To be a bit envious of this lifestyle? (USA)

[ThePinkPonyClub]

I've just watched School Swap: UK to USA on Channel 4 and have ended up feeling a teensy bit jealous of the kind of lifestyle that's possible over there.

Even normal, non wealthy families seemed to be able to live really outdoorsy lifestyles where they can hike and hunt and boat amongst the gorgeous scenery. I feel like in the UK, even rurally it isn't possible as everywhere is so densely populated especially when the weather is nice. The weather is also a limiting factor!

I'm obviously not jealous of the MAGA/Trump craziness or the crappy healthcare and all the rest of the political stuff but purely the lifestyle side of things, it seems so much more possible to live in that free, outdoorsy kind of way.

And the schools seemed to have a much more positive, enthusiastic culture with things like school sports and dances, compared to the UK teens in their drab uniforms staring at their phones the whole time in their miserable, run down secondary school.

aibu? Anyone live this kind of life in the UK? If so, where?!

I can assure you if you visited Glasgow or Nottingham or Belfast in summer it would look nothing like this - more's the pity!

It's not personal, ignore them. You're happy with the life you've chosen and that's all that matters.😊

Thank you.

I think I'm going to dish out one insult against the UK for every insult I receive about the US, until they get how rude it is to endlessly insult the place where you live.

My aunt will not stop going on about her British friends who have lived there for 50 years but complain about it endlessly. She just repeats all their insults. This was the case well before Trump.

Do your family and friends visit you much?

Well that’s really childish. I’m sure Germany could have said that same in the run up to the Second World War.

You know maybe there is more to critique the US about than the UK at the moment.

I’d rather have secure health care and a democracy.

My parents visited a lot when they were still alive, and so did MIL before she got too old. I never invited friends because I was always too busy hosting the parents. My dad died eight months ago and I'm still recovering from that and the two years of caregiving, and am still going back and forth sorting out the house and estate, but hope to have more friends to stay in the future now that my family duties are discharged.

It's not childish; how would you like to sit down to a meal in America with Americans and everyone spent the whole time insulting the UK?

And the Brits have always looked down their noses at the US, long before Trump came long.

If I had to live there I’d choose Maine. It’s stunning.

It's the guns that do it. Living with the ever-present threat of gun violence you develop more of an appreciation for living life. Guns bring freedom too, hunting is seen as socially acceptable as well as being legal in a way that it isn't in the UK.

You're kidding right? There's LOADS of UK bashing threads at the mo, one every few days!

I have far, far better healthcare in Massachusetts than the US, and I do live in a democracy. Trump was democratically elected, even if we don't like him.

MA has its own little NHS going on, and all my care is a short walk from here at one of the best hospitals in the world, Mass General. I get life-saving treatment there that I would not get on the NHS, where I would slip through the cracks. Without being too outing, the NHS would let the condition develop and then treat it, which would knock many years off my life after causing much suffering. In the US, they take appropriate preventive action to stop me developing it at all. The healthcare for me here is a godsend, an absolute godsend.

I’ll be honest recent events have highlighted how fragile living there would be. It’s gorgeous but I’d need security, a better system of healthcare, no guns and no Trump. Don’t see any of that happening any time soon.

But Americans bash America amongst themselves, too. It's different. I'm sure you wouldn't go to dinner with an American or longterm American resident and then insult the place endlessly.

You'd have all that in Massachusetts. Agree re. Trump. As for healthcare, you need a job with benefits until you're in your early sixties, and then you have Medicare, which is like the NHS. But MA has a safety net too.

I’m 2 miles from a forest, an hour from the sea and half a day from Snowdon. I’m also an hour from central London and can reach most of Europe in around 3 hours.

Meaning that I can enjoy the beautiful outdoors and culture. I’m not sure the US with the risk of healthcare related bankruptcy and school shootings looks all that appealing to me.

Guns aren't allowed in Massachusetts.

