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 would love to live in the US. I have relatives in Virginia and really envy their way of life, they have so much more freedom than we do.

So you are jealous of what you have seen on a TV show, how do you know real life is the way you describe?

No you don't. Eurostar takes 2hr 13. I can get to London St pancreas within an hour and 20.

A flight to Copenhagen is 1hr 50, I can get to Gatwick within 30 minutes.

I know as I have Danish family and visit quite regularly.

What degree and what university? This certainly doesn't mirror my childrens' experience (nor mine).

I was at Uni there and we were in a degree year group higher.
Sorry, but I'm not understanding what that means, particularly if you are post-grad (or graduate school as it's called in the US) level.

And why would most people in the US understand the UK system of government/Royals? Most people in the UK don't particularly understand the Federal vs State breakdown of the US, state governors, or the differences between congress and the senate. That doesn't make them uneducated or uninterested, it just means they don't know the finer details of a different system.

Over the years I have had several friends in the US and not one of them has ever been made bankrupt, or even been left with massive bills, after receiving healthcare.

As for being "so very very lucky having the NHS" - it doesn't look that great from where I am (not the UK or the US).

Is that true?
I lived in a rural farming town, the daughter of parents of severely modest means - and we still managed to live like the wealthier people who lived near us.
We enjoyed trips to the Sierras, trips to the beach, trips up and down California — all with it out driving my parents into the poorhouse.
We ate 3 squares a day, and while our mother mended our clothes, they were never threadbare. We never had holes in our shoes or went without a coat in winter - not that we needed one all that often, it was California after all.
My mother put herself through university and then became a teacher.
She then put us three kids through university.
We didn’t suffer because of our location and our means.
We thrived in that country air.

What, graduates don't know that the UK doesn't have a feudal system?

Oh wow @APocketFullOfRye ! We’re in OKC; I didn’t think I’d ever encounter another MNetter who’d lived in OK!

I take the point about the museums and galleries of London or Edinburgh being accessible to anyone in the UK. I was thinking more from the viewpoint of a former Londoner who had them on my doorstep. Here we can be in Dallas/Fort Worth in a few hours, which has some excellent galleries, but it takes a bit more planning and commitment, which I guess is more like the experience someone in, say, Leicester, who decides they want to visit the V&A.

Sadly plenty of kids in the UK seem to deal with knives instead and there was the recent and horrific attack recently at the child braclet class so it’s not all rosy and safe because we don’t have guns

Architecture Their final year ( ie year 5 ) at Oklahoma

Then I did Masters of Architecture at Harvard ( for US students that’s post their 5 year course, for UK students it was post the 3 year degree here )

Id be surprised if no one here had heard of Trump or the fact in the US there is a President. They didn’t even know we had a Prime Minister ! I wouldn’t expect anyone to know the finer detail ( which is why I didn’t mention any ) just the basic minimum.

👏👏👋👋

Norman Oklahoma ( so tempted to say Go Sooners 🤣🤣) !

Your anecdotal experience of a few friends doesn’t take away the fact that it’s the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the US.

NHS seems bloody fantastic to me. I get a call back from a GP if needed the day I fill an online form, a prescription is under £10 (there are schemes if you are low income so they are free), my dc and elderly parent have a variety of conditions that are getting top team lead care, when there is a wait we have the right to choose option. I’m in my 50s and have been served by the NHS fantastically throughout my life. Yep there are waits at A&N but you are seen and without the need of getting out a credit card to even get there in an emergency.

I don’t call worrying about being shot, healthcare, women’s rights, freedom of speech, no free press to list but a few freedom.

🤣🤣

Architecture at OU huh. I have a lot of questions, but it would probably be too outing for both of us 🤔 I’ll settle for asking if you had a LOT of Okies asking “what the heck are you doing here??” as soon as they heard your accent. That’s a daily feature of my life…

Im from the states. I had a gun pointed at me twice (once when someone decided I’d cut him off driving on a highway and went crazy and once while out clubbing when I was 21) and there were shootings at my grandmother’s nursing home, my father’s synagogue, my sister in law’s workplace and any number of shootings near plenty of people I know. It isn’t an every day occurrence sure but it’s not that unusual. There is someone with a gun almost anywhere you go - even if it’s the police officers doing traffic stops or crowd control. I am not saying I live in fear or don’t leave the house when we are there, but I do not like being around massive crowds and I try to make sure I know where the exits are as my father taught me.

