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Reasons for returning to the UK
After 20 odd years of saying I'd never move back to the island, I am now considering it.
Aside from reasons beyond your control (such as job transfer, visa expiry etc), why are people actively choosing to move back to the UK? |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by sherbert
(Post 12591845)
After 20 odd years of saying I'd never move back to the island, I am now considering it.
Aside from reasons beyond your control (such as job transfer, visa expiry etc), why are people actively choosing to move back to the UK? |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Family, friends and location. We moved back 2.5 years ago and are still loving it. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
To be where you feel you belong. What is comfy. What feel rights.
We've been away for 15 yrs . NZ is not a good fit for me . So my eyes turn to the UK and maybe a new phase in life. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by BEVS
(Post 12592408)
To be where you feel you belong. What is comfy. What feel rights.
We've been away for 15 yrs . NZ is not a good fit for me . So my eyes turn to the UK and maybe a new phase in life. Are you still in NZ? If you are here's hoping you make it back home soon. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Lots, job opportunities, culture, it's where I feel I belong, even the weather - we were in Australia and I hated the heat. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
It's ....just home, we care what happens here, our history/culture/ humour etc is here, then there is the so many wonderful benefits of living in this part of the world brings and after over 8 years back we still love being here....we even don't mind the weather...well most of the time anyway lol
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
The chance to watch the final act of the Death of The British Empire ?
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by scot47
(Post 12592808)
The chance to watch the final act of the Death of The British Empire ?
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
My husband and I moved back earlier this year and we are loving every single minute. It feels like ‘proper’ home after been Stateside for 25 years. Many reasons, including the British humour, lack of ‘in your face’ TV advertising, family and old friends, a close knit village community, pubs, the architecture, places to drive to for a day out which doesn’t take all day to get there, shopping choices, cheaper groceries, lots of choices of DIY outlets (not just Lowes and Home Depot), great pub grub at very inexpensive prices with no tipping.....just to name a few. Sterling goes a long way, particularly up north! We also want to travel across Europe. Having visited over 40 US states whilst living there, it’s now our time to see European cities and their culture which we missed out on during our quarter century away. We adore been back in England, so much that we actually tell each other regularly how much we feel truly at home here. We’re so glad that we made the move before we became too old to manage it. It’s not easy moving over 4,000 miles at any age and it takes a lot of self determination, hard effort, the will to do so and pulling together to achieve it. It was definitely worth it and looking back I don’t know how we achieved selling up and moving back in such a short period of time, having brought all of our most precious belongings and memories back home....but we did it! Although we enjoyed every moment of our US experience, England is the place to be for us! |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Your lagging a wee bit behind with your history.....maybe a time difference being so far North lol...The British Empire died a death after the 2nd world war, the Commonwealth (which sort of took its place) is a "free" memebership of which there is a growing number of members, anyone who does not want to stay can freely leave.... hint..hint lol
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
After 10 years, and now alone it is where all my family and friends are.
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
brits1 If you examine the mindset of many you will find that they are still possessed by imperialist and colonialist ideas, opinions and outlook. We will be leaving soon - and I daresay the 6 Counties in NI will be going into closer union with the Southern 26.
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
One of my reasons for asking was that I had noticed a bit of an exodus of people from the US heading back to the UK and I wondered why now, with all the Brexit toxicity and confusion about what's going to happen.
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Hi, I think reasons for people returning are largely unique to each persons situation, at the moment there does seem to be a lot heading over from the USA, maybe it's the political situation or not, I remember when I first discovered this "site" the threads were mainly from Australia and Canada, it's different now though, who knows why, as my DWD use to say "it's the way of the world"
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Scot47, I do not examine anyone's mindset...(I have enough with my own) I just take what I have heard from my friends and colleagues from the countries where the British (which does include Scotland as well by the way) colonised and all except one (from Pakistan) don't have a problem with their past history in fact all (bar one) have said the brits seem to have the "hang ups" and we should move on. If you keep looking back you will never move forward.
