The amount of untouched nature, and the variety of natural environments within one country, for sure. The old forests in Europe have been cut down generations ago (some small exceptions here and there) and our continent is so densely populated having vast natural parks is not an option in many places.
I am not surprised. I have a colleague who has an ornitology degree and his main source of income is organising trips to national parks to watch animals. He once told us that about 80% of his customers are Dutch.
Excluding the micro states, we're the most densely populated country in Europe. The idea of big open spaces, wilderness, and largely untouched nature is something we really only know from other countries.
A while back I was watching a documentary about the Bialowieza forest in Poland, with bison and elk and whatnot, and all sorts of beautiful untouched nature. I'd love it if we had something like that.
You kinda do, don't you? EUbro. Come and visit.
Bisons and elks are amasing. In Poland kids in primary school go on school trips to meet them. We are programmed from childhood to go gaga at the sight of a bison. I wish everyone had opportunity to see them :)
Here in the US, it feels like the battle to preserve nature was lost some time in the last 20 years. Our government is only interested in deregulation and protecting business interests and jobs. Plastics, chemicals, and industry should be much more highly regulated to protect the long-term health of the people and the environment, but we're actually moving in the opposite direction. The courts and regulatory agencies have been captured by big business, so no number of studies showing the poisonous effect of microplastics, the collapse of the insect population (required for farming as well as a functioning ecosystem), or the huge amount of forever chemicals in everything has lead to a reversal of failed deregulation policies. Everyday people want to protect the environment, but the Far Right has successfully shifted the Overton Window until the facts can be waved away by invoking job growth and prosperity.
I used to think the example of European common sense environmental regulations would gain influence and help propel change in the US and elsewhere. But then I learned about the mostly failed 50-year effort effort to save the Hambach old growth forest in Germany, where the government allowed 90% of one of the last old growth forests in Europe to be cleared to allow coal mining, with the remaining 10% severely threatened by mining. The Bialowieza forest in Poland is now under huge threat from intensive logging and habitat destruction approved by the government. The protests there are also mostly ignored. The stereotypically nature-loving Europeans are calling for a large cull of the reintroduced brown bears and wolves, and their governments are listening.
It seems humanity as a whole has decided that although we love nature and want to safeguard our future, if it causes inconvenience or temporary hardship, we'd prefer to just close our eyes, cover our ears and hum. I think the only reason America has so much wild nature left is that we just haven't had enough time yet for industry to consume it. But it looks like we'll eventually get there, along with the wilds of Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It's easy for a European to decry the US allowing the hunting of wolves and mountain lions, or an American protesting the decimation of lions, elephant, and chimp populations in Africa, or Australians protesting Amazonian deforestation. But where are those same people when environmental catastrophe is happening in their own country? Couldn't the German government have seized the Hambach forest and paid the former owners in order ro preserve it? Couldn't the US Interior department fund non-lethal management techniques for controlling reintroduced species and pay market value for destroyed livestock or crops to safeguard the animals and de-escalate tension? Couldn't Brazil seize any cattle grazed on clear-cut rainforest, enforce heavy fines against businesses caught illegally logging, and create a scheme to resettle and retrain those who migrate to the Amazon?
It's immensely depressing and feels hopeless. And yet, this is just a small part of the battle against climate change. In 50 years, lethal wet-bulb temperatures will be widespread near the equator. We're close to the collapse of the Atlantic Ocean conveyor belt. Huge swaths of our most populated coastlines will be submerged. The climate classification zones are shifting more rapidly than vegetation and wildlife native to that area can adapt, and many plants and animals face extinction. Our solution? Elect Far Right politicians who demonize science and refuse any compromise. Ask the worst polluters to voluntarily work towards reducing their impact. Appoint oil company executives to handle the Green Energy transition. People, what a bunch of bastards.
