Reading the "i'm going home for Christmas" thread, made me wonder how often everyone goes back home.

It is cheapish for me because I live on the east coast, but I probably get back four or five times a year......

What about you?

I've never been back. Not even when I lived in Spain and could have driven back to Blighty. If my Advance Parole ever gets sorted out, I'll head back this year to see the family.

I've been here for eight years. When I first arrived I would go home once a year. Did that every year for five years, then I realized that I do exactly the same thing every time I go over. It's a constant hike from one friend or family member to the next. Of course you have to visit them all, because if word got out that I came over and visited one but not another, there would be hell to pay

Plus my family is spread out across the country with my sister in Cambridge, my brother still in Liverpool, my dad in North Wales and my two best friends in London and Newcastle. Relatives and friends are scattered at all points in between. There's never enough time.

So I decided to put UK visits on hold for a while. If they want to visit me they know where I am

Been here 4 years, been back twice.
My mother seems to think I am obligated to take my holidays and go to Manchester.

I mean go to Manchester on Holiday?

even the sentence sounds ludicrous.

I have the Grand Canyon on my doorstep and she wants me to go to Manchester?????

It'll be awhile before I go back.

That's a pretty far-reaching doorstep you've got there. Installed it yourself did you then?

hypothetically speaking.

We've been here 2 years and have been back three times.

Once for my Nan's funeral and both Easters. I think I am going back for 3 weeks next summer with the kids and hubby will join us for one week. We stay at my parents' house who absolutely love it when we go over.

My parents have been over here 5 times already and are planning to come at Christmas. In-laws are here at the moment and my best friend and her family came over in June.

I get really upset when our visitors go back to England but not so much when I am coming back to US.

try to make it back to the land of my fathers once a year....must admit though that the high profile British Airways Washington Dulles-Heathrow route is putting the heebeejeebies into me.

May need valium next time.

Well, when I first moved to the US it was over two years before I returned to England, but my trip coming up this Christmas will be my fourth in three years. Out of those four, hubby's travelled with me twice.

When I go back I usually stay with family in Bucks, and my grandmother will visit there at the same time from Lancs. I usually spend a couple of days visiting friends in Bournemouth and London while I'm there.

I've been over here for nearly 5 years and it's been over 2 years since I went back, and that was work related - in fact all the times I've been back has been through work. As Manc said, going to Manchester for a holiday sounds ludicrous. Now replace that with Scunthorpe, and it becomes borderline insanity!

Oh, and everytime I went back and saw my parents, people would get pissed off that I didn't go visit them, even though they only lived a few miles away...I mean, I fly 5500+ miles, drive 250 miles, and they can't even be arsed to drag themselves 3 miles across town? Sod that, give me Vegas, Hawaii, Cancun and the Caribbean any day!

Agree 100%

Well, the main reason I go back so often is that my grandmother is 93 years old and can't travel to visit us.

I've been over here for almost exactly a year and have been back to the UK four times already for various reasons; Hubby only came with me on one trip and that was to get my visa.

I'm off over there again next week for a couple of weeks, after that, I'll not be going back til just before Christmas - on that trip, I'll be accompanied by a lil one! Should be interesting...

It is certainly not relaxing! As others have said it all becomes a crazy dash around the UK visiting everyone! Plus this country doesn't give as much vacation time as the UK generally does.

I do miss the UK from time to time, having said that, each time I sit on the plane at heathrow, ready for take off, I take a deep sign and am happy to be going back home. It is still is somewhat of a shock that by home I mean New York.

I used to feel that way, but in reverse. We'd come over here to the US to visit and spend the whole entire time driving all over hell's highways. We'd start in Los Angeles and drive up to Oregon and then back again, great drives, but not something you really want to do after flying that many miles or hours. Anyway, now that we are over here (about 7 months now) I'd go back to the UK in heartbeat to visit. But, it seems a bit weird for me to go and my husband to stay here, afterall he's the Brit.