JayLad92

The grass is always greener on the other side... And being an expat for going on seven years now i can find no saying better to describe the feeling. I am torn between England and America and have been for years but now has come the time for me to stop saying what if and make a decision. So here is the question...
what are your thoughts on this my fellow expats and re-expats and re-re-re-re-re ect. expats?

Where does one want to spend the majority of their life?

airways

Tell us what you don't like about Tampa? Returning to the UK after 7 years away will be a bit of an eye opener!!!

JayLad92

I have been ping ponging with england a fair bit these past 7 years so i am quite aware of what it is like back in the UK but i cant help but miss it... I don't mind the hardship if I'm honest i feel it builds a better character in a person which from my experience is a rare thing to find under the glossy coats of the average American. And i don't mean that to sound as bias as it probably came across but thats my current feel on the subject. i just feel like there is more realism in the uk and that is what attracts me to go home... what is your opinion on it airways?

Englishman43

I live in Southern California so the grass definitely is greener in England !

I've been in the US 13 years and the main reasons that I will eventually go back to England are:

Family.
Healthcare.
Not wanting to grow old here.

Why do you feel this is the point to make that decision ?


Probably get some good insight in the "Moving back to the UK " area of the forum.

airways

Well I am in the UK at the moment and heading your way and have a serious case of butterflies about the whole thing reading some of the horror stories on here!!

However the UK is no bed of roses either. It is political correctness gone mad, skyrocketing costs on everything from fuel to food and has soaring unemployment.

Heating oil is closing on the £1.00 a litre mark as off today, fuel is £1.30 per litre. A weekly grocery shop for 2 people is around the £100 mark.

The sense of community that we all imagine is the saving grace rarely exists. Your neighbours are only interested in their own lives. I have lived next door to the same people for 10 years and barely speak to them. Everyone is absorbed in their own lives.

I tend to find people in the UK very shallow, they will be your friends until something else comes along more interesting and you get dropped.

I don't think that you will find any better character here than you do elsewhere or realism. You will find people a lot more dour and with a CANT do rather than a CAN do attitude. In the UK if people see you in a Ferrari, they don't ask how they can work as hard and get one, they ask what the can do to take it off you and put you in a mini.......

Don't get me wrong, I love the UK and it's quirks and I don't think the USA is going to be any greener. Just different.

If you are looking for some dream of ultimate fulfilment by returning home, I will bet you will spend a lot of time missing the sunshine and everything you enjoy about your life now........

christmasoompa

Don't know where on earth you're shopping, but I manage to feed a family of four, plus a dog and two cats, for approx £80 per week! That's Tesco's though, not Fortnum and Masons, so perhaps that's the difference.

Got to strongly disagree with this. I live in a village, and everybody knows everybody. Kids play out on the street, we are great friends with many of our neighbours and spend half our time at their houses - this afternoon I've had 6 kids from neighbouring properties for supper, and the mums came for a glass of wine and a natter too. When my husband was in hospital last year, people that I didn't know were bringing me cakes and casseroles, just because they'd heard of our situation.

I suspect that it must depend on where you live, and perhaps if you live in an inner city location things are different (although having said that, we were also friends with our neighbours when we lived in London). A community feel is definitely achieveable in the UK.

Jerseygirl

Airways...I have said the same many times...one country isn't better than the other...just different. After 15 years I am still torn between the UK and US. We have a house in the UK so I am familiar with what current day life is like there. My reasons for returning would be familiarity and comfort. What I mean by comfort is it's much easier for me to fit in...I gel with people there...even people I've never met before.

airways

I live in a village in the middle of nowhere. There are less than 5 children in the village and most people would be horrified if the neighbours popped around. Mind you most people don't even know there neighbours names. My sister lives in a new 'village' in the town and barely knows her neighbours. My mum has been in the same house for 30 years and only knows 2 people on her whole street.

You have clearly been lucky with your community feel. However its existence is not as widespread as it once was and is certainly not a grass is greener element.

Perhaps for people who have kids the children act as more of a pivot point? But not everyone chooses to have them, want them or even like them!!

airways

Jersey. I agree with you. I don't think anything is better or worse, just different.

ldyinlv

Home is a place you grow up wanting to get away from, and grow old wanting to get back to...John Pierce..

Thats how I see it..

christmasoompa

I find that incredibly sad, and a complete contrast to our experience. I can't think of any party or wedding that I've been to in the UK where neighbours of whoever is holding it haven't been invited, and certainly all my family members are good friends with their neighbours.

It's one of the things I missed when we lived in Canada, people are much more insular there and there's none of the 'popping in for a cuppa' mentality that you (normally) get in the UK. But I guess if you're heading to the US, at least you won't miss something you've never had!

Good luck with your move.

Englishman43

Bloody Hell !! That John Pierce chap must be living inside my head !

dunroving

If you are not sure (and you sound pretty ambivalent), stay where you are. now is not a good time to relocate to another country and look for a new job, unless you are really sure it is what you want.

airways

LOL, it is one of the saving graces. I won't miss people popping around as they never pop round. I will miss real beer though! However when it comes to drinking I am quick to adapt!!

Jerseygirl

That's how I see it too. Many of us seem to want to return to our roots as we get older. I've read posts from people who moved overseas when they were young children. They have married...had children...grandchildren and left everything behind to move home. If I remember one lady was in her 80's when she moved back to the UK alone.