d00berry

Born in the US but moved back to the UK with my British parents when a baby and now looking to return. My big problem is... WHERE DO I WANT TO MOVE?

I am 25, single with no dependents (apart from a one year old English Springer Spaniel) and work within the hospitality industry so have a great chance to go where ever the wind blows me.

Not a city girl, prefer more rural but with a good sense of community. Keen baker, walker and enjoy photography so somewhere which is pretty would be a plus. If anyone has any reccommendations or suggestions, would love to hear.

Thank you!

sir_eccles

Portland OR.

Pulaski

Asheville, NC

In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a mecca for microbreweries and foodies, at the western end of the NC wine region, and an island of liberalism in the heart of the Bible belt. Less than a couple of hours from Charlotte and direct flights to Heathrow.

d00berry

Thank you so much for the suggestions. Looked them up and they are stunning. I think I'm looking for something a bit smaller though. Currently live on the Isle of Man so I've gotten used to smaller communities.

sir_eccles

Careful, go too small and they might not take kindly to furriners.

Hotscot

Pacific NorthWest. Many small towns and quaint coastal towns.

d00berry

Will bear that in mind!

Vimto

I would agree with this, if you are looking to continue in the hospitality business, its rural but on the fringes of civilization, climate is similar to what you are used to, 4 real seasons with not to hard a winter or too hot a summer. More scenery than you can shake a stick at.
If you want coastal life then the east coast is out as its subject to hurricanes during the summer, the alternative is Oregon or Washington states.

Pulaski

You want smaller than Asheville? .... Any smaller than that and there won't be any hospitality jobs! .... I live near somewhere even smaller (than Asheville) in NC, and there is very little by the way of hotels, other than chain motels of dubious quality, and only a few chain/ franchise restaurants, plus a handful of long-established family/ home cooking restaurants. If it wasn't for the passing traffic virtually none of that would exist, other than a few of the family restaurants.

I'm not sure what maps or pictures you're looking at, but Ashville is a low density city of around 85,000 people, surrounded mostly by undeveloped woodland, verging on wilderness, so much so that I would caution someone used to "English countryside rural" and considering living outside of Ashville, that the areas surrounding Ashville are the sort of rural that might be more rural than you're looking for!

Redwing

I'll go along with that. I always love going there.

theOAP

My apologies, but someone has to ask the question......

Unless your parents were in the diplomatic corps, have you been filing your US tax returns? You indicate you have been working.

It would make the move back to the US slightly less stressful if you have been doing this.

Bob

Most of New England.

Though winters can be brutal.

All depends on your budget I guess.

Bluegrass Lass

The closest we've been to Asheville is Cherokee, NC, just over the state line from Gatlinburg. I've always wanted to visit there. And it isn't too far from the Appalachian Trail! If that isn't the 'great outdoors' I don't know what would qualify!

Michael

Although California can be expensive, there are some nice small areas that are not expensive including Redding/Mt. Shasta, Auburn/Grass Valley, and Placerville. The wine country (Napa/Sonoma valleys) and the Sierra Nevada Mountains (Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Mammoth, etc.) are very nice but more expensive.

Just about everywhere south of San Francisco along the coast is expensive but as you go north along the coast, there are not many towns that have many hotels but the areas are usually inexpensive.

Sally Redux

Yes it's very nice where my son is in San Luis Obispo.