Do you have a 'spiritual' home/country/region?

TastyReuben said:
That's the funny thing - things I absolutely hate here, like being queued up in traffic, or having to wait an hour for a table, don't bother me in the least when I'm in the UK. It's like, "Hey, I could be in <some other country> sitting in front of a delicious steak, already served, or waiting in this long queue because people here take for-<bleeping>-ever to eat...I'll take here, because AT LEAST I'M IN ENGLAND!!!" :laugh:

Seriously, I'm a nervous-wreck-basket-case most days, and I still am over certain things, but my wife will even tell you, I'm the most relaxed and the most at-home in England. Nothing bothers me there, except coming back again. Oh, a dog just shat on my shoe? No worries, I'm in England! Nice doggie! Oh, some criminal just mugged me outside the Tube station? Here, wait, you forgot my other cash in my sock! No, take it, I insist! I'm in England! :laugh:
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You are exactly like me when I'm in England!
 
TastyReuben said:
It just isn't feasible financially, short of winning the lottery, to live there year-round. We should be able to swing a few months at a time, once we retire, but permanent residency will likely be outside our grasp.
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Might be worth looking into this again post Brexit and post covid. Things may change.

Will Brexit affect US retirees in the UK? We’re heading to the Brexit date given by the Government, which is 31 January 2020. However, despite this much remains unknown. According to Lucy Culpepper, from Liver and Invest Overseas, the implications for Americans are unclear as yet. She says: “I can’t see that it will adversely affect American retirees wanting to come here [to the UK]. In fact, it may be good for retirees with an income.”
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Source: 9-things-to-know-for-americans-looking-to-retire-in-the-uk
 
caseydog said:
Tasty, NONE of what you have said surprises me, one bit. I have often wondered "Why doesn't he just move to the *&#$%^ UK???!!!" :laugh:

CD
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I would/would have, but that's one of those easier-said things. That was what was nice about the military, it made moving to another country as easy and risk-free as possible. No worry over a work permit, no worry over health care, no worry (unless you wanted it, like we did) of being "left for dead" in another culture, so to speak. If we'd wanted to, we could have lived in a base house and shopped exclusively on base for housewares and groceries, and insulted ourselves as much as possible from the culture. Sadly, too many of my American comrades did exactly that.

Once we got back to the US, I left the service less than a year later, in part possibly because I was in a general funk about not being where I wanted to be, and once that happened, it came down to having to make a living to help support us. Had I been single, I might have been more bohemian, grabbed my guitar, hopped a plane, overstayed my visa, and supported myself playing in the pubs and trading on my obvious wit, charm, and good looks! :laugh:
 
Morning Glory said:
Might be worth looking into this again post Brexit and post covid. Things may change.
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That's an interesting thing. Apart from being interested in Brexit as an Anglophile, I'm also interested for practical reasons, as many economists and financial experts over here are saying that Brexit may possibly bring very good news to Americans wishing to retire there (and ones already living there). Unfortunately, the feeling seems to be, the more disastrous it is for you all, the better it is for us.

Sorry, as much as I'd love to be able to have a change of fortune to help me, I won't root for calamity for the Brits. While I'm not in favor of Brexit (and I'm well aware I say that as an American), I want whatever happens to work out for the best, because it affects real people and their livelihoods, and people who may be from, say, Poland working there in good faith and bettering themselves, I don't want them chunked out anymore than I want Brits who're living in Spain to suddenly face whatever financial peril they may face for living their dream. So whatever happens, I want it to work out with as little damage as possible, whether it helps me or not.
 
but England is losing its appeal these days, even for me
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epicuric - may I ask what about England is less appealing for you these days?

I do know the last two times we visited (2018 & 2019), I was fairly dismayed at the amount of development - expanding towns, new roads, more houses, shops, and traffic, but once we could get away from the crowd, it was nice again.
 
TastyReuben said:
epicuric - may I ask what about England is less appealing for you these days?

I do know the last two times we visited (2018 & 2019), I was fairly dismayed at the amount of development - expanding towns, new roads, more houses, shops, and traffic, but once we could get away from the crowd, it was nice again.
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Basically, its Brexit. We have been so close to our European neighbours over recent years, and although we don't share a language we have most other things in common. That is now being torn apart. Also, we now have a government that seems happy to align itself with your outgoing administration. I live in a bubble of rural Shropshire, where things are pretty peachy (get that Americanism), but elsewhere its not so good.
 
epicuric said:
Basically, its Brexit. We have been so close to our European neighbours over recent years, and although we don't share a language we have most other things in common. That is now being torn apart. Also, we now have a government that seems happy to align itself with your outgoing administration. I live in a bubble of rural Shropshire, where things are pretty peachy (get that Americanism), but elsewhere its not so good.
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It's thought-provoking, that. In my own mind, I've always placed Britain as occupying this sort of "one foot in Europe, one food in America" position. Don't get me wrong, purely British, just that you all seemed very open-minded to American culture and European culture, while holding yourselves wholly separate. I like that.

