To think about emigrating to the USA? 🇺🇸

[Rainbow1234]

I have posted in living overseas but don’t get much of a response so thought I would look for some opinions here.

So my dh is originally from Texas but moved to London 15 years ago when he was 16. We have 2 dc aged 4 and 7 (both have dual nationality). He assured me when we got married that he wasn’t bothered about ever moving back to the US and that he preferred England. Now he has been offered a really good job in California where his family live and wants me to think about us all moving out there but I’m so unsure, the job pays almost double what he is earning here but the area we would need to live in is more expensive than where we are now so financially we would be about the same. I was born and brought up in London, my mum dad and sister all live within 30 minutes of me and they are the only family I have in the whole world and I would feel so guilty about leaving them especially my mum, she’s 70 this year and in very good health (works full time) but I know she won’t be around forever but I can’t help thinking life could be better for my kids out there, anyone?

Reminds me - something else the OP should look out for. You should make sure you have a disability insurance package in your benefits from your employer.

Typically it will be paid by your employer or you'll make a small contribution, and it will pay on average 60% of your income for as long as you are sick (potentially the rest of your life).

California has its own pretty specific rules on DI, but I always tell people to take the maximum their employer offers as it's a cheap benefit and I've seen many people keep a roof over their heads with it.

Er, I'm not American but I do take exception to people dismissing a whole country as awful, particularly given the size and diversity of the country and particularly as I suspect most of the people in the "you couldn't pay me to live there" camp have barely, if ever, set foot on US soil.

But you see this all the time on expat forums. Oz is great, UK's shit, Oz is shit, I want to go home to UK. US is shit, Canada's great... and so on.

Of course it's bollocks because you can have lovely life in the UK, US, Canada ... but it depends upon lots of factors not just the 'country' or the president or the schools or the crime - but myriad different things.

I couldn't live anywhere hot because I hate it - so life in Oz or anywhere would be misery for me, and I know that before I start. I lived in the South of France for three years, and although it was ok, I wasn't especially happy there, and was much happier when I came home. But I remember meeting an English woman at a school do and her saying she wouldn't go back to the UK if you paid her. She loved it ... I didn't. Doesn't mean France is shit - just my experience of living there wouldn't persuade me to stay. I prefer it here.

My sister lived quite happily in the US for 20 years, but then she grew tired of it and came back home. I used to visit her and as much as I enjoyed those visits I knew it wasn't for me. Doesn't mean the US is shit, just that it's not for me.

People take everything so seriously. Chill out, people are writing about their own experiences and preferences because they know themselves. If the US isn't for them, it's not for them - doesn't mean they are dismissing the entire country. We all know there are many, many thousands of Brits living there quite happily as there are in many countries of the world. But it isn't everyone's cup of tea and this thread just reflects that range of opinions.