - not a deserter!!!, my mum and brothers my true best mate, magazines and i could go on for a while.

I realise that other countries offer their own charms but I wanna go home!!

I have visited the UK quite a bit since moving to france and I love being there.

There are that many people that emigrate nowdays that there are bound to be a percentage that don't take to it.

JAJ

Higher education costs (especially for the better universities) are on the rise in the UK.

Reasons to stay in the US include:
- if a professional, your salary is probably higher
- cost of living is lower and your house a lot bigger (compared to the same price in the UK)
- climate is generally better than the UK

If you must go back to the UK, think hard about your status in the US if you are not a US citizen. Green cards can be (and are) lost very quickly once you move outside the US, taking US citizenship does carry a tax filing obligation when overseas but is usually worth it as it means you can come back to the US later on.

Jeremy

Muswell Hill

Higher education costs (especially for the better universities) are on the rise in the UK.
All good points but 3000 quid a year for three years university fees, is a lot more palatable than $30,000 for a top US uni for FOUR years.


-if a professional, your salary is probably higher
I think when you take into consideration the cost of healthcare, and also things such as malpractice insurance which can be extortionate, amongst other things; it does really work out the same. Also i used to walk to work or take the bus and i didn't own a car....so that right there is a saving.

- cost of living is lower and your house a lot bigger (compared to the same price in the UK)

OK...the houses are bigger, i'll agree. Motoring especially petrol is very much more expensive, but things such as annual property taxes make owning a car about the same and many expats will agree insurance in the US is almost prohibitively expensive. Food is definately cheaper in the UK and clothes etc are about the same. Again, i can't say one country is cheaper than the other, and on balance are roughly the same.

- climate is generally better than the UK
Hands down you win! But there are times i wish for the crisp cool air of a starlit night......

As far as the immigration thing goes, i have been here over three years and still am waiting for a greencard interview. Infact the whole immigration FARCE is another strong reason to move. My wife is a US citizen so if we do go, and want to move back i will go the DCF route. I would NEVER go the AOS route to a greencard and regret not doing DCF right from the beginning.

How are things in Oz?

closet.hippie

The cost of healthcare.... I pay over $250 per month for health insurance for myself and my two girls. That's just MY portion of the premiums. With what my employer pays as well, the total cost of my premiums is about $1000 per month. And it's not very good insurance. No optical coverage at all. Nothing for hearing aids (I have a hearing impairment). The dental coverage is laughable. And I still have all the copays and deductibles to pay. I am grateful that I have insurance at all, though, as many people don't have any.

Opportunities for travel... A two-hour plane ride from Glasgow and I can be in Europe. A two-hour plane ride from Las Vegas and I'm in Denver.

Holiday time.... I've been working for my current employer for nearly 15 years now and have worked myself up to about 3 weeks holiday per year. That's actually darn good. My previous job I got no holiday time at all the first year, 1 week each year after that until I'd worked for the company for 6 years, then 2 weeks holiday per year.

Educational opportunities for my kiddos... I currently live in Utah, which has one of the lowest spending rates per student in the entire US. (I think Mississippi might be lower?) Educating children doesn't seem to be a priority here. I have to drive 3 hours to Las Vegas or 5 hours to Salt Lake City if I want to take the kids to a good museum or art gallery. We do have an awesome Shakespearean Festival in my city every summer, but that's about as cultured as we get! As for higher education, the working classes are really being priced out of university....too poor to be able to afford to pay the tuition, too 'rich' to qualify for grants. There is the student loan option...nothing like starting off your career right after university tens of thousands of dollars in debt!

Climate.... Laugh if you will, but I am SOOOO tired of living in the desert! It can get 100 or better in the summer. And since I'm in a high elevation desert, it can get well below 0F in the winter. This has been an unusually wet winter so we have had a little rain and snow, but for the most part it's just darn cold here in the winter with little to show for it!