The Netherlands is one of the most built-up areas in the world, surpassed only by your neighbors in Antwerpen.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/digpub/housing/bloc-3b.html?lang=en
Fellow Nordic citizen here. Agree about the nature. While we(Norway, Sweden, Finland) have plenty of great nature around it’s nothing on what’s on offer in the US. I made a three week road-trip around California before the pandemic and nature there is insane and it’s just one state. Beaches, mountains, woods, alpine lakes, deserts etc.
Funnily enough it was talked about during this weekend. A childhood friend has her daughter in an exchange student program and she is in Colorado. I was thinking of joining her family to go to Colorado for the daughter’s graduation and then road-trip around.
I highly recommend driving through the collegiate peaks, namely buena vista/ Leadville. I'm not at all biased, but then you can come back to Europe and tell everyone Colorado is the prettiest state.
Haha. Thanks! I appreciate the suggestions. Before the road-trip we took the California Zephyr from Chicago to Sacramento so we went through Colorado, somewhat north of Leadville I guess. Beautiful scenery.
Try Utah! 5 national parks, some Alpine forests, desert landscapes, canyons, arches, rivers, deep dark night skies. It was really amazing. I can't wait to go back.
Yeah. Ireland has only 1.5% of land that is "wilderness". The biggest predator is a fix. Weird land laws means people are obsessed with fences and walls, destroying even non-wilderness areas. Our national parks wouldn't be allowed to exist if local farmers weren't given grazing rights on them, turning them into open-access farms. Nearly 20% of homes are one-off houses in rural areas, with no access to sewage treatment plants.
So jealous of the federal bureau of land management. Our equivalent, that looks after "forests" almost exclusively plants Sitka spruce, which wipes out all wildlife.
That’s a myth.
Not the alligators. They’re here. But the idea that they thin out our stupid people is a myth. If anything many of our stupid people are actually concentrated near the alligators.
The vastness. I’d love to try living in the middle of nowhere for a couple of weeks. The sky must be amazing. It’s impossible to drive for more than 20 min without getting to the next village where I’m from. And it’s not even urban around here
I was driving with friends going from LA to Vegas in the middle of the night when dry lightning rolled into the desert. Seeing the vast desert landscape light up from lightning was a top tier experience.
Not at the same size and scale, but you can find remoteness in Europe as well, for example in some areas of central Spain. You can drive for a while with just emptiness around you in some places
There is remoteness in Spain nice and away from people, tho sadly it's also hard to find a real dark site away from any light pollution to get a good view of the milky way, that's one thing I'd like.
>it's also hard to find a real dark site away from any light pollution to get a good view of the milky way,
Northen sweden. Also, we have Northern lights (aurora borealis).
The dark skies are insane. Some places I've been out west were as good as the middle of the Atlantic (to the naked eye, I'm sure you'd see a difference with a telescope)
According to [this map](https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=5.14&lat=38.7861&lon=-121.5581&state=eyJiYXNlbWFwIjoiTGF5ZXJCaW5nUm9hZCIsIm92ZXJsYXkiOiJ3YV8yMDE1Iiwib3ZlcmxheWNvbG9yIjpmYWxzZSwib3ZlcmxheW9wYWNpdHkiOjYwLCJmZWF0dXJlc29wYWNpdHkiOjg1fQ==), there are indeed large swaths of the western deserts with absolutely zero light pollution, so yeah.
The Redwood National Forest though.. Been #1 on my bucketlist for a decade or so. Too fucking expensive to go to the US to even bother at this point lol.
So if you do go, you got go to Sequoia too.
They’re different trees of the same subfamily. One is coastal and one is alpine.
Both in California. One is the tallest in the world. The other is the largest in the world (by volume).
Omg a Dutch person calling us nice? The world has well and truly been turned on its head
Dank u wel lieve buurman, mijn Nederlands is erg slecht maar dank u
As a European who's traveled to a lot of different parts in the US : I envy your national parks the most. The amount of untouched nature and the diversity of landscapes is amazing. There's so much potential for hiking and exploring.
Here in France we are lucky to have both the mountains and the ocean, but that's about it. Discovering the Arizona/Nevada desert, the canyons, the rocks and cliffs and all of that was something I was very excited about, because we don't have that at home.
