What are Brits missing?

Hi

This is a great board and helped me understand some differences in culture and life between US/UK and my LDR.

For those of you who have experienced life there for a while, my question is that if someone is born in England, what would they gain by moving to the US, as in standards of living / day to day life?  I know there are differences but is US life the best (how would his life be improved), or are there no real benefits/reasons why a Brit would want to move?   I guess I know it's a personal question too but just interested.

Thanks. Happy 4th July 

THE COST OF PROPERTY!!!!!  Obviously it varies from state to state, but a dollar can buy so much more on the property market than a pound.  My parents (in NC) bought a 5 bedroom victorian on a large piece of land last year for about £90K.  Up here in Newcastle, £90K might get you a halfway decent flat.  Maybe.    As a result, DH and I are having to save to buy a house and won't be ready to do so until next summer.  If we were back in the US (or NC, at least), I'm confident that we would already be homeowners.

The longer I live here, the more I see that neither way of life is best.  There are aspects of the US that I'll always find superior to the UK, but there are now parts of UK life that I'd like to see integrated over in the US.  It's just a matter of finding that balance, I think.

And to me, the property thing isn't an issue because I don't want to live in the US again - so they could be giving houses away and it wouldn't mean anything to me! 

And to me, the property thing isn't an issue because I don't want to live in the US again - so they could be giving houses away and it wouldn't mean anything to me! 

Ooh, no, not that we're planning on moving back -- I just tend to compare the prices...houses are the one thing I can't stop coverting from pounds to dollars! 

Hi Lola, thanks for your speedy reply     I agree that prices of property from what I've seen are crazy there, and gas prices too!  Would you mind sharing a couple of those things that you find superior in the US, or what you'd introduce from UK?  Thanks again - been helpful

Well, I think it's all subjective...what I find good about the US might be what drove someone else to leave it....

Still, in the US, I think that healthcare is better (or at least seems to be more organised and patient-centered).  Life, in general, was more convenient in the US for me...stores are open longer, etc.  People are friendlier (or, again, it might just be my experience as a Southerner).  The job market is less competitive.  Above all, my family is there! 

I like how mothers are treated in the UK -- I like that pregnancy is midwife-led (it's the actual hospital birth that I'm afraid of!).  I like that the decision to be a stay at home mom is generally more "acceptable" here.  I like the general layout of cities -- I like how each little suburb has its own high street.  Generally, I just like the quaintness of the UK.

But again, that's just based on my experience.  Someone from LA now living in a little village in the middle of nowhere might have a totally different opinion.

Well I have to agree with Lola on everything being expensive.   You can definitely buy MUCH more appealing property in the US for much, much less and live more comfortably. Bigger houses, more privacy (you're not practically living in your neighbours' gardens either), and less crowded living situations. Petrol is another huge expense, and so are many other things, which has been one of the bigger downers since I got here. Because of the cost of living, unless you're very well off, there is much less choice in where you can actually afford to live. Sure, there are beautiful areas, but it's pretty hard to afford living there so you'll probably just have to visit. More likely than not you'll have to live in less than ideal situations than you were probably used to back in the US. I think Brits are also missing out on good customer service and convenience, which seems to be the expected norm in America. There are many things I've found have put me at frustrating inconveniences here that probably wouldn't have been the case in the States. And people are friendlier in the US in my experience as well (and I'm from New England!) and seem happier overall (of course there are exceptions). On a less serious note, they're also missing out on good weather, especially in the winter -- which can be very long, dark and depressing. I agree though there are some things the US is missing out on that the Brits have (I agree about pregnancy, and I think it's great people do more walking, etc). My British SO has seen the US quite a few times, has seen the quality of life and the convenience, and really wants to live there eventually because he thinks we'll do much better in the end. I know that's not the case with everyone -- I think many Brits are comfortable with what they're used to and therefore probably don't want to leave the UK, but it's really all down to your personal preferences. Not everyone's going to agree on what's ideal for them.

