UK has been good to me, but I’m lonely, priced out, and miss home. Anyone else stuck?
So, I’m Italian and I’ve been living in the UK for eight and a half years now.
Unfortunately, I still can’t figure out what to do with my life and I’m turning 39 this year. I live with my partner and our cat, a former stray who joined us here a few years ago.
Lately, I feel completely stuck between two worlds and would love to hear from anyone in a similar position.
What I love about the UK:
The System: Bureaucracy is fast and clear, generally speaking, I feel like there’s a real effort here to help citizens and make life smoother.
The job market is flexible and our work-life balance is actually quite good.
The People & Nature: People are very polite and affable and I love the green spaces and the general respect for nature.
Why thinking to leave:
Loneliness: Despite people being friendly, I’ve made zero real friends here (even among expats), only acquaintances. It’s incredibly isolating.
Housing & Environment: We are priced out of buying a home, stuck renting with NFH and dreaming of the countryside (pretty out of reach). Plus, I deeply miss the Mediterranean light and not a fan of the constant grey skies.
Aging Parents: Our parents are getting older in Italy and we miss them.
I deeply miss the idea of having a future in Italy, because I still consider it home (hopefully, maybe it’s just the memory of it?). My partner handles this limbo situation better than I do, but honestly, if Italy were a better country, I would have gone back years ago.
I dream of moving back to the Italian countryside but I’m terrified. I’m scared of the toxic work culture, the broken economy and making a minor bureaucratic mistake that wipes out our tiny savings.
Ideally, the perfect solution would be to spend a few months a year here and a few months there, but that feels almost impossible.
Is anyone else living through a similar situation? Any advice or shared experiences would really help.
Thank you ☺️