Hi there! In 2023, our family sold everything and moved to England from the United States. This blog is all about how and why we did it. Welcome!
We moved to England from the US in our 40’s with two teenagers and a dog and it was, by far, the hardest thing we have ever done. I wanted to make the journey easier for other families, so I decided to write this blog share everything I learned about moving to the UK.
(Not moving to the UK from the US? You’ll find loads of information about moving to England from anywhere in the world. You’re still in the right place!).
How Our Journey of Moving to England from the US Began
We started taking little family vacations with our two daughters when they were young- a weekend hiking here, a trip to the beach there. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we valued travel and tried to make it a priority.
Instead of new cars and furniture, we stuffed all the spare cash we had into a jar labeled Family Bucketlist.
As our girl got older, we started taking bigger trips, recognizing that time spent together exploring new places made us happier than just about anything else money could buy.
The first time we traveled to Europe, we were hooked.
We strolled cobble streets, explored ancient ruins, and sipped cappuccinos in outdoor cafes, it felt as if we were truly able to slow down and be present. We loved the European lifestyle which prioritizes good food, rest, and time with loved ones (best if enjoyed together).
“Wouldn’t it be amazing to live in Europe?”, we would say to each other. As time went on, we started asking, “How can we live in Europe?”.
As our girls turned 14 and 16, we started to think more seriously about moving to Europe. If we really wanted to make it happen, it would have to be soon (before our eldest turned 18).
Life Took an Unexpected Turn
Just as we started to research our move to Europe, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. All plans for the future came to a screeching halt as we began the unexpected journey of healing cancer together. For the next year we were solely focused on getting through the next surgery or the next round of chemotherapy.
When treatment ended and we were all happy and healthy again, we were filled with gratitude and joy. We thought a lot about how we wanted to spend our lives and what was truly important to us. Our dream of moving to Europe seemed more important than ever.
Cancer made us realize that our dreams can’t wait. If we really wanted to move to Europe, we just needed and make it happen. We decided to go on an incredible family adventure.
How We Finally Moved Across the Pond
After researching few different countries in Europe, we decided that moving to England made the most sense for our family. We got to work learning everything we could about moving to England from the US and narrowed down several towns and cities that checked all of our boxes.
In March of 2022, we took a trip across the pond to visit different areas we were considering. All four of us immediately fell in love with the historic city of York, England in North Yorkshire and decided to focus our our efforts on moving there.
We found very few in-depth guides about moving to the England from the US. We couldn’t find any about moving to England from the US in your 40s with teens and a dog.
We spent hours scouring the internet for information and reading tons of travel memoirs to keep us motivated. The more we learned, the more questions we had. We reached out to other expats and more than once we were told it was going to be an uphill battle- the kids would never adjust to British schools at their age, it was near impossible to find a rental with a pet, it would be hard to find a job outside of London. The outlook wasn’t great.
But cancer does a funny thing to you. It makes you realize that most of the things you are afraid of aren’t half as scary as not ever doing the things that are most important to you. So, we ignored it all and kept going as if success was inevitable.
It was hard. It was really, really hard, and there were many times that we questioned if we were making the right decision.
Over the next year we gave away, sold, or stored almost everything we owned. We spent hundreds of hours researching everything from schools to healthcare. There were tears of frustration, and a few times we almost gave up. But we didn’t.
In January 2023, we hugged our dear friends goodbye and boarded a plane to London with our teenagers to start our new lives as American expats in England.
If you are dreaming of moving to a new country and feeling overwhelmed, just approach it like you would anything that is challenging. Take it one step at a time and work on it a little each day. If we can do it, so can you.
It always seems impossible until it’s done.
Thank you so much for visiting my blog! Have a question or comment? Drop it below!
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