What is life like in England and other European countries?

[Arkitech]

I've been thinking about taking an extended vaction overseas for a while now. In a few weeks I'll be debt free and I feel like a new man, so I'm strongly considering packing up my things and leaving Chicago for a while. Right now if I would leave the country I would more than likely choose England as a first option. One of my ex-girlfriends spent some time there and she came back raving about it.


So for the people who are familiar with the country how far could I get with about 20k in England?

Does the american dollar have more value in England?

What would it cost to purchase a house or condo in a decent area in England?

Are they friendly to americans there?

How would you best describe England to someone who's never been?



Thanks for any info you can share


Oh, one last question does anyone know of a England based forum or board?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Cant help but I always wanted to do a bicycling tour. Live out my fantasy for me

 

[Red Dawn]

Cold Castles, Highwaymen all throught the Shires, the Plague is running rampant and the Lords tax the hell out of the peasants.

 

[Haircut]

20K in England wouldn't get you very far at all around the London area, but if you are up north then the money will go a lot further.

You will find that things in general are more expensive in England than in the USA especially electronic goods, which is bad for us geeks.

House prices vary wildly throughout the country, I think the average is around £110,000 at the minute although prices have been increasing at between 10-20% per year for the last few years. In the South £110,000 will get you a small 1 or 2 bedroom apartment, and in some areas in the north you could buy a large 3 or 4 bedroom house for a similar price.

People are friendly to Americans in general, obviously there are a few who are not friendly but you will find English people like Americans better than our European neighbours in most cases.

If I were to describe England to an American I would most probably describe it as 'compact'

As for forums, you could checkout the Overclockers UK forums, unfortunately registration is closed at the minute due to bandwidth problems unless you plead successfully with the owners.

 

[AndrewR]

Cold Castles, Highwaymen all throught the Shires, the Plague is running rampant and the Lords tax the hell out of the peasants.

Thanks, Mike, that's one of the funniest things I've read on here in awhile.

So for the people who are familiar with the country how far could I get with about 20k in England?

That's a lot of beer, cider and whiskey. Don't forget the spotted dick (it has nothing to do with the aftereffects of humping a diseased whore without a condom).

 

[Lonyo]

20k USD is about 13.3k pounds. Something which is about 200 dollars (electrical) is usually about £175 - £200, which sucks. Manchester/the north have some houses that are about £60k which would do for 1 or 2 people, and with your $20k you could easily get a mortgage, but it might be complicated. Generally $1 is equivelant to £1 when buying stuff, but the exchange rate is about $1.5 = £1, so coming to the UK isn't that good unless you're loaded.

 

[Marshy]

It all depends on where you want to go and what you want to do,

the quiet peacefull life, in the country surrounded by fields and gently rolling hills, then the south west would be the place to be, while the north around Sheffield leeds, manc, liverpool, has these things obviously not quite as good, but larger cities, for more things to do in the evening.

rent would be better than buying as then you can always move around, and even get up to the cold north, Newcastle, very friendly.

don't bother with london unless you are very rich, as prices there are generly double or more than the rest of the country!

most people don't mind americans, as long as you don't go on how great the US is, or be arrogant etc,

lm

how strong is your accent?

 

[JellyBaby]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Cold Castles, Highwaymen all throught the Shires, the Plague is running rampant and the Lords tax the hell out of the peasants.

I think deep down Red loves Tolkien and Hobbits, too.

 

[denali]

I spent much of 2001 and part of 2002 traveling around Europe. In general the farther east and the farther south you go the cheaper things will be. Scandinavia and the UK will be the most expensive. Turkey, will be the cheapest their are exceptions to tis rule of thumb for example places like Yugoslavia and a few other countires will cost more for a place to stay unless you make some friends because they don't have many visitors.

One of the best series of guides for eastern europe is In your pocket. In many places I was able to live for $10 US a day, this includes place to stay food, drink and clubs, and sightseeing. I can also tell you a few places you can get an ISIC card even if you aren't a student this card is a must.

If you have any questions I'll be happy to try and answer them.

 

[BlueApple]

Good books on the subject (I have them all)

Lonely Planet British Phrasebook
Living and Working in Britain: A Survival Handbook
Culture Shock! Britain
London at Your Door

I definitley reccomend the first two to get first, very good books.

 

[bmacd]

i really like this thread.

-=bmacd=-

 

[Shantanu]

Are you thinking about setting up shop in the UK?

I lived for the UK for about 7 years in the 1980's. It's allright. We moved around quite a bit. The place that I liked best was a town in Northhamptonshire called Kettering. London was really ghetto (we couldn't afford to live in the nice parts ). Sheffield, Manchester, etc. were just depressing. The Northern part of England in general is quite unpleasant. If you're a young dude, you're best bet might be a university town like Cambridge or Norwich. I think you get a much better feel for England by living in one of the towns, as opposed to a big city like London or Birmingham.

You might also want to consider looking into Ireland. I've never been there myself, but it's a real hotspot with celebrities these days. It also is in better economic shape than the UK.

Are they friendly to americans there?

Hehe. When I was growing up in the UK, myself and all of my friends were absolutely crazy about all things American. I remember one day back in 1991 - I was almost 9 years old at the time - I told my friends at school that I would be moving to New York next year. At least one kid dropped his jaw immediatly. They were all jealous.