Two Gators Crossing the Pond - Our Life in the UK: Our Journey Concludes

On April 29, 2009, Brian and I boarded a plane destined for the UK. We moved to Bury St. Edmunds, a town similar in population to Winter Garden, where we live in Florida. However, the similarities between the two stopped there. Moving to the UK was definitely a culture shock because neither of us had ever lived outside of Florida. We had to learn British words like "rubbish" and "Hiya" plus we had to adapt to a whole new lifestyle and learn how to live in a place with four seasons. We embraced all of the change though and really tried to live like the locals in the two years we lived overseas.

We loved everything about living in the UK, and it will forever be remembered as one of our favorite adventures. We were able to experience and live in a whole new culture, plus we traveled throughout Europe more easily than we ever could have from Florida (thank you RyanAir and EasyJet for the cheap plane tickets)! We went to countries we never thought we would see, such as Croatia and Bulgaria. We traveled with friends as they experienced Europe for the first time. Brian the engineer actually calculated statistics from our trips over the last two years. During that time, we did the following:

Visited 23 European countries

Stayed in 63 European cities

Spent 158 nights in 78 hotel/B-and-B accomodations throughout Europe

Flew 62 flight segments covering 73,034 flight miles (and yet, I am still scared of flying!)
Flew in/out of 33 European airports
Went through Immigration aka "UK Border Force" at London Stansted Airport 18 times

Overall, the past two years have been a dream that was a gift to us. We cherished every minute of the adventure and came out of it with an even deeper appreciation for traveling and being a part of other cultures. We're not sure what life has in store for us in the future, but for now, it has brought us back to Winter Garden, where we are excited to be spending time with our friends and family again. It's nice to be back to Florida sunshine, Gator football, and favorite food places like Chipotle and Seito Sushi.

We hope you have enjoyed reading our blog and following our adventures traveling and living overseas. This is the end of this adventure, but the beginning of many others, I'm sure. Cheers from the now re-patriotized Gator Americans who have crossed the pond back to Florida!