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?!

So similar to the uk than .

I agree with this. In general the urban inner city schools are generally crappy, suburban schools are generally very good, and rural schools are a mixed bag.

I think it probably depends where you live, whichever country you’re in. I live in the Suffolk countryside and can walk the dog for miles without coming across another soul most days! Can be at the beach in 10/15 minutes to swim. No desire to fish or hunt, but could do both of those easily here too!

@poetryandwine Depending where you are, it may be quite a way to a specialist within your insurance network. A real issue in an emergency, especially outside of cities.

As we’ve established outdoor space is far from the most important criteria when considering lifestyle .

Shame very little of it going to be managed properly now thanks to Elon’s purges.

Re public transport it’s well know the USA lags behind the rest of the world as regards this. The car is king!

Very true regarding regarding health care and being made redundant or hating your job. My cousin decided to come back to UK when this happened as his wife had just found out she was expecting DC2. She was a SAHM.
Employment rights aren't great.

Ok…🥱

In a few cities in the US public transport is good. In some cities and rural areas it is terrible. It is why even very poor people are often forced to buy a wreck of a car.
I agree with the poster who said the level of poverty in the US is much worse than the UK. You can be really poor in the US in a way people just are not in the UK.
Even with insurance, insurance companies often decline coverage for treatment. The worst case I head was an insurance company covering cancer treatment for a child, but refusing to pay for any sickness medication as they though it was not medically necessary. This was good insurance.

My grandmother was in the US and worried constantly about her insulin. She could not believe how little she had to pay when she came to the UK and had to pay for it because her bag was stolen. It was so much less than she paid in the US with insurance.

Agreed. In a real emergency, my understanding is that all insurance allows you to seek emergency care close by. For anything beyond immediate care I have heard that authorisation is required.

That was even true of my otherwise excellent HMO. We used to get travel insurance for this reason

We've been to the States a few times and have family who live there. There is a massive, very visible, gulf between rich and poor. Yes it's a big country so you get the massive open vistas and really varied terrain. Do you really want your kids to hunt? Weirdly I found the places I liked best were those with similar politics to my own and it was only afterwards I realised there was a correlation. My favourite place was coastal Oregon and I loved Portland, but we weren't there very long at all.

I agree, I to live on the edge of the Peak District, it’s gorgeous. I’ve also had many a holiday in France as well and the space and scenery is stunning.

Ummm no it isn’t the same. Also consider in a lot of North America you can ski, cross country ski, ice skate, toboggan, play ice hockey, swim in shallow warm lakes with sandy beaches, canoe trips on enormous lakes and portaging, outdoor water parks plus all that the UK has etc etc. it’s very samey in the UK. Walking, walking, more walking…..

How often have you skied in England? Because I did it every winter growing up in Scotland. I agree there's not the diversity of the US, but it's really not anywhere near as samey as you probably think.

We live in the UK, not far from a city but next to countryside and live an extremely outdoor lifestyle. You just need clothing for all types of weather. And a positive attitude to whatever weather it is that day.

Yeah I have skied in Scotland - more than once. The snow wasn’t great and it was limited to say the least. I have lived and visited many many parts of England, Scotland and Wales so in my opinion yeah it is samey as I think hence why I said it. It’s my opinion comparably - so I guess the question is have you ever lived in North America? If so, fair enough, If not then I don’t think you can compare from first hand experience.

I grew up in New York and now live in Scotland. I spend endless hours outside nowadays and certainly didn’t grow up like that. We have traded some things but our kids are accustomed to space and hiking and cartwheels on deserted beaches. They go camping regularly (with their dad, I can’t think of anything worse). This wouldn’t have happened anywhere near where my family lives. Whenever we are back in the states (my husband is American too, we immigrated around 20 years ago) we feel so claustrophobic and the kids really struggle. Houses are bigger for some sure. And there are some fun milestones about high school in the states that aren’t going to be a thing for my kids. But they walk to and from school in safety and can access medical care and eat safe food and drink clean water… that’s not true in the entirety for way too many people in the states.

if you have money and a good job sure - it can be great. But if you step back and look at everything in the whole it is a terrible place to live, and most people are just one unlucky situation away from disaster. My dad was laid off when I was a teenager and we all went without health insurance for a while. That was not a good time at all.

I guess it depends on your interests. I don't do a lot of walking in the UK. I ride, run, swim, sail, dive and do other water sports. It's perfect for my interests and lifestyle. We've lived in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland among other countries so can make reasonable comparisons.

You think everywhere in the U.K. is densely populated?!

It varies a lot by where you live. In the major cities families of 4+ are crammed into 1 bed apartments, gridlock to get anywhere whereas in cheaper parts you see ordinary people in stunning homes (because they aren’t worth much) and able to afford land, they also can get out into rural areas easily.

@Rainingalldayonmyhead

i canoe in the U.K., well sea kayak and sail too. You can ski in Scotland, we have outdoor swimming lakes too

I don't agree at all, it looked like a crap education all those censored books and you can't even learn most subjects without someone suing the school which is why they only really teach dance and sport! No prospects unless you want to do a job in the town, in that one public service or agriculture I'm guessing. No where else to visit within a 3 hour drive. Yes beautiful scenery but you can have beautiful scenery in this country.

Pretty nice when we lived in Copenhagen for kids -very outdoorsy and far less focussed on ‘what you have materially ‘ - USA can be great if doing well - truly shit if ‘anything’ goes to shit -and on that point watch Jon Hamm in Good friends and neighbours- excellent , funny, sad and accurate too I think -

@Needtosoundoffandbreathe probably why I like California, New York, ( state and city) Oregon , Washington st, Colorado etc — hate the south and mid west

I think it all comes down to hard cash - I doubt very much there are any mumsnetters in the US who aren’t looking at it from a pretty comfortable position -probably plenty of ex pats - very well insured through careers., water tight contracts and often with nice rentals paid as part of it plus private schools etc- no doubt many Americans in uk too in a similar situation - it is not typical - you are totally cosseted from the realities of either country- I do like the US for holidays and could probably live there too for a period — but only with the aformentioned conditions- so we are usually talking banking, finance, lawyer , oil etc- maybe some media. The only way some do have the flash lifestyle is it’s a country built on fleecing each other, the dentist fleeced the realtor, the surgeon fleeces the insurance companies, the insurance company fleeces the public. Itsall built on massive debt and hence why everyone is constantly on the hustle