Is the grass greener on the other side (America)??

[TW]Fox;17549390 said:
I mean seriously, his healthcare plan is 'fly back to the UK' - what sort of plan is that :D
Click to expand...

One that doesn't sound familiar at all.......:eek:
But seriously, there were stages (several months at a time) where I didn't have medical insurance and I survived just fine.
However on a 'wake up' type note - one of my friends got mugged on a night (beat up and stolen wallet), cut & bruised face, chipped tooth etc, nothing overly serious. Police sent him to the hospital in an ambulance (even though he requested a taxi), got treated, no insurance, now has about a $5k debt to pay :(
(He has to pay back about $10-15 a month or week for something like 20yrs though)
 
I moved to Canada from the UK in May 09.

Is the grass always greener on the other side? Yes and no. Fortunately my Mrs is Canadian and we had family and friends to help us out off the bat. Getting a job for me (IT) was initially like finding rocking horse poop. Now I have some "Canadian" experience it seems ok. Anywhere you live there will always be hardships; you still have to pay the bills, drivers will always be bat :D etc. However, what you can get for an average salary in Canada and the US is much better than the UK. I’m very happy I moved and do not regret it at all.

I know that Canada doesn't like Dr's coming over from abroad and I had numerous Dr's and medical immigrants in my job classes. However, these people weren't from the UK. I'm not sure if Canada would accept UK Dr's with some exams etc. Might be worth investigating?

If possible I'd recommend trying to move over for 6 - 12 months and see how you like it. Keep commitments low, make friends and integrate into the town community.

Either way. Good luck. :)

Some good links for Canadian immigration if want them:
http://www.canadavisa.com/
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
http://www.expatforum.com/ (has a USA bit too)
 
Last edited:
Ignore all the people saying no if you live life always expecting and planning for the worst then you will not be having much fun! Your young enought to take a few risks and have the time to bounce back, go and chase your dream before you land up like all the boring people on here stuck in the 9-5 grind.

One of my favourite stories on this sort of theme is the guy who served me in the Quicksilver shop in Hawaii a couple of summers ago. He was from some land locked central American dustbowl and at the age of nineteen decided he wanted to surf so sold his car and most of his possessions purchased a one way ticket to Honolulu and went. He didn't worry about healthcare or what he was going to do when he got there he just chased the dream. He was early twenties when I met him and having the time of his life yeah he had a crap job but he lived in one of the most beautifull places on Earth and rides some of the best breaks in the world.

If I had dual citizen ship I'd be on the next plane with nothing planned except enjoying myself.
 
Last edited:
How old are you Alex?

Some people have already had their fun and want to start a family and make a good long term life long decision. Not jump on a plane to Honolulu (although that would be pretty cool). :p
 
Am I the only one who thinks $35k is ridiculously low for a doctor? I thought they earned a ton of money in the US.
 
sammo62 said:
Am I the only one who thinks $35k is ridiculously low for a doctor? I thought they earned a ton of money in the US.
Click to expand...


Yes.

I know a british midwife working in a hospital by Bayonet point florida and she is on $50 an hour working nights.
I also know a guy who used to live in harborne birmingham now lives in Pasco county
and he gets $25 an hour being a head Janitor and he gets full health at $25 a week as well.
 
Last edited:
JonRohan said:
How old are you Alex?

Some people have already had their fun and want to start a family and make a good long term life long decision. Not jump on a plane to Honolulu (although that would be pretty cool). :p
Click to expand...

My age and your age and the age of every poster except Natima has nothing to do with it allthough I am sadly far to old to be ditching everything and running off round the world which is a pity. Natima is 19 and has his whole life aheadof him for making boring humdrum sensible decisions he has the oppertunity to chase a dream with very little risk and people on here are making out like he's planning a hiking trip to a snake infested jungle that contains the worlds biggest mine field. He would not be being ridiculously reckless to move to america with a modest amount of money and no health care. Millions of Americans have no health care and seem to get by ok and he has family both here and in the US to fall back on if he finds himself totally broke.

Go enjoy the life you've been given, hell your probably more likely to die crossing the road tomorrow than you are to run up a massive debt at a US hospital.
 
"andy" said:
maybe he doesn't actually care and would rather live out his dreams or die trying than be stuck at a dead end. hes 19 , he could mess it all up and in most cases still come home and live the normal life that he didn't originally want to live.
Click to expand...

a1ex2001 said:
Ignore all the people saying no if you live life always expecting and planning for the worst then you will not be having much fun! Your young enought to take a few risks and have the time to bounce back, go and chase your dream before you land up like all the boring people on here stuck in the 9-5 grind.

One of my favourite stories on this sort of theme is the guy who served me in the Quicksilver shop in Hawaii a couple of summers ago. He was from some land locked central American dustbowl and at the age of nineteen decided he wanted to surf so sold his car and most of his possessions purchased a one way ticket to Honolulu and went. He didn't worry about healthcare or what he was going to do when he got there he just chased the dream. He was early twenties when I met him and having the time of his life yeah he had a crap job but he lived in one of the most beautifull places on Earth and rides some of the best breaks in the world.

