Life in the UK?

"THShorn92 - Left his car in America" (thshorn92)
06/07/2016 at 16:21 • Filed to: None

So Oppo. I’d like some input from some of our members across the pond. I have a very high possibility of getting an opportunity for a promotion and a move to our Brighton, UK office. I would be heading up IT for a brand new office that we are building. It would be at minimum a year stay and past that, as long as I want. I’ll be getting married in October so my Fiance/Wife would be coming along and is up for it. She studied in London for a semester and loved it. We are in our mid-twenties with no kids or any real reason that we HAVE to stay in the states. I’m a little overwhelmed right now with the thought as it is moving pretty quick at this point.

Tell me why I should move to the UK! Have an RS6 for your time.

DISCUSSION (38)

Rufant > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 16:26

Do it. Variety is the spice and all that. The UK is like anywhere, its got good points and bad points, for a year it’s worth it just to broaden your horizons.

Where do you currently reside? Do you like rain? ;)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 16:26

I’d have reasons on the plus side and reasons on the negative side, but they wouldn’t be your reasons. Just to say, were it not for the job being in Brighton, it probably isn’t where in the UK I would choose to be, not year-round.

Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 16:28

I’m 21 right now. So I’m looking for jobs soon too. With oil jobs, there’s a chance that I might end up in Saudi Arabia or China. I’ve had a list of pros and cons going on for now.

Pros: More money. Wagons everywhere.

Cons: And it’s an awful one, I worry that if anything happened to my parents I won’t be able to get home quick enough.

THShorn92 - Left his car in America > Rufant
06/07/2016 at 16:28

That’s pretty much my current mindset. I live in North Carolina right now. I’ve never lived anywhere outside of the state and I love it here. I don’t really mind the rain, it rains a lot during the summer here.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 16:28

I say do it, it would be well worth it spending a year living in another country. You’ll gain another perspective to view life from which is never a bad thing.

Saracen > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 16:33

RS6 in Nardo Gray. I want this.

duurtlang > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 16:33

Tell me why I should move to the UK!

You’re asking the wrong question here. You won’t be getting many opportunities like this in your life, and if you take too many conservative choices you’ll regret it later.

The right question you should be asking yourself is: Why would you pass on this opportunity?

Svend > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 16:34

Brighton is the U.K. Equivalent to San Francisco. It’s quite, flamboyant.

It’s a good jumping off point for the south of England and onto Europe if you fancy a day in France, Belgium, Holland, etc...

I’m a northerner myself so the south of England isn’t quite for me. But I dare say if I gave it a go I’d quite like it.

I think you and your partner will find it quite a culture change but I think you’ll like it a lot.

smobgirl > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 16:34

Because I want to and it’s not feasible for me right now!

But seriously, what an awesome opportunity! I'm very jealous.

smobgirl > Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna
06/07/2016 at 16:40

I have an acquaintance who does...who knows what. But she spent several years in Abu Dhabi and now lives in Beirut (I think). Even with some of the cultural restrictions she's had a pretty exciting life, even importing and racing cars. Some incredible opportunities if you get the chance.

djmt1 > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 16:41

Well we actually have a Brighton resident here and it’s very lovely there. I live in London myself and I constantly bitch about it. Anyway life in the UK:

It doesn’t actual rain that much but it is grey and overcast 90% of the time. Plus Our winters aren’t that cold and our summers aren’t that hot.

We have the NHS so free healthcare for residents therefore if your wife ever wants breast enhancements they will be free (this isn’t a joke).

Our national newspaper has softcore porn on the opening page.

We despise tipping and most places discourage if not outright ban it.

We talk very quickly and tend to make up words in particular swear words.

We moan about the most minor of things. “Hey look a member of parliament spent less than a grand of public money to clean out his moat, this is the sort of corruption you would expect of Latin America.”

Fancy a tasty alcoholic beverage? Close your eyes, spin around, open your eyes, walk 50 metres and more often then not there will be a pub.

Europe is a day trip away in case you want cheap booze or fags.

