britex01

It seems to me that quite a lot of BE folk in the US exhibit feelings of nostalgia around their sentiments about life in the UK. In some cases they would like to return here - post-haste! Naturally, one's outlook and adaptability varies from person to person, so I'll bear this in mind.

Anyway, my question is......

If you had known what you have lived and experienced today BEFORE taking the plunge to live and work in the US, would you still uproot?

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lisag8070

I'm going to have a serious think about this....OK done

I would have still come out, just for the experience of it but I wish we had left after the 3yrs was up....instead of renewing...we're finding that the longer we stay here the harder it is for us to go home...eg. we could probably never afford a house back in the UK, my daughter is now completely Americanised, and the most underlying factor is there's no work for my OH in the UK...

But I can't complain we have a good life here, its just every now and then you get a longing to go home...

jumping doris

Ditto.
I wish we had come over here when our children were younger and only stayed for 3 years.
Now everyone has settled, bought property, gone to college and it would be hard to uproot. Plus less opportunities back in the UK.
I have a nice life here, lots of friends etc but I preferred my UK life.

Xebedee

Abso-bloody-lutely.
The experience of emigrating and what it does to you as far as your outlook on life is a truly amazing and unique experience. You become a better person in some ways because of it.

Thats all I can add to your very accurate statement.

britex01

Thanks for your own input, lissie... And hey - the horse came home! Sir Lancelot rides again! ... ...

That aside... I understand this particular topic has been raised before, possibly before I joined BE. However, there may be questions I want to ask of folk who post answers. Also, there are new members here.

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britex01

In what way? Social? Culture - what?

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Ray

I have fond memories of my past when it suits me ...

After 10 years would I go back ...Not a chance ...

ladyofthelake

We came over when our kids were 4 and 6, with a 3 year visa. Even after 3 years, we were too imbedded here to return. We'd bought a house, the kids were Americanised. It was hard to uproot, and it felt too soon to move back. Now we've been here 6 years, it's even harder, plus we're all LPR's now, even more reasons not to go back. I can't complain though. I like living here and have learned to adapt to the lifestyle. I liked my life in the UK too. If I knew before we left that it would become a permanent move, I probably would still have come, as the experience would have been hard to resist. Just didn't really appreciate what we were giving up at the time, until it was gone.

jumping doris

We lived in an odd place in the UK, a small town near the sea. The size of most villages but not a villagey feel. Hard to describe. We were close to Liverpool and not far from Manchester and I just felt the whole place buzzed.

Here we live in the 'burbs and we have a nice house, lovely garden, semi rural and we do tons of stuff. When my daughter graduated last Summer we invited over a hundred friends (hers and ours) and I mean friends not just people we had met, to her party.
The city here is a bit dead and I miss city life.
But all of that is just here, I'm sure there are many places in the States where we could have perhaps found the same lifestyle we had in the UK but for the moment we are tied to this place.

There is lots I love about the US and I do feel it offers a lot of opportunity for my children and there is a can do attitude here which I do think is slightly missing a bit in the UK. Also there are many places I can't wait to visit etc. etc.

However, with hindsight, I preferred my old life but that doesn't mean this isn't a good one.

nethead

No.

YorkshirePudding

Yeah, what everyone else said.

I miss home (I still call it home) really badly sometimes...it comes in waves. Like Ray said, I have fond memories of my past when it suits me. My nostalgia seems to be particularly strong just after a visit from my family.

And like everyone else, I have a better lifestyle, more money, and feel there are more opportunities here for me and my family.

After 3 years here, I probably won't be going home anytime soon, no.

anabella

And always wonder what it would have been like to be here had I moved?.. no way..

BritGuyTN

this is very similar to my own pesonal feeling

even if i got divorced I would not go back to the uk now after being here for nearly 5 years (wow, did i just type 5 years?)

ElaineQ

Yes. Without a doubt. I believe my life would have been much harder had I stayed in England. I had a lot of growing up to do, and I've done it. I had to remove myself from the life I had in the UK to do this. I am destined to go back there, but America will definitely not see the back of me - I owe her too much for that, and of course my OH and daughter are American. A complicated love affair, I think! I can't explain the feeling I have when I go to England. It's as if I'm the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle, rather than England being the missing piece of me. I have no illusions about going back. People have their own lives, and I have come to terms with the fact that most close friendships I had no longer work - some never did, they were abusive - and won't be there when I get back. I'll be starting all over again. Yes!!!

candy wy.

There is nothing I would of changed, although life is different here. I will not return to the uk anytime soon. The uk is somewhere to visit for me but not to live.