Finally.... I'm ready for a change. Who knows, maybe the kids and I will HATE living in the UK and will turn right around again and head back to the states. But...if we don't try it, we'll always wonder what would have happened if we HAD.

psb182

having people that understand me
family
not feeling like frosty the snowman for 3 months straight
going over to a friends house without them checking their calender to see if it's ok
people are on my wavelength in the UK
$1000 a month health insurance
real FISHING
real FOOTBALL
here I feel like I am in a rat race
only problem is that I feel like I am the only rat running
I am just tired of busting my ass
most of all it's the people and when I say that I don't mean it in a bad way but they are just very different to us.....in England you know everyone around but over here they won't let you in they got that shield up I just can't figure it out.......been here 1/2 my life and just about fed up now I WANT OUT NOW

expat14

I work in the Middle East, we are moving back in September after 6 years out here. For me it is the simple things that I miss the most, things that when you first considered emigrating you didnt have on you 'How will not having this, affect me' list. Walking to the store to buy a newspaper and taking the kids with me, not having to make a plan about when we are going to make the trip to buy some booze.

Walking to the Pub on a Saturday night to meet your mates/family for a night out, going to the pub in the week to watch the football or even just staying in to watch it a decent time. Taking the kids to the park, walking in the countryside..what am i saying...seeing some countryside will be great. Heaven forbid, but i am acutally looking forward to shopping in Tesco's and not Carrefour. Driving is a big problem out here, so I am looking forward to not having to keep my eyes open for the type of drivers, who would be better placed driving in a demolition derby, overtaking on hard shoulders and watching families drive with their children not in car seats, and worse, drive the car with the baby's sitting on the car drivers lap..

Family, it will be nice to speak to my brothers more than once a week, to call them when a football result goes against their team, just to wind them up. Seeing my nieces & nephews more than twice a year, watching my kids play with their cousins, letting the children stay at their Grandparents and get spoiled to death by them, as my Grandparents used to do to me... Not worring about that dreaded phone call in the middle of the night, and knowing that is something did happen at home, it takes 14hrs to get their, and would I be in time.....

so many reasons, and not enough time, but I am looking forward to going home and feeling like I belong....

callé

DITTO

marbles

[QUOTE=Muswell Hill] Its all been said, home is home which is why many of us are going back. Its the overall package of family, friends and the country, and the fact that we still call the uk home, that said it all to me after 4 years.

ThePocket

Moving back to Ayrshire after 8 years in Northern California (Bay Area, then Sacramento and currently the Sierra Foothills).

Reasons to be cheerful ? Where do I start ?

Pubs with atmosphere and decent beer

Friends that will go for a swift half at 10 o'clock at night at the drop of a hat (over here you'd have to book them 3 month in advance and the chances are they'd wait till the last moment just in case a better offer comes along)

Having family just round the corner, not 8 time zones away (it would be so nice to call someone I actually care about in the morning MY TIME)

Telling someone my name and not have them look me like I'm speaking in tongues (it's pretty simple - Gary )

Not have everyone I speak to tell me they're Scottish (when they mean their great-great-great granny came from Scotland)

Be around people that I've known since I was a kid, and who will still be around a year from now

Spring & Autumn that last more than a weekend

Not having a Summer that lasts from April to November

Sunsets that involve clouds

The ability to walk in the countryside without fear of being shot for trespassing

The ability to go for a walk after dark without the fear of being interrogated by cops

Not have to answer stupid questions like (and I kid you not) "where exactly IS Europe ?" (the 'exact' bit still makes my head reel 3 years later !) and "Are you from somewhere ?"

Money that looks and feels like it hasn't spent most of it's life hiding in a Monopoly box

Swanning casually into a shop and buying a loaf of bread without first speaking with a mortgage adviser

Spending a lot less time staring at the second digit after the decimal point ponderously ticking along on a petrol pump (and not feeling like a complete idiot when I can't figure out which masonic combination of button, levers, switches and keys to push to get the bloody thing pumping)

Seeing buildings that are more than 50 years old

Not being asked whether I found everything alright today when I approach a checkout

Landscape that changes every 30 minutes when you drive

This could go on for a week .....

Did I mention decent beer ?