park99

Thanks very much for all of your replies for my previous post regarding the possible move to CA.
Now when things are getting more real, I start feeling itchy. I am worried about:

• the safety in US, gun violence in particular; school shooting
• the youth problem, drugs...
• no security net to fall back on...
• leaving friends and well settled familiar life behind; I am not sure how long it will take for us to build same level of community and comfort in CA...
• This might be odd, but I start missing Europe terribly already. I really enjoy visiting Europe and it's so easy when you are in UK. There won't be the same level of culture and history to explore in US. I am gonna miss all these.

For those of you who took the courage and made the move, how did you convince yourself it's the right move? I guess I need some confidence and help to put things into perspective.
Thanks !

Nutmegger

OK, I'll bite. Bad things can happen anywhere in the world; none of us has any control over that. There's something horrible happening somewhere every day of the year.

Of course there is history and culture in the US. It's just a different history, which doesn't make it any less interesting. The US has world-class museums, operas, ballets, etc. in city after city across the country.

And like many on BE, I didn't have to "convince myself" to move -- I wanted to!

lansbury

scrubbedexpat097

My opinion is stop over thinking. It's normal to panic a bit when any big change happens in your life.
Look at it as a temporary experience and try to enjoy the adventure. It may be you want to stay forever, who knows! There will be blips, there will be anxiety but there will also be fun times, new experiences, new friends.
Just try and look at the positives and take it day by day. Lots of us have had the same fears but have worked through it.

tom169

Found the pros outweighed the con. Made the decision to start married life in the USA rather than the UK.

sarasota chic

Pulaski

I agree with this.
And this.
And this.

I would make one comment about your concerns about guns and shootings, the media rarely the point that is painfully obvious to those with their feet on the ground in the US, that shootings in the US are heavily compartmentalized both geographically and ethnically. While geographic and ethnic compartmentalizations significantly overlap ("black neighborhoods" and "Hispanic neighborhoods" are very much a reality), I make the point that they are separate because even when shootings spill over from one geographic compartment into another, the shootings often remain ethnically segregated. In short, the risk of being shot to most Americans in low crime areas, is very low, and not one that I spend much time even thinking about, much less worrying about. To which I would add the footnote: there is a significant exception of being shot by a family member or acquaintance.

civilservant

I agree with the above - bad things happen to good people all the time, and the reality is you are far more likely to die in a car wreck then you are being shot by a stranger. The whole 'gun' thing is overblown (says he as a multiple gun owner) since it is very likely that most of the people you will interact are likely to be 'responsible' gun owners.

Pulaski makes an excellent point (as always)

Pulaski

Thank you.

I should have noted that, for all practical purposes, I am not a gun owner (I have a 20-gauge single shot shotgun, that I bought for dealing with copperheads and have only ever fired three times), so I am not writing as a defensive gun owner.

scrubbedexpat099

Begs the question how you feel about knife crime in the UK, obviously many other aspects of what is happening in the Uk could be focused on.

spouse of scouse

The OP's moving to the US so is asking questions about the US. What's the UK got to do with that?

scrubbedexpat099

I assume the OP was going from Media reports, i was just showing the reverse.

civilservant

I think Boiler actually makes a good point - do you worry about knife crime in the UK? If not, gun violence is really no more prevalent in the US when considering the comparable populations of the UK and the US.

Pulaski

I agree, with you, that Boiler makes a valid and pertinent point.

Pulaski

On to another of Park99's questions - "youth and drugs". I doubt that is much different from the UK, except to the extent that some states have legalized marijuana, so in those states drugs have become an overt issue, not a covert one.

Drugs, as an issue are, exactly as per the UK, highly compartmentalized - if you don't partake then the availability if illegal narcotics has very little impact on life in the US. That said drugs are certainly widely available, if you want them.

In fact the previously discussed (Above) issue of guns means that petty burglary to fund a drug habit is not even this issue it is in the UK, because most would-be burglars know that if they break into a home there is a pretty good chance that they will be shot by the homeowner.