I'll say that I understand your concern - the several times we've visited, we've noticed more...Americanisms, I guess, and I don't just mean speech patterns, but giant Ford Explorers and Jeeps crowding the narrow roads, people walking less, seeing more and more product for sale there that we can get here, more people giving me the single middle finger than the usual up-yours reversed peace sign, and all the commercial development and consumerism...it all felt very...American.

I personally, just in a very general "freedom of movement" sense, hate the idea of borders. I don't mean that politically, I mean that as something beyond mere petty politics. The idea that just due to my happenstance of birth, that I'm tied to live and die in, except through much difficulty on my part, one country, whose borders I didn't help define nor ask to be a part of, is ridiculous.

Don't get me wrong, I won the birth lottery by ending up a white man in the US, but I'm one of those weirdos who just feels out of place, and I'd sure like it if I could just phone up Waitrose and say, "Hey, I like grocery stores, you're a grocery store, how 'bout giving me a job?"

The EU gave me hope that the planet was heading in that direction, and that maybe in a hundred years, folks could travel from here to there and back again without worrying about passports and waking up one morning and saying, "I'd sure like to shear sheep in Wales for a few years," wouldn't be a crazy, (nearly) undoable desire.

I'm just a hopeless dreamer, though. Head in the clouds, that's me. Sure does feel like we're all taking a couple of steps back, though.
 
Good thread, I only knew about the uk through my grandfather, plus I knew from a family tree done in the late 70s that three brothers moved to New Zealand in the 1800s from Cornwall. That's all. But it's funny how things turn out. My work history was engineering based welding, structural then selling steel as a rep. Then I went to work for an engineering supply company that also sold conveyor products. I just felt at home around gold and coal mines. Then I started my own company in 91. I went for a 3 month trip around the world in 98 ( childhood dream) with two months spent in the uk. And guess what I fell in love with Cornwall, st Ives and Penzance in particular. My first cousin lived in London and he informed me my ancestors from Cornwall were tin miners who moved to nz to work in the coal mines. (Spooky music) lol. I would have been back this year if not for covid. My kids and grandkids stop me from moving there. I really feel at home in Cornwall.

Russ
 
TastyReuben said:
Don't get me wrong, I won the birth lottery by ending up a white man in the US...
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My words, exactly -- I've said it many times. There are a lot of things in the US that get under my skin, but when I think of the fact that I was born in 1961, and could have been born black in South Africa, or could have been born in a small village in Vietnam, and suddenly I'm pretty happy about where I ended up.

Commenting on your earlier thought, in our "World Economy," what is good for Europe is often not good for the US, and what hurts Europe, is often good for the US. I can't figure out, for the life of me, what people were thinking when they voted for Brexit. But, that's my view from the outside, looking in.

CD
 
caseydog said:
My words, exactly -- I've said it many times. There are a lot of things in the US that get under my skin, but when I think of the fact that I was born in 1961, and could have been born black in South Africa, or could have been born in a small village in Vietnam, and suddenly I'm pretty happy about where I ended up.

Commenting on your earlier thought, in our "World Economy," what is good for Europe is often not good for the US, and what hurts Europe, is often good for the US. I can't figure out, for the life of me, what people were thinking when they voted for Brexit. But, that's my view from the outside, looking in.

CD
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My wife's and I also looking in at brexit.... Wtf? Really!

Russ
 
I must say that regardless of how much I love the Middle East, I love living in Portugal. It's a safe, comfortable, "uneventful" country. I love the chaos of the Middle East, how everything just flows, and I love being out of my comfort zone, but I'm not sure I'd stand that everyday. The only place where I'd live, other than Portugal, would be Tel Aviv, which is in the Middle East but still "feels" very European, but once again it's just a magical place that speaks to my soul.
 
TastyReuben said:
"one foot in Europe, one food in America"
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You're absolutely correct. But since we joined the EU, we became more focussed on protecting our domestic industry from US dominance, particularly in the food sector. In other sectors, we let you guys rip!
TastyReuben said:
giant Ford Explorers
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Don't knock those, I had one! It was called Dora, and served the family very well!
TastyReuben said:
I'm just a hopeless dreamer
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Don't give up on that.
 
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