Nicole5446

Hi there,

So I don't really belong here, technically! I'm a US citizen with a British fiance, and we have a daughter together. Currently I am working on getting her passports and me my visa to move over there next year. It is a very daunting process as you all know in some way or another. There is no good forum for people like me, and you all seem very nice, so I hope you don't mind the intrusion!

I have an icebreaker question: What led you to move FROM the UK? I wonder as I am so desperate to move there now.

Have a good day/evening!

SultanOfSwing

The desire to be accomodating to my US citizen wife who already had a 6-year old son when we got married, and the naivite to believe that the USA would give me a better life than the UK

5 years later I'm stuck in a job I hate, with neither the vacation time, nor the money to be able to afford another visit home (last time was 3 years ago ). I have since become a citizen and everything but lately, moreso than ever, I want to return home and start our life over there.

I fear moving jobs here would only be the same shit in a different building, and sad as it sounds, I'd lose the 2 weeks vacation I have now! I used to be a civil servant in the UK, though my passion is aviation (and music), and while 31 is too old per the FAA's website to become an air traffic controller, I have until I'm 36 in the UK, and while I wait for that, I could get reinstated at my previous grade in the civil service and pick up where I left off. My wife is a different story, of course, I don't think she wants to move, and we'd end up losing money on our house most likely. I so dearly want my son and new baby girl to grow up in the UK though.

So, for what it's worth, I think you are making the right choice to move there . What part of the UK are you planning to move to, if you don't mind me asking?

avanutria

Hi Nicole,

I'm the USC in our pairing, and I spent 5 years in the UK, 3.5 of those married to my Brit. When the recession hit we had already been thinking about moving to the US in the future, and when he lost his job (and I didn't much enjoy mine) we decided to go for it. We had been living in London and the noise and crush were starting to get to us. I also hated my commute of 1.5 hours each way.

My commute now is 25 minutes (Though it did take me nine months to find the job.)

Bob

Welcome to BE!

http://www.uk-yankee.com/ Might be worth a look, but good luck!

Nicole5446

We are heading over to Somerset! I love the area...the weather and scenery are so nice. It would be nice to be closer to London just for entertainment and activities, but it's only a few hours away on train. Though I was surprised at how expensive rail fare is now!

My SO is a civil servant currently, working at the UKHO. I was floored at how much vacation time civil servants get!! Compared to the US, it's incredible!

SultanOfSwing

One thing I got from a lot of people initially was them asking me why I left the UK (N. Ireland in my case) with it's beautiful scenery, to come here. I really didn't have an answer to that!

I was in benefits myself, and yes, I definitely miss the 25 days vacation (plus 11 bank holidays . . .) and being able to spend my lunch hour wandering around shops in Belfast. Of course, in ATC (the job I'd go for if we were to move back - working on a powerpoint presentation for the mrs as we speak!) I wouldn't be able to do that but I will be by an airport, which more than makes up for it!

Long overdue for a trip back to Blighty, methinks!

bevinva

I was 18 and stupid. I've been drinking and won't say anymore.

Derrygal

Moved here 23 years ago with my husband (now ex-husband, we have since divorced). It was a job transfer for him and I was the "trailing spouse". I still think about moving back to the UK, but I have adult children now (born in the UK) and grandchildren here, so not sure it will ever happen. I don't hate the US, in fact there's a lot I like about it, but there is a lot I miss about the UK. It's just work, work, work over here. My British friends are always going on vacation - I'm lucky if I get a trip home every 2 - 3 years.

Tom60

I don't know about moving over there, but I definitely have to visit. I know a girl in Newcastle whom I've been talking to for several months, and she's invited me. She sure makes it sound like a great place. I'm a little nervous about it though. Well, maybe more than a little nervous, to be honest.

tonrob

Newcastle's gorgeous. The locals are friendly and the young ladies there seem to have just a touch more class than the average. I's also well known for its nightlife. If the weather's nice you can pop along to the nearby coastal resort of Whitley Bay.

Unless you meant Newcastle-under-Lyme that is. That's just a cheating-namesake wannabe.

If you'd like to learn more about Newcastle culture, you might try reading the popular British journal, Viz.

Tom60

Well, she's been trying to teach me some of the Geordie slang. It's a pretty steep learning curve though.

Ja5on

I moved because I didn't have a great job and my wife is in to much debt from medical school to move out of the US right now. I think it's nicer where I live right now but the place I lived in the UK wasn't very nice. I'm hoping to be going back twice a year but it just depends on what sort of holidays I get once I start work.

christmasoompa

Really?!?

LOL!

Lothianlad

I went for an interview at Newcastle upon Tyne university in 2000 with a view to admission - I went to Leeds in the end. Newcastle is a very attractive city architecturally - the city centre streets are lined with the most gorgeous Georgian /Regency style buildings. The Metro transportation system is great, too - I loved riding on it. it's true that generally speaking the locals are friendly and very approachable, made much better if you have a passing acquaintance with a strong Geordie accent as I did as we have loads of Geordies coming up here to Edinburgh - their capacity for alcohol consumption is almost as great as that of Glaswegians.

I was walking along a very busy street in Newcastle city centre at around 5pm one weekday afternoon when two totally bladdered and blootered lads - c 22/25 years old - lined themselves up against a wall of a bank and relieved themselves of much of their excess booze in their bladders, much of it trickling down across the pavement with pedestrians stepping over it in a passive way as if it was an everyday occurrence. It probably is.

robin1234

Hi Nicole, good luck with your plans. Hope everything goes well for you guys.

My wife & I lived in Somerset for eight years. It is a very nice part of the country, we could get to Bristol, Bath & Exeter for day trips by car & the train to London is pretty quick from Taunton.. (we lived in Minehead.)

My wife is American, I am British. Both our children were born in England, one in Exeter the other in Taunton. (Both really excellent regional hospitals.) We made the decision to move to the US when we simultaneously lost our jobs and our home!! We were residents wardens at a Youth Hostel and the YHA downsized us. I screwed quite a good severance package out of them.

But why move to America, when we both had serious misgivings about the potential quality of life over here? I think the basic reason was that we were anticipating elder care issues. We were not close to my parents in England, we hardly ever saw them & they didn't show a lot of interest in us or their grandchildren! By contrast, we had a very good relationship with my mother-in-law in the US, we wanted our children to see her & their aunt & their cousins more often as they grew up. This is in fact how it worked out. My mother in law came to live in an elder facility in our town when she was no longer able to drive & be fully independent in Florida, she had a very good five years in our town, we were able to see her every day etc. She died last year at the age of 90.

Meanwhile my parents both died in England over the last decade, I regret not being closer, but what can you do.

Now I'm hoping we can return to the UK to live in retirement. Of our two children, one lives in the UK & one lives in the US so we have a foot in both camps!!