California?

[janeyo]

The place is Irvine, an electronics hotspot. My husband designs electronics and has been offered a job (he contracts at the moment) by a man he used to work with who has been there for 12 years.
I have no idea bout the package yet as we were shocked by the offer!
I would not be able to work to start with as would be under his visa, but then with setting up home would prob not have time anyway! We wold be taking our 3 children with us, so lots of upheaval for them (they are 8, 5 and 6 weeks).
Mr janeyo has no family or friends (his friends all through me so to speak), apart from a VERY poorly mother who is just going into full time care home. He is an only child, so has a burden with her.
I have a huge extended family and friend circle (all mostly live near me too), especially my mum who looks after my boys all the time! I am a social creature who is always meeting up with friends and family.
I think the hardest thing would be losing my mum's support. Anything else, bring it on! I would love the weather and am told by the man offering the job that traffic is light the side of Irvine we would be. Half an hour from the coast. And half an hour ish from the mountains too.

But it's 10 hours away and am pretty sure none of my family would be able to afford to come see us, or that we'd be able to afford to come home regularly.

We would not be any better off financially and would prob end up with a smaller house with virtually no garden (but a pool instead!) which might be an issue as I have lots of space for 3 boys and I have large veggie patch, greenhouse etc and chickens... but would the warmth be worth it???

J x

[bearded bloke]

Looking at that ^^ Janey I would say you would be hard pushed to get more positives than negatives if you did a list,probably the biggest consideration beyond your comments thus far would be job satisfaction,is it a guaranteed long term contract in the US ?

[Alison]

Looking at that ^^ Janey I would say you would be hard pushed to get more positives than negatives if you did a list,probably the biggest consideration beyond your comments thus far would be job satisfaction,is it a guaranteed long term contract in the US ?

Interesting as I thought the opposite when I read J's post but suppose it depends on how you weight things, space, friends, family and lottie would be way above say weather etc for me but as ever we're all different and until all T&Cs are known its difficult to judge

[janeyo]

A couple of recommended books have arrived - will have a nosey through them. I also have a couple of friends who live in other parts of the states - am going to pick their brains too.
Half of me says don't leave your mum and the other half says - let's go!

[bearded bloke]

Interesting as I thought the opposite when I read J's post but suppose it depends on how you weight things, space, friends, family and lottie would be way above say weather etc for me but as ever we're all different and until all T&Cs are known its difficult to judge

Maybe I worded that badly Alison,what I meant was I could see few if any reasons to move.

[Tripmeup]

I am leaning towards BB's view here... For that sort of upheaval, I would definitely be needing more money just as a starting point..... Unless ye are not sure of security with current contract situation.. Tough choice tho.

[Patchninja]

You don't say where Irvine is. If you're used to having a lot of family close to you, think very carefully. America's fun, but you've still got to live the daily grind. If there's no extra money for 3 or 4 visits home every year, you may well end up very miserable. What if your husband's mother dies? Not easy to leave ancients behind! I live relatively close to England and can be back there in a flash for not too much money. What I think is work out the plane budget first. If it's not there, you'll feel trapped.

[Newton]

As for the allotment. Could you start an allotment movement over there if they dont have them already. That would be an achievement!

With their can do attitude and plethora of vegan billionaires I an sure you could find funding!!!

Good luck with your decision.......

[Alison]

Maybe I worded that badly Alison,what I meant was I could see few if any reasons to move.

Ah, that makes more sense, sounds like we came to the same conclusion - was reading it on my phone originally so may be that's why it wasn't so clear to me as it's not the best media as the screen is too small.

[bearded bloke]

No worries Alison Leaving all other things aside,IMHO a "circle" of close friends is worth far more than any amount of money or other creature comfort.

[Patchninja]

Just another side. I've seen afair few brits come here and feel miserable and go back home. I realise that there's ot he same language barrier in the US but culturally, we're worlds apart.
Also, consider the moving financial package.
Go there on a holiday before you decide. See for yourselves. No book can tell you if you'll like it. Whatever you decide, best of luck.