Svend > djmt1
06/07/2016 at 16:46

Lol. So true.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > djmt1
06/07/2016 at 16:56

*Also if you stand in a queue you have to moan about it and tut occasionally otherwise you'll be lambasted as an outsider

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
06/07/2016 at 16:57

Because you love Northumberland, I know you do.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30
06/07/2016 at 17:12

I’d have to have at least some hills around or I’d go mad. Combine that with not wanting to be constantly a head taller than everyone and milling about in endless cramped villages stapled together by roadwork and ring roads, and I don’t know how well I’d tolerate anything south of Yorkshire for very long. Come to think of it, Northumberland *is* spot on.

LongbowMkII > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 17:16

You can buy/drive that RS6 Avant.

Mien Gott.

Do it.

Out, but with a W - has found the answer > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 17:25

Pro: extremely cheap second-hand cars.

Con: extremely expensive car insurance.

Source: hearsay, I live across the Channel (Belgium).

Leon711 > djmt1
06/07/2016 at 17:27

South Downs National Park, A small Liberal City, plenty to do. lots of historic sites around, close proximity to London, Goodwood etc. why don’t you live down here?

Leon711 > djmt1
06/07/2016 at 17:28

South Downs National Park, A small Liberal City, plenty to do. lots of historic sites around, close proximity to London, Goodwood etc. why don’t you live down here?

Leon711 > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 17:30

I live just outside Brighton, it’s a nice city, rich in culture. there is great deal of things in the surrounding areas too, from old castles, to the South Downs National Park, Brands Hatch and Goodwood are an hour away, London is an hour away. Do you by chance work for Amex? I’m just trying to figure out what multinationals are in Brighton.

Tripper > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 17:33

I have been multiple times (my sister used to live in Kent). I love it there! If you do it (and you should), and you need IT people consider me! I’m sure you know tons of people in the biz, but I’m real good and I will move to the UK in a heartbeat.

djmt1 > Leon711
06/07/2016 at 17:33

Disabled father who needs care and refuses to move.

Leon711 > djmt1
06/07/2016 at 17:37

Ah yes I remember, there’s plenty of Londoners in Brighton now, could you not convince him it’s London, but with marginally better air quality?

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
06/07/2016 at 17:40

One of us. One of us.

We have the A1, which goes up and down. We have the A69, which goes left to right. Thats pretty much it. Oh and the A68 and the Military Road, both fantastic driving roads which end up in Scotland somewhere.

I think we’re about the same height, no? You’re welcome to our county of knuckle dragging altitudinous simple folk.

THShorn92 - Left his car in America > Leon711
06/07/2016 at 17:48

A company called Avalara. We do Sales Tax (VAT for you guys) management. Where outside of Brighton do you live? I’ll probably need to actually start looking soon.

THShorn92 - Left his car in America > Out, but with a W - has found the answer
06/07/2016 at 17:49

Funny enough we have an office in Grimbergen that I will be traveling too occasionally as they won’t have their own support for IT

djmt1 > Leon711
06/07/2016 at 17:55

Nah. He worked his whole life for the house and has no intention of giving it up. Despite being offered £800,000 for it.

Leon711 > Leon711
06/07/2016 at 17:57

Shoreham-by-sea, I’m about 5 miles from the city centre. I’m not sure about the Eastern side of Brighton, but in terms of rent etc. on the west side the cheapest places to look are Southwick, Lancing, Worthing and to a lesser extent Fishersgate (Cheapest but you don’t wanna live there) all have good rail links to Brighton and buses are ok too.

I too work for a US multinational, but I’m indigenous to Shoreham, I work for Teledyne corp. in their Oil and Gas Division.

Out, but with a W - has found the answer > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 17:57

Haha, what a coincidence! In that case, three more reasons to move: beer, chocolate and the real french fries.

Jack Does Cars > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/07/2016 at 17:58

I’m split. Raleigh is great for Many Things, but the UK is great for Many Other Things. I know that UK weather is much like Seattle’s, a place that I have spent a lot of time, and if you like cold rain you’ll love the UK.

Well, it has rained here every night for the last, like, three months.

Leon711 > djmt1
06/07/2016 at 18:11

I can respect that.

Rufant > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/08/2016 at 04:50

A couple of other things (was a tad rushed this morning), you’ll have access to the worlds best car magazine, UK subscribers edition of Evo (subscriber edition? You get subscriber covers, which are a work of art).

http://subscribe.evo.co.uk/?utm_source=EV…

Kinja'd!!!

