Things I wish I had known

Hindsight is a beauiful thing. Learn from us on some of things we wish someone had told us before moving here

Watch out for drivers in the snow

Embrace the mountains! Colorado has some stunning scenery to offer.

Wear sunscreen...even on cloudy days. A mile closer to the sun means we burn more easily out here.

Drink water as Colorado's dry climate can dehydrate you more easily.

Bring tea

Get a VPN to be able to watch UK TV. Its cheap and a life saver. You can listen to the beeb online all the time (apart from Radio 5 during major sporting events).

If you are bringing older kids over, .standardized tests such as GCSEs count towards college credit. My son got into cu Boulder with GCSE and A levels

I wish I had known you couldn't get decent bacon.

How hard it is to establish credit

I wish I knew interrupting meant you were rude not you were just really into the conversation

You will probably be invited to church

Coupons! No one here pays sticker price. Signing up for eg Gap emails you can get 40% off.

I wish I knew about space A (if you are military you can hitchhike on a military plane that fly back and forth from Europe for free). And that I could fly to Europe for free (I think if you are British military you can too).

I wish I knew healthcare here is more a business than actual healthcare. Do use the dental insurance though and enjoy the very regular teeth cleaning - and deflect conversation about British teeth for the first few visits.

As a mother I wish I knew how afraid of germs and colds etc people are

If you have kids always always ask before letting your kids play at someone's house if they have guns and if they're stored safely. So many people here keep loaded guns in drawers under beds etc. even people you would never expect to

I wish I had known you have to ask for coffee and tea to be made extra hot otherwise you are served them tepid by cafes

When you buy a house, be aware that a north-facing driveway will need to be shoveled when it snows, but a south-facing one often melts by itself (we have bought two homes here, both with north-facing drives, so I need to take my own advice!).

Clothing: In general, outside of Washington DC and New York it's more 'business casual' for most people at work than the UK. Having lived all over the U.S. I noticed that in Denver/ all of Colorado, wearing workout sports gear all day is just fine to do errands - more than anywhere else. I do actually love wearing my Clarks sporty walking shoes with jeans here!

Shopping: is a whole new language - buy the American versions of your favorite cookbooks on Amazon. more price matching and price adjustment when shopping:

Price match: eg buying an iPad most big stores will match the price eg Best Buy, target, Amazon (as long as not a 3rd party seller). So if you don't want to wait for shipping or travel to a shop tgats further to get the best price just go to your local store and ask them to price match and bring it up on your phone.

Price adjustment. A lot of stores, especially clothes, if you buy something and later that week it goes on sale call them and they'll refund the difference!!! E.g. I put in a big order online at Gap 3 days later everything was 50% off (I got 20% off) I put in a quick call to customer service and they just adjusted my order so it was 50% off and refunds the difference to my card. Was super quick

If you have children - expect to pay an arm and a leg, per child, for orthodontic work (braces). It costs an arm and a leg wherever you go so choose the best place you can and get it done asap. The majority of kids have it done sometime in middle school/ early high school. The quality of ortho services in the Denver metro is amazing. (We had to have some ortho work corrected on my oldest when we moved here from another state.) Oh and the term 'braces' means 'retainer' here. And if as adult you want ortho work - you can take the opportunity to get that done too.

The altitude (sun and breathing) as well as the dryness would have to be the things that come to mind first.

Colorado is perhaps the very best state to live in for a tasty beer that's more European style

That EVERYONE is Irish.

Return policies are so lax here. The big companies just don't care no questions asked

Bring kitchen scales and your cookbooks unless you want to relearn with American recipe style and measurements

Many HOAs don't allow you to hang washing to dry outside, so you will want a tumble dryer.

You may have to retake your driving test to get a licence (don't know about CO - we had to in NV)

You will be expected to fundraise for everything related to kids schools/activities, etc., regardless of whether you have paid for the school/activity already.

You will get comments on how you use your cutlery all the time (especially if your kids eat "properly", with a knife and fork). You may have to ask for knives when you are having dinner at people's houses.

The school system!

I wish i knew the price of something wasn't actually the real price. So the price tag for a bed says $200 then when you go to pay its $500. You ask why and its because the base, delivery, springs, taxes etc are not included in the price of $200.

I wish I knew that if I wore my pjs inside out and back to front the night before we would get a Snow Day! That doesn't happen in England!

That they put sugar on strange things - I was offered a sweet potato topped with marshmallows to go with my steak

I am a cheap date because of all the free refills on soft drinks.

Being able to turn right on a red light is a really good idea.

People will often stop listening to what you’re saying because they’re fascinated by how you sound

People won’t understand me when I want some water

How hard it would be to get a good cup of tea.

That there is no "typical" American.

That not baking cookies makes you a weirdo (I learnt that shortbread is an acceptable alternative after some years...)

People go out to the movies on Xmas Day and it’s a big movie release day

Colorado is one of America's best kept secrets. Shhhhh . . .