[batpixie]

Hi janeyo. I am usually a lurker rather than a talker, and haven't logged in for a good while , but I thought that my recent experiences might be useful to you.

I have lived in California (Bay Area) for just over a year now after my OH got a job with one of the big tech companies. I wont bore you with all the pro's and cons, but will try to point out some of the big things we thought about before making the decision to move and how it's actually been.

VISA's - I too am unable to work as I am on a spouse visa (I think we have an H4 and H1b, but I can't remember which is which!), however, a lot of your time at first will be spent setting up home and getting to know the local area etc. Once we got settled in I started looking for volunteer work to keep me occupied - there is loads out there! The visa's seemed fairly straight forward to get, although, I think there are only a set number issued twice a year (April and October comes to mind).

Cost of Living - In general, I have found cost of living to be higher over here. I think food seems to be pricier, but I have stopped converting it as it's not really going to influence whether or not we buy something we need. Property rental is much higher in this area than most places in the UK, but we are in Silicon Valley, so the prices may be lower elsewhere. I don't have kids, but I believe that property prices can be influenced by how good the schools are in an area i.e. prices will be higher in the catchment area of a better school. As an aside, I don't think (not 100% sure) you will be able to get your own bank account, as you will not be issued with a Social Security Number, so you will be entirely reliant on your OH for money. Also, you will need health insurance, but make sure that it is for all areas of health care (ie. dental, optical etc) and not just medical.

Weather - what can I say! As someone else posted, California is a big place, so weather can vary a lot. Where I am, last year we had not one drop of rain from March until late September and summer temperatures were hot, without being unpleasant (late 20's most of the time). At the moment, we are having overnight frosts, but it is warm enough for just a jumper by mid morning. It is fantastic, especially if you enjoy an outdoors lifestyle. You can go out in the morning in shorts and t-shirt without having to worry about taking 10 extra layers with you!

Family - this was the biggest one for me. I am very close to my family, although I lived near Manchester and they lived near Edinburgh when we were in the UK (4hrs journey v's 16+ hrs journey). I was worried about leaving them, but at the same time wanted to go on an adventure. The biggest thing that swayed me was the fact that my parents are still relatively young (early 60's) and although anything can happen, they are in good health at the moment. I decided that if we were going to do something like this, now would be the time to do it rather than leaving it until later. I haven't missed them as much as I thought I would, but I think a big part of that has been because I can see as well as speak to them on Skype and do so a couple of times a week. I can also call my nana's home phone for just over 1p a minute using skype too (although it took a lot of convincing for her to believe that it wasn't bankrupting me to phone her!)

Wow, just read that back and it's a bit of an essay! If you have any questions, or any more info, then let me know and I'll try to help out if I can.

[Dusty Rhodes]

California has the 10th largest economy in the world! It is packed full of people and commuting can be time consuming...think of London on steroids.

People are laid back in CA and not everybody is polite and mannerly...a mixing pot of all kinds of people.

You probably will have more spendable income because taxes and gasoline are much less than in the UK. The cost of a house varies much as it does in the UK...just keep within your budget. People often buy a house some distance from their workplace and commute to work...this is where the cheaper gasoline and possibly more affordable housing on the outskirts come into play.

It is much easier growing a productive garden in CA than in the UK.

CA is progressive and sets the pace for most of the US.

It's not all pie in the sky over here, but I'm sure you'll be happy here if you're an adaptable family.

Go to Find Real Estate, Homes for Sale & Houses for Rent - REALTOR.comŽ to check housing prices in the area. The allcitydata website has the facts you need about Irvine compiled in one spot.

[Alison]

California has the 10th largest economy in the world! It is packed full of people and commuting can be time consuming...think of London on steroids.

That statement on it's own would be enough to make me run in the oposite direction

[bearded bloke]

commuting can be time consuming...think of London on steroids.

Ahhhh,the well known car park that is the San Diego Freeway,the few times I drove that direction it seemed the Santa Ana Freeway flowed better but was a more convoluted route