What are you MOST looking forward to, once you move [besides seeing loved ones]?

Moving issues seems to be a topic that is fraught with stress.  I know I'm losing my marbles here, and my move is two years off, still, so I thought I'd start a post about what everyone is looking forward to once they start their life in the UK.  Obviously, those who are going to join spouses, will mostly just be ready to see them, but I mainly mean other things.  To keep it light and cheery in a subject which is so heavy.

I'll start:

1] Scarves.  I live in Georgia and I find myself lost that I can't express my style properly because it would mean wearing more layers than appropriate for the weather.  I can't wait to be able to wear a blouse, cardi, cute jacket and a SCARF. I have enough for two months at least!

2] A smaller house.  Our house isn't massive, but it is three bedrooms, with a large office and an enclosed porch, and has a LOT of floor space, which I hate mopping Also, large houses invite more STUFF, which I don't like accumulating.

3] In addition to above, a smaller GARDEN! I just want enough room for a veggie patch and maybe a tiny patio.  I could fit a LEAST 8 larger English back gardens in my yard. Too much work.

4] Wide open English Countryside. There are A LOT of trees in Atlanta.  They are lovely, but I'm ready for a change.

5] My Daughters will get their little British Accents back When they were littler, we lived in Iowa and they picked up my husband's way of talking because he read them stories all the time.  Since we came back to GA, their family has influenced them a lot, and now it's mixed.

6] High Street Shops.  We have them here, but it's nearly a 1.5 mile walk.

7] Trains. We all love trains

8] Proximity to European continent. 'nuff said.
     In this vein, also HOLIDAY.  My husband has never had more than 3 weeks      holiday in a year, and the last two he has been on contract and had none. I miss him!

9] History all around you!

10] Tea on a cold day. It's just different there

11] Weather.  The way it feels in the Fall here in GA is my Favorite and it feels like that in England most of the year. I LOVE the rain and never tire of it, and I hate excessive heat.  It's nice for a day or two at the pool, but I can leave the rest. Also, my green eyes are very sensitive to bright sunlight. Can't WAIT!

What is everyone else looking forward to??

Besides my charming, handsome fiance....
 I'm with you on your first and last things to look forward to on the list... I love the change of seasons and I LOVE rainy weather.  I lived in So. CA for over 15 years and believe me 365 days of sun is far too much!  Plus, I have so many pretty scarves and cute jackets that I never wore in CA because I was always too hot.  I look forward to layering with scarves and jackets more than you can imagine.

My MIL doesn't understand.  Just yesterday on the phone she was whinging on about how it's gone cold while I was excited that it's going to drop down into the 70s next week   She said perhaps we should just swap places!!

Haha!  I know... it seems Autumn has already come to the UK.  Wish we were both there now!

Wren Black,

I really appreciate you writing this. As we are approaching the autumn and winter in the UK, it is easy for me to say "I wish I lived in a warmer place" or "I wish we had more space in the house." Seeing it from your perspective, wanting a smaller house/garden for less maintenance made me just realise how that is exactly all we need. Growing up with the American perspective of huge houses and tons of possessions makes it difficult to let go of those aspirations as an adult. Reading that you are looking forward to many of the things that expats complain about makes me see how lucky we are. Thank you and here's to scarves!

Once my DH and DD move back we are looking forward to:

- Large open spaces to take my DD on walks with
- Not having to explain to my DH yet again, (in the US) you can't just talk a walk on someone else's property and no you can't pick an ear of their corn!
- Not having to watch the evening news full of local gun crimes
- The village feel (DH is from a very small village and we're hoping to move to one), meeting new people
- Long weekends back to the bed & breakfast in Scotland - we have so many great memories there when we were dating
- Christmas markets - we enjoyed the one in Lille
- Not spending a fortune every year flying (and staying) from the US to France for my DH family holiday
- Finding a nice home for my DD to grow up in

