Moving abroad to the United States can be a huge adventure, but British expats will soon find that it’s the little things they miss about home.
Pubs
American bars are fine, but they have none of the DNA of a proper British pub. The British crave the historic buildings, snug seats, open log fires and implicit social contract that a pub should operate like a community living room.
If you go to a bar in America, you are definitely going out or celebrating something. If you head to the pub in Britain, you’ve just happened to wander that way after a walk, Sunday roast or long day at the office.
Chocolate
American chocolate just tastes completely different from British chocolate. It’s not as creamy and has a more acidic tang to it. This is because they’re made to different standards/factory processes and contain butyric acid.
This goes for imported UK Cadburys, too, that are made under license for the American market. They still don’t taste the same and you end up craving real Dairy Milk, Galaxy and regular old British selection boxes.
Walkability
Unless you live in one of the few very dense metro areas like New York or Boston, America was designed around cars.
Brits yearn for that homegrown luxury of walkability: having the freedom to leave your front door and walk down an actual pavement (sidewalk) to your corner store or high street or train station without requiring a V8 to navigate a suburban parking lot.
Bank holidays
Bank holidays are something most British people know well, offering regular long weekends scattered across the year. They are traditionally a time for family get-togethers, mini-breaks, local festivities and just relaxing.
Americans get public holidays too, but plenty of Brits find themselves longing for the cadence of bank holidays back home and all the traditions that go along with the days.
British television
British television tends to have a style all of its own, which viewers grow accustomed to and learn to love. Their long-running soaps, comedy panel shows, quiz programmes and period dramas are all unique in their charm and humour.
Despite streaming services making programmes easier to access abroad, British expats often find they miss watching the same things as their friends and family at home and being able to talk about recent episodes.
High Street
Shopping in America generally involves getting in your car and driving to a vast strip mall/big box store.
British people lament the loss of the quintessential British High Street/town center, where Boots, Marks & Spencer, Greggs, and the local butcher are all within a few hundred yards of each other.
Bacon & sausages
Breakfast just doesn’t taste the same. Americans serve almost exclusively streaky belly bacon that’s crispy, thin and smoky.
Brits crave thick-cut back bacon (necessary for a good bacon sarnie). Plus, American sausages seem to fall into either heavily seasoned breakfast patties or Italian-style links. That leaves expats craving a juicy Cumberland or Lincolnshire pork sausage.
Humour
Brits abroad can long for the comforts of dry, self-deprecating humor and easy banter.
British affection frequently takes the form of sarcasm, irony and “taking the mickey”, which can be lost easily in the US; with expats learn quickly to censor their instinctive conversational habits before they say something that is legitimately rude.
Crisps
US potato chips may have crunch, but they can’t hold a candle to the insane creativity of British crisp flavours.
Expats often lament the limited choices, craving the acidic bite of Pickled Onion Monster Munch, actual Prawn Cocktail, Smoky Bacon or Walker’s Salt & Vinegar (which is unlike anything you’ll find in the US).
Kettles
It doesn’t sound like much until you try to make a cup of tea, but voltage being lower in America (110V vs 230V in the UK) means American electric kettles take forever to boil water.
This has resulted in many American households not bothering to own one. So you get hit with the worst trauma possible to a British expat, being offered a cup of tea made with water boiled in the microwave.