In America it’s a casual drive. In Britain it’s basically a weekend commitment. We did Stonehenge and Bath as a day trip—meanwhile people in our life were complaining about a 1½-hour drive for a beach day.

I’ve been free for a while now. Free from the alarm. Free from the commute. Free from the meetings that could have been emails, the emails that should have been nothing, the relentless performance of being productive for someone else’s bottom line. And I want to write something honest about it. Not the version I’d put on camera. The real one. Because freedom, it turns out, is complicated. Finding myself again — slowly The first thing I noticed was that I didn’t know what I ac

I still haven’t called. I’ve been trying to figure out why.

It's the end of May here in the United Kingdom. The evenings are getting longer, that particular British gold light that stretches past 9pm like it's trying to convince you summer is real and permanent. And somewhere in the back of my head, I'm aware that back home, Memorial Day just passed. That somebody grilled something. That somebody drove somewhere. That people I used to know went about the whole ritual of it without me.

It's not the big holidays that catch you off guard when you live abroad. It's the specific ones. The ones with a smell to them.

Then I moved here. And I genuinely did not know there was a UK general election happening until someone mentioned it in passing. I'd gotten a couple of flyers through the letterbox (yes, I've learned the word). That was it!

After our livestream on Tuesday, I realized I’m still very much wrapping my head around this whole “living under a monarchy” situation. And then King Charles casually shows up in the US this week and suddenly this is my entire personality. I’m Googling lineage charts. I’m saying things like “soft power” out loud. I’m becoming… that American. So let’s talk about the five things that shocked me most about the British monarchy this week — sprinkled with a few moments where I, a

While it may seem trivial, queuing can be a significant aspect of social interaction. Understanding its importance can enhance your experience in the UK.

I didn’t move to the UK to become someone else. But somewhere along the way… I became a version of myself I didn’t even know I needed.

Since living in the UK, I’ve found myself re-examining parts of my upbringing that I never questioned before, especially my education. Not because it was “bad,” but because so many of the assumptions baked into it simply don’t survive contact with the wider world.

An American living in the UK reflects on trust, power, and the moment belief finally breaks

Revolutions are not single events with clear beginnings and endings. They are long processes built over time. History shows how pressure, not moments, drives revolutionary change.

If you’ve ever attended a British pantomime, you’ll know it’s not really a theatre performance.It’s a cultural fever dream wrapped in tinsel, slapstick, and audience participation, fueled by mince pies and the collective December delirium of the entire nation.

If you’ve ever found yourself in a British supermarket confidently asking for “cookies,” only to be led to a tiny aisle of chocolate-chip-specific items while the entire rest of the baked-goods universe is labeled “biscuits,” congratulations—you’ve just stepped into one of the great linguistic battlegrounds of our time. Welcome to the debate of:Cookie vs. Biscuit.

There’s something quietly tender about the whole ritual.It’s not about being grumpy.It’s about being human—together. Because beneath every British moan is a tiny message:

It’s not quite humility, not quite insecurity. It’s something more intricate — a kind of social aikido, a preemptive strike of modesty before anyone dares to call you confident.

British school uniforms are more than just clothing—they’re part of a long-standing tradition. Some schools have worn the same colors and styles for over a century. Ties, blazers, and badges communicate house affiliation, seniority, and sometimes even sporting prowess.

My introduction to British eccentric festivals was via the infamous Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling. Imagine hundreds of people hurtling down a steep hill, chasing a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. People tumble, bounce, and occasionally fly through the air—all for the glory of catching—or at least surviving—the cheese. I’ll admit it: my first reaction was to laugh, then gasp, then question my own sanity for living somewhere this wild.

As an American living in the UK, I thought wigs were something you’d only see in history books, costume dramas, or maybe at Halloween parties. But then I discovered that here in Britain, wigs aren’t just relics of the past—they’re still very much alive. Yes, in the year 2025, there are people who put on white wigs as part of their job. Not actors, not re-enactors… but judges, barristers, and even members of Parliament during certain ceremonial events.

British life is full of small traditions and quirks that don’t always make sense at first—tea breaks, queuing etiquette, calling cookies “biscuits.” But football chants? They’re a reminder that, here, sport isn’t just a game. It’s community. It’s culture.