janicedean164

So me & my wife are all packed now other then a couple of last minute things in my wife's carry on luggage.

However much at times this country winds me up, I know I will miss people & bits & pieces.

Think hardest will be family & friends but I know we will be seeing them all again at some point in the next 12 months, plus there is Skype, Post, Email & Facebook.

So what was the hardest thing for people to say goodbye to (And lets say other then family & friends) to make it interesting, lol!

tonrob

Real ale and curry.

robin1234

Country walking on footpaths & bridleways, using a 1:25,000 map if in unfamiliar territory. Here it is all "posted" private property.

Easy access to the beach and seaside.

Interesting places to visit (NT etc.)

SultanOfSwing

The mountains/hills, the sea, decent pubs, snooker halls, towns you can walk to the shops and back in. I'd be here all day if I listed them all

King Gimp

Decent curry, half decent vacation time at Christmas, NHS.

Thats it though!

robin1234

Specifically, mountains and hills from which you have a view, without having to get above the tree line. Here in the northeast there are way too many TREES.

SultanOfSwing

Those are nice, too - but here in Illinois, I'd just settle for some elevation, then I'll deal with obstructed views .

Sea air, too. I never thought I'd miss the smell of the sea air until I couldn't smell it anymore.

Mummy in the foothills

Sausages, bacon and a real UK Christmas with boxing day off. Vacation allowance and not worrying about health care.

robin1234

That's funny.. we get eleven days off for Christmas/ New Year this year. Most of us thought we had to come back Monday, Jan 2, then word got around yesterday afternoon that it was the Tuesday we return to work. Everyone was bitching & moaning, "what will I do with the extra time?" and "..I'll have to come in to work a couple of times to water my plants.." etc..

SultanOfSwing

That must be nice. We get a day for Christmas and one for New Year's Day. I'm then taking a day of my own leave to make two four day weekends, and that's about it.

Granted, we only got three 'holiday' days off back in the UK. I did have a 25 day leave allowance, but it reset in February so I'd usually used all my days up by December

Bob

Being able to walk to the pub.

Being able to go to the local park and know you'd be able to have a knock around game of footie with complete strangers and it would be a laugh.

Just knowing how shit works, the stupid little things from what laundry detergent to get or what yoghurt is decent....it's all dumb shit and it's not going to ruin your time here, but that first couple of times at the grocery store can be a little over whelming when you're faffing around with a million and other things that are important that you don't quite just get like the driving license etc. It's like b eing a baby and starting from scratch.

The sports. Whether you like it or not, you at least have a grasp of what the local big rivalries are etc...and then suddenly you don't and have the over whelming deluge of new sports. They may or may not grow on you, but they are worth plugging away at but without knowing the local histories or rivalries, it might be hard to get into if you don't have a local team involved. I had the Patriots, Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox, so it was all pretty easy to get into American sports and have people tell you all about it, which really helped.

md95065

Nothing at first, but after a while I started to miss living somewhere that actually had seasons and one of the (few) things that I still enjoy about visiting the UK is the weather (but only for a few days and then I want to get back to California).

Juswus

a life

kimilseung

Yes. Its a 17 degree declination here, that I never get to subtract.

Yes

Bullseye. North West too.

tonrob

I actually gained seasons!

I went from the crappy grey skies and year-round drizzle of the UK to freezing cold, snowy winters, hot-as-hell summers and proper spring and autumn sandwiched inbetween.

I love the weather in New England!