"Life in the US is easier; life in the UK is more interesting" -- Discuss

Someone said this to me not long ago, and I have been mulling it over since.

Obviously you'd have to start with the usual caveats about it being impossible to generalise and there are exceptions on both sides and it all depends on the area where you live and what your living situation is like, etc. But still, I would say that on the whole I would agree with the statement.

Life in the US does seem, in retrospect, ridiculously 'easy' -- lower cost of living, people easier to meet and talk to, far less traffic, far more parking, better customer service, etc. On bad days here, I do miss all that stuff, particularly the affordability: my wife and I are both lucky enough to be earning at/near the top of our potential in the UK, and yet somehow we are just about getting by, whereas in the States, in the same circs, we would be saving a good deal of money at the end of each month. It's the sense of being perpetually on the back foot, as it were, that makes life here feel so difficult.

On the flipside, though, it is wonderful to be able to nose around all these little villages and discover all these country pubs and woodland walks and historical sites within a half-hour's drive of where we live. (Not to mention popping up to London on the train.) Even though there is much that I miss about the States, we were living in a stretch of the Midwest that is not particularly known for its abundance of places of interest. When I consider moving back (as I still do, often) that is the thing that most often gives me pause.

Anyway, just thought I'd start a discussion on this topic, and see what people had to contribute.

I don't know. If you wanted to be fair, you'd probably have to compare Iowa or Missouri to the Midlands, not London.

I've lived here for over 15 years. Honestly? I think you make your own life interesting. The opportunities are there in both countries.

I have to agree with britwit, I think it's up to the individual whether they make their life interesting or not. 

Right now, I'd have to say my life was more interesting in the states, mostly because I had a car, job, lots of people I knew, lived 10 minutes away from a big city (Minneapolis).

Here, I'm still working on piecing a new life together so it's not exactly thrilling at times.  Also Bournemouth is quite a bit smaller than where I came from.  Both places have their positives and negatives in both aspects.

In general, I don't think the UK is a more interesting place than the US or vice versa.  There's so much to see and do in both places, in the states you just might have to drive a little further 

Or even the highlands of Scotland.  And they have different things of interest.  Does anything compare on a natural scale to Yellowstone?  But then the UK has interesting older cities. 

My life in the US was definitely not easy, and much less easy than my life in the UK.  I must have had a far different experience than a lot of you, because for me, living in the US meant constant worry about making ends meet (teachers don't get paid much no matter where they live), paying bills, getting sick (no insurance so no medical treatment), transport (no car), yet having to drive everywhere because the distances were unwalkable, plus people treated you like a freak if you walked anywhere, pressure to achieve, judgement if you were not ambitious, pressure to justify your expensive education by getting a high paying job, judgement if you didn't make much money, etc etc etc.  I find the UK far easier in all respects, and even though I don't earn very much, proportionally I'm making as much as I could expect at a similar job in the US, only here it's more fulfilling and more dependable.  I can't even begin to gauge how much better and happier I feel here than I ever did there. 

Although I have to say that of all the places I've lived, Japan was by far the easiest from a financial standpoint, in terms of income versus cost of living, plus it's safe, clean, organised, convenient, and also historical and interesting.  It's like the best of the UK and the best of the US together.  On the other hand, the language and the culture are both extremely difficult to penetrate, so in that respect it wasn't easy at all.  Still, if for some reason I ever had to leave the UK, I wouldn't go back to the US, I'd go back to Japan.   

I think an argument could be made for living on either side and if it's easier or not. Yes, it's easier for me to afford "things" in the US ... house (which we were able to own over there, but not over here), petrol, consumer goods. And yes, that can make life easier if I choose to make life about the material things. But what wasn't easier stateside was booking holiday time, especially when in my first year of employment at a job I didn't get any holiday time at all! Mine and the Husband's commute times are a whole lot easier as well! Gone are the days of 2-2.5 hour commutes one way! And I'm certainly having an easier time affording my medical care in the UK (but I really can't afford my taxes here! lol) and I don't have to hold off on going to the doctor until pay day because my $50 copay is too big of a hit to the wallet.

For me easier isn't always about the quantity. (big house, things to fill up the big house, new cars, etc). It's about the quality of the time I have left here on earth and I want to enjoy that remaining time! (lots of holiday time, appreciation of the simpler things in life, appreciating things rather than feeling entitled to them) Let's face it, we are going to have to work our butts of regardless of where we live because for most of us things aren't just going to be handed to us. Easier is what you make of it. Just my opinion.

