Coming home - what will you miss?

Tom Dunne

For me it's clear - blue skies. Do not underestimate the value of getting out of bed to a clear blue sky, approximately 360 out of 365 days of the year. I am really going to miss that.

The next thing is lifestyle - I am under no illusions, I have a pretty damn good lifestyle here. Though I do drink too much. The off-licenses actually deliver (and yes, I live in a Muslim country - and no, I can't get my head around that either. Remind me to tell you about the Ramadan specials - I kid you not).

So, what is it you will miss about your current life in whatever country you are in?

R.D. aka MR.D

I think for me I'm going to miss the feeling of being totally lost sometimes.

One of the reasons I left Dublin was that after having lived there for 5 years, it was almost guaranteed that I would bump into somebody that I knew if I was out and about for a while near the area that I lived.

Here, I know nobody. It's a pain in the arse to get stared at like a freak but at least I can ignore those people and not have to do the obligatory stop and chat!


Sometimes when you're hungover and just want to pop to Aldi wearing whatever you threw on, you don't want to see that friend of a friend who you only half remember his name.

I'm also going to kind of miss the fact that I can blame the language barrier for some stuff. 'Oh it must have been a miscommunication' when in fact I'm just doing things the way that I want because the way that my boss wants it done is backwards.

Suaimhneach

Scale - I can drive for five hours and still be in the same state.
Weather - California is almost always sunny.
Career - head office is based here, and there's nothing like being near the centre of it all.
Options - from shops, to holidays to whatever you want. AMAZON PRIME! Same day delivery... real first world problem, I know but it's so damn convenient.
Travel - it's so much cheaper to get around the US than it is to get around Europe
Diversity - this is a mixed bag in the US, but at least it exists, and I know it has it's downsides but overall it's nice to live somewhere with different languages, cultures, colours.

wuffly

Career - Actually having one (I will need to retrain/diversify to get a job at home)
Opportunities - I was at the F1 over the weekend just an hour down the road
Weather - When its good, its the best.
The people - The friends we've made here are like our college gang all different, living close by and looking out for each other
Lifestyle-The travel & savings we've been able to do. This time next year we will have a Louvre down the road, culture events getting bigger and better every year, street art fest, latin fest etc...
Anything can be delivered
Anything you desire (chinese knock off) can be found at the mighty dragon mart - the price your sanity!
Food- so many great places to eat from cheap and cheerful Ravi's up to places like the Ivy

Wompa1

Opportunities - I have my pick of jobs and have worked myself into a high up executive position. The sky is the limit. I don't care about that any more anyways but it's something that I won't get back in Ireland.

Convenience - USPS deliver packages on Sundays now and deliver regular mail Monday-Saturday. Banks open Monday-Saturday and some small branches in grocery stores even open on Sundays. 24 hour restaurants and shops are not just a thing..they are almost the norm here. I don't want to live in Dublin, so I will be giving up all of this.

Weather - I actually prefer the Irish weather but I'm sure there will be days when I think, what the hell did I do? I'm in Phoenix. It's ALWAYS sunny.

Positivity - When I'm having a bad day, I dread needing to go to a shop or just out in public to be met with a big "HI, WELCOME TO BLAH BLAH, JUST TO LET YOU KNOW XX IS ON SPECIAL TODAY, MY NAME IS YY, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, OKAY!?"..I also think the hopeless optimism may be hurting this country in the long run but I'm sure at some point I'll be met with some begrudgery in Ireland and will long for the American optimism.

Online Banking - Actual Online Banking that works. Banking 365 is just awful.

Some things that are cheaper here - New car, razors, shampoo, eating out

Partners family - Obviously more for herself than me.

catbear

Back a year after three years in Australia. We miss nothing except a few Australian friends and cheap kangaroo meat.