No I’ve never seen the US referred to as more outdoorsy than the UK. This is the country that can barely walk anywhere in most towns or cities because so many developments are just built off the highway in the middle of nowhere with no infrastructure.

I live in London and still think it’s easy too have an outdoorsy life.

No I wouldn’t say they were surprised about us being at Oklahoma ( there’s a lot of foreign students ) and they all loved my accent. Yes Everyone always mentioned it!!!! It’s very Southern well spoken I would say 🤣🤣. We did the whats trash called thing though…..endlessly. And they were obsessed with some of the words I used like ‘ gorgeous’ which was weird

They were very surprised by the Sikh Brit ( not me ) as they had no idea why he was wearing ‘ a head dress’ as they called it.

They also couldn’t grasp the fact that I never wear makeup. All the female students wore a lot of it.

Yes we always had people mentioning the accents though. The local bar got Guinness in especially for me too! You become known by everyone as soon as you open your mouth don’t you.
I really loved the people tbh.

I’ve been back many times to visit friends I made there. But I will never get used to the campus ditches at night …. I never fail to fall in them.

I still hate Hersheys chocolate, Twinkies and jars of Marshmallow spread though. Plus I have as yet to meet an American that will eat Marmite. I suppose you can’t have everything

Because if the person who holds the insurance gets fired (at will employment) or is incapacitated through being ill and can no longer work, you won’t have insurance anymore. It’s better nowadays with Obamacare, but when my family didn’t have insurance that meant any pre existing condition would never be covered again. So if my dad got cancer and lost his job, any future cancer treatments would be cash only. Or if you have something and then get a new job, you might not be able to cover it. Or the copays are extortionate. My mom had crap cover for years so paid everything up to the first 10K a year which was a lot of money for her. There are endless scenarios that might put someone in lifelong debt - just scroll through thousands of gofundmes.

there was a child I went to high school with that had lots of fundraising for her. She was in a car accident with her dad and he died, so her health insurance died with him. She had no coverage for her rehab etc as her mum eventually got insurance but of course her injuries weren’t covered.

i left the us 20 years ago so maybe these situations are less common, but it was the scariest time in my parents lives when we didn’t have insurance for a while. One accident, mistake, anything really and they’d have to choose between keeping the mortgage paid or bringing us to the hospital.

@NeilDiamondsBlowDry that was absolutely hypnotic!😵‍💫 I'm off to fall down a youtube rabbit hole....

I live in Kent on the North Downs in a little village, no shops just a pub. I’m originally from SE London. We moved out 10 years ago. Today I will spend most of the day outside. Gardening, pottering, long walk over the downs with the dog. The view is breathtaking, not another house in sight! The birdsong is beautiful at this time of year.

Even during winter I wrap up and get out every day, Rain or shine. We do have some harsh weather here and strong winds. When it snows we can be snowed in for a week. We do live a very outdoors life!

Last night DGS, 6 and I, were looking at photos on my phone of DGC tobogganing down the hills just beyond our hedges from 2 years ago.

A couple in their mid 30s have just moved here from London too. It’s also a great community.

You don’t have to be wealthy, and in some of the bigger villages and small towns nearby there is affordable housing.

Of course and I now do. I was referring to the idea in the OP about the quiet countryside where no one else is about. I live in one of the most rural areas of England, one of the national parks, and it's still little village after little village. I think a lot of people underestimate just how sparsely populated vast areas of Scotland are (which when you consider the physical size and population a tenth of England's isn't surprising but many people have never been).

My sister and nephew live in the US. My nephew works in hospitality. He has great access to the outdoors - he lives in a van because he can’t afford housing. He’s in his thirties and has lived in the US since he was five. My younger brother is the same age and also works in hospitality but lives in the UK. He is also really poor but at least can afford to live in bricks and mortar, and has health coverage.

Tell that to the parents of those kids who have been victims of school shootings. Just because the chance is statistically small doesn’t mean it’s not a risk parents face in the USA or any country without gun control.

I wasn’t talking badly of America, we personally love going on holiday there and have been several times. I was just pointing out that every country has its pros and cons, the outdoor life style is a pro that the OP identified but like it or not, the risk of gun crime is higher.

This is horrific. Thanks for sharing.