I live in Mississippi, which is between Louisiana and Florida. Just throw Alabama in the trash for now ;-) Think with Louisiana you got the better end of the deal than I got.

Can't figure why everyone from around the world is so dead set on living in Florida. It isn't all that great a place to be and I have family living there.

Anyhow, on to an important question which you might have mentioned the answer to before and I forgot, but how are you going to be free to move to Florida in 20 months?

The contract I have with my employer O'Grady Peyton is only for 20 months after that time I am free to move wherever I wish.
As regards Florida I think it's a British thing, so many people I've met are breaking their necks to get to Florida besides there is quite a large British expat community there.

Not within the US unless you have a green card.

An acquaintance of mine pipes up on Facebook at least once per week about how desperate she is to move to Florida with her husband and son. She's basing it on her two visits to Disney World.

Sarasota, I send all the empathy in the world your way, and hope you're continuing to feel better as the days go by. It took my husband and I two years to decide whether we'd live in the UK or the USA, and I spent at least one of those years bawling down the phone, upset at the idea of leaving my baby nephews behind. As it happened, the decision was taken out of our hands a bit due to various life events - if I didn't/wouldn't/couldn't move to the States, it would have been a very long time before we could be together properly. And so here I am, with just six-or-so months left to go. It has been a huge journey, emotionally, and I understand your wobble very much. And everybody's sentiments here so far are spot-on - we all deal with this stuff differently; some of us will be hit at different times and by very different things. I personally am now at a point where the excitement has overridden the sadness, but it took me a very long time to get here and I hope it will be not as long for you. (Just you watch me lose my cool on the plane!)

I would love, love, love to visit Louisiana - you're going to have an incredible experience. Jamie Oliver's American cookbook has some truly delicious-looking Louisiana-inspired recipes!

Yes I will be getting a green card through employment as a registered nurse.

Well good luck. Nurses are needed all over the US and Canada. At one time we imported so many that the market was satuated with nurses. Now most only work part time. I have two good friends that are RN's at Mt. Sinai in New York that were cut back to p/t and are not very happy about it. Another two were RN's at White Plains hospital in White Plains, NY. One works 30 hours a week (less than full time) and the other just decided the hell with it and is working at an Urgent Care Center. They were both Cardiac RN's.

Wow. That sucks for your friends.

From speaking to the other half (an RN) there is a significant shortage around here and plenty of open vacancies. However, I assume the NY nurse salary will be significantly higher than NC.

And the cost of housing even more so.

OP your post was me maybe 2 months ago. It did all feel completely and utterly overwhelming before we moved. In the end, while I've had some wobbles over here, the fear of the unknown and the anxiety was (for me) much more amplified than the reality. I found the reassurance I got here - knowing the fears were rational and normal, quite reassuring. Best of luck. I'm finding it to be an experience of extremes, highs and lows, but I'm glad we're giving it a go. Hope all goes well for you

Hi, I am literally 2 months in to our move over to Florida We chose the north side and so far so good. Some things have been frustrating but i'm not getting stressed about it because I know we are not the first to go through it. I know you're not moving to Florida first, maybe never...you might find you love somewhere else more or not. The main thing is that you never know until you try and that nothing is permanent. If you find you hate living in the states no matter where you try, you can go home still Its not cheap and you'll probably get some grief if other family members wanted to stay, but its an option all the same (speaking from experience after a year in Canada ).
Having the two year plan is great, its a big enough commitment to really try and make it work but also not that long if you really don't take to it. Good luck with the move, maybe i'll see you in Florida

I been through that about 8 years ago with huge wobbles. And it didn't change when I arrived here. I was right, I should never have moved and left my home. Your circumstances will be unique to you. If you have a crappy life in UK then the life in US can be good. But if your life is good and happy in UK and you have severe doubts then don't do it. It is very, very different here.

What an odd thing to say. You can't be happy in the US if you were happy in the UK?

What I would say is that if you don't have a degree and the skills to earn above above average income in the US then life here might be a struggle, more so than in the UK.

I didn't say you can't be happy in the US if you are happy in the UK. So not at all odd. What I am saying is that if you are having severe doubts about moving to the US and your life is good in the UK then then don't do it. It's a big risk as it is very different in the US. This is something that you have to be very sure of as it is such a big move. But everyone is different with differing life experiences and motives.

But I would disagree with your second point. Living in the US is a lot cheaper in nearly all aspects except health care and wages go further so you can have a decent life on an average income compared to the UK.

That's rather a sweeping statement. How can you say the US is a lot cheaper than the U.K? We moved from Cheshire to NJ and it was certainly not cheaper.

Yes I moved from Cheshire to Michigan. Food is cheaper, houses are much cheaper, cars are cheaper, petrol is cheaper, taxes are lower. Maybe NJ is expensive. But I grew up in Cheshire and lived in London and there is no comparison in terms of cost of living especially houses.