I suppose if by easy you mean convenient, and by convenient you mean never having to get out of your car to do anything, from banking to getting prescriptions to buying food to buying booze, yep, the US is easier. But for the all the reasons Historyenne stated, I don't think the US is easy in other ways.

I agree with most everyone here as far as the easier aspect goes.  I especially like what CuppyCake said.  As far as interesting--I lived in a very big, diverse, culturally happening city which is more interesting than Leeds.  But that's not the only gauge of interesting.  I'm loving living in the UK and find the history very interesting as well as the countryside, etc.

I am not a material girl and do not want a big house and lots of stuff--all that stresses me out so "the American dream" isn't what I aspire to anyway.

Conveniently, I chose to live in places in the US that were walkable.  I moved 9 times in 11 years.  I drove so little when I opened my gas tank there was a wasp's nest.

It was a priority for me.  You pay your money and all that.

I was in Americorps and earned less than 11,000 a year and still did what I wanted to do, including trips overseas.  I had a 15 year old car and almost never bought new clothes and hung out with non-Americorps people.  I never felt any pressure to keep up with the Joneses and I doubt anyone really cares what other people are or are not buying.

Conveniently, I chose to live in places in the US that were walkable.  I moved 9 times in 11 years.  I drove so little when I opened my gas tank there was a wasp's nest.

It was a priority for me.  You pay your money and all that.

I was in Americorps and earned less than 11,000 a year and still did what I wanted to do, including trips overseas.  I had a 15 year old car and almost never bought new clothes and hung out with non-Americorps people.  I never felt any pressure to keep up with the Joneses and I doubt anyone really cares what other people are or are not buying.

I hope you didn't think I was being anti living in America.  I had a similar situation to you--walked everywhere (or took the bus or train or subway), made very little money and still was able to squirrel it away so I could travel (that's how I met my now hubby).  I lived in fairly crappy places with low-ish rent.  When I was married for a few years we still lived very thriftily but in a bit better places (it's always a bit easier with two living together as opposed to being on your own).

No no, but like I said some people would rather have a big yard, so that means not living in a city which means you will be farther away from stuff.  I'd rather be able to walk so I lived in smaller places or with roommates.    

Life is a trade off.  My husband only wants a house with land.  UGH! He grew up in Suffolk with only a small post office with a 30 minute a trip to small grocery store and 45 minutes to a reasonable sized one.  Not my idea of fun.

Two is much easier than one. 

No no, but like I said some people would rather have a big yard, so that means not living in a city which means you will be farther away from stuff.  I'd rather be able to walk so I lived in smaller places or with roommates.    

Life is a trade off.  My husband only wants a house with land.  UGH! He grew up in Suffolk with only a small post office with a 30 minute a trip to small grocery store and 45 minutes to a reasonable sized one.  Not my idea of fun.

Two is much easier than one. 

Life is a trade-off indeed. 

I suppose if by easy you mean convenient, and by convenient you mean never having to get out of your car to do anything, from banking to getting prescriptions to buying food to buying booze, yep, the US is easier. But for the all the reasons Historyenne stated, I don't think the US is easy in other ways.

This is pretty much how I feel.

As for "easy," my personal cost of living is lower here, people are easier to meet and talk to here, there's less traffic here, etc.

I find topics like this really hard to cope with, to be honest. Everyone's going to have a different answer and each of those answers is valid. As the OP said, it's impossible to generalise. So ... doesn't that make this thread sort of impossible?

I never felt any pressure to keep up with the Joneses and I doubt anyone really cares what other people are or are not buying.

Unfortunately, this was not my experience in my American suburban experience in the various places I lived. A fine example of that stupid keeping up with the Joneses mentality is that the Husband and I were gifted with a nice wooden play set for our children by my parents. Within a week, three other neighbors had to go out and buy bigger and better Rainbow playsets (an expensive brand) for their children. It was like that with EVERYTHING! Someone on the block got a new car, so did the same 3 or 4 people who had to compete with everything. It was amusing on some levels, but annoying and unreal!

I have to agree, CuppyCake.  I think some people really are that materialistic.  My experience was sort of the opposite.  I was looked at funny for *not* having.  Not having a car, not owning a home, not having a cell phone (at the time), not having a TV or DVD player.  Most of my friends were total liberal hippy artsy people, they weren't the ones, but others were more judgmental--including my own parents!