Pupsiecola

Been lurking for a while. Lots of people seem to view their US move as temporary/medium term. I just wondered if anyone loves where they moved to and has no intention of moving back to the UK/elsewhere? I guess it's a "have you found your grass is actually greener place" sort of a question.

Thanks.

Bink

Me! Love it here. In an ideal world I'd actually like to split time between the UK and the US as there are aspects of both countries that I enjoy but on the whole I'm very happy here and to be honest, probably won't ever leave.

My wife's family is here which is a strong tie, but really there's a lot about the way of life here in Houston that suits me. I'm a morning person and I can get up and go to work early here and still get home early in the evening to spend time with my family - that wasn't possible for me in the UK and is partly related to job role and partly because I had American clients and needed to be able to talk to them during their day.

Part of it is also that I opened an office for my company here and as such have a great deal of flexibility and am able to manage things my way which really helps too.

So, yes, the grass is greener for me here.

Pulaski

Like Bink, my wife is a USC. I love it here, and there is little likelihood I will return to the UK to live. The weather's good, I have a nice house and better vehicles than I could afford in the UK, and healthcare costs are not a significant cost for us. What's not to like?

Nutek

I have a bunch of stuff I miss, but life here is good and I have a wife who manages to put up with me and makes me smile
I have been lucky work-wise since I arrived really, landing all three jobs that I have gone for. We have a nice house, cars etc.
My wife has family here so moving back is probably not something that would ever happen and that is ok.



I think anyone who is lucky enough to afford it can make a nice life here if they want to. That said, It is not a place I would want to be if I were poor. I would imagine the niceness disappears quite quickly and what is underneath could be quite terrifying.

BubbleChog

Like bink, pulaski and Nutek I too am married to a USC.

We did look at him coming over to the UK on a transfer for his work but in the end the pluses in quality of life here made more sense for us.
If he had transferred over he would have been working in Central London so we would have had huge housing costs and long commute and I would have had to continue working.
Here in Atlanta we have a reasonable size 3 bed house (no mortgage) in a gated community with tennis courts and a pool. It's ITP so his commute is about 40 mins and we can afford for me to be a full time stay at home mum to the Minichog.

However If the work situation was to radically change and we had little/no health insurance I think my grass would look a lot less green.

Lx

DexterBerkeley

I'm not married to a USC but don't have any intention of moving back to the UK.

There is stuff we (Mrs B and I) miss about the UK but also lots to like over here, I don't really see one as better than the other, just different. One things is that career opportunities for us both are better in the US which means both working one something more fulfilling and also more cash.

We are in Boston at the moment, but I see that changing with a move to the Bay Area in California in the medium term. Long term we may end up back in the UK, but then I don't really know what we will want in 5-10 years let alone 20 or more.

WEBlue

This describes me to a tee.

I do miss the beauty of the countryside where I used to live in England, and I especially miss that much-loved family members could hop on a train or bus and be with us in an hour. That's a real ache.

But here in the US we have a house we could never, never have afforded in that wonderful part of England. Here, there's room for those British family members to come and stay for weeks with us. And I can look out my kitchen window at acres of natural forest, or walk down the street to a woods footpath. We're slowly settling in, and if all goes well don't plan to move again....

Pupsiecola

Thanks everyone. It's just good to read that it does work out for some people. We don't have close family and when we lived in Asia last year we weren't really all that homesick. Only for things like a non-tropical climate, variety of scenery (we lived in Singapore), more living space than our tiny 3 bed condo would allow (which cost the same in rental as the 5 bed detached house we are currently renting).

My husband could pretty easily get a transfer with his company who are a US based household name globally. We could go to San Fran or Seattle, perhaps Boston. It would be a step up and he's more than ready for that.

The issue we keep coming back to is getting school right for our two boys, having had it go horribly wrong in Asia.

Thanks though for your encouraging posts.

Sally Redux

You title sort of only asks for replies from people who love it here, though.

Pulaski

Yeah, well I know where to point her if she wants contrary opinions.

ScousePete

I think a lot can depend on where you settle and how open you are to embracing a new culture.

I've been here for 18 years now and have lived in 7 states, moving with work. Each one of them has had their pros and cons, and none of them are the UK (although Boston was close), but it's what you make of it and you'll get out as much as you put in. There will most likely be home-sickness, usually around years 2-4, but it wears off.

I enjoy going back to the UK to visit, but would probably not move back.

SultanOfSwing

Interesting one for me, this (can't guarantee for anyone else though ...)

When I moved here as the fiancé of an American, I wasn't under any illusions regarding the permanence of the move. Back then, living in the UK wouldn't have been practical and now it's just downright financial suicide, for us anyway.

That being said, while I won't say I 'love' it (truth be told I never would have said I 'loved' living in the UK before I had even been here) I do now like it. Even though as recently as 18 months ago I'd have probably told you I hated it.

No idea what happened, I just all of a sudden thought it really isn't too bad here and just stopped being a whiny poofter and got on with it

I think what helped was the realisation that going septic on a few things didn't mean I had to let go of all my Britishness either. Now I'm enjoying the best of both worlds, I suppose.

Nutek

This, really.

The only thing that DOES worry me here, looking forward, is the thought of retirement and what it might mean if one of us has health problems.

I know Mrs. H. is standing in the wings to help wheel me into the hospital, but unless you have a huge wedge of cash, I'm honestly not sure how people cope.

Bink

I'm with you on retirement and it's possible that we would look to move to the UK to retire (every time we visit the UK my wife wants to move there). Between healthcare and property tax (here in Houston at least) it would still be pretty expensive to retire here.

SultanOfSwing

I don't know what the hell I'm going to do about that either. Maybe we'll move to Mexico or something