darshanfj

I am looking to move from the USA to the UK. I am a British Citizen but I've never lived there as an adult, and I have so many questions.
1) I have a whole household of things and many of them are electric. Is it worthwhile to take them? TV's, computers, exercise bike, oxygen concentrator (might need it, but likely won't because of the low altitude), really nice sofa and chairs that use electricity for the foot rests, kitchen things like Cuisinart, Instant Pot, Vitamix, also things like a sewing machine, etc.
2) Will I need to take driving lessons if I've never driven on the left side? Might I want to - just to get some familiarity?
3) I've read some harrowing stories about shipping. Is it really bad? Are there other ways to transport the more important items? (Like work computer set up, and personal items like wardrobe, vitamins, things like that)
4) Have any of you moved back for a year? I am thinking I should do that before buying a house to make sure it's where I want to be. I don't know if it's worth selling everything and then maybe having to buy again if I come back, or selling from there, if I decide to stay in the UK.
5) Any other tips?
Thanks so much.

PS No longer a spring chicken, not so easy to just pick up and go at this age.

SanDiegogirl

1 . Not worth taking electrical items. Furniture , yes
2. Yes
3.Shipping is a bit chaotic at moment. Taking much longer to ship
4. If moving back for a year - to try it out - then leave everything in the US and rent something in the UK - preferably furnished.

robin1234

One great option for an initial “trial run” in the UK is to get a “winter let” of a holiday cottage. Price is cheaper than a weekly holiday cottage rental, but more expensive than a long-term rental. You can often get them for anywhere between 2 and 5 months - depending on the cottage owner’s season. One big advantage is they are fully furnished and equipped. Limitation is they are mostly located in holiday regions, so generally not in city or suburb.

It is a long enough period that you can put yourself in the mindset of a permanent resident and see if it might work for you.

An example
https://www.countrycottagesonline.co...p#.YXPCbhqkqhA

durham_lad

I agree with most of this but I would check on your electrical items to see if they are dual voltage. Examples for us were our Mac laptops which work just fine over here, and amazingly enough our Laz-y-Boy recliners are dual voltage so I simply cut off the US plugs and put on UK plugs. (Nothing else electrical was dual voltage so we just bought new after we moved back)

We rented a house for 7 months in the place we thought we'd want to move to and didn't hire a car so we could ensure that the public transport worked well for us. We did hire a car 2 or 3 times when we had visitors and wanted to be able to drive them around.

Jerseygirl

If taking furniture back, remember beds are a different size and US furniture tends to be on the large size, as rooms are usually much bigger. Don’t take anything that requires heating, even if it’s dual voltage, because it will probably burn out due to the much higher voltage.

Twitcher1958

Try driving - I think a few lessons at least would be a good idea but I think you can only drive on your US licence for a year? My American son in law lives in the UK and is taking lessons in preparation for a UK driving test.