Anyone else not staying in the UK permanently??

We are keeping our options fairly open at the moment.  We like it here, but we are not opposed to moving back to America either.  We decided to reassess after dh gets a few years experience in software testing.

Pretty much the same here (minus the software testing  ). We may end up staying here, moving back, or in another country entirely!

We'll most likely go to the US. Not sure if it will be permanent or not. We'll just have to see. DH will probably have better job prospects there, and, if we can be in the north east somewhere, we'll have a good network of family and friends. But health insurance, large US debt, and poor vacation time may well drive us back!

me, me, me!!!!

but that's the beauty of life, choice.

Ditto!
I'm hoppin' on a plane in October!

We are moving back to SF next June and I am counting the days. 

I don't think you have been here that long. Did you have no idea of how much you would dislike it when you moved over? 

Not being nosy, I think you are in Bristol - it's just that your posts always seem so strident in wanting to get back to the bay area....

We are moving back in a couple months and that's not soon enough!!!  We have the visa interview next week and I have been telling my husband that if for whatever reason they deny his visa I'm still moving back!  Of course, I don't know if I'd really do that and leave  him here but I do not want to stay here!

June

We are heading back in November. Its been a bit of a tough go for me over here at times. Not blaming the UK, I think we were unfortunate as to where we "landed" due to my job. Time for a change. I also need to get the "that's it, we are moving back to the states" thing out of my system, once and for all.

Also, I have been one of those who can't stop comparing my old standard of living vs. what we have over here. (Yes it drives me insane). I guess I have never truly settled but boy have I tried my hardest to do so.  

That said, I am not ruling out us never coming back. There are a lot of things that I will dearly miss.

We are moving back in a couple months and that's not soon enough!!!  We have the visa interview next week and I have been telling my husband that if for whatever reason they deny his visa I'm still moving back!  Of course, I don't know if I'd really do that and leave  him here but I do not want to stay here!

June

What if your husband hates it as much as you seem to hate living here?

We're definitely not staying permanently but are not really sure when we'll go back to the US.  We also expect to have a better standard of living in the US and want to be closer to our families.

What if your husband hates it as much as you seem to hate living here?

Well, that would be an ugly situation.  We have briefly discussed it and somehow the idea of a 3rd country came up.  As my husband always says....we'll deal with that when and if it comes up!

June

BTW, I don't hate living here, I just hate the situation I find myself in.  Perhaps if things were a bit different we wouldn't be moving.

What if your husband hates it as much as you seem to hate living here?

That has been my fear.  We have toyed with the idea of moving to the US, but will only think about trying it as a 6 month pseudo-sabbatical at first to see what DH thinks of it before committing to a full scale move.   

We're probably in it for the long haul. DH would love to live in California, but not forever and I have no interest in going back. To go back just for a bit is too disruptive - I have NO desire to ever have to uproot like that again and we're quite settled. Also we don't want kids and to have Europe in our backyard for travel is too good to let go!!!

Hopefully moving back in >2 years.  LIke most people have said here, it's about where I'd like to raise my children and a general lifestyle choice.  Perhaps I'm kidding myself, but I just think it's much cheaper to live there (we're in London here).  I also miss the seasons and the beach, but mostly my family....

I'm hoping we'll go back in two years, though my husband has a permanent contract at his job and we can stay as long as we need/want to. We're both Americans, and I have pre-existing knee problems that cause a lot of insurance hassle using my U.S. insurance over here (and I can't get private coverage here that will cover pre-existing conds). And trying to see a specialist on the NHS -- good luck with that.

I think we might look at staying longer if it weren't for the health stuff, but it would still be iffy. It costs too much to live here, and I think we'd have an overall higher quality of life in the U.S.

I don't think you have been here that long. Did you have no idea of how much you would dislike it when you moved over? 

Not being nosy, I think you are in Bristol - it's just that your posts always seem so strident in wanting to get back to the bay area....

I have been here for 18 months and thats quite long enough to decide England is not for me.  And no, I didn't know how much I would miss home when I moved here or how much I wouldn't like England period.

Like many others have said, what is good for one isn't always good for another!

To go back just for a bit is too disruptive - I have NO desire to ever have to uproot like that again and we're quite settled. Also we don't want kids and to have Europe in our backyard for travel is too good to let go!!!

That's all part of our decision as well!  I completely uprooted myself once - moving from Kansas to Florida, then again to move here.  Enough!  And we love traveling Europe.

From what DH has seen of life in the US (on visits when we were dating & since), he thinks it's really not for him.  He likes urban/suburban life, but where I lived & the places we go to visit - that means sitting in a car in traffic for hours & hours & hours on end.  He absolutely hates that with a passion & so do I.  Other than in relatively few large metropolitan areas, good public transport doesn't really exist.  (The country is just too enormous!)  He doesn't like that the country really isn't set up for walkers - very few public footpaths, open access to countryside, etc (as compared to here).  When visiting my mom, we thought we'd walk (less than 1 mile) to go out for supper - but it means taking your life in your hands, crossing busy highways (with no crosswalks!) just to get to the restaurants.

Then there are all the other annoyances - conservative politics (Dubya), right wing religion in your face at every turn, no national health care system, and a number of other things but I'll stop lest I get people all stirred up.  We most likely won't be having any children, but if we ever did - I'd sooner bring them up here than I ever would in the US.

A lot of these things are largely subjective, I realise - considering where a person came from or lived in the US, and where they are living in the UK.  I missed Tampa a lot when I moved here, but mostly for the weather & little else.  The grass for me is definitely a lot greener over here!