@BertineC Thanks 
And I hope your homesickness wasn't too bad 
Yeah, I tried really hard to make things easier but sometimes never succeeded. I'm not sure why it seems every little thing I attempted seemed like a headache. For instance it took us a month to get internet with BT and here it took one day. But even small things, would end up not working out. It's a really strange thing. And I catch myself doing the London walk: the charging fast walk. But both me and my husband said we felt mean! I have to keep reminding myself to slow down and there's no reason I need to walk at such a pace!
I too would like to head back west one day or just somewhere even more laid back and cheaper. I hope you guys find something that works for you soon. Are you in London? What part?
We are in London and I work south bank, other half in the City and we live (now) just outside the City in St Katherines Docks area so I can at least walk to and from work rather than stuff myself in the tin can each way. Thats been good! But of course the rental needs a ton of work on it, Sky is half the speed we were promised (but that is something I can actually do something about!) and some days it just seems that even if I had to pay for healthcare in the US it wouldn't really matter because I would be paid more and hopefully surrounded by more competence. Interestingly I was at a party a few months ago with almost all expats(US/Europeans, a few South Africans) hedge/venture capital types and only one couple owned their own place, which they had just bought... in Finsbury Park! Most everyone else didn't see the point of paying stupid prices for sub quality or were waiting to see where the money was going after Brexit.
We are in Sweden at the moment for vacation and at a crowded concert the other night (having flown in from London that morning) I just shoved people out of the way which is definitely NOT what you do here, but they were in my way and not moving
I've found it can take a week or two to "decompress" from London and readjust expectations, until I am in another crowded area and the mentality just takes over! I will say that it was amazing how after the show I thought no way would all of us get on the train but we even got a seat! And I didn't have three crotches shoved in my face! It was one of the suburban type trains (like Thameslink-ish) but because the platforms are so long and the trains mostly more updated, they got everyone on just fine.
Ideally we want to be free to spend time in Sweden and time in the US every year and to live near the water in both places. Southern California north of LA is somewhat the goal, but I figure balancing that out with a place in more rural Sweden ought to be ok. Definitely can't have a desk job for that!
We had always intended our sojourn to the UK to be about 5-7 years, so right now we are about 50-60% of the way through that. This Brexit thing has really thrown a wrench in the plans because we hadn't intended to do time in Sweden to establish citizenship for me. Ah well, hopefully there will be some clarity over the next year, which will give me more time to get ducks in a row depending on potential outcomes. And work on losing weight - I swear there is a ton more sugar in food in the UK, although all the junk food at the office doesn't help.
There are Dunkin Donuts in Stockholm now I see!
