Adnams

Has he tried asking for a lager top? Thats sure to throw 'em

Irn-bru

I didn't know you had never been to the UK so before even thinking of moving there I'm glad you are going for a visit.

You say you don't want London but you are staying with friends outside London (I know thats where they live etc) but I like life around London but I don't personally like a lot of other places in England (I ready said earlier the places I liked).
Sorry my point is I wouldn't want you to go there and love it there (outside London) and then move somewhere completely different and expect it to be the same. (A bit like different places in the US).

Re his wage you are right not to convert it into dollars.
Will you be working?

If not you will be 'OK' depending on where you end up and as long as you realise the houses will be way smaller than you may be used to. I don't know the style of living you are used to now etc.

rookins26

Well our friends outside London are the only choice we have as far as people who live over there who have offered for me to stay with them none the less. That being said the wife is from Leeds and they know we are not looking in London...so I would talk to them first about going up to Leeds where her family is and anywhere else they are willing to take me to in England if time permits.

As far as me working I would want to work and would apply for a spousal visa since hubby is a dual citizen. That said I am a speech therapist and have researched my field over there and understand it is a little hard to get a job in that area right now due to budget cuts in the NHS...so I am willing to work in another sector or at a university whatever I have to do...I do have a bachelors degree so I hope that may help me a little.

As far as homes we would rent first and get to know the area better before buying of course...and as far as size a 3 bedroom is fine since we have only one child...and no pets.

Colette

Irn-bru

Well its good that she will take you round places as its vital but as Ray said its different visiting for a day than living somewhere (but I know what can you do? we all have had to take a leap sometime!)

Re working I'm glad you seem well qualified and adaptable to get a job as getting a job really helps to fit in somewhere better.

RE homes whether they are 3 or 4 bed, we rented when we got back to the UK a good sized modern home but after our 4 bed home in VA I felt I was in a studio flat

It took me over a year to get back into the UK way of everything smaller - cars, homes, roads, car parks, car spaces etc.

My suggestion to any US person would be to go Victorian there are loads of different sizes re terracing, detached etc to suit budgets but they all are bigger room and ceiling height than UK modern homes.
The only thing is in renting the kitchens etc are usually very old fashioned etc (in older homes) but I guess its a personal opinion on what you prefer

Sally

I love Britain to bits but I would agree with Irn-Bru and urge caution and proper research. The weather can be extremely depressing and it is much more crowded than most parts of the USA. Accommodation will probably seem absolutely tiny to you. I know Leeds has been smartened up but when I was a student there it had some really rough parts.

Good luck with it all but do your homework.

commoner

Colette, we don't live in London. And chances are your husband is going to earn his £55 wage (like my own husband) by working in the southeast.

Commuting by train is expensive and tiresome, especially if you have a toddler (as we have).

Let me say further I'm an American, who has lived in England 5.5 years. So I'm not talking out of my arse!

Elvira

Not everyone here came to the US because they did not like the UK...

I always knew it would only be temporary - otherwise wild horses would not have dragged me away.

penguinsix

I'd encourage you, as I encourage UK expats to the US, to approach this with an open mind. And, from your comments, a bit more of an open mind than you currently have about this move.

You can always take the negatives of ANY country ("consumerism", "keeping up with the Jones", "excessive heat", "expensive insurance") and compare them to the positives of another country ("NHS", "Village Life", "Culture", "close to Europe") and pretty much 100 times out of 100 the one you are viewing positively will win out. A lot of folks who move to the US from the UK are in this 'newness' phase followed by the 'honeymoon' in which they look back only with the bad things in mind and look forward with optimism.

Then it hits them.

The streets aren't paved with gold, the NHS isn't the greatest thing in the world, jobs aren't easy to finds, things cost more than you expected, Europe is farther away (financially, time constraints) than you hoped, rainy days are nice until you go 30 of them in a row and your skin changes color. The list goes on and on.

For example, I haven't been back to Hong Kong in over two years. I miss the great food, I miss the skyline, I miss Happy Valley racing and being 5 minutes and a $5 cab ride away from all my friends. I long to go back. But I don't think about the assholes on the bus, the heat and humidity, the 'meat product' that I don't want to know about, the dirt and grime. If I was back for a longer period of time, those memories would probably be pretty strong.

While you are on your trip (and note, I'm still encouraging you to go, even full time) I think you should ask the people you meet about good things, like the schools, or the houses, or the nice pub, and trips abroad. But don't be shy and afraid to ask them about some of the pitfalls you can expect--waiting for health care, confusing red tape, lack of high paying jobs in your field, tiny and expensive housing. Really use your trip to get 'both sides' of life over there, not so much so you can talk yourself out of it, more so that when you do go, you aren't wearing any rose colored glasses and can appreciate it for what it truly is.

Good luck.

another bloody yank

Don't let it get to you, they're just jealous...

rookins26

Hmmm okay I thought you had said you lived outside London so I meant that we are not looking anywhere in the vicinity. As far as jobs my husband has found those wages all over....the IT field even in the US is luckily a job that can be done anywhere as long as you live in a decent sized city and not a little town. That said he would accept a lower wage to live elsewhere in England...which helps when the cost of living is lower than areas in the south.

Colette

jumping doris

We left the UK (moved here from NW England) nearly two years ago but even then we were noticing less of a north/south divide when it came to salaries.
There are some big salaries up north, depends how experienced he is. Like anywhere, the better you are, the more you have to offer...the more you may be paid.

TruBrit

why thank you i take peeps as i find them and you seem very nice and quite normal ...it's nice to chat to yet another nice American on BE ....errr well i think there's another nice one on here besides you

another bloody yank

TruBrit

and many, many return.

TruBrit

i knew you'd appear...speak of the devil