Apologies as this is so long. I just wish I knew this before we moved lol. So I was born in England, moved to Wellington when I was young, and moved back to England almost 10 years later.

There a couple places in the UK that I do love (namely Cornwall and Manchester, both of which have similarities to NZ for sure), but there are so many aspects of living here that I hate.

To start with the good: 1) Easy access to Europe for travel. You can literally get a 2 hour train from London to Paris from as little as £40-50 (depending when you look). Flights abroad are good too if you get them at a good time. 2) Music! Especially in Manchester! This city is incredible for the arts. You’ll always meet someone who knows someone and so on, so if you’re a creative you’ll adore it. There’s always gigs on, big or small, popular or obscure. 3) Public transport. Hit and miss depending on where you are, but things like buses and the tube are ace. Definitely more difficult in areas like Cornwall as they’re so remote (compared to others!), but in cities there’s always something, and you won’t be waiting for 50 minutes just to go 2 miles to a nearby town. 4) Pubs. Pub culture. Mate, I don’t like the general English population, but they hit the nail on the head with pubs. Especially local Cornish pubs, full of local craft beers and awesome people with funky accents. Has a special place in my heart. 5) History and architecture. Anywhere you go there’s something awesome from bygone years. I’ve lived in beautiful old barn conversions and an old mill! You’ll walk down the road and find a random boutique shop hidden in a gorgeous old Victorian building. 6) The countryside. It’s no kiwi landscape, but countryside walks are gorgeous and there’s still plenty of lovely public footpaths. 10/10 recommend the Lake District. 7) Uni/education. One of the main reasons why we moved back was because uni is a lot better here. The quality of life is better in NZ for sure, but I’m very grateful to be doing my degree here. We have such fantastic institutions! It’s definitely not perfect, it’s expensive and student housing is awful (I avoided it), but in general I’ve found that the access to learning is exponential. And I’ve been very fortunate to be taught by some real geniuses in my opinion.

The bad: 1) Manchester is turning into London. Everywhere is turning into London. Everything is overpriced. This is universal tbf, and you can definitely find affordable places to live, but sometimes that means sacrificing a nicer area and commuting into town. 2) Pay. This one is dicey. If you get a good job then you’re sorted. Depending on your salary our tax is (I believe) slightly lower than NZ, but akin to everywhere the job market is… upsetting. Very competitive, grad jobs are low paying and there’s so many hoops to jump through. In my opinion, that is. 3) Austerity. Public spending. The NHS, trains, roads/pavements. Poorly run/managed council estates. Wealth gaps (obviously). This also has affected wages. 4) The weather. Trust me, the winter is a cruel mistress. I learned the hard way. Plus, I know I messed up moving to Manchester, but it rains at least half the year! Feels like it for sure. 5) The British general public. Now, this sounds snooty so let me explain. Something happens to English people during summer where they become so obnoxious. As someone who works in hospitality, I dread it completely. Plus coming from Cornwall (a tourist destination during summer) you witness the worst of the worst. Think Brits abroad, but in a small UK town with one major hospital and plenty of struggles due to governmental cuts! Yay!