Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

You managed it after all...so pleased for you...what a nice break from the NYC summer.

Summer is great here...the rest of the year not so much. Hopefully we will be heading to the sun for most of the winter. I miss the area of NJ where we lived...after all we were there for 18 years.

Like you we are still homesick...if only our daughter and SIL would move to the UK. Can't see it happening. :(

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Here here! We are out and about more in the winter than the summer here. Friends and family back home have been posting pictures of picnics in the park, eating their Marks and Spencer sandwiches .. so jealous. It's the simple things.

I wonder how long it will take me before I complain about the weather when I get back. Never I hope.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Been back two years and I still love the weather. I listen to people around me moaning about the weather and I just smile politely. Just spent a month in Canada, mainly indoors, due to the hot weather which is not my thing.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

It was SO good to get out of the city for the summer. I have not missed sweating my bum off for months on end at all. My family were all really puzzled at me and my husband getting all happy about grey skies and rain. But it was so lovely! Went to Yorkshire when the Tour De France went through, and I have to say, even though my Grandma would spin in her grave, Yorkshire is just utterly breathtaking. Lancashire is too but driving through the Yorkshire dales and the moors.....I could've stayed for good.
The only thing I missed about the US was iced coffee! Although we did go out to the beach on Long Island this weekend and it was gorgeous.

I hope the winter isn't too brutal for either of us....I've had enough of shoveling snow to last a lifetime.
You'll have to get that daughter and sis in law of yours to move over somehow! Canada is great and everything and tbh I'd live there, especially Vancouver, but there's no place like home :)

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

I feel like I spend the majority of my time trying to explain to my family just how oppressive living in hot weather can be. I think they just think I'm complaining for the sake of it sometimes. Nothing made me appreciate the rainy climate of England like year after year of humidity and heatwaves in the US.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Yorkshire is at the northernmost end of my potential retirement zone (Yorkshire down to Hereford & Worcestershire). I plan to visit an old friend who lives near Skipton at Christmas and do a little recce.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Still no regrets here - it's a bit like not having kids, people constantly saying "ooh you'll regret it...." - errr, nope :D

Loving living in my tiny cave-like stone cottage, messy garden stuffed with wildflowers, insects and birds, with loads of interesting villages, ancient buildings and stunning walks to rediscover. Still working really hard for crap pay but somehow it's fun. Weird.

In a shop yesterday, listened to old woman being incredibly crass with american-accented worker, and was reminded how much I DO NOT MISS constantly being asked the same old boring questions as soon as I opened my mouth.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Ahhh, thanks for reminding me - must have some today. I make it with ice (obviously), espresso and soy milk, and maybe a dash of maple syrup if I'm feeling decadent. Better and cheaper than starbucks!

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

DR Don't forget Gods Own County - Shropshire. Very lovely, very quiet, but driving distance of Birmingham Manchester and Liverpool. South Shropshire is just stunning.

When I lived there ten years ago, a neighbour (born in Yorkshire) heard that I had always wanted to go to Harry Ramsdens.
He turned up on my doorstep one weekend, and told me put my shoes on, Then he said we would tour for a day in the REAL Gods own county.
Yorkshire truly is just breathtakingly beautiful. It pains me to say it but the beer is almost uniformly excellent too.
And the fish and chips wasn't bad for a chain!

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Yes, Shropshire is also on my radar. Essentially, I want to be within shouting distance of rail links (preferably within 1-2 miles of a station), countryside (preferably within a 15-minute drive for daily walks), and a city (preferably within a 45-minute or shorter train journey of Birmingham).

I am building up a shortlist of places that fit the bill, and over the next 3 years plan to take trips down to Birmingham and drive around some of these places to help me make a decision. Ideally, I will move from here the same day I retire. ;)

I am currently researching the Cannock/Tamworth/Lichfield area online. Gradually working my way through different areas.

Any particular places you know in Shropshire that fit my needs described above?