If I had dual citizen ship I'd be on the next plane with nothing planned except enjoying myself.
Click to expand...

a1ex2001 said:
My age and your age and the age of every poster except Natima has nothing to do with it allthough I am sadly far to old to be ditching everything and running off round the world which is a pity. Natima is 19 and has his whole life aheadof him for making boring humdrum sensible decisions he has the oppertunity to chase a dream with very little risk and people on here are making out like he's planning a hiking trip to a snake infested jungle that contains the worlds biggest mine field. He would not be being ridiculously reckless to move to america with a modest amount of money and no health care. Millions of Americans have no health care and seem to get by ok and he has family both here and in the US to fall back on if he finds himself totally broke.

Go enjoy the life you've been given, hell your probably more likely to die crossing the road tomorrow than you are to run up a massive debt at a US hospital.
Click to expand...

Thankyou! :rolleyes:
 
[TW]Fox;17553192 said:
Isn't life in fluffy cloud land awesome.

Leaving everything down to luck kinda sucks if you dont get lucky.
Click to expand...

and leavin every tiny detail down to planning and playing the odds is boring and dull, huge numbers of people in America in worse situations have no health care provision the risk Natima is taking is probably smaller than the risk he takes every time he crosses the road.

Wake up and live a little fox, life doesn't all boil down to an organised spreadsheet it's too short!
 
I didn't say don't do it, I said do it properly. If you don't give yourself the best odds at making it what's the point?

I love the way you think anyone who doesn't take stupid risks doesn't take any.

He doesn't know what he is doing and should educate himself first.

I take it you live in Fiji or something courtesy of your care free attitude?
 
JonRohan said:
I moved to Canada from the UK in May 09.

Is the grass always greener on the other side? Yes and no. Fortunately my Mrs is Canadian and we had family and friends to help us out off the bat. Getting a job for me (IT) was initially like finding rocking horse poop. Now I have some "Canadian" experience it seems ok. Anywhere you live there will always be hardships; you still have to pay the bills, drivers will always be bat :D etc. However, what you can get for an average salary in Canada and the US is much better than the UK. I’m very happy I moved and do not regret it at all.

I know that Canada doesn't like Dr's coming over from abroad and I had numerous Dr's and medical immigrants in my job classes. However, these people weren't from the UK. I'm not sure if Canada would accept UK Dr's with some exams etc. Might be worth investigating?

If possible I'd recommend trying to move over for 6 - 12 months and see how you like it. Keep commitments low, make friends and integrate into the town community.

Either way. Good luck. :)

Some good links for Canadian immigration if want them:
http://www.canadavisa.com/
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
http://www.expatforum.com/ (has a USA bit too)
Click to expand...


Thanks for the useful info, I am going to call the medical councils today in US and Canada.

EDIT: I also have friends and family in both which is a good thing if we move.
 
Well... Natima here.
You may notice I haven't really posted anything in over a year? Around the same time this thread was around?

That is because I have been in the USA having the TIME OF MY LIFE! Seriously. I thought [TW] Fox might like to know :)
The "commune" was more of an anarchist student co-operative, and it ridiculously cheap to live at, not to mention an incredible place with awesome people and fantastic live events. I was there for a month, before heading to Portland for a couple of weeks and couch-surfing. Then flew to the east coast to visit family who sent me to hang out with my long-lost rock musician cousins in Dallas who I got in the recording studio with, and eventually came back to the co-operative. I also spent a month living in a tent in the mountains in northern California at a green farm for which I got paid rather well. I've had food stamps for the past year which means $200 of food money per month. I've built my first acoustic guitar by hand, from absolute scratch, which you can see here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150221306341621.316400.643821620&type=1&l=01a5864d8c
And have sent in my application for Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery for the spring course of which Federal grant money should cover at least half the costs.
 
I have absolutely no idea whether what you say is true or not (How did you get around the Visa thing? Are you basically an illegal immigrant?) but if it is, and its legal, then nice one :D
 
I'm a US citizen. Dual-Nationality on my mothers side.
Also, funny thing. I had appendicitis while I was in Dallas and had to go to the ER and get pretty immediate surgery. Didn't pay a dime.

I assure you, it's true. :)
 
wow i can't believe this thread was over a year ago

how did you not pay a dime for surgery and can you vote?

reading the comments on the guitar pics, it's fair to say, you've done a britboy (i thought you were full of ****, looks like you're not)
 
Last edited:
Yeah was going to say I don't think you can be an illegal immigrant if you have a US passport :p

Well of course you didn't pay a dime, ER's don't work that way but have no doubt an invoice was sent to what ever address you put down on the form and you probably have a debt of multiple thousand dollars against you now :)

Good work on doing the hippie waster thing properly though, there's a few Occupy protests still knocking around if you ever get bored.
 
Natima said:
I'm a US citizen. Dual-Nationality on my mothers side.
Also, funny thing. I had appendicitis while I was in Dallas and had to go to the ER and get pretty immediate surgery. Didn't pay a dime.

I assure you, it's true. :)
Click to expand...

Then I am very pleased to be proven wrong and am glad you are having a fantastic time :)
 
magic. and yes I can vote.
[TW]Fox;20591966 said:
Then I am very pleased to be proven wrong and am glad you are having a fantastic time :)
Click to expand...
Yeah... I just thought it was funny when I found this thread in my recent posts. Thanks :)
Really I feel like it's what I needed to get my life on the road. I'm now officially a luthier-in-training. After I finish school I'm going to try work with Warmoth or Alembic or PRS or someone. Either that or just start my own custom guitar shop somewhere.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom