An American In The UK – The HONEST Truth About Moving Abroad In Your 40s

Victoria Pearce, the writer behind A Life Away, joins the Expat Focus Podcast to talk about moving abroad after 40. Victoria has lived in the UK twice — once as a young grad student, and again in her 40s with a husband and an 11-year-old in tow. Her story unpacks what it really looks like to uproot a settled life, swap a legal career for a writing one, and rebuild from scratch on the other side of the Atlantic. Victoria is candid about the cons of relocating in your 40s — selling the house, losing the easy school-gate friendships, rebuilding a settled life from very little — and equally honest about the upsides, including the career confidence that makes a midlife move surprisingly workable. She also discusses the practical side: moving an 11-year-old into the UK secondary school system, navigating GCSEs as an American parent, pivoting from practising attorney to content writer, the strange double life of being an American abroad in a politically turbulent moment, citizenship plans, and the pull of ageing parents back home. If you're weighing up a move abroad later in life, supporting a child through an international relocation, or rethinking your career as a trailing spouse, this conversation offers a grounded look at what to expect on the other side. #ExpatLife #LivingInTheUK #MoveToTheUK #USToUK #ExpatOver40 #TrailingSpouse 👉 Visit Expat Focus at https://www.expatfocus.com 00:00 Introducing Victoria 00:34 Why Move Abroad After 40 01:05 Victoria's First UK Move  02:35 Returning Abroad Post Covid 05:09 Cons of Moving in Your 40s 07:45 Confidence and Career 09:21 Decluttering and Moving Logistics 11:48 Moving an 11 Year Old 14:33 Navigating UK School Culture 18:24 Trailing Spouse Career Pivot 21:44 Politics, Identity and Home 27:02 Citizenship and Belonging 28:02 What to Change and What to Love 32:06 Wrap Up 🎥 Video/Transcript – https://www.expatfocus.com/united-kingdom/podcast/an-american-in-the-uk-the-honest-truth-about-moving-abroad-in-your-40s 📝 Show Notes A Life Away – https://alifeaway.com/ 👉 Follow Expat Focus here: RSS | https://www.expatfocus.com/feed YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@ExpatFocus Podcast | https://www.expatfocus.com/podcast LinkedIn Page | https://www.linkedin.com/company/expatfocus LinkedIn Group | https://www.linkedin.com/groups/673267 X | https://x.com/expatfocus Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/expatfocus Bluesky | https://bsky.app/profile/expatfocus.bsky.social Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/expatfocus TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@expatfocus Mastodon | https://mastodon.social/@expatfocus Website | https://www.expatfocus.com