Does anyone prefer life in the UK to the US?

This statement best summarises why I prefer life in the UK to the US.

Nice! I'm a lip balm addict too. Just had a friend send me some Juicy Fruit lip balm from Canada.  I have a nice sized collection. 

What part of Texas are you from?  Austin here.

Nice! I'm a lip balm addict too. Just had a friend send me some Juicy Fruit lip balm from Canada.  I have a nice sized collection.  

What part of Texas are you from?  Austin here.

Haha, that's funny.  I sometimes have nightmares about being stranded somewhere without my lip balm and my lips shrivelling up.

I was born in Corpus Christi, went to Texas A&M in College Sta(gna)tion and lived in Dallas and Houston for a few years each.

People in the UK think I'm weird for this, but I *love* the weather in London and I never ever complain about it.  

I do miss Tex-Mex and Chick-fil-A.

You should be so lucky...

It was meant in jest, but I suppose that would be miscarried here.

Haha, that's funny.  I sometimes have nightmares about being stranded somewhere without my lip balm and my lips shrivelling up.

LOL I've had similar nightmares. I keep lip balm on my bedside table. I have to put it on right before going to sleep. I've kept my husband up some nights helping me search for a lost tube of lip balm because I can't sleep without it.

It is really all about where you live, isn't it? Because the list above includes lots of the things I didn't like about the US! 

True! If I had lived in, let's say, NYC, as opposed to a mid-size MidWest city, then I'd probably be used to it! I did like Glasgow when I studied here back in 2002, but it just seems different now. I think it's the realities of living here as an adult, instead of the fun lifestyle I had as a student, that has changed my mind. 

LOL I've had similar nightmares. I keep lip balm on my bedside table. I have to put it on right before going to sleep. I've kept my husband up some nights helping me search for a lost tube of lip balm because I can't sleep without it.

I've done that too!!  I cannot sleep without it and will get up in the middle of the night and reapply it if necessary.

Maybe I should start a lip balm addict's thread, LOL

I do miss Tex-Mex and Chick-fil-A.

ME three!~ I am from Austin as well and I could kill for some chuy's and trudy's!

Hm... this is a really hard question for me, honestly.

I should like the UK better, for most of the reasons people have mentioned; better transport, historical/cultural interest, food & drink, free healthcare (important for me as I have chronic conditions), political values closer to my own.  Plus, of course, there's the whole part where I get to be with my husband. That's kind of a big deal.

The problem is that the particular corner of the U.K. that we live in just has almost none of those advantages, but does have some of the disadvantages that Bluegrass Lass mentioned (i.e. sectarianism).  Combined with the utter lack of any job opportunities, I have to say that, if I could take my husband and dog with me, I'd move back to the U.S.

Though, I have to admit, I'd move just about anywhere else in the U.K., too.  It's just that, in our situation, moving to Inverness would be just about as complicated as moving back to Wisconsin.

For instance, s some of you know, I love to do long distance hiking and somehow I have managed to land myself in the least hiking-ish area of the UK.  SIGH!  We keep getting those books about walks in the UK and every.single.one. has the same three walks for our county and they are ALL far away from where we are. Even the areas that have long distance paths usually involve some road walking (with no sidewalks, on the side of a 60 mph road, fun times!)

If I could I would move back to NH and the Whites in a flat minute.  But alas, here I am.  So we drive to get to some good walking areas. 

Yes! 

Bookgrl, move to Yorkshire! 

Sheffield is only a few miles away from the Peak district. Can even get there by BUS

ME three!~ I am from Austin as well and I could kill for some chuy's and trudy's!

Amen sister! The real Chuy's at Barton Springs is the bestest. I miss the creamy jalapeno sauce and Tres Leches cake with extra leche.    

I do miss Tex-Mex and Chick-fil-A.

I was thinking just yesterday how much I missed local sandwich shops - hoagies/subs/whatever they call them in any particular corner of the US. Every city, heck every neighborhood, I ever lived in back in the States always had a mom & pop sandwich shop or two where you could get a sub and a pack of Lays. Subway doesn't really count. 

 Like how much nicer driving is over there (to me), the roads, signage, etc - I just hate driving here & I wonder if I'll ever grow to like it, whereas I loved driving in the US. 

I agree with that one.  But what I do like is that I don't have to drive in the UK.  It would be useful sometimes but we managed to get around pretty well with no vehicle before.

Your husband still lives in the same area, yes?  In the five years I have lived here the next village along has gone from a bus every 15 minutes, to one every 30, to one once an hour, to now zero.   

It is over a four lane road with no real way to cross, so it is basically cut off which sucks for everyone who bought there thinking there would be transport.

Yes, BD's husband lives here in Leeds - there's lots & lots of buses, not always on time or reliable, but they do generally come often.  Plus trains as well.

DH and I use public transport to/from work in city centre, and we can walk from our house to most of our local shops & services - which is why I don't get that much practice driving.

However, the car does come in handy for when we want to get out into the countryside (not so regular buses, if any), going on some of the holidays we do, and also when we go to visit his parents in rural Norfolk - getting there would be an all day affair by public transport vs 3-4 hours in the car.  Plus we could only get as far as Norwich, and then it'd be taxi or someone would have to come & collect us.  If push came to shove, we could give up our car, but we'd be a little more limited in some of the stuff we do from time to time.

I like not feeling like I live in the car anymore (like it seemed that I did sometimes in the US - needing it for everything), but I do sometimes miss that feeling of freedom I had - feeling comfortable driving, which I still don't here.  I know I need more practice, but I dislike driving here so much - it's a vicious circle!

It is over a four lane road with no real way to cross, so it is basically cut off which sucks for everyone who bought there thinking there would be transport.

Our village has been bumped out of the weekly rider zone into the Mega rider area, doubling our fares (£12 to £24....which is £48 a month extra....times two for wife and I). Almost at the tipping point for buying a car. And here I thought Cambs was trying to cut congestion. Meanwhile Stagecoach owners pay themselves £15 million bonus. No it ain't perfect.