How I see the US after living in Europe for 5 years

I moved to France 5 years ago. Came home to Maryland to spend Christmas with the family. I got sick, went to the ER, and came out with a bill worth $1,900. The doctor saw me a week later for a follow-up. I needed surgery and it would cost more than $ 45,000. I went back to France after the holidays, saw a doctor, got surgery, 2 months off work and I PAID NOTHING. Technically my taxes paid for it but it feels good to see my taxes at work. Believe it or not, I make half the money I made back home but my quality of life is better.

My son broke his arm in Italy at the park. Some teenagers gave us a ride to where an ambulance met us. They transferred him to a hospital, x rayed and casted his arm. We are American and though we had travelers insurance, they never asked for any information. They just told us not to worry about it. The next day we missed the Saturday bus to the train. A local man saw us, took out his back seat, left it on the curb, packed our bags and rushed us to the station. The people there were incredible; I was gobsmacked. Such beautiful people.

I'm from Spain, and one of the things that shocks me the most about the US (among many others) is the way cities are designed and organised there. Here I have everything within a 10 minute walk: lots of bars/restaurants, shops, supermarkets, doctors, the hospital, public transportation (bus, metro and train), banks, lawyers, the post office, schools, and a long etcetera. It amazes me how in the US you can go literally nowhere without a car, to the point that many streets doesn't even have sidewalks. They feel soulless, a bunch of identical residential areas sorrounded by highways, and city centers full of towers and parking lots that are totally dead after 10 pm. I remember thinking as a kid how cool americans are because they can get their driver license at 16 years old. Now as an adult I understand why that is: because kids depend entirely on their parents to move arround, unlike here in Europe.

Grew up in Inglewood CA, moved to West Africa 3 years ago and this is exactly how I feel going back. The weight gain, talking about work with friends, everyone being so busy, people getting sick, the violence, the news cycle...

This is not a put-down of America in general, which I still think is a fantastic country even though I now live in Tokyo Japan. I'm just sharing an anecdote about an occurrence in Italy. One time in Rome, my wife tripped on a step and suffered a severe cut on her forehead, and we sat on a curb to control the bleeding. A venue attendant noticed us and recommended calling an ambulance. Initially, we declined, but he insisted, so we accepted. The ambulance took us to a hospital where my wife received treatment and stitches. During this time, I sat in the waiting area, and contemplated the cost of the care which I assumed would be several thousand dollar, but we never received a bill. When my wife emerged from the treatment room, she sat with me in the waiting area, and we waited for settlement paperwork. A nurse noticed us after 20 minutes or so, and asked if we needed anything else. I inquired about the bill and learned that as tourists, we didn't have to pay and we were free to leave. As an American, this seemed unimaginable, and I marveled at the kindness of Italians.

In Europe we don't have free drinks refill but we have free healthcare.. Of course somehow we all paid for " that free", but I prefer paying for healthcare than for unhealthy drinks!

My family and I traveled to Germany and Switzerland a few years back and I remember being devastated to have to return to the US on the way home. Europe was much more wholesome than the materialistic, money driven, career title driven USA. Plus, everybody was quieter, it was safer, the quality of products were far superior, no takeout containers to mass produce garbage…I can go on. Much love to Europe❤

As a British person, I used to complain about our National Health Service,because of delays and other things, until my wife and I got talking to a waitress in San Luis Obispo,California, who was ill but continued to work because she couldn't afford to pay for treatment. She told us that the only medication she had, had been donated to her, by her friend who was a veterinarian surgeon ! I won't be complaining about our treatment any longer !

I''m a retired working-class American (from Oregon) who has lived in The Netherlands for 2.5 years. I hope to remain here. I do miss the nature - fast rivers, mountains, huge forests, wild coastlines. I do NOT miss the consumerism, social stratification, grinding work culture, rising poverty, and political schism that pervades day to day life there. All my Dutch acquaintances say "We have problems here too" and I know they are right - but things are much better managed here. More civility, more relaxed life style, more peace of mind. People seem not to be afraid they will loose everything if there is a problem with work, or with health, or other uncertainties. Lots of fear in America.

Our experience of US supermarkets was as exciting and overwhelming as going to a theme park. The most insane was seeing a plastic box containing one egg.

I live in Spain and my experience has been the same. There's something else I noticed, people in general don't look happy in America; they look tired. I love the US of my childhood, the one I return to when visiting family and friends is not something to look forward to. It makes me wish my loved ones were closer.

