Moving to the US - would you do it?

You may recall last year I mentioned that we were considering moving. Many plans were put forward and shelved. Initially it was to live by the sea and let husband do a weekly commute. Then it was live by the sea and let husband do a daily commute. Personally I wanted to move to the sea and run a tea shop so that I'd have an excuse to eat a lot of cake. We spent weekends driving all over the country, visiting seaside villages and market towns. We nosied around plenty of houses and read up on schools up and down the country.

But all of the plans came to nothing. Because no matter what, it kept coming back to one thing. We need my husband at home more. The boys need their dad. He needs to not be so exhausted from his commute and his job that he just wants to lie on the sofa in a coma all weekend. I need to not be a single parent 90% of the year.

So another option presented itself. Move to Seattle in the USA so the husband could be close to his office (20 min commute vs 1.5 hours) and less international travel. Better work life balance (in theory).

When I mention this to people, most people react the same way: Go for it! I'd love to live in the US.

But would you? If it meant starting from scratch with no friends, no support network, no family, no job (for me), finding schools, finding a home, living with a culture foreign to both of us, raising American children, watching American football instead of rugby, not being able to buy decent pork sausages....

These are some of the things I will be considering when we head over to Seattle in just over two weeks time to 'suss out the joint'.

The pros are there too. A hopefully less tired, more available husband and father, a better quality of life, beautiful scenery, all the first world slickness and optimism that comes with the USA, the chance for me to become whatever I want to be and do whatever I want to do, the opportunity to meet new friends, and a whole new adventure.

I feel as though I am sitting precariously on a set of weighing scales just waiting to see which way they'll tilt. Which would way would you want them to go?