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
I see the future. "The Prophet is a man without honour in his own land."
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by brits1
(Post 12595207)
Hi, I think reasons for people returning are largely unique to each persons situation, at the moment there does seem to be a lot heading over from the USA, maybe it's the political situation or not, I remember when I first discovered this "site" the threads were mainly from Australia and Canada, it's different now though, who knows why, as my DWD use to say "it's the way of the world"
I am also having a hard time dealing with the extremes of wealth, abject poverty and the normalisation of segregation and racism. However, it's been a really long time since I lived in England (and I've never lived in London, which would be where I'd move to due to OH's potential job transfer), and perhaps I am deluding myself that things are going to be any different in the UK. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
[QUOTE=sherbert;12599200]Yes: I think for those of us in some parts of the US the cost of living, even with massively high wages, is becoming ridiculous, places are becoming overcrowded, commuting is a nightmare and the resulting quality of life coupled with the isolation/distance from other countries is not really worth the cost and stress imho. I agree with the cost of living in the US. It’s not like it used to be. I believe that salaries have to be higher because of the massive premiums one has to pay for health care ever since the Obama Care Act came in. It has pushed up the health premiums to unreasonable levels, on top of which there are co-pays and deductibles on top. $1300 + per month is unacceptable for the premium for one person and with a large co-pay, never mind two people in a household. It seems even more unreasonable when you’ve never visited a doctor or a hospital! It never used to be like this until the ACA came in with Obama. When you’re self employed and faced with these costs, you have to charge more for your services. Therefore even your local handyman has to charge more for his services, which are so much cheaper to get fixed in the UK. Issolation can be a problem. Distances are so great, unlike in the UK. We enjoy being back in England taking day trips, knowing that we will be where we want to be within at least an hour and not having to stay overnight to get back the next day. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
I never thought about the ACA increasing costs but it makes sense, although I believe overall the ACA is necessary and support it and another issue for me is living in a place where people can't access healthcare. I know the NHS has issues, but it's a available to all. Ironically, one of the reasons we have not left the US already is the healthcare as my OH has a chronic condition that requires hospital treatment every month or so. If you are lucky enough to have good, employer covered insurance, the level of service is superb (although we do end up paying over $4,000 a year in deductibles/copay). I know London is expensive but I currently live in the most expensive city in the US and on my last trip to London I couldn't believe how cheap everything was.
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by sherbert
(Post 12599246)
I never thought about the ACA increasing costs but it makes sense, although I believe overall the ACA is necessary and support it and another issue for me is living in a place where people can't access healthcare. I know the NHS has issues, but it's a available to all. Ironically, one of the reasons we have not left the US already is the healthcare as my OH has a chronic condition that requires hospital treatment every month or so. If you are lucky enough to have good, employer covered insurance, the level of service is superb (although we do end up paying over $4,000 a year in deductibles/copay). I know London is expensive but I currently live in the most expensive city in the US and on my last trip to London I couldn't believe how cheap everything was.
The hospitals are charging far too much for their services. For example a simple apendicitis procedure in our area was £29k yet the surgeon only charged £890. The surgeon is the one who carries the liability should something go wrong. It doesn’t make sense! A paracetamol was $19.....where do they get these prices from? Unfortunately not everyone has the opportunity to covered by their employer paid health premiums. The small business owner and the self employed guys get landed with high premiums. The good thing about the UK is that you can still have private health care at a fraction of the cost in the US. After having paid those large premiums, I’m more than happy to go privately in the UK hence avoiding waiting lists. It works out cheaper in the long run than the US system. Not to mention the paperwork which goes with it! |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Even after living there for 13yrs New Zealand never felt like it was my home. So we returned to the UK 18 months ago and are as happy as Larry!