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Nobody understands the hell of living in constant heat. It hasnt been good for us atall. Constant health issues all heat related. No matter how much water you take. You cant spend your life on the beach forever cooling off either, life has to be lived. Its raining today, has rained for 24 hrs which is really unusual BUT its wonderful, we can breath ;)

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

I concur. In our first years in North Carolina I loved the summer heat but by 5+ years into it I dreaded the summer.
Weather in UK is definately not one of the things I moan about.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

The weather is one thing I don't like about the UK...the short, dark, dismal days in winter. Unpredictable weather during the summer. I love the summers in North America. Love knowing that at least 3 months of the year its shorts and tee shirt weather. :thumbup: The last time I spent a summer in the UK I had to buy a coat, jeans, shoes and sweaters.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

The sky can be a bit dull but the alternative in LA was just unbearable for me, with an Irish type of colouring and physiology.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

My oldest two were born in Harrogate. I'm not from Yorkshire, but find it difficult to believe I'll never live there again. Life-long atheist, but if there is a god she lives in the dales.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

I don't know if my case would fit here since I haven't returned to the UK and I am not British either.

I am from Southern Europe, and went to college in the US (New York Metro Area). After graduation I headed straight back to work to London, worked there for 2 years. 2009, with the crisis and I moved to work in Abu Dhabi for 2 years. In 2011 I returned back to continental Europe (to a different country). And that it is.

In the US I felt I never fit there. At the beginning and for 2 years at least it was OK, but then it became almost sick and I had this almost mental thing about returning to Europe. I would even wake up in the morning after dreaming I was back in my country. And then I would look out of the window I would see those squared car plates... and I knew I didn't want to be there another single day. Interestingly, I don't think it was "home sick" about my city or country. Everytime I went to Europe (and it is not like I am an Europeist or anything), I felt there was something underlying that made me felt better. I remember one of my last flights from the US in college with Air France, changing planes at Charles de Gaulle in Paris, how I felt suddenly relaxed just to be there just waiting for my next plane back home. Maybe the food, the people, the tone of voice, the way they moved. It was very strong. Or how in my senior year in college, we went to Central Asia for a field trip for a course, changing planes at Frankfurt airport. We had a long layover and headed to the city (I had never been there before and I don't speak a word of German!). I remember taking breakfast in a typical German café, and how my all-American classmates complained about the "lack of service". But despite the lack of smiles of the waitress (it was Germany after all) I felt a connection. I have always felt this connection, from Glasgow to Warsaw. Ironically, most of my friends from college are Europeans or even Asians, not Americans.

After the US, London was fine, if hard. But I never felt out of place. Despite London being such a harsh city (expensive, competitive), I never ever had those feelings as in the US.

Abu Dhabi was interesting. It felt great at the beginning. but tiring after a while. Exotic and that was it. Nice weather, good pay, but empty. However easier than the US. Of course, it is not the land of freedom or opportunities.

And then it was Europe again. It is OK. I feel "at home".

Yet I miss things about the US. Particularly, I feel job-wise there would be more opportunities (I don't have US passport, so it would be stupid to think about returning back with all the H1B mess... no thanks). My friends there... I feel they have more fulfilling roles and careers. Even here, I noticed Americans (since I studied in a US college with a good number of alumni in Europe, I got to know quite a few people; many of them Americans) here have been way more helpful to me. There is this American generosity that I love.

I am afraid I will get stuck in my work life here. Life is also quite un-happening but pleasant. I received a good option to work again in the Middle East (more interesting than what I am doing now) but I got a gut against not doing it. Yet on the other hand...

I feel mentally way more comfortable living in Europe. Not comfortable in a material sense, but in a sense that I "belong". Way more pleasant. But also it makes me feel "lazier" I guess. In the US at some stage I became really stressed. In Abu Dhabi I felt empty. Here life goes on sweetly. But it doesn't "improves" me. I am not talking career wise, but personal wise. While living in the US, I learnt many things about me and the world... that I wouldn't have learnt if I stayed here.

Have you ever felt like this?