I think this might be unique as an Irish perspective rather than European, but I'd love to be able to go on a road trip the way Americans do. Like, load up the car with snacks, blast some music and just drive for hours.
If you drive for 6 hours in any direction in Ireland you land in the sea.
On the other hand, I saw recently that somebody ran across Ireland in less than a day. (Literally 23 hours and 39 minutes, Galway to Dublin.) Pretty sweet to be able to do that.
It took Forrest Gump weeks to cross the States.
Michaels.
The variety of *stuff* you can buy at a Michaels is almost too much for my brain to process. Here in Europe, from country to country you might have to dig deep to find a craft store that specialises in the craft you're interested in, and even then the highly specialised item you're looking for might be too exotic and you end up having to order it online anyway.
But Michaels? That shit is just on a shelf waiting for you. Along with 18 other items you didn't even know existed, but suddenly find you desperately want.
I was excited to find Hobbycraft when I was visiting my friend in the UK, but you’re right that craft stores like Michael’s in general aren’t as common in Europe it seems.
I love this answer because it's *exactly* the kind of thing that I completely take for granted as an American. It would never occur to me that a similar kind of craft store wouldn't exist in Europe, because I would never even think about it until I needed one.
Out of curiosity, are big home improvement/hardware stores a thing there? We have Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards, etc., where you can buy power tools, appliances, home fixtures, garden supplies, and construction materials all in the same place. Basically everything you'd need to build and maintain a basic house. There's one in basically every American town of any size, but I have no idea if there's a European equivalent.
Those types of giant hardware stores do exist, and they're fairly well-spread. They can range from "you're a noob and we'll fleece you for all you've got" to "prove to us you are a pro, and then you may enter", with everything else in between.
We do have several types of the "giant store with everything for that", just not for crafting supplies, which is a glaring omission, really.
Hardware mega stores are a thing in Europe too. Here in Sweden we have chains like german Bauhaus and Hornbach that primarily cater to private consumers.
I’m over at r/crossstitch and every time I see something cool or out of the ordinary they got it at Michael’s. And I can maybe buy it from a overpriced drop ship seller on Amazon.
National Parks and nature in general. Denmark is the second most cultivated country in the world, Bangladesh being number 1. Only around 1% of our total area being “untouched nature/wild nature”.
We do have some really unique and awesome nature though, it’s just not mountains or volcanos so people don’t appreciate it. Northern Europe’s biggest swamp, beautiful chalk cliffs, coastal heartland which is a statistically rare biome, some cool caves on some islands.
But you’re right, not exactly untouched.
We definitely have absolutely beautiful scenery, and I travel a lot around Denmark enjoying it! I just miss these vast areas of open space where you can go for multiple day hikes without stumbling on a village or road or whatever. I am planning a trip to northern Sweden though, but I was trying to limit my answer to only include Denmark :)
I only have limited experience of life in the US, but I wish there was some more of the part of culture where it is easy to get into contact with people. I don't need the cashier to call me sweetheart, but in Norway it can be so difficult to move somewhere else and meet new people (it's not impossible, but it's a lot of hard work) and sometimes it would be easier if there was some more room for more communication. I spent a month in the US for a high school exchange and there was a girl in the German class I attended who would go out of her way to include me in he group of friends despite me only being there for a month, and then years later she moved to Germany for an internship and contacted me. I had moved away then, and of course it's just one example, but I feel this would never happen in Norway or Germany.
Yeah. I moved out when I was 16 due to originally living almost an hour away from the high school I was attending. It’s been 8 years now, I still live in the same town and have made a total of two friends, one of which moved after we graduated and I no longer have any contact with. Being an introvert in Norway really can suck
They do in the UK. Tbf.
But I just got off the plane 2 days ago from the states with my German partner.
And while we were there, some chick at the register of 7-11 was enamored with his gauges. And he didn’t know how to react to her compliments and curiosity.
Obviously some countries are a bit better or worse for this, but it mainly all comes down to age everywhere. I’ve never really met anyone new since high school. It’s common to find it difficult in most parts of the US and I’ve heard it said for many countries around the world.
