My company transferred me from Chicago to London. Here’s how my lifestyle and work culture compare.

• The marketing professional Kira West went from the Chicago office of her company to her London office.

• West said that it had adapted to certain major changes, including salary, health care and balance between professional and private life.

• She considers that living in the United Kingdom a welcome change in the United Kingdom.

This test as told is based on a conversation with Kira WestOriginally from Brooklyn and creator of lifestyle content that moved to London in January. The following has been modified for duration and clarity.

I work in marketing and the travel technology industry. I have also been thinking for a long time to live abroad.

Having international professional experience is precious, and fortunately, I work for a global company, which partially attracted me to go from Chicago to London. However, this did not happen overnight: there were years of conversations, months and months of paperwork, and many approvals necessary to get there.

Once I finally moved to the United Kingdom in January, I also had to adapt to certain big changes between Life here in London and life in the United States.

I knew that going from Chicago to the United Kingdom would reduce my annual income

I do less than what I did in Chicago, which is a common reality. On average, people in the United States do about 50% more that the people of the United Kingdom.

I was also surprised when I heard that I would be paid monthly. I thought, Come back? My American mentality was definitively shown. It was not a major adjustment for me, because I am proud of savings and budgeting, and the United Kingdom feels more affordable.

While London is a big city, which means that it generally has a higher cost of living, I found that compared to the United States, at least, the expenses associated with housing, grocery store and other services are much more affordable.

Health care costs are considerably lower than the United Kingdom compared to the United States

Here in the United Kingdom, I pay around £ 300 per month for national insurance (tax based on my income), which helps finance public services like the National Health Service (NHS). This converts to around $ 405.

Since he moved to London, I easily connected to my general practitioner twice – once virtually and once by phone – and I crossed the NHS three times, for a total of about five medical visits. I also had some private and mental health and acupuncture health meetings, and they were great.

I Never pay pocket When I count on the services via the NHS, but I also opt for a private health plan through my business, which is generally useful for reserving faster meetings.

My business pays the medical bill and I pay taxes. I also made private appointments without applying my insurance and the services are always affordable. In addition, I always know the cost in advance.

In the United States, I paid more than $ 125 per month on insurance plans, then I would go to the doctor and I always have a copament, or I should pay for something that my insurance has not covered – a cleaning bill of $ 74 of the dentist, for example. In addition, around $ 88 to Medicare and $ 378 towards the elderly, survivors and disability insurance, neither, were not deducted from each pay check.

My husband and I moved from our friends, our comfort zones and our friends, which is really difficult

You can’t replace people, and it’s really difficult.

In general, the laws are different in the United Kingdom. Obtaining a bank account here and all the logistics around the move has been delicate. It is difficult to know where to start, and there are a lot of documents necessary to start an account.

I was lucky to move for work – I was able to get in touch with HSBC bank. It works with a ton of expatriates, it is therefore used to having things and sending things abroad, such as a bank card. I was installed with the basics of my account before our arrival here.

The credit card request process was really complex. I went with Amex because I have an Amex card in the United States, so I knew it would be easier for me to be approved to start creating credit in the United Kingdom.

While I was working on my Credit in the United StatesAnd it’s in a solid place, it doesn’t matter here. It can be both humiliating and exciting to start again. I will come back to the United States, perhaps, one day to make sure that my American credit is in a solid place, but for what I do daily in the United Kingdom, it is not relevant.

Regarding housing, the references are really important – where I currently live, they called my owner in Chicago to see how I was as a tenant, whom I never had in the United States. The market moves very quickly in London, so we had to be ready to make rapid choices and, in the absence of credit, they made more than verification of the standard criminal history – they also confirmed my employer, and there was much more paperwork than with the habit.

Politics is one of the things that I am very grateful to have left in the United States

I think it’s refreshing to be in a place where conversations around politics do not feel so tense.

Politics is not a subject that I choose to dive openly because of my mental health. In addition, since I moved after the elections, the subject has not seen me so much.

On another note, there is a great conversation in the United Kingdom at the moment on immigrants, which I am considered and proposed changes that could make Live here as immigrant Stronger. I think there is also a certain apprehension around the long -term plans of expatriates.

I am used to conversations on immigration, but it is interesting to be on the other side as an immigrant against someone who is installed, as I was, in the United States as a citizen.

In the end, I choose to see how it shakes and enjoy my time for the moment. If the rules concerning the settlement in the United Kingdom change, I will answer it because it becomes more real.

Labor culture is more accommodating

The balance between professional life and life as a concept is not an error here; This is a very real thing.

It was refreshing not to have a life focused on work, but a life that understand work. It also seems easier and more affordable to go to an epic place for a weekend. Banking weekendsI travel from Friday to Monday to Monday – I recently went to Greece and I could really disconnect.

I definitely feel more comfortable taking vacation in the United Kingdom. There are also more family advantages such as maternity leave and statutory disease wages, which help keep everyone more focused on its limits.

It was a really welcome change. The more I get older, the more I realize that there is so much more in life outside of work.

If you have moved to another country to work and want to share your story, please send an e-mail to this publisher, Manseen Logan, to mlogan@businessinsider.com.

Read the original article on Initiate of Business