Having lived here a long time - LOVE IT!!

I posted this same message in link that is on-going so it is rapidly disappearing, and I thought it would be a good idea if new people and also British forum friends could read my experience and viewpoint - for a balanced picture.
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As I said previously I am one of those who after 16 years here...when my husband died I chose to stay here. My kids were born here and were 9 and 12 then (this is now 16 years ago), I had a good job, close friends, good neighbours, and knew my way around and through the welfare system. and knew my kids and myself were very well off here....good job, big house, gorgeous neighbourhood, good schools. My children had friends here they had grown up with. Also, they (and I) were and are very close to their grandparents and aunt and uncle and cousins in Aberdeen. I knew we were well off under the NHS (particularly at the time....before it was run down) and my kids would get a free university education and grants - they did. they both got their degrees before grants were cut and tuition fees introduced). If I returned to the States it would have to be to where I got a job and that could have been a long way away from my family....to a town or city where we knew no one.... so seemed not a good idea to uproot. Besides these practical considerations, I loved it here and still do. I think the quality of life is better here. When I say quality of life I do not mean material things. Although for material things, I have never gone without. I had washers and driers and fridges and freezers and dishwashers and showers (even a power shower! Yes, you can get them!) from the beginning and the beginning was in 1970!  
I love America too and my family over there. I have been fortunate. My kids too! We used to go over every summer for the 6 weeks school break. So my kids got to know their American grandparents, and aunts and uncles and cousins and my cousins  and their children very well....as if they had grown up together and they are all close now. They know and love Knoxville Tennessee and also Rural Retreat Virginia as well as me. When I started working, they used to fly over by themselves as unaccompanied minors. My family has visited over here a lot. My parents used to come every other year for a long visit. So they feel they have benefited too.
People often ask me if I would like to go back to the States to live, and I say "No, my home is here." Now that my father is nearly 94 I travel back twice a year to be with him. I'm lucky to be able to do that. Also, ironically, my daughter lived in Hawaii these past 3 years, met and married Eric out there (we went to the wedding. Lovely!!) and now they have both come here to live. Alison has returned and Eric has come!! A Hawaiian in England!! So far he loves it! ?  
I now live in Cornwall which is one of the most beautiful parts of the country!!! come see it!!
Susan

Hats off to you Susan !!!!!  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

I applaude you for posting a positive story about living here. Everyones stories and experiences will always vary but I agree the great experiences here need to be right up front with the bad...Heck maybe even directly in front of them so as not to totally scare people  

Bravo my dear.
Red

I agree with Red!  As someone who is planning on making the move in four months, it is so nice to see such a refreshing post.  Thanks for sharing your story Susan!  It really lifts the spirits of the soon-to-be expats!  Cheers!

Oh Yes Susan...  I love hearing the positives of life in England...  it is very comforting for me that has yet to make the final move.

Thanks!
Michele

Susan,

Thanks so much for saying some of the things I have been feeling for the past week or so.  I have had a look at the postings recently, but didn't want to reply to many of them as there were quite a few that seemed so negative and didn't have any relation to the way I feel.  It was really starting to make me feel a bit sad and angry, but reading your posting today has put me back on track.

I too love living here!  Yes, there were certainly lots of differences that I had to get used to, but different doesn't mean worse.  And I think there are so many things about living here that are fantastic.  I'm glad that you made your home here - I know I have, and I'm happy with my decision.  It doesn't mean that I don't like America, or that I would never go back.  All it means is that I like it here and have done what I need to to make this my home.

Thanks again Susan!  Perhaps I'll see you next time I'm in Cornwall.

Susan,

Thanks so much for saying some of the things I have been feeling for the past week or so.  I have had a look at the postings recently, but didn't want to reply to many of them as there were quite a few that seemed so negative and didn't have any relation to the way I feel.  It was really starting to make me feel a bit sad and angry, but reading your posting today has put me back on track.

I too love living here!  Yes, there were certainly lots of differences that I had to get used to, but different doesn't mean worse.  And I think there are so many things about living here that are fantastic.  I'm glad that you made your home here - I know I have, and I'm happy with my decision.  It doesn't mean that I don't like America, or that I would never go back.  All it means is that I like it here and have done what I need to to make this my home.

Thanks again Susan!  Perhaps I'll see you next time I'm in Cornwall.

Now that would be nice!!! If you are in Bristol, it isn't really very far!! I'm glad you are happy with living here too.
Susan

I occassionally get down your way to see some friends in St Tudy.  I'll let you know next time I'm heading down to Cornwall. (and I would recommend to anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to visit Cornwall - it really is beautiful, and about the only place in the UK (aside from the Gower peninsula) which has beaches to compare to those in the US.)

Happy, upbeat, positive postings in the Expat Life section......man oh man, Mindy's going to faint when she see's this thread  

Nice work ladies, can't tell you how good it is to see this.

Red

Happy, upbeat, positive postings in the Expat Life section......man oh man, Mindy's going to faint when she see's this thread  

This made me so happy that I made this a sticky topic!
As we say in my house, Susan is top of my Hit Parade!

Good for you!

