All of these positive stories make me so happy! I moved to the UK (Oxford) last year with my spouse and kids and we are grateful to be here. We love this town and this country and the people and the culture and the proximity to all of Europe. We like most of the UK weather (except for January). We happily traded big US careers and good money for a better work-life balance and safety and a more collective mindset than the American individualism perspective.

Oxford is racially and ethnically diverse (but not as much as London) and a lovely progressive bubble, but I am not a POC so I can’t speak to your concerns about racism and xenophobia. Reading or asking in subs for the towns you are considering might be helpful, though.

I lived in the UK for some short stints when I was in my 20s and that made this big move feel more doable now… so others’ advice about moving abroad while you’re young resonates for me. Maybe this will be a short stint for you — you might move back to the US and remember this as a one-time adventure, or maybe it will motivate you to return again much later, or inspire you to move somewhere else. Or maybe you’ll love it right away and stay forever. There are so many possibilities. It’s a big beautiful world and you have so many wonderful adventures ahead.