I spent 3 weeks right at the end of my 20 month rtw in the UK. Getting in was not fun, but I did. So not only had I been out of the US for over a year and a half, I didn't have a job. I told the IO that I was visiting my boyfriend, he called him and my now df was rude to the IO and replied that I was a friend. It made me look really silly. The IO was just rude as well. When he asked why I would be going home after this leg of my rtw I told him that I haven't seen my parents in almost two years and that I missed them and would never miss two Christmases in a row. His reply was that if it didn't matter to me last year, why would it matter this year. This is the point where I got defensive and asked him why I would would spend $500 on a one way return ticket (I flew Ryanair from Greece to get into the UK) if I didn't plan on using it. He just when pfft, $500 that's nothing! It might have been my "I didn't work two jobs for three years and save all my money for this trip just to throw $500 away."
I got a stamp that allowed me to stay the 20 days only, not the normal 6 months. I didn't care, as I was planning on leaving and did leave the day I said that I would. In hind sight I should have brought a print out of my bank account and when he asked me what I planned to do during my stay I shouldn't have starred at him blankly, but rather have shown him the itinerary I'd written for myself a couple of weeks before. I had just forgotten about it.
Now I come prepared and am actually going in about 10 days. During my last entrance the IO asked to see the letter from my boss and my exit ticket. She was perfectly nice and I did ask what I should bring in the future and she told me that because I offered everything up front she felt that she didn't need to see as much. I'll have all the same stuff this time around, plus the contracts I have for our wedding. It's still nerve racking, but I think that its all in my head.
