picaflor

Well, after 12 years here in California I have decided to move back to Blighty. The forum description sums up so well with the use of the term daunting, especially with the price of property (even with a stake in a place there) and the job market. I look on the internet and despair..

I have concluded that to live here forever isn't for me, especially with the vagueness of the job market, the constant healthcare timebomb and the fact that I increasingly have no interest in anything local. Can't contemplate a move elsewhere in the states, where I know no one and probably has less to offer than here.

Obviously the grass is not greener (well probably is with all that rain), but I have concluded that if I am to go, sooner is better for better or worse.

I have made this decision based on my personal economy, relationship, a desire to try again and not to leave it too late (maybe have already, who knows..). I also made my decison based on what I have read here and especially an astute comment someone wrote about once you are back where you came from, you don't have to worry about if you should go back all the time. I don't think it will work in reverse for me about returning to the States (ironically which I always disliked before my initial visit and my final moving here with work).


Daunting, yes. Don't know how I will cope but I am hopeful while I still have UK family connections, that I won't be reduced to pushing my possessions around in a shopping cart or living in my car, which seems to be a common sight here in California. I never had that feeling of doom in the UK or the feeling of being an outsider. When I return, i will see those who emigrated to the UK and faced all those same challenges with a new perspective.

Not sure what the purpose of this post really is apart from the fact that I found reading the other posts helped my own process. Made all the harder by people in the UK saying all the time don't come back the job market is terrible (is it good anywhere these days..)

Thanks.

shelley748

you are never too old to make the move- you have to be happy in life- its way too short!!

There are many of us on here over 50 and over 60 who are planning the move back!!

Good Luck!!

bromleygirl

I'm sure you have had the comment "won't you miss the sunshine"! I am probably 70/30 in favour of moving back right now. I do enjoy California but am very aware of the healthcare issues and the work life culture - finding a job is tough but finding one that has decent benefits including decent annual and sick leave is another. I yearn for my 27 days a year

It is daunting making the final decision and relocating back - I have already done it once. It took probably at least 2 years to feel that I was back at home but for me because of my children I always needed to come back here at least once a year.

The job market is not good in the UK but I don't think it is quite so bad as in California. I remember when I first arrived meeting people who had been unemployed for 2 years! I'm thankful I have been able to get contract work.

Do you know where in the UK you would relocate to? Timelines etc?

Mummy in the foothills

Completely agree.
For some insane reason it seems that moving to UK feels more difficult of a decision that moving out of it was, even though I enjoyed my life there and never wanted to move away in the first place.

picaflor

Thanks for the encouragement Shelley.

Bromley girl in answer to your question, I will be near to London initially but I suppose if/where I get work will dictate my ultimate landing. Not very keen about getting back into the London thing again, mainly since the property is just not affordable. Which is catch22 since the price dictates that's where the probabilty of work is.....

sallysimmons

Surely there are more jobs outside of London than there are in London? There's a whole country out here!

Good luck with the move. Leaving the US to come back here has been the best decision I ever made. Hope it works out just as well for you.

scot47

I came back to my native Scotland at the age of 63. No relatives and not many living friends. Difficult but possible.

I CANNOT get used to darkness at 4 pm in winter !

holly_1948

Britain has been polarised between the expensive South and the impoverished North (and Wales) at least since the Second World War.

Everything I read leads me to believe that is more true now than ever before.

picaflor

Except property prices in the north don't seem to be significantly cheaper, just that you can get slightly more for your money. The starting entry cost seems to be significantly high, which probably explains why so many people went far and wide.