Actually she & I had a week in Durham in April 2007, the year our son was at the University. The high point of the trip was a fish & chip lunch at Colmans in South Shields. And we found two or three very pleasant pubs in Durham and vicinity. The weather was cold but that was to be expected in April... the year before, I had an excellent week in Alnwick with my sister. I really love the coast in Northumberland, we also visited Chillingham Castle which was excellent; somewhat quirky and decrepit, but full of interesting stuff. Very good used bookshop in Alnwick.

I wouldn't be concerned about what others say. I am moving back to London after nearly 6 years in Vancouver and can't wait! I have been met with the same negative reponses from Brits and Canadians alike. However, home is home.

Yes, there will always be those who disagree with our choices and it can be upsetting but I think our challenge is to be confident in our own choices and not sink into judging those who disagree with us. Everyone has their own reasons for the choices that they make. If you are talking to Brits who are staying where you are now then they obviously have to justify staying.
Perhaps they are avid Daily Mail readers.
Until we have walked a mile in their shoes.....

I too am moving back from Vancouver to Glasgow after 4 1/2 years, I've been pretty lucky in that I've had almost no negative comments other than someone at my kids school whom I barely know came up to me and uninvited by me listed all the reasons she couldn't move back, eg all the things that were wrong with the UK and how I'd better be sure of what I was doing as it was financial suicide to move back again etc etc. Like someone else has said I think with some people it touches a nerve and they have to justify their decision to stay even if you haven't asked them to.

Yes, some places, such as Whitby, are worth visiting for the fish and chips alone. Good fish and chip shops are worthy of a seperate thread. When it comes to good fish and chips, the north seems to have the edge but I am sure someone could prove me wrong. I recently came across these people in the Bradford area and I can honestly say they were the best I have had anywhere (no, I am not the owner):

http://www.webstersfishandchips.co.uk/

People may also be jealous because they don't have the determination to do what you have done. I notice that even when we go on holiday, people come up with a hundred reasons why we should not go where we have chosen to go. Seems to be human nature.

We have had very mixed reactions since telling people we are heading back to the UK. Most people here in Australia think it will be a big adventure for the kids and understand totally as do most of our friends in England but some do say 'why are you coming back here ?' They are the sort that think the UK is on a downward spiral and gone to the dogs etc. They quite honestly think the problems affecting the UK are confined to the UK, we have ALL the same problems here, crime, drugs, kids hanging around etc.
We know where we are going is a nice place and we will be happy so that's all that matters really.

Sounds like the typical "Daily Mail" reading expat response

I thought I was re-reading my own post about the UK then.

Something I just put down on another thread about that particularly British trait of working so hard at being miserable.

True but are we whinging about the whingers?

Unfortunately, when this this life on Earth is over and we have passed through the Pearly Gates and (hopefully) find ourselves in Paradise the people most likely to begin moaning and whining and whingeing there must surely be us - the British. Not so long ago I got talking to an American guy from Reno, NV, and he told me that of all the nationalities who settle into life in the USA the people who appear to complain or seem dissatisfied the most are the British. The only conclusion we can draw from that is that it is all part and parcel of our national character. It can't be anything else. He also told me that the Brits are not only the ones most likely to complain but also the most likely not to do anything about it!

Ha, he should be grateful that we saved them from becoming some form of abandoned Spanish colony. Or given recent events, maybe not.

Wow, that is so much better than us actually having moved to the country in question and experiencing it. Thanks for putting us straight.

Yeah I'd love to see them all live in America for a few years in a job with 0-10 vacation days a year, while trying to pay American college tuition fees whilst having no health insurance. In other words, they'd STFU.

never mind