- Not having to watch the evening news full of local gun crime

AMEN, Sister! I think there's more crime in Atlanta in a year than there is in the whole of the UK :/

Wren Black,

I really appreciate you writing this. As we are approaching the autumn and winter in the UK, it is easy for me to say "I wish I lived in a warmer place" or "I wish we had more space in the house." Seeing it from your perspective, wanting a smaller house/garden for less maintenance made me just realise how that is exactly all we need. Growing up with the American perspective of huge houses and tons of possessions makes it difficult to let go of those aspirations as an adult. Reading that you are looking forward to many of the things that expats complain about makes me see how lucky we are. Thank you and here's to scarves!

You are very welcome! I needed to thing about the positive myself, as anxiety and OCD makes the prospect of this move very difficult for me.  I needed to think about the good things instead of how stressful it's going to be.

AMEN, Sister! I think there's more crime in Atlanta in a year than there is in the whole of the UK :/

Yes, that's one thing that I didn't like when I lived in the US (I'm a Brit) - seeing on the news how people were being shot just a few blocks from where I was living!

I grew up in a very safe countryside town in the southwest of England - it's actually been voted one of the top 10 towns in England to raise children. The crime there is almost non-existent... maybe the odd case of vandalism or burglary and that's about it.

It was a massive thing when our local vicar was murdered last year (stabbed to death in his own home by a homeless man who also murdered an old lady in Worcester). It even made the national news... because it was the first murder the town had seen in 200 years!!!

Ah you folks from warmer climes - so cute how you want it to be cooler! 

From my perspective - I can't wait for it to be WARMER in the winter.  We are coming in from the upper midwest and I have just about had it with the sub zero Februaries, sloppy wet snow, terrible snow drivers, and winter that..just..wont..end.  I was in London in February last year (as per normal) and was sitting outside on a park bench enjoying the sun, the 50 degree temps, and watching folks jog in Greenwich park in shorts, happy as a clam.  Now I feel like we are in a race against the clock to get out of Minneapolis before winter comes again.  Cripes, it snowed on May 3rd here this year!

Otherwise, looking forward to:
a)  Starting fresh

b)  Being near some of my best girlfriends again

c)  Urban living and culture related more closely to our interests

d)  Proximity to his friends/family on the Continent (their turn!) and other vacation/travel opportunities

e)  NOT having to drive if we don't want to!

f)  Finally getting rid of the nagging gut feeling of being "in the wrong place"

From my perspective - I can't wait for it to be WARMER in the winter.  We are coming in from the upper midwest and I have just about had it with the sub zero Februaries, sloppy wet snow, terrible snow drivers, and winter that..just..wont..end.

b)  Being near some of my best girlfriends again

e)  NOT having to drive if we don't want to!

f)  Finally getting rid of the nagging gut feeling of being "in the wrong place"

I might be FROM Georgia, but I did a three year stint in Colorado and another three in Iowa, so I understand about wanting a warmer winter!  I think it actually gets colder here in Northern Georgia during December, January, and February than it normally does in England. I was quite comfortable there [in Yorkshire] at Christmas of 2010 in the 30s and 40s and my mother called Christmas day to say it WAS SNOWING AND 20 DEGREES at our house.  My husband even agrees that it's quite a bit colder here in the winter, even though we have warm days here and there.

Yes, Yes, Yes!
b) my best girlfriend lives in Shrewsbury
e) I can't bloody wait.  So sick of atlanta traffic, and I don't even drive that much!
f) I've always felt this way. Thought Colorado might be the answer, and I liked Iowa, but happy to be going somewhere where my ideals are more normal.