I couldn't agree more about everything you said. I grew up in Germany for the most part. My Dad was in the US Army and my Mom from Germany. The way of thinking in the US compared to Europe is totally different especially now. The division and hatred in this country is truly sad! My husband and I are considering moving to Europe in the future. Fingers crossed it comes to fruition. The medical in the US is outrageous. I have insurance and they Approved my sinus surgery in May now they're refusing to pay $22,000. I'm livid! I'm just mentally tired of all of it frankly. But c'est la vie!!

As an American living in Berlin, what you said about the US reminded me of so much... So much I'd like to forget. Most people I still talk to there considers the condition of the US to be rather inevitable. They believe "that's just the way it is" or they know it's not like that but have no clue what to do about it.  As an example, I had 2 surgeries last year, both went great and I paid zero dollars and never argued with my insurance company one time. My agent literally said, "Yeah, no worries, we'll take care of it." and just paid the hospital. I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry and fucking scream because I, and so many friends, almost lost their jobs because of being injured and therefore being unable to work. If they lost their jobs, they'd lose their healthcare and there is no safety net to keep them from smashing on the proverbial rocks. My European friends looked at me with sidelong glances like, "dude are you okay?" They don't get it. Keep your 47 different types of tomato sauce. The labels are different, the ingredients are all the same which almost always includes HFCS. I'd rather take reliable trains, read books and not go bankrupt when I need medical attention.  I wish I could start a program to abduct Americans in the night and move them to Europe for 3 months, just to show them.

French here. I have family friends who moved to the US a few years ago. They told me although they missed their baguettes (yeah, that was their main complain), they liked the USA in the way that everything is much "simpler" there. As in: you want something, you can get it as long as you have money. Few papers to fill in, few bureaucy. Things go quicker. But one bad injury, and you can be indebted for years. This is very scary to them. I remember one of them saying "One accident and you lose it all. No wonder Americans pray so much"

Brilliant video. Completely sums up my experience living in the US ( 2017-2019). I lived in Boston for 2 years ( I'm from Ireland). The amount of people that assumed my country is this underdeveloped hole in the ground was staggering. ''Do you have Burger King there ? Are you British then ? ''. There's a severe lack of education in America. The endless amounts of stupid ignorant things that were said to me could fill a book. I found it strange too how so many people think they're from another country. ''I'm irish too'' is one of the most common things I heard in Boston. They're not irish-irish. Of Irish descent but not irish. They're American. I found that most yanks have a very fragile sense of identity and the culture nearly props that mindset up. I was worked to the bone for 2 years. 60 hour weeks. 6 days a week. Sure I earned good money but I didn't enjoy that money until I was able to head back to Ireland in 2019. Then I got taxed to absolute fuck on it all and came back with far less than anticipated. I made sure I kept up my gym routine and diet regimen and the looks I'd get from US colleagues ( who were totally out of shape, smokers, lived on fast food) began to annoy me.''Why don't you eat what you want ?''. I do. I eat healthy food because it makes me feel good. That's pretty much universal across European and Scandinavian countries. It's not really socially acceptable to be obese. Also the irish stereotype of ''you guys drink so much''. Yanks drink more than we do. In Ireland if you're driving you don't drink. I have never seen more people drive after drinking than I did in the US. They would literally have about 3-4 beers and hop in the car. So many yellow license plates in Boston showing that people had DUI's. There's just a lack of understanding of how people live in Europe. We have good healthcare, good work life balance. Our entire culture isn't based around earning money and climbing corporate ladders. We work to live not the other way around. I wish Americans could spread their wings and come and live in any country in Europe or Scandinavia for a few weeks/months. The pace of life and work is completely different. They'd no doubt enjoy not being constantly burned out by work, getting fatter and resorting to all shapes of substances just to cope with everyday life.

I remember the first time i traveled to europe i was annoyed at the limited selection of goods. When i got home 3 weeks later i was like you, completely overwhelmed by the choice in everything. Less is sometimes more. Also i noticed, as you pointed out, that people in europe tend to have real conversations. Here all anyone talks about is work. Unless one has a legitimately interesting job like an artist i and most ppl just dont care what others do for work.

As an American that's been living in eastern Europe for exactly 5 years now, you really hit the nail on the head. I absolutely love coming home for visits, but I really can't imagine living there again. So many societal problems. Definitely not a good environment for raising kids.

My husband and I moved to Mexico eight months ago and I’m still detoxing from US culture. Reminding myself that I came here to slow down. Hardly anyone asks me what I do, the people here are warm, friendly, helpful and community oriented. Everyone walks, in fact we sold our car to be less dependent. Went back a couple of months ago and I’m glad we made this move, the US was literally killing us from stress!

this was so educational and refreshing for me as a Dutch person. i honestly never knew how the differences when returning to their home country can make some Americans feel

As Italian that has lived in the USA, I have to say that the quantity of food is big in the USA, but the quality is not comparable...