We can see family and old friends whenever we want and it seems so much easier to make new friends too. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Having been away for so long, I feel like a total foreigner in the UK anyway, so moving to London would be like moving to a foreign country with the added bonus of most people being able to understand sarcasm. I never hankered for England when I was living in Europe (I popped 'home' for the odd weekend and that was enough) and what I hanker for now that I live in the US is not really England, it's ease of travel between countries, less expense, a more socially/environmentally/politically conscious environment and life that doesn't revolve around how big and shiny your car is. I know many people dislike London and I also always said it was great to visit but I'd never live there. On my last few trips there, I saw the city in a new light and thought life there might not be too bad. Anyone moved there recently and can shed light on the pros and cons?
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
I could live in London - if I had oodles of money.
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by sherbert
(Post 12600342)
I know many people dislike London and I also always said it was great to visit but I'd never live there. On my last few trips there, I saw the city in a new light and thought life there might not be too bad. Anyone moved there recently and can shed light on the pros and cons?
So far we are very happy with the move - pros for us are:-
Cons -
I don't know about Scot's 'oodles of money' comment - for sure housing is expensive, but I tend to think that if you can get that sorted within your budget it is possible to cut costs elsewhere. There is no need for a car. There are ways to reduce transport costs - eg a UK bus pass can be used on the buses (but not the tube). There are lots of resources to access cheaper/cheap/free activities eg the Londonist website, time out , today tix, TKTS half price ticket booth etc. Compared to Dorset, our council tax is half the amount, and utilities are much less (mostly because we have a much smaller area to heat). Hope that is useful - happy to give more details if you like :) |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Thank you Rebs, this is extremely helpful. A couple of questions: How easy was it to rent a place with a dog? And what kind of rent are you paying and for what and in what part of the city? London cannot possibly be more expensive than San Francisco but it would be good to know what you get for you money!
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by sherbert
(Post 12600966)
Thank you Rebs, this is extremely helpful. A couple of questions: How easy was it to rent a place with a dog? And what kind of rent are you paying and for what and in what part of the city? London cannot possibly be more expensive than San Francisco but it would be good to know what you get for you money!
Of course there were some which were clear in not accepting pets, and others that we ourselves rejected as not having outside space that we considered suitable, but in the main we seemed to have quite a few to look at. I used Lets with Pets for advice on where to search for rentals. We pay £1800 per month for what I would consider a small 2 bed flat in East Dulwich. We have the basement flat with a small private garden. Our maximum budget was £2000 and we looked at flats in Balham, Forest Hill & Blackheath all within that budget. If you have a nose around Zoopla/Rightmove/Openrent you should get a pretty good feel for the sort of things that are on offer. Google maps seems pretty accurate with regard to checking travel times. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Thanks Rebs, that's again exactly what I wanted to hear. £2000 is a lot but still about a grand less than what we pay here for a 2 bed and it's good to know that you didn't have trouble with the dog. If indeed we decide on London (a couple of other places in Europe under discussion at the moment), I'll be back in touch for more info!
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Ready to move back and be with family. Have lived in the USA since 1987 which is greater than half my life. Don’t want to miss any more holidays with family |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by BEVS
(Post 12592408)
To be where you feel you belong. What is comfy. What feel rights.
We've been away for 15 yrs . NZ is not a good fit for me . So my eyes turn to the UK and maybe a new phase in life. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
TiaMaria - your story sounds exactly like ours! We are headed back in July. Can you share which company you used for shipping your belongings back to the UK?
Thanks, Karen |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Because we couldn't get a good price on our home, couldn't sell our other two properties and all we could afford was a small old home in a small rural town. We were never really able to wind down and sell our business. So, after a short spell, we're headed back sadly. We love it here, shame to head back. Hopefully in a year or two things will turn around we'll return.
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
My reasons for moving back are my son's education, and regular contact my aging parents. Seeing old friends are a bonus too.
Everything else seems better in Asia. I'm honestly nervous about moving back home. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
I needed a place to spend my declining years and IK was emboldened at the thought in 2011 that Scotland was on its way to regaining Independence. That struggle is not yet over !
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by Karen2018
(Post 12635136)
TiaMaria - your story sounds exactly like ours! We are headed back in July. Can you share which company you used for shipping your belongings back to the UK?