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

i totally understand when you say you feel you "belong". I wrote a long post about my reflections and sense of belonging after spending 6 weeks this summer in UK. I think what sealed my decision to move back for good was that I saw different places in UK I had never seen before. My hometown is Preston and all my friends are there but I cannot live there.. Your post was well-written and some of it resonated with me.. All the best..

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

I too totally understand. It was only when I was in the US as an expat English person that I realised how European I actually was and how much I had in common with other Europeans....

but, like you, I found much to appreciate in the US and especially that generosity that you mention. Also that sense of a future, of potential, of room to improve one's life on different levels. But there is a lot of competitiveness there too.

It would be interesting to know where in southern Europe your native country is, and where in Europe you are now....

Despite what I said above about having a lot in common with other European countries, I do feel each country in Europe has its own individuality and characteristics...that's what makes it interesting.
I would never want to see those differences diminish or all of us become more the same. If that's where the EU is taking the individual countries of Europe, I'm not so keen on it. But that's a different topic...

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Betweentwoworlds... I have not lived in US since 1984 but despair at what I read at times EU tells UK what to do. I have read something silly about hoovers, hair dryers etc. etc. It is like they are trying to make Europe into a United Europe!

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Do you mean you haven't lived in uk since 1984?

You are right, there are many silly rules coming from the EU govt. And that's what I mean each country is different and perhaps shouldn't be subject o the same rules imposed from without.

But still, there's a cultural connection...

And yet there is also something to be said for the "Anglo-Saxon" cultural links between US and UK, which do sometimes mean that (perhaps especially in the work environment?) the UK and US styles have something in common, different from the styles of some european countries....

all a fascinating subject!

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Duh.. Yes I meant have not lived in UK since 1984. October 1 of this year is 30 years ago to day I stepped on Pan Am flight and landed in LA.. Slowly preparing for move back. It's funny you can do the should/should not move back routine for years and then suddenly (in my case long vacation) everything falls into place and I'm ready to go back. I feel calm about it just what to be like McMuffin and be patient and be financially comfortable. I'm lucky as I have a super job that doesn't bore me..

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

I can understand totally about being the right time and in the right frame of mind too! Our house has not sold and I wonder if it did when we listed in April, we would have rushed off to UK without both of us being totally committed! My OH was really doing it for me. Now we are talking about possibly staying in this house if does not sell (or in area if does in another house) for a few more years but closing down my business which is giving me such grief and travelling back to UK and further afield annually to see family. I can see us eventually moving back but in meantime I can also see us enjoying our home here too! Earlier I was so adamant that I wanted to move back as I saw it as the holy grail to my happiness! I did not think of anything else for 2 years until I saw when we listed the house how agitated my OH became to the point of being ill! Now he has to be in the right frame of mind and I will follow on what he wants. He is more important to me than any place I live! I feel at ease with this now although it has taken most of the summer to feel this. He has not ruled it out altogether either, he just wants to have everything fall into place rather than force the issue!

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

You are a lovely person FB, and your partner is a very lucky man.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

:goodpost: :nod:

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Great to hear you have some peace of mind and feel at ease with waiting longer...yes, your spouse is lucky; and maybe with time you will both be ready to make the move and that mutual enthusiasm will make it a much better experience.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

i think life is what you make it. my husband is getting older. my daughter hates it here but a big plus she is able to drive at 15 something i tell her she wouldn't be doing if she was in england, everywhere has its good and bad points but when i see my husband struggling with doing work as he is not a young man anymore and then hurt himself and you think yourself lucky he didn't end up breaking his leg you do start to wonder what is it all about.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

That is an interesting topic that I have discussed with friends that have lived in the US and Europe.

I reckon the similar things between the UK and continental Europe are that they are "old" countries... everything has been set long ago and maybe this is the reason that for people who like to be in "control" and don't like uncertainty, Europe seems more comfortable. Which at the end of the day is quite silly if you look objectively, because Europe is becoming more like the US (but only for the bad!): education and health care getting privatized, more inequality, etc. etc., but not for the good things that you have rightly mentioned above and that make the US "The Greatest Nation on Earth" :)

The US is still a tabula rasa somehow, a young country, the land of dreams where anything (bad or good) can happen. There is this sense of urgency and instability that is so good for some stuff (the most innovative country in the world... and it will always be) but somehow does not allow you time to reflect. I could never get completely relaxed in the US. This is great for some people but I guess some others (and I would include myself) are more reflexive so we get somehow lost there.

