Scared about going back to the UK after 20 years away.

[SantiagoToots]

DH and I are moving back at the end of his assignment after 20 years away. I am simultaneously excited and delighted - yet utterly terrified.

We know the UK isn't the same as it was when we left and of course we now have children and haven't the first clue about what we need to do there.

I even have an old paper driving license which I gather is a no-go these days.

Please give me your experiences of "moving home" after so many years away. How did settling in go?

We are both looking forward to the little things like no language barrier, 24-hr Tesco and being able to buy an english language newspaper on a sunday morning. :)

your paper license still good, I suspect, could phone dvla

where have you been living? how old your DC?

I have "heard"/read on here that i) paper licenses are now "illegal" and ii) you can order new licenses online to the DVLA. See! All this info is out there by the power of Google, it's just a shockingly long list of what I need to find out and so many things that I'm not even sure where to start.

We're in the EU and the DC are both under 4.

I'm really interested in people's stories of experiences and how they felt about it all because as I say I veer from excitement to terror although I know it'll all work out in the end.

Photocard licenses need renewal every 10 yrs but I think paper license still valid if you haven't moved house. I don't know how that rule works when you live abroad (sorry).
Sorry I was attracted to your thread because I was thinking to move away from UK after 20+ yrs, but not really any help to you.

I've got a paper licence still!

It took me a year to adjust, I forced myself to focus on the aspects of British life that are better in my view in comparison to where I lived before. Eg. Good public services(libraries etc), clean streets, roads that are cross able on foot, pretty rural areas.

Are you going back to the town you used to live in? Or somewhere completely new? Because I suspect it'll be easier to adjust if you are somewhere new, so that you are less likely to make comparisons to how it used to be all the time.

I'm not sure about that kippy, I have found it lovely being close to family and old friends

Paper licences are only good to go if the address on them is correct.

It always takes a while to adjust, choose somewhere friendly.

We're going back to somewhere I lived in the mid-80s and I'm still in touch with some old school friends so I'll have a few people I know around. We're not going to be close to family due to DH's family living in the inner city (too grim for words) and my parents living in "millionaires' enclave".

My paper license has a very, very old address on it so I suppose one of my first jobs will be to get that updated.