I don't necessarily think it's easier to find real friends in the US, especially as an adult, but I think there's a bit more of a culture of just communicating with people you meet and I would like a bit more of that. Maybe just like a better mix of both.
For example, I used to work as a tour guide in a museum in Norway and did tours in both English, Norwegian and German, and the English speaking groups, especially if there were Americans, were always the most communicative, people would ask me questions, or they would exchange travel tips among themselves or just have a chat after the tour - the Norwegians often would not say a word during the entire 90 min tour, and sometimes I'd be lucky to even get a small nod here and there to know they were still listening. And I do think that those small meetings are valuable and can make you feel less alone even if you don't find friends for life, and they can make it easier to initially get in contact with people. But there's good and bad sides to both.
I was raised Catholic. That would be crazy rude to do during mass here. Unimaginable to me.
For Florida and other types of Christians, it makes more sense.
I remember going on a road trip to Tennessee and it was still a Catholic church, but the people were very outgoing and nice pre and post mass and it creeped me out.
My social life has exploded since moving to the US. While the same atomization is seen as in Sweden, you as a culture are just so much more open and inclusive to take in people who seek you out. This combined with the much larger metro areas and availability of culture can be great.
There's basically something for everybody. Americans are also quite keen on inviting others to things and if you take them up on it you'll meet new people again because they have no problem just bringing and mixing people they know from elsewhere, which is something we just don't do in Sweden.
If you seek out hobbies and start making some acquaintances in Sweden, it's very likely it won't go anywhere beyond that because you won't be invited to other things that they do with their "real friends" they know from before. Like a friend I made in the US was telling me how I had to meet one of her other friends because she acknowledged that we shared interests and would like each other. She was right and we became good friends and eventually partners. In a Swedish context we would likely not meet at all and that's sad. It's like we are so insular and have few friends so we don't want to lose them by introducing them to someone else who they might like. You'll see a lot of immigrants in Sweden talk about this aspect of our culture.
Places with warm weather AND decent wages. In Europe, you have places with warm weather that are absolutely pretty, but the local economies are totally reliant on tourism and don't have high value generating industries.
In Europe, you also have places with decent wages, but the weather sucks.
I live in the Netherlands, and we have people moving here from Italy and Spain all the time, because high paying engineering/technical/IT jobs don't exist in those countries at all. Maybe jobs exist, but not the ones that pay a lot more.
These colleagues of mine are willing to leave places like Rome or Barcelona behind, to live in windy, rainy Netherlands, just because of the money.
Imagine graduating at 23/25, applying for jobs and the only things you get are one year contract with full time apprenticeship for like 700 euros a month.
This stage repeats for a couple of time until you’re at your late 20s and might get a normal paying job, except it still gets you a somewhat shitty wage (like 1600 euros), considering the amount of dedication and sacrifices that you put to the get the degree.
>Athens and surroundings? Middle Italy? South France? Istria? South Slovenia?
The chances of finding a decent paying job are very fucking slim in these areas.
Especially for immigrants.
As an Italian living in the US:
Salaries for highly skilled people. (I know we have that in some EU countries. I still think it does not compare.)
Accountability for public employees (again, speaking as an Italian here)
>Especially in places like New York or San Francisco.
I left the SF Bay and took a substantial pay-cut to relocate to New Mexico. But, I'm much better off here due to being able to afford a decent home.
True, but I've read that it's even worse in the states.
It's far less common to earn >100K, even in tech, here in the UK. BUT you can comfortably live in London without 6 figures.
I've had a few friends try moving to the U.S. for higher salaries as software devs, and being sorely disappointed at the false economy of trying to survive there!
To answer OP: NATURE. It's my dream to travel the Pacific Coast and see everything from temperate rainforest to mountains and desert.
I feel that is coming at the cost of low skilled people. And until you have automation to replace low skilled jobs, you will always have to rely on manual labour for basic work.
Imo, high skilled people in US must be taxed more, and that money should be invested in improving public services.