I guess this has to do with this "old" that somehow people in the UK or Europe have internalized. I personally have felt the same outside the Western world. For instance, when I visited Japan (despite I actually have never had a particular interest in Japanese culture) I felt incredibly comfortable. Everything felt in place to me from the first minute despite being such a different culture. Yet, when you think about it... Japan is such an old culture. But when I have been to places like Latin America (quite similar to the US in terms of chronology), I felt again this sense of urgency.

I haven't been to a country that mixes the best things of both worlds unfortunately... but probably it can't exist.

P.S.: I am from Spain and work in Belgium.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Thanks for this. very thought provoking point of view and I would tend to agree there is something very evocative and peaceful about being somewhere steeped in 'old.' For me, I think about that feeling you get when inside one of the really old churches or cathedrals in England, although not particularly religious they always fill me with a feeling of peace and contentment.

Its true the frenetic culture in certain parts of the US can be very distressing. Then when I visit other parts (generally the midwest) I feel more at ease.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Hiya, hope things are going well for you at this point now you've spent more time back in Blighty and can make more of an informed choice.
Can I ask, any problems storing your Canadian pension? I read you need '20 years' with Pension before your pension can be transferred to another Country. CPP (Canadian Pension Plan) specifically.
Cheers.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Your CPP will be paid to another country on their list of countries which is on Canadian government website. I have not heard that you can transfer you CPP to another country in a lump sum, as far as I know you take it monthly from when you qualify. I am sure someone else will know more than me and come onto here to inform you. If not go to the Canada forum and ask that question. As for OAS you will only get this paid out of the country provided you have lived here for 20 years and if you have, you will only get that and not the "top up".

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Sounds right to me. My OH's CPP is paid into our UK bank account in £, but he did not work long enough in Canada to qualify for OAS to be paid to him outside Canada.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Sorry, I don't know anything about pensions.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

I had a quick look on the Government of Canada website and could not see the need to be in Canada for 20 years.

Canada Pension Plan Retirement Pension - Service Canada

Did you see it on that website?

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

It is the OAS, not CPP where the twenty year rule applies. This link:

Old Age Security pension - Service Canada

It doesn't apply to CPP.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Many thanks Editha

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

Hi Elizabeth, sounds like you really enjoy your location. Are you in the Wirral? I've thought of moving to Chester, or nearby. Some parts of the Wirral look nice. Cheaper houses. Liverpool is a fine city.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

I have been back two months now and have no regrets. I am a bit frustrated because I am still waiting for a job. I got a bit stressed initially because there seemed to be a lot of bureaucracy to endure to get re-established but most of that is fine now.

The lifestyle is less materialistic here and I like that. I do miss the sun a bit but I can easily get around that one.

The food and supermarkets are wonderful.

After 30+ years in the USA, I honestly wonder where my life went because I can't remember very much of my time there. When I lived in the USA, I missed the UK every single day.

I am now where I belong.

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

I remember when I came back in 1998, it took months for me to get a job. There were so many hoops to get through, several interviews etc. but you just have to be patient, I'm afraid! It will happen! Glad you are enjoying other aspects though. I have been back a year 15 months now and still wake up joyful, even though I loved my previous location too!

Re: Any regrets about moving back to the UK?
 

So glad to hear you are settling in Windsong. My little dogs are in Newark about to board flight to Belfast. I leave Wednesday. Very hectic two days ahead. Sold my Infinity FX yesterday back to dealership. Very fair price ( better than Carmax offered). My 20' container left last Wednesday. The hardest part is leaving those I love.

Re: Questions about moving back to the UK after living overseas for many years
 

1pinball1...I have moved your post into a new thread here...

http://britishexpats.com/forum/movin...-years-865509/