Vee, I think you should take option 2. Stay at your mums for a month, do the robust research, go to work. Set boundaries with your family there, but also spend good recharge time with them. Maybe look into subletting your cali apartment for that time. When it comes time to write the document, come back to Cali and lock in!! You will need your AMAZING routine, the support from your professor and classmates, and an environment that lets you focus on the work.

Vee, keep it simple! I'd recommend going with option 2. I'm a PhD candidate currently writing my dissertation, and in my experience, you will NEED your California routine during this phase. You'll need your time, space, and academic community to maintain your sanity, motivation, and a sense of work/life balance. Take Sept/Oct to do your research, and come back to CA to lock everything in and finish your degree!

Vee keep it simple, Option 2 is best... Go to UK for a bit .... then come back to USA and finesse the last months of the Degree

As someone who left the physical university to do my research and write my PhD Dissertation close to the archives and be with my community in the UK, I can say that it comes down to this: Where will you do your best work? Where will you be the most supported through the end of the PhD? If I had stayed in New Haven and near Yale, I would have struggled ever more with my mental health because I lacked community and support there. Now, in London I have a partner, friends, etc. who have been essential in helping me work through the tough days of research and writing. Go where you will do your best work and be supported.

Vee, STAY PUT until you finish your defense and get your PhD!!!  there will be too many distractions for you if you decide to pack up and leave and return to the UK. Your original plan was to say so stay.

Hi Vee,
I say stay! I'm in the fifth(?!?) year of my PhD, and I can honestly say the drop off in motivation after classes is a tough transition. But staying in the area with people who are also on the research grind helps keep that sense of community. The consistency is needed as your schedule changes in a big way.

Hi! Fourth year PhD student in London here. I think you should do your data collection in London. Face-to-face interviews give invaluable insights and it's much easier to have a snowball effect to recruit participants when you meet them. It comes with its own challenges but it makes it worthwhile. I think that you should come back to California to write up though. Participating in seminars and conferences is very good to enrich your writing and your thinking. It's also great to build a network (if you want to work in academia). You have your whole life to live in the UK but when would yo have the opportunity to live in a sunny place again? hahaha wishing you good luck and congrats on making it to this stage :)

Vee keep it simple! Hi Vee, fellow PhD student living far from home here! While my program doesn't allow me to fully move home in the same way ( I do lab work), I had family matters that made me go home for months at a time throughout last year. My two cents would be to go for your option 2 - go home and get the things you need to get done there done (maybe this also gives you a deadline on collecting your data while in England) and spend time with your family. Having those two months home will also show you how productive you can be on your dissertation while there. If I were you, though, I would return to California; both for the extra focus and autonomy it will provide but also being close to your advisor in a PhD, I think, makes all the difference. Not sure how your program works but my ability to stop by my advisors office randomly or have conversations in person where we can draw on a white board to plan out experiments is some of the most valuable learning I get. Alsoo (sorry for such a long comment) but moving home for two months may give you a fourth option where you can reevaluate moving and decide to move to England for good in January for example if you find being home fills your cup more! Hope this helps! - Sarah

Vee Keep it simple!
Option two! Especially if you're able to work a bit while you're in London, so that helps to balance out your investment in Cali.
But I think finishing as much as you can in California, and also maintaining your FLOW that has gotten you this far is important. Finish your PHD that's the focus. You've got this, love you!

Option 2! So if you have to push harder from november on, you have the chance jn california with YOUR routine and YOUR TIME. And you get a semi break of 2 months. It will refresh you and help you push forward to finish!!!

Vee keep it simple!

Vee, don’t make the decision purely from a place of pressure or fatigue.

That was so much fun! This is the first time I’ve seen one of these. Well done!😊

Here:

1. Go to London. It’s where your research is most effective.

2. Sublet the apartment (Airbnb, etc.)

3. After collecting data—and making it to your meetings in Europe, etc., returned to Cali.—Finish what you started! Maybe, fall in love.

You were actually, entirely, coherent. I think what made it especially beautiful, was your sweet vulnerability.

The rest of us, I suppose, are utterly charmed!

Safe travels, Vee!🌿

I think option 2 is the best. Completely moving would likely derail your plans. Family and friends are synonymous with constant distraction (I would know)
I don't think option 1 is really an option

Vee, keep it simple. Long time viewer, but I don't normally comment. I know the thought of being home etc sounds great, however, you said it yourself...there will be distractions keeping you away from your work. I vote for you to stay in CA and lock in and get it done. With the way the year is flying by It will be March before you know it! Then you can take a much needed holiday and relax with friends and family. You're so close, you got this! I know we will all be cheering you on whatever decision you make.

Please check with the international student office at your school. The US has been having some weird changes to student visas, so I would just check how being abroad could impact your degree.

Simplify? Vee keep it simple?

Vee, keep it simple! When you first explained, my thought was "stay in the US, go to the UK when really needed, and go back to the US where you've worked hard to create your study space that really works for you", so I guess that'd be option 2.  Obviously, if money is a real issue, then the reasonable choice would be option 3, I guess. But if you're able to pay the American rent without getting yourself into financial difficulties, then keep the flat. Vee, you've made hard choices, you crossed the World, moved away from home to do that PhD, you've worked hard to create a version of you that studies hard and has her life together. You may be done with your classes, but you're not done with your PhD. You need to stay focused, and I feel like that focus zone is in Cali. I'm sure your friends & family will understand if you choose to stay 9 more months to finish what you came for.

Dr Vee 😉 keep it simple! I usually just watch and never comment, but I had to chime in on this one.

I’d say go back to the UK for two months, then return. I completely understand how being home can become a distraction, I went through the same thing when I was finishing my undergrad dissertation.

Don’t think of paying rent while you’re away as a “waste.” Instead, see it as keeping a base you can return to, so you come back focused and ready to finish strong. Like you said, you’ve only got a few months left, and you came to the U.S. for your PhD. You’ve already invested so much into your apartment and life there. I’d definitely say make the most of it until the end of your degree, especially if you know you’ll be moving back to the UK afterwards. Home will always be there.

My two cents 🙂 enjoy the experience while completing your degree in the U.S. But I know you’ll choose whatever works best for you.

Hi Vee, I'm a phd student as well in Brazil and usually a silent viewer 😅 but my opinion is that fieldwork and writing up the thesis can be pretty brutal and isolating. In your case you're spreading yourself even thinner by doing it in 3 years (still mind-blowing to me lol). I think when it gets to writing phase, having close ones, family and just affection in general can a go a long way with mental health and well-being. Also being close to your participants can really help with possible follow-ups, checks etc. If the issue, I'd say move back to England but maybe a different city (London?) and maintain the same system you created for yourself in the US. Best of luck!

I say 1 or 2. If you do 2, don't think of paying rent while your away as a waste. You're paying to keep your home. It's the same as going on a month-long vacation. If your lease allows it, you can always hire or ask to r friends to house sit.

Stay in the place that is the easiest place to finish your dissertation.

I lean more heavy on 1. Moving, even taking a trip is rough and an extra cost and disrupts your routine.

Option 2! Not a huge deciding factor but think of this: If you move back to the  UK, you’ll have around ~8 hr time difference, so if you need to hop on calls with professors, you’ll have to account for the odd times of the day or night that you’ll end up meeting with them. It seems like California gives you the structure that you need to get your work done, but you also need to conduct your research in the UK (+ visit family and such) so option two gives you the best of both worlds. Just remain disciplined and set boundaries while you’re at home in the UK. Above all of the advice we’re giving you, be sure to pray about the decision that you are to make. God bless you and the rest of your educational journey!