I'm looking for thoughts on the notion of long-term visit to the UK. Say, something on the order of 3 months. I have no current plans to do that, but it has occurred to me that, in the future, I might be able to pull if off.
I'll make the assumption that I could rent a place for a term of three months and that I'd pay a considerable premium for it. Other than that, what are the downsides and the upsides?
Visa won't be a problem because the UK allows you to stay for up to six months on just a regular tourist visa. (Schengen allows three months but UK is not part of Schengen.)
The advantages of a longer stay are clearly that you can get to know a local area really well. You can almost become part of the community. I lived in Hayward WI for 8 weeks between my Junior and Senior years in college and I became a bit of a local. I attended a local church, I met the neighbors. I think I'd stay in a smaller village that has access to good transportation. If you can afford to lease a car, so much the better. Pam
Downsides??? If you can afford it, there are no downsides I can think of.
I'm with Carroll, can't think of any downsides. You could also spend a month in different places around the UK. Lots of possibilities.
If you can stay put in a few places and save by renting apartments, cooking most of you own meals and making good use of public transportation, you help minimize the only slight downside I see- cost. I am jealous that you can even contemplate this. It is something I've always wanted to do. I'd stay in London for a while, then York, maybe spend some time in Cardiff, perhaps go to the coast.... then Scotland- that could take a LOOOOOONG time.....
Toni, it's a possibility a couple of years down the road, but it would take some planning on my part. By "downsides" I'm thinking more about unexpected hassles that might surprise me.
Still can't think of any downsides...I remember that when I got home after studying in German for 6 months, I was surprised to find out how much I enjoyed getting together with Americans again. I didn't realized I'd missed the cultural familiarity. But I didn't know I was missing it when I was there and 6 months at 19 is different that 3 months at older age! ; )
Pam
j.c., I'm glad you brought this up. For a long time I've wanted to go to the UK and stay until I got homesick enuf to want to go home and wondered how long that would be. I've dreamed of a month here then a month there and so on as so forth. People from home could come and visit me. Or not. I don't see any downsides. I'd even considered buying a car and selling it when it's time to leave. There are some car companies that will let you do that.
It's difficult to think of things that might cause you problems because we are used to the way things are done here! Perhaps, despite being a small island, journeys often take longer than you would expect.
Other than that I would say loneliness and homesickness. IMO we are not so open to inviting strangers into our lives. So don't mistake friendliness as an invation to become friends and don't take it personally, it's just the way we are. Of course this is a generalisation and you may find that you make friends easily but it is something often commented on by foreign visitors.
If you go in the fall/winter months, wherever you live could be rather chilly-inside I mean. Heating is expensive so lots of people don't keep it as warms as in the US. And living in NC you're probably used to warmer weather...
Hi Cary,
My husband and I have been traveling to England since the late 60's and our love of that country took me in the early 70's into 30 years as a Travel Agent so I had the opportunity to go even more often!
Together husband and I have been there about 20 times and we will go once again this summer for 6 weeks. We usually travel with a couple of friends and exchange our beachy home or rent something.
There is always something going on that we feel we need to see (this year it is the Staffordshire Hoard) and we will be renting a home for 6 people in the Hampstead area which we know well. Upon our retirement we found an apartment for 6 months at a reasonable rent there and have gone back again all these years.
We opened a bank account with Barkley bank and the fellow who we did that with, I swore was part of the Monty Python group as the whole procedure was so silly!! We loved the 6 months....April 1-October 1 was our dates and they were just great. Occasionally we rented a car and went traveling...our favorite b and b was in Pett Bottom near Salisbury. We still have 60GBP in the Barkley Bank, just so we can get those wonderful letters from the bank each year showing that we made 6pence interest and can put it on our Income tax form here!
Did we ever go anywhere else...oh my goodness yes..Have we gotten England out of our system...oh NO. The flights are getting long but we slip in to the English mode of talking at Heathrow...not the accent, just the words...lorry, petrol, and like that. We have friends there and even some relatives now so it is always just a great adventure.
So yes, do it as soon as you can and as often! My best regards in whatever you decide,
Mollie
I love the UK so to me there would be few downsides about that duration.
If faced with the issue, I would be considering where and when -where as in where to use as a base or bases - part(s) of the country, city, village, 1 month in 3 places etc. When would be the time of the year - the weather is less than great a lot of the time.