Even after 15 years away I still get it air-freighted over every month :)

Also.

http://www.pistonheads.com/

If you don’t know that site it is probably the best UK one, good forums and classifieds too. I’m sure if you post something in the forums there you will get a lot of local specific feedback.

If you want to start window shopping for cars now.

http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/

Just put in a Brighton post code (BN2 0AR) and away you go.

Non car stuff, there is a lot to do in the UK and it’s all pretty accessible (although traffic can be pretty bad, get good with a map/GPS and take back roads is always a good option). I actually thought this TV show gave a pretty good overall guide to the coastal areas of the UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00…

Anyway, I’m sure you can research whatever for yourself. Just make sure you do stuff :) As many other have said it will be a great experience whether it’s 1 year, 2 years (I have found that the first year is a bit of a blur and you only really start to discover a place for yourself in years 2-3, I moved countries in my mid 20's and have moved states a couple of times since) or 10. You’ll definitely find out a lot about yourselves, and it will make you stronger for the future.

All the best.

Cheers.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/08/2016 at 05:51

Definitely come over, and Brighton is a great place to stay if you decide to make the move.

I live about an hour away and go to Brighton quite frequently. I’ve been to San Fran as well and Svend is quite right about Brighton being the UK equivalent.

It’s also got good close transport links to London (which you don’t really want to drive to tbh). Tons to do in both places.

Car stuff-wise travel about an hour and a half West and you’ll get to Goodwood. An hour and a half North-North East and you’ve got Brands Hatch which does lots of race events. An hour North and once a year there’s Motorsport at the Palace (a sprint event on the remains of the old Crystal Palace motor circuit). An hour and a half North West and you’ve got the Brooklands museum which has a ton of cool cars including nutso things like the Napier Railton. Or you could just stay in Brighton and there’s the Brighton Speed Trials, a drag event down the Marina once a year :)

Also, if you live and work in Brighton (even with the occasional jaunt out to Europe) you can probably get by perfectly fine without a car. There’s great transport links.

The opportunity this presents is the ability to buy and drive something fun/weird/old/quirky/cool and not have to rely on it for daily transport which is a bit of a holy grail for old cars :)

Living in Brighton won’t be particularly conducive to owning multiple cars, unless you live further out from the city centre. Two would probably be best.

Back onto non-car things, if you like food then there’s some really good places to eat both in Brighton and in London. Can recommend you a couple of great places :)

There’s also some stunning chalk cliffs over near Eastbourne and onwards along the East Coast, and a proper sandy beach at Camber Sands (most of the beaches in Britain are pebbled, which is rare in the rest of the world but seems normal here).

There's also tons of great driving roads around the south East as basically all the old windy roads were paved over quite early and have kept their form, whereas people put more thought into road planning by the time the majority of the rest of the country was paved (although it's still a bit wiggly).

THShorn92 - Left his car in America > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
06/08/2016 at 08:07

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! This stuff really helps a lot!

THShorn92 - Left his car in America > Rufant
06/08/2016 at 08:08

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! It really does mean a lot. All this has gone from 0 to 100 really quickly so this is great stuff to think about and help me sort my thoughts.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/08/2016 at 08:13

No worries :) any other questions you have just ask :)

RWS Motorsport > THShorn92 - Left his car in America
06/08/2016 at 08:16

Yet another UK oppo chiming in. Do it!

But not for specific reasons, more the generic, its an amazing opportunity to have, to try out another country and see how you like it, with the option to stay or go after a year. Brighton itself and the surrounding areas are all very pretty, and again as most of the other Oppos have said, that’s arguably on of the best spots for car culture in the UK, with the variety of stuff that’s within a reasonable distance and then the home grown events like the Speed Trials.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30
06/08/2016 at 08:44

Far enough back most of my folk were Scots, borderers, lowland Scot, Scot Irish, or simply Northern, so it makes a bit of sense. I mean, there’s a French contribution, a Dutch contribution, and even some Spaniard (probably), but most of that was acquired in the New World from people who’d had enough sense to get out of those places.