And of course, there are these things called aeroplanes, which have already been mentioned.

spectacular whats?

I agree this country is amazing. I've been most places now and still so many people do not explore our own little island. Took some pics in Cornwall a few years back and everyone thought they were taken abroad!

The thing about the UK is it's very geographically dense. I'd say this is more true about the UK than pretty much every other place I've been other than New Zealand (which is obviously quite similar geologically - small island next to large landmass etc). In the UK, bar desert, I think I'm probably not more than a couple of hour's drive from pretty much any form of landscape you'd like to see. In the continental US yes you'd be able to find a desert or a plain or mountains but whichever one you're not currently in will be effectively several days travel away, other than by air. I can get to flat plains or mountains or sandy beaches or whatever, all in my car, carrying all my camping & photo gear with me...

Jon

The scale of said relief is somewhat more epic in the States though. Don't get me wrong, Cornwall is beautiful, but Monument Valley blows it away for sheer sublime spectacle. A desert sunrise is impossible to describe adequately with words.
Then there's the weather. And if you take Cali, you've got mountains, ocean, forests, lakes, desert and big cities all within closer distance than conceivable in the UK.

America wasn't particularly difficult to move to and work in. My biggest problem was being a 4 hour drive away from my local USINS Office. If you can stick near one of those while you get your visa sorted then it's all gravy.

I can see how you'd believe that but IMO it's generally not true. I got this when living in the states and people who I knew there who have come over here say so too - the US operates on a different scale to the UK. I had a canadian friend come over and someone was giving him directions and (trying to be helpful) said 'go two blocks that way' - meaning two junctions. My canadian friend walked down the road for 20 minutes then got confused, because to him 'two blocks' is about 20 minutes walk..

I did a quick check - to get from Monument valley Airport to LAX is about 700 miles. That's roughly equivalent to Landsend to Aberdeen i.e about as far as you're likely to want to go in the UK. And in terms of the US, monument valley and Los Angeles are actually quite close together.

California is pretty unusual because it does have that kind of diverse geography. But most of the US doesn't. In large parts of the US, you'd have to travel more than the length of the UK to see terrain that looked at all different to the one you were currently standing on.

Yes there are many places in the UK that I could consider visiting.

When I said epic scale, I meant everything is bigger. Mountains are taller and wider, forests and plains are larger and there are deserts, geysers and stunning geology throughout the West.

I know how far apart everything is, I've driven from Denver to LA and back more than once. The epic scale of awesomeness on that drive cannot, IMHO, be bettered by anywhere in the UK. I'm told Scotland is stunning, but the weather's gash. Cornwall is pretty damned awesome, but it's hardly the Pacific coast.

Yes the US is a great place to visit but longer term I am not so sure. The people are friendly but so insular.

Hardly a raise
Could be worse. You could have gone to secondary school in Edlington like I did.

I put Ameica but by that I mean North America, as in Canada.

It's still a distinct possibility, lovely country, lots of countryside, lots of wild animals, lots of skiing. Frackin perfect.

Being from Scotland (near Glasgow) originally, I take great exception to that. The weather in Scotland isn't markedly more gash IMHO than it is anywhere else in the UK unless you go to somewhere that's properly extreme like the Orkney/Shetland.

Still, back on topic.
I quite like the UK although if I could afford to do so I'd move back home to Scotland in a flash. Hard water bites @ss for one thing and it's far to flat 'round 'ere (East Anglia). Having said all that, I spent three months working int he Netherlands while I was at University and had a great time.

Snowy hit the nail on the head for me as far as the rest of the world is concerned. I'd love to travel and have a good long look at several places. In no particular order Canada, New Zealand, Australia (although I suspect the heat would make it unbearable for me). I think I'd like to visit the US but perhaps not stay there, not sure why though. Russia and destinations East also appeal but, as with the US, to visit rather than stay.

Well, let's be fair, I lived in Edinburgh for a couple of years and Princes Street has gale force winds most days and when it doesn't it has a gale of toursist trying to knock you over.

I've been told by a couple of Scots, but I haven't been myself, so I'll defer to you. Naturally however, it is colder up there than down here.

Scotland is just fabulously pretty. I need to go back.
A few years back, I was up visiting and did the old drive to school that the bus used to make. For years, I was numb to it because I saw it everyday, but cresting the hill into Greenock and seeing the Clyde valley spread out before you, with the hills behind Helensburgh slightly purple in the sun was genuinely beautiful. I now feel lucky that I got to see that (in all weathers) on the way to school.