I'm moving on Saturday so this is a good post for me to have--it'll help take my mind off the little details of the move. I'm looking forward to:
1. A more temperate climate. No more 100 degree summers and 0 degree winters.
2. Public transportation, trains, the general ease of getting around without cars.
3. Being back in a city (town of 80,000 in Kansas to London--cannot WAIT)
4. Better access to a wider variety of theatre. I'm going to be a postgrad theatre student, so I feel like that one's a natural choice.
5. The food, honestly. You can get great food here (I will miss my Kansas City barbecue, certainly) but getting a decent curry here is hard to do.
6. I feel like I'm going against the grain here, but I'm excited to be getting away from my family! I'll miss them, but we always get along better with a few thousand miles between us.
7. The ease of hopping around Europe and seeing friends there.

I'm moving on Saturday

1. A more temperate climate. No more 100 degree summers and 0 degree winters.

5. The food, honestly. You can get great food here (I will miss my Kansas City barbecue, certainly) but getting a decent curry here is hard to do.

Jealous! I can't wait, either.  Enjoy your adventure, even though I know it will be stressful.

1. My husband and I were talking about the weather there the other night and other things which are more 'temperate' [like politics, crime, and religion] and I said, 'You people really live a charmed life, you know that?' He raised his eyebrows and chuckled and said, 'Yeah, it's true! It's one of the main reasons I want to get out of here...' I had a good laugh at him and his expression

2. We are lucky to live right on the edge of a large Indian Community here in Decatur, so we get Diwali, saree shops and GREAT Indian food.  But the hubs and my BF [who has been to India more than once] claim that our Indian food is more 'authentic' and the kind you get in England is, well, 'English Indian'.  He misses it, too.

So I totally dropped off the face of the planet for over a month, but in the interim, a lot has happened and I got some of my wishes in a round about way!  I didn't get to move over yet, but extenuating circumstances [a horrible mold problem, toxic enough to force us out of our home] has caused us to downsize. 

We decided to spend the remainder of our time in Georgia in a less expensive place out in the burbs [Duluth, to be precise].  As my husband works out there, he will now be able to bike to work. Yay for hot bod on the hubs! 

Even though we could walk to a lot of things from our house in Decatur [which was in town], it was at least half a mile and up hill. The apartment we chose ended up being right across the street from a large shopping area, and because it's the burbs, the sidewalks and crosswalks are newer and better. With a Publix across the street and lots of Korean and Mexican supermarkets also within blocks, I can start in on my ideal of planning the next three meals after breakfast and doing shopping every morning!  I don't ever want to have so much food going to waste in my house ever again.  I don't anticipate going to the market every morning will be an issue in the UK.

FEWER TREES.  This area was all farmland half a century ago, whereas the part of Atlanta we lived in was forest.  Still enough to easily find shade, but you can really see the sky now

Apartment means NO GARDEN, but we have a ground floor flat on the terrace level, so it faces the woods and is totally private, and we can totally grow tomatoes and herbs in pots on our patio.  Plus, we have a large grassy area right outside our door for the kids and dogs

Although I don't think we'll get this in England, I'm also happy to have a nice big NEW CONSTRUCTION flat. Smaller utility bills, no moisture or mold risks, and SO MANY amenities. It will be nice to enjoy a pool, gym, playground, and business center steps away from our flat during our last two years here.  It's going to reduce the stress, which will help SO MUCH.

AND my closest and longest lasting friendship here in ATL is with a woman who I will now live a mere 5 miles from, instead of 22.  I'm excited to have coffee with her 3-5 days a week until we move. 

Thank you for your patience So to sum up, we got--ALREADY:

2] A smaller house.  large houses invite more STUFF, which I don't like accumulating.

[*we purged, too.  filled up a 5x10 storage until to the TOP with stuff to sell at the yard sale, and will purge more when we unpack]

3] In addition to above, a smaller GARDEN! I just want enough room for a veggie patch and maybe a tiny patio.  I could fit a LEAST 8 larger English back gardens in my yard. Too much work.

4] Wide open English Countryside. There are A LOT of trees in Atlanta.  They are lovely, but I'm ready for a change.

I consider this practice for living in the UK. Smaller place, smaller or no Garden, fewer trees, different meal/shopping routine, closer proximity to work etc.