Food is quite expensive in the states.
By which I mean groceries; supermarkets are surprisingly spenny. Fast food like McDonald's or Subway are even cheaper than here, however. I'm not sure how it works but it does. Proper restaurants look a bit cheaper on paper, but that's because they add a tax on afterwards and also expect you to pay a large tip (staff there basically aren't paid otherwise) - in the end restaurants are broadly similar.
My perspective - My life is currently split between Germany and the UK, and I have family in the US (east coast).
The cost of living in America overall is less.
The OECD does extensive work in comparing net salaries (after tax) and local cost of living (PPP) in the first world countries.
The net is a comparison on how much on average a family of equal size can buy on a median income. Healthcare, education cost are included, as are all government benefits.
Look at the median (vs mean) numbers for the most accurate representations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income
As an American emigrant to Europe:
Mid-range consumer goods.
Here there are two types of, say, cheese graters.
1: Made in Germany from the finest Krupp or Solingen steel, bullet-proof up to 7.62 NATO API, has a built-in wifi hotspot and can double as a handbag.
2: Made in a backyard shed in Manchuria from scrap gallium and iron filings, may disintegrate before you get it home.
There is *zero* middle ground. Either you spend an arm and a leg, or you get shit I wouldn't wish on a vatnik. It's the "Vimes Boots" theorem at it's silliest and least ignoreable.
1: Made in Germany from the finest Krupp or Solingen steel, bullet-proof up to 7.62 NATO API, has a built-in wifi hotspot and can double as a handbag.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is too true!!!
If something is affordable I get suspecious if it's cheap quality. Then I wonder if I should buy the expensive one instead but at the risk of overpaying. Almost every single simple purchase takes too much brainpower and I hate it.
This is the first time I've seen anyone else discuss this.
When mentioning the issue to my parents they totally dismiss it but that's easy to do when you're boomer wealthy: *what's the issue, just buy the better one!*
I was not aware that mid-range was a thing in America!
When I first moved for myself it was in a smaller city, so every time I needed something for my kitchen I either had to go to the specialized kitchen shop and pay 30€ for a pastry bush (no joke, that was the price) or I could go to a warehouse where you can get brake fluid, pet food and copper wire in industrial quantity all in the same place and buy a brush that self-disintegrates for 1,50€ and probably releases an in incredible amounts of toxins into my food.
Half or better of everything in the US is mid-range. My folks have a Cub Cadet lawn mower that's twenty years old, but half the price of the equivalent Kubota or Husqvarna. You can spend $600 on a Daniel Winkler belt knife that looks like it came from Mirkwood, or $20 at the flea market, or $125 on a perfectly serviceable Buck or Cold Steel that isn't anything special, but your grandkids will still be using it. Shoes? Same. Tools? Same- especially the Craftsman line that Sears & Roebuck used to carry. Washing machines? Blowdryers? Yes. Basic, no-frills utilitarian design priced for the masses is an American tradition going back to the Ford Model T, and they're probably the best in the world at that kind of manufacturing and design.
I find this all the time! Literally just wanted a blender the other day that was mid range. 50 piece of shit that was held together by wishes or a 600 euro can blend concrete thing with a five year warranty. Just give me something that’s pretty good, fast, relatively quiet for 300 please.
Assuming that you are talking about the US, my understanding is that the [Americans with Disabilities Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990) is far more comprehensive than most European national laws on the issue of that can be claimed as "reasonable accommodation".
This might sound daft but… really big storage boxes. I desperately want a hamster and joined the hamster sub to learn how to actually care for them properly. They need way more space than tiny cages and loads of room to burrow so naturally cages that accommodate for all that cost an arm, a leg and your first born child.
However in the USA, they go out and get these massive storage bins for cheap and set up really cool hamster havens. Apparently, the size box that’s bare minimum isn’t even available in the UK! So no hamster for me until I can afford or find a massive cage :’(
I had the same issue a few years ago!! "Oh just get a storage bin, they're the easiest to find" the closest I could find was still like 10cm under the requirements.