Thanks for expanding Lola.

Lola and Peedal - I love your stories and the whole "How Did It All Begin??" thread     

At the start of your relationships wouldn't you have preferred for him to move to US rather than you move to UK?  Leaving family/friends/what you know behind will usually always be hard, so I'm trying not to have that in the equation - just from an overall "where is life best" view. I agree it's subjective but isn't life "just better" in US? That's not meant to sound arrogant which is why I put it in quotes 

Thanks you all for your help 

I moved here based on finances.  I was teaching in the US, which meant my income was pretty crap.  DH was more established in his career and was making better money, so it made sense for me to come here.  Also, he's a journalist and does some radio work, so we weren't sure how his accent would play in NC or how his skills would be received.

Well, if my husband had moved to the US, he would have had to leave his family/friends/what he knew behind - so it wouldn't have been any more "fair."

My quality of life in the UK is far better than it was in the US.  But that's my experience.  In my mind, there was never any question that the boys and I would move here to the UK.  I knew I would adjust better to the UK than my husband would have to the US.

US = Urban Sprawl.  Blech.

I have experienced good and bad customer service on both sides of the Atlantic.  That doesn't make or break my quality of life, really. 

I don't miss 24-stores and the culture that surrounds them.  I don't miss having to get in the car to get milk or bread.  I don't miss working 10 minutes away from home as the crow flies - but 45 minutes as the car drives...

I don't miss the work-a-holic attitude.  I don't miss not having any real holiday time.   

I don't miss obnoxious tourists who seem to think that I *owe* them anything because they decide to holiday where I have to live all the time, clogging up my roads and shops and restaurants and banks and everything - simply because they drop a few dollars in industries I didn't have anything to do with.  (I don't live in London, mind - I can't stand the tourists there either when I go into the City!)

I don't miss having fast food 4 nights out of 7 because I'm too damn tired to cook because of the time and energy it takes to drive from work to home.  I don't miss row upon row of *fake* juice and cheese and meal "helpers."  I don't miss TOO MUCH choice, which I find now sends me into a deer-in-the-headlights type of panic.

I don't miss feeling like I'm a bad person because I don't feel like telling the grocery clerk my entire life story whilst she's ringing up my shopping.  I'm there to buy food - not to socialise with someone I don't know.  I don't miss feeling like I have to be polite and open with every single stranger I encounter in a day.

I don't miss the huge portions of food at restaurants, making a meal out feel like an all-you-can-eat contest.

I could go on and on and on.  Lola and Honeybee are right - it's all very personal.  To me, life was never "just better" in the US.  I have never regretted this move.

THE COST OF PROPERTY!!!!!  Obviously it varies from state to state, but a dollar can buy so much more on the property market than a pound.

Where I lived in the US, property prices were the same as those in the UK, so moving back wouldn't make a difference in that respect. Petrol prices, however, certainly are MUCH higher over here!! But I can't think of any other advantages, and saving money on gas isn't enough to make me move back! 

I couldn't agree more, peedal.  Well said!

Thanks for your replies everyone.... I guess it's hard to understand why you would want to leave US, for example don't you miss the freedoms we have in the US?

Thanks for your replies everyone.... I guess it's hard to understand why you would want to leave US, for example don't you miss the freedoms we have in the US?

What 'freedoms' are you talking about that you think that are missing in the UK? That sentiment keeps popping up - "miss the freedoms we have in the US" - and it sounds like you think the UK is some kind of third world country ruled by a despot and the people exist under martial law.

I guess it's hard to understand why you would want to leave US, for example don't you miss the freedoms we have in the US?

Such as?  The freedom to never have a proper holiday in my entire working life?  Or compulsory paid maternity leave?  The freedom to have an identity that has absolutely nothing to do with my job - to live in a place where when you meet someone their second question (after, 'What's your name?') is rarely, 'What do you do?'  

No, I can't say I miss some of those 'freedoms'.