If you have insurance you won't go bankrupt. Those that do, aren't insured or are really under-insured. The Affordable Care Act has made good insurance affordable, but many choose a really cheap plan and are then amazed when it goes tits-up.

Your kids have a far higher chance of dying on the way to and from school - whether in the US or UK - than they do in a school shooting.

I'm sorry to hear that. Now is your chance to educate them on why you love the US so much - so much easier when they can see it for themselves.

You're assuming that every poster bashing the UK is British... they're not.

I just don’t understand why you think people who aren’t impressed or interested in the way of life in America are just jealous? It’s simply just not the case I have absolutely no interest in living in America I have family who live there I don’t feel like that because I’m jealous of the way they live it’s just not my style there are many other countries that I would prefer to spend time in than the US. I felt like this before Trump so it isn’t just this.

Surely, overwhelming majority of the architecture in Europe in secular and dates from XIX onwards? I imagine you are referring to most important monuments, but again to claim that majority of them are Catholic, when we are often talking about whole 'old town' districts, where majority of the buildings are secular is simply simplistic and ignorant. Even if you consider 'Catholic' architecture you have to be seriously ignorant to mistake French gothic cathedrals with Tuscan Renaissance or Spanish Baroque.

It’s very location dependant!

We are in the US for a few years for DH’s work, and are in the southwest - so in the desert.
From early-June to late-August anything outdoorsy is completely off the cards because you might actually die 🫠 The heat is deadly and we also have a lot of spicy wildlife who want to fuck up your day.
There’s a big tourist industry here, but so many tourists massively underestimate the brutal summers and then are disappointed when they get here for their much-anticipated July holiday and can’t spend more than 10 minutes outside at a time.
Education leaves a lot to be desired - generally speaking the further north you go, the better the school systems are, but it’s still very hit and miss.
Our state currently ranks right near the bottom for education. Our school district is oversubscribed, underfunded and understaffed.
We are also the second most expensive state to own and run a vehicle and second most expensive for groceries (because we can’t grow hardly anything in this climate!).
We are incredibly lucky to have incredible health insurance via DH’s work, but a huge percentage of the population in my state are either under-insured or completely uninsured because of how expensive health insurance premiums are and they don’t fit the criteria for Medicare or Medicaid.
If we’d have had a choice, we’d never have chosen to live here. We’d much rather be on the east coast or the northwest as opposed to the southwest!

@ThisFluentBiscuit interestingingly Bill Brysons book about the US talked about all this - and he was just up the road in New Hampshire-hiswife was very taken with the free stuff but Bill came to conclusion he preferred living in UK for all its faults as he didn’t like the driving everywhere, the feeling that a lot of friends were only interested in what you did or what connections you could offer them and the fact no one wanted to go for a pint that was more than 1 and stay out beyond 9pm- these are his observations and feelings by the way - he just didn’t like the way of life as much anymore as he thought he would- I agree about some aspects you said and I do like some of the US ( although am particular) - I think at the moment for many it’s hard to get past the general vibe with Trump there - I felt same about uk post Brexit too - certainly with the Tory’s in power

I’ll agree with the notion of missing U.K. pub-culture! It’s not the same here in the US as it is at home. I feel like in the U.K. the pub is a social place rather than just drinking. Whereas in the US if people are going to the bar, it is more drinking to drink rather than going to hang out. Theres a little Irish pub 5 mins from our house, and they have a lovely enclosed deck out the back with a pool table….but it’s dead. Even on a friday or Saturday night its dead - and you’d never see that in the UK.

I love nothing more than waking up on a Sunday with a hankering for a roast but can’t be bothered to cook it….
DH will look at me and say: “Pub?” 😂
We’ll walk to the pub with the DCs, have a massive Sunday roast, and then our local back where we were living had fully kitted out their beer garden for children! They had a full play set with swings and slides and a bouncy castle they’d put up in the summer. My DCs would run off and play while DH and I enjoyed a couple of drinks in the sunshine.