I occassionally get down your way to see some friends in St Tudy.  I'll let you know next time I'm heading down to Cornwall. (and I would recommend to anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to visit Cornwall - it really is beautiful, and about the only place in the UK (aside from the Gower peninsula) which has beaches to compare to those in the US.)

Elle and I are definitely going to Cornwall at some point soon, I think that Elle's seen only 7 of the UK's county's (so far; Essex, Kent, Surrey, Wiltshire, Northfolk, Suffolk and leicestershire)  Although, we haven't really seen that much of the surrounding countryside and sights of each county's features.

Devon, Cornwall and Somerset are definitely going to be visited, as these are the three county's with some of the oldest features in the UK; Glastonbury, Stonehenge, Avebury and many others.

We are thinking about moving to England (work related and change of pace) and you sound like an expert living there for so long already. I have spent alot of time trying to get as much information about moving to England but it just seems like it is so expensive and the cost of living so high . How do people make it form day to day.              Thanks    Cad

Cad, I can understand your concerns. Coming to an unknown is always a risk...but if seen as an adventure, you've already crossed that threshhold with an attiude leading to success. And if it didn't work? It's a valuable life lesson. It's another one to tell the grandkids.

I'll share my own experience...

My quality of life has improved since moving here. Although I didn't have it all that bad before I came across, and moved to a situation where it wasn't too unlike what I left, my husband and I have worked hard together to make that happen.

"You can never get rich working for someone else." That addage is true anywhere. And although we are not rich, we do have the luxury of being able to run our own business the way we want. Me being American, and my husband being open minded and more than just slightly quirky (it helps tremendously that we have the same business philosophy and both work our butts off), we are not your normal business people in this country. And by virtue of being just the two of us, we can do things that larger corporations can't because we don't have red tape and we don't need a committee to decide. It works for us. And when last year's trend turned the comuter industry on its ear, and the prediction that contract workers are going to lose out this year, we've only increased our business steadily.

Why? Because we offer something unique. Because we believe in what we do and our enthusiasm shows. Because our customers become an extension of our family because we treat them that way. And, because we do this on a small island...where you take land about the area of Florida, plus a bit of Georgia, and you place incredibly talented people all around so that you can't help but rub elbows with the extraordinary. And then you ask questions and listen.

We also do what we can to give back to the community. We not only use local services where we can, but we encourage our customers to do the same. It gets noticed. And it gets appreciated.

I am so blessed doing what I do because I feel we make a difference, and I feel we get noticed. I couldn't feel that in Florida, where it was only 1/50th of a part of the whole thing.

You may think that London is the only place this can happen. It's the only place where money can be made. Let me dispell a rumour. People from London come to us...all the way out to this little town in the tourist county of Wiltshire.

An important lesson in life is to make yourself the big fish in a small ocean. You get noticed and you become needed by other people. The other lesson is to do what makes you happy.

I may not be the one to answer this question, since I've lived most of what I consider my adult life (kids, mortgage, cat) in the UK, so have nothing to compare it with really.  But I have noticed differences with my sister lifestyles (in the US) and with mine.  I think living in the UK, we spend less money on big things.  We've been a one car family for many years, which is considered quite normal.  When we did have two cars, the second was just a little run around.   I don't have a yard full of lil tikes stuff or giant jungle gyms.  They had things like playstations and gas grills years before we did.  We also don't spend as much on convenience food-I tend to cook pretty basic stuff from scratch.  We certainly don't eat out as much.  We go to Mcdonalds maybe once or twice a month.  We take the kids to the cinema only during school holidays- every six weeks or so.  So all in all, I guess we cut out alot of luxuries.  
I want to go on record saying that I do NOT consider this to be a hardship.  It's a difference.  You make choices about how to spend your money, just as you make choices of where to live.  You can'talways live the same life style here you'd have in the states.  But I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.  

Hi Cad... I too have lived most of my adult life in the UK, but when i compare to my own sister's life in the US, i dont really see many differences.  In fact my sister probably has LESS material stuff than i do, because they have children, so they sacrifice alot of things.
My husband and i both do basic, boring 9-5 office jobs... we are not professionals of any sort,  and we are certainly not rich!  We own our home, and we have a holiday home as well, which we did not buy, but inherited.   We only have one car (but there is no point in having 2 when only one of you has a driving licence!).  We have cable tv and broadband and all the gadgetry (hi-fi, video, mobile phones, etc) that we want.  There is no shortage of brilliant restaurants and pubs where we live... the only reason we dont go out more is that we dont like to leave our dog alone for too long! (He's our 'child'!)
I have both a reasonable sized fridge/freezer and a tumble dryer in my open plan kitchen.  (The only reason i mention this is that the size of fridges and the lack of space for dryers are common complaints from Americans in the UK.  It needn't be a problem if you plan ahead when you are house-hunting, and avoid buying / renting a house that doesnt fit your needs or what you want to put in it!)

We are in our 40's,  have no savings and live paycheque to paycheque, but we're not bothered about that.  We do what makes us happy,  and we dont find that we have to scrimp or make sacrifices.  
As Mindy said, maybe i'm not the best to answer the question cos i dont have alot to compare it to, having been here SO long.  But I do know that my quality of life is better than it was before i emigrated, and i would be willing to venture that its better than my sister's and most of my friends back in the US.

Good luck to you.