Things I Miss About America

In honour of the Fourth of July, or Independence Day if you prefer, I thought I'd share a list of the things I miss about America. Don't get me wrong I love living in England but any expat will tell you there are things they miss about their home country. Here are my top 5 things I miss about living in America and to all my American readers...

5. Radio. If you listen to the radio in England, your choices seem to be Top 40, Top 40 or Classic FM. I miss having a choice on the radio and I especially miss my classic rock stations!

facebook.com/bbcradio1

4. American Food. You may laugh and think "what's that?" but I'm serious. Besides the abundance of sushi (read my post 'I Love Sushi') I miss frozen yogurt or froyo, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, In-N-Out Burger and good Mexican food. Just to name a few!

Luke and me at In-N-Out Burger on our last trip to Las Vegas.

3. Driving. As practical and useful as public transportation is and as good as Luke is as my chauffeur, not driving can be a pain in the bum sometimes. Now I realise this is something I can control as I do have the ability to drive. However I have no idea how to drive manual (which most cars in the UK are) or drive on the left. There is also a cost issue involved, putting me on the insurance is going to be a bloody fortune!

Luke driving in America.

2. Customer Service. 'The customer is always right' is not a phrase the English understand and 'service with a smile' you can forget about that! I remember when I first moved to England I used to say hello to the shopkeepers whenever I entered because I felt so awkward at not being greeted.

Ingimage | Royalty Free

And the number 1 thing I miss about America...

1. My family and friends. This goes without saying really. The hardest part about being an expat is being a part from your loved ones. I don't think any expat would disagree with me on that one. The problem now is when I move back to America, and it will happen at one point, I will miss my family and friends here.

A few of my friends and me at my surprise 'Bon Voyage' party!

I'm linking up for the first time with for The Expat Diaries

with Chelsea (Lost in Travels) and Rachel (Postcards from Rachel).

Q: What do you miss about your home or what would you miss if you left?

Erin x

16 comments:

Mrs. M said...:

4 July 2013 at 18:00

Thanks for sharing. I did a semester in England and I remember missing American food, especially Mexican. And I looooove Mexican food.

Happy 4th of July!

Jade said...:

4 July 2013 at 19:42

I have to agree on the food & customer service and I'm not even American, but gees, I live for my yearly trip to the good old USA just so I can cram in as much In n' Out, Jack in the Box and Red Lobster as I can get!

I think the thing I miss the most from Australia is (apart from family & friends of course!) the weather - I am such a sun lover and living through winter in the UK really gets me down sometimes.

Erin @ Quintessentially English said...:

4 July 2013 at 20:04

Red Lobster Jade? Really? I like the idea of it and i've tried it twice but NEVER again. Got ill both times.

I'm in agreement about the weather, although I've unfortunately never been to Australia I can sympthasise about the hot climate. I also get down about the winter weather, but I tend to forget it on days like these!

X

Chelsea @ Lost in Travels said...:

5 July 2013 at 03:25

oh goodness, this spoke directly to my heart! i miss GOOD american food and mexican food! it's really hard to come by here! i did miss driving but shortly after we moved here we found a car for just $200 : ) best decision we've ever made! thanks so much for linking up with us!

Erin @ Quintessentially English said...:

5 July 2013 at 10:49

I'm glad to hear that! Thanks for having the link up! It's always great to talk and share stories with other expats. Yes I can't imagine that Mexican food is very popular in South Korea!

Erin x

Unknown said...:

5 July 2013 at 12:40

I miss Mexican food soooo much! About the car...yeah I have not driven in over two years. We thought about maybe getting a cheap car before we got to Bath so we could live a little further away from town, but wow...no. The cost of the car aside, just to get our license and insurance was more than we could afford. I kinda love having public transportation and two feet that can get me places. Actually my eldest was telling me that on a school outting he was the only kid in his class not out of breath. I think you are aware of how much walking we do with countrywalks, so it kinda makes me futher out weigh the need of a car.

Unknown said...:

5 July 2013 at 13:26

I agree with absolutely everything you've said! It was like I wrote it, especially the Ranch (I smuggle as many bottles as the weight limit will allow every time I go back to America). With the driving, I'm not sure how old you are, but I got my "provisional license" (permit to us americans) but just sending off for it (you don't even need to take a test) and if you are 25 or over, more often than not, it is cheaper to have you on your partners insurance! Even with a permit. I worked for a car insurance company for a while, so I know it sounds crazy but its true. I've been here almost three years and still haven't gotten around to getting my English driving license yet since you have to re-take your driving test.

Dannielle | Chic-a-Dee

Erin @ Quintessentially English said...:

5 July 2013 at 14:35

Yes I love country walks and I know you do as well Bonnie! I can't believe kids in class could be out of breath! They need to stop playing Xbox and get outside!

I didn't know I could get a provisional license here without taking a test?! Really! I'll have to look into that! Thank you so much Dannielle for that information! I probably will get on my partners insurance when that time comes around.

Erin x

Holly Hollyson @ Full of Beans and Sausages said...:

5 July 2013 at 17:13

As an ex-Brit, I can totally see why you would miss all of those things in Blighty!

Unknown said...:

7 July 2013 at 18:59

Like Bonnie said, I miss Mexican food! It was one of the first things I wanted to eat when I was back in KS (with a margarita, of course). I also miss being able to run to the store whenever I need to. I also miss automatic cars. I have a license here in Belgium but haven't learned to drive a manual, yet. Not very excited for that adventure - I totally don't feel confident about driving here.

On the reverse side, if I move back to the US at some point, I know I will miss the UHT milk here in Belgium. It's so convenient to have extra milk in the cupboard. The drawback of living abroad is that you find things you really like from both places and will always end up missing something.

Lublyou said...:

8 July 2013 at 00:21

Yes, the hardest thing about living abroad is being away from the family and friends. I miss them every day. Thanks to Skype it's way better than it could be, though!

Louise Wiles said...:

10 July 2013 at 14:56

As a Brit living in Portugal I miss the beautiful green English countryside and those cute homely English pubs, those beautiful gardens and a good old sticky toffee pudding - oh and clotted cream....

stevenglassman said...:

20 July 2013 at 13:10

I miss tater tots. They just don't exist here in Germany. Whenever I try to explain tater tots to a German, I'm met with a blank stare... they have so many types of potato preparation, but none of them is really a tater tot.

Erin @ Quintessentially English said...:

22 July 2013 at 07:39

I can't imagine that's an easy explanation in German. I just tried to explain them to myself in English and failed!

Erin x

Alyssa Roman said...:

10 August 2013 at 15:13

I wish I could send you some of these things you miss... but I don't think an In&Out Burger would ship very well. :)

Erin @ Quintessentially English said...:

10 August 2013 at 16:53

I wish In-N-Out could ship well! Do you have it in Florida?! It's beautiful!

Erin x

Pages

Quintessentially English | Expat Lifestyle and Travel Blog