A Californian details the pros of living in England and how the culture compares to the US

Andrea moved from the US to the UK. She explained the pros of living in London and why she thinks she fits better with English culture.

• Andrea, 28, creates video skits about the differences between the US and the UK.
• She grew up in California, attended a university in England, and has officially lived in London since 2023.
• She likes London but thinks she'll someday move to a quieter place with lots of nature.

Andrea's move from California to England around a decade ago led to getting a university education, falling in love, and finding inspiration for US vs. UK videos that she creates.

Andrea, 28, said she felt she fit in better with English culture and knew she would want to try living somewhere other than Southern California, where she grew up.

"I really love that people don't take things so seriously and I always felt a lot of pressure to be the best in everything when I was in LA," Andrea, whose last name has been verified with Business Insider but left out for privacy, said.

As a teenager in California, Andrea was able to see what the UK could be like through the videos she watched created by what had been known as the "Brit Crew," which included YouTubers like Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes. "That was kind of my little way of being there but not being there," she said.

But Andrea eventually got to see what the UK was like outside a screen when she visited at 18 years old. She moved in 2015 to study at the University of Leicester, where she said she got a degree in applied psychology.

She met her now-husband while at university, and she went back to California after graduating, given her student visa expired. After pandemic-era travel restrictions were lifted, she would visit her partner in London, and she officially moved in 2023.

Andrea has also ended up creating a niche as a content creator. She makes short videos comparing the US and the UK and about culture shock as someone from California. Some examples of her content include a skit of work pep talks in the US vs. the UK, a series of "Things that are socially acceptable in England that might confuse Americans," and a skit of menu item names in the US vs. the UK.

She ended up finding success highlighting the differences between the UK and the US. "I thought, well, that's kind of a cool way to share my story," she said.

Andrea enjoys getting to act and the whole process of making videos — from figuring out the lighting and writing a script to filming and editing. Andrea loves the community she has built. At the time of reporting, she has 145,000 followers on Instagram and almost 200,000 followers on TikTok.

She said one of her favorite things about being a content creator is running into fans. "Then it sort of puts a face to all these people that I don't know," she said. "I instantly feel a connection."

The pros and cons of living in England

As someone who loves being outdoors, Andrea finds the English countryside beautiful. She also loves English culture.

"I think that they tend to take things a little less seriously, which I do a lot in my skits," she said. "I just find so funny because I feel like growing up in the US, it was a little bit of a different outlook on life. It was more overt positivity."

She finds the UK is somewhat more relaxed than the "hustle and bustle" of the US.

She thinks the "fitness world is also very big in London," which she likes. Another positive is the public transportation in London and the city "being so compact that you could just walk places as well," unlike the sprawl of her native Southern California.

The food selection is also a pro. "I'm a big foodie, so London's a really great place for that," she said, adding there's a big "variety of restaurants and places to try."

Then there are also the pubs. "I'm not drinking this year, but I love cozy pub culture," Andrea said. "It's something that I feel like you don't really get in America because it's so classically England. It's just very English to sit at a pub with a group of friends, have a drink, or go out for dinner and just sort of sit there for a bit."

She finds London a great place to live. However, London may soon no longer be calling. She and her husband are soon ready to move somewhere that's more quiet and has a lot of nature by the time they're in their mid-30s. She said her in-laws live in the countryside, and she loves taking walks near the cliffs and forests where they live.

"I love London, and I really would love to stay there a bit longer, but I think I'm definitely more of a countryside person," she said.

Andrea noted the weather could be a con at times. She said she loves cold temperatures and the rain in the fall and the start of winter, "but when it is freezing cold and cloudy from around January to March, it can get really depressing."

She finds it feels worse in London when "everything" is gray. However, she finds the spring and fall weather and "generally having seasons here makes up for that."

Andrea says she and her husband pay nearly £3,000 a month in rent for a London apartment. She said the area she lives in "is one of the more expensive places to live in London." She also noted they likely spend somewhere between £80 to £100 pounds a week on groceries.

"Everything's so expensive right now, so we really try to just make sure that we're not eating out and getting delivery when we don't necessarily need to," she said.

While she doesn't plan to move back to the US anytime soon, she said she's been feeling homesick lately and that she finds California to be "one of the most beautiful places in the world." She noted how California has so much to offer, and she misses camping in the state, the beaches, and her family.

She also misses how the US celebrates the holidays where it's "so in your face" but in a good way. Andrea said while "it's kind of becoming more like that here," she said "it's not the same where in America it's like every house is decorated so much for Halloween or you get a lot of presents for Valentine's Day."

Andrea's moving advice

Andrea said she gets asked a lot about how to get a UK visa. "And it's really difficult to sometimes give that advice because my situation is so unique in that I literally, I had a student visa, I happened to meet someone that I ended up marrying," she said.

She suggested that prospective movers visit the places for at least a month ahead of time as opposed to a couple of weeks.

"I think you don't really get to see that much in two weeks," she said. "You don't get to experience that much, and you don't really know what it's like to live there. I feel like a month at least allows that time to figure out if that's the place for you."

Andrea suggested that movers prioritize their mental health and taking care of themselves — something she wished she was told, too.

"I feel like that's something that's not really talked about very often when you're moving to a different country," she said. "It's all so exciting, and people are like, oh, it's so cool that you're moving to a different country. But most people don't realize that it's actually quite a big scary move, and it's taking you completely out of the norm of what you're used to and shifting everything."

Where have you moved to? Reach out to this reporter to share your moving experience at mhoff@businessinsider.com.