I would definately go in 'summer time' when the days are longer - but avoid some of the peak summer months perhaps. I would choose April, May and June if it were me.
I think you would be in a good bargaining position with long term rentals.
Do you plan to have a car for all, some or none of the time - as this would be a factor in where to stay. The UK is expensive, so you may need to budget carefully.
The British are by nature quite reserved - so if you are going alone, bear this in mind. To me, that could possibly be the only downside. On the other hand of course, they speak English, which makes communication easier.
www.slowtrav.com has many reviews of rental agencies and rental properties - which may assist in your research.
I think it would be fantastic! I would consider three areas that you would want to make as a base..then rent an apartment for a month in each location. Let us know what you decide to do.
Hi JC,
great idea and if you do want to meet some locals then there is now the new option of social networking sites. These are used by people who want to meet new people to socialise together because they are either new in a city or their friends now have children and don't go out as much. For example I joined the following:
and I have met lots of new friends including non-Brits from Spain, Germany etc. You can pay to go to a single event of your choice (walking, restaurant meal) without having to pay a regular fee.
Cheers
Steve.
If you wanted to base yourself in London, there are websites that offer accomodation in London from Monday to Friday in people's homes; yours2share.com is one. The rents are quite reasonable and I'm sure you'd find soomeone happy to take you on for a 3 month period.
You would have to go away at the weekend, but that might work out fine for you.
I think auto insurance would not be a problem (although having a car in London might be!). When I moved here from Canada, I was able to get car insurance without any trouble, and was even able to get a discount because of my no claims record. That was on a Canadian driver's license.
Health insurance- well, you'd have to check, but I think you'd be able to use the NHS for free, for emergencies, although they might be changing that.
As for health insurance- you might be able to use
In 2006 I spent almost 3 months in England from early March til end of May. It was wonderful! With friends I spent 4 weeks in 2 different rental places. Then my husband joined me and we did 2 back-to-back home exchanges (homeexchange.com). This cut the cost drastically as we only had to rent a car for the time in rental places; otherwise we used our exchangers' cars. We met people through pursuing contacts with common interests (Jacob sheep, and Servas organization). Check Servas also for short-term free stays with great people. I cherish the memories of that spring. Hope you do it! Julia
JC- Been thinking about this... Health Insurance might be a problem. Talk with your current provider. Also, if you are going to drive- auto insurance.
My primary concern about health insurance is not emergency care. I'd receive emergency treatment, either gratis or I'd be billed. But, emergency treatment is just the start many times. E.g., if I'm in a serious accident, I might need long-term physical therapy after emergency treatment. If I have a heart attack, I might need some form of long-term care after the emergency response. NHS is not going to provide that long-term care to me for free. My current health insurance will cover that care after I am back in the U.S., but it will not cover the cost of transport back to the U.S. So, I'd have emergency treatment and then be turned loose to pay for medivac back to the U.S. No way I can afford that. Nor am I willing to pay for 3 months worth of travel insurance that includes medivac coverage.
Maybe instead of travel insurance for the med evac, take a look at a med evac membership plan .. http://www.medjetassist.com/
I've not tried this, only looked at it occasionally to wonder if it would fit my needs. Regular membership says its good for up to 90 days at $250 annual rate. "Expatriate" membership for 91-180 days out of the US is $420 annual rate--seems reasonable when considered part of a long trip's costs.
As I've no actual experience with this, only considered it, anyone else actually use this?
j.c. If, as you say, you are not willing to pay for 3 months of travel insurance that would include medivac, I guess you will just have to take your chances and hope for the best. That, or wait until you can afford the insurance.
I love England,and would do it in a flash if I had the time off work and the money. I can't think of any "down" sides of it for me! What is it about England that draws me so? I wish I knew, but my heart is there most of the time!
Have you thought of going as a volunteer? I did that for a few months at a time at a retreat house in The Giddings near Cambridge and loved it. I became part of the local life there and met so many wonderful and interesting people. There are many places that could use volunteers, and you would have room and board. The down side of going alone is loneliness...but as a volunteer you would never be lonely and certainly would be busy. Volunteer visas are for one year and are not too difficult to obtain. What interests you? For me it was the love of the poet T.S. Eliot that led me to one of the places he wrote about in The Four Quartets. A little research could yield something wonderful and life changing.