Thanks, Karen We flew home with only suitcases (19), so we didn’t use a shipping company because all our baggage flew with us. It saved an awful lot of hassle with paperwork as well as knowing that all our belongings were with us when we arrived in the UK. We only brought home our treasured memories...mind you plenty of them.... because we already had a fully furnished house in the UK to return to so we didn’t need any furniture. Sorry I can’t help you further but good luck with your move. TM57 |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
We'd planned for a long time to move to the UK to retire. Husband from Liverpool, had lived in Australia for 25 years, me an Aussie. We moved to Merseyside (New Brighton on the Wirral) in 2015. I loved everything about living there from the start - the lovely old house that we completely renovated, the weather (so sick of the Perth heat), the proximity to Europe for amazingly cheap holidays, the wonderful variety variety of fresh fruit and veg, the friendly 'we all stick together' people.
My husband couldn't settle, various things got him down but in particular the winters. It was concerning for me to see this usually up beat, 'nothing gets me down' bloke so obviously not enjoying life as much as he had in Oz. We talked about it a lot and I offered to return to Australia at any time with him, as I can be happy in either country. We decided though to wait at least until I'd obtained my British citizenship. The crunch came in the winter of 2017, a few months before I was due to apply for FLR. Our lovely old mate, a beautiful golden retriever who'd come with us from Australia suddenly became very ill on morning and we had to have him put to sleep within hours. That afternoon we were attacked and robbed in the street by a random bloke, an extremely rare occurrence for the area we lived in. After we'd returned home from hospital, I looked at my lovely man's face (as much of it as I could see through the bruising) and said 'let's go home'. So we did. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Originally Posted by spouse of scouse
(Post 12637571)
We'd planned for a long time to move to the UK to retire. Husband from Liverpool, had lived in Australia for 25 years, me an Aussie. We moved to Merseyside (New Brighton on the Wirral) in 2015. I loved everything about living there from the start - the lovely old house that we completely renovated, the weather (so sick of the Perth heat), the proximity to Europe for amazingly cheap holidays, the wonderful variety variety of fresh fruit and veg, the friendly 'we all stick together' people.
My husband couldn't settle, various things got him down but in particular the winters. It was concerning for me to see this usually up beat, 'nothing gets me down' bloke so obviously not enjoying life as much as he had in Oz. We talked about it a lot and I offered to return to Australia at any time with him, as I can be happy in either country. We decided though to wait at least until I'd obtained my British citizenship. The crunch came in the winter of 2017, a few months before I was due to apply for FLR. Our lovely old mate, a beautiful golden retriever who'd come with us from Australia suddenly became very ill on morning and we had to have him put to sleep within hours. That afternoon we were attacked and robbed in the street by a random bloke, an extremely rare occurrence for the area we lived in. After we'd returned home from hospital, I looked at my lovely man's face (as much of it as I could see through the bruising) and said 'let's go home'. So we did. |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
I agree, health insurance is high !!!! we were quite fortunate my ex-husband has a high executive job which provided us with a great top medical insurance, now things have changed dramatically since my divorce I found extremely difficult to get a reasonable good insurance without spending half of our maintenance is crazy bad.... hopefully we won't sick or need some kind of surgery :( :(. ......
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Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
I miss cold the wet the snow. Not the fluffy xmas stuff, the poor hot water on your car handle ice cold
I miss going into a strange pub and coming out a new local Last week my dash cam overheated, had to drive 10km for shade to make it bearable to investigate |
Re: Reasons for returning to the UK
Our belief that health care is a right, not a privilege. The cost of health care in the US can easily bankrupt you if not properly covered by private health insurance, which itself is more interested in profit and not the least in your health and well being. Private insurance is also expensive and what they cover or deny is at their discretion. Seeing swaths of southern states like Louisiana leaving thousands of people desperate to see a doctor they can't afford has made me disgusted over the years. We prefer to live in a more humane society that is not so brutal with such an everyone-for-themselves attitude. Whatever the faults of the NHS, it is nothing compared to the system here and will be welcome to have. |
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