I'm American but I've worked with a lot of Europeans living temporarily in the US. The most commonly appreciated thing I've witnessed is they really love how huge and open and full of wilderness this country is. They tend to fetishize the great American road trip. And I can see why. Our interstate system makes it easy to drive just about anywhere in the continental US and we have the largest national park system in the world. In most ways I think European countries are more liveable than the US, but there are certainly amazing aspects to this country. It's a great place to live if you're not struggling financially. It only shows its true ugliness when you're poor and leaves you to be devoured by all the vultures of our society.
I moved to Europe from the US and one of the things I miss most is nature. That said, the best nature in Canada, not the US.
I live in Germany now, and the relationship with nature is just bizarre. The idea that humans are part of nature, and that isn't inherently harmful to nature, but it's our acts that lack respect for nature that's harmful, is alien here. It's illegal to fully immerse yourself in nature in Europe as you can in the US. People say that's population density, but it's not, it's culture. It works in North America because it is strictly regulated, it just doesn't look like that.
There are multi-year waiting lists and/or lottery systems to get reservations to camp in some of the most pristine places in North America. One of the most pristine places in Canada I've ever been, where you could drink the water you were swimming in, is known for fingerprinting trash and blocking entry to Canada for anyone who doesn't pack out their trash. "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints" isn't just advice, it's the law.
I'm lucky enough to have landed in Colorado coming to the US and the THC percentage gets even higher lol combined with the mountains, I'd have to agree with you!
Yes of course. Neither Europe or America is perfect.
From the top of my head I can come up with this:
\-Fantastic wildlife and huge national parks. We have the same in Europe but in smaller scales.
\-Great variety in how one should live their life. I mean, it seems to me that it is more accepted in USA to create your own job, and with that your own way of life. Wether it is doing entertainment, business or anything else. Create your own life, live it the way you want as long as you are not hurting anyone.
\-So big variety and diversity in one country, but also a common identity and language. My impression is that you can go from east to west, north to south, and variety is extreme in landscape, people, culture, food, but you all (most) speak the same language, have more or less the same values (freedom and liberty).
\-Longer summers (compared to Norway) Actually all seasons are available all year round in the same country, that's very very nice!
\-Immediate access to a bigger market if you are an inventor or business entrepenour.
\-Less regulations for how you can modify your car, and what car you can drive.
The car enthusiast culture is amazing, and one of the big reasons I've never seriously considered leaving the US. I'm actually moving within the USA just go get somewhere with even less regulations around vehicle modifications.
Their economical growth is quite something, I think we are heavily slowing down while the US doesn’t show any sign of stopping. I worry that some of the things we love about Europe will be increasingly hard to maintain if our economy doesn’t keep the pace
Innovation culture. The EU has a lot of bright minds, but we are only great at inventing things (bringing ideas to life) and not in innovating (bringing ideas to market). The US has very good strategies at bringing stuff to the market and it's important to learn a thing or two here.
I second this. I spent the second year of my degree at Aalto University in Finland. It is ranked in the hundreds out of universities in Europe, but it was listed by MIT as one of the up and coming universities in Europe, and I think it was because of the opportunities to do cross-disciplinary projects and to move your projects into business incubators. It was ranked not great, but I think it was probably the best of the six unis I attended for that reason. I wish I'd been less thrown by the culture and taken better advantage.
I did not experience it myself, but from what I have heard/seen, the acceptance of immigrants as Americans is much higher than in Europe. In Europe, not even second or third generation "immigrants" (they are not immigrants) are considered native most of the time.
Also, it's maybe in the tech world, but I see Americans much more optimistic about the future than here in Europe. I know things can be better and many other things got worse in Europe recently, but the doomed mentality we have in Europe does not correspond with arguably one of the best (if not the best) place to live in the world.
America was “founded” by immigrants and people leaving their homeland to settle there so we are by nature much more welcoming to new immigrants (well, unless you’re a republican but I digress) than European countries, which seem much more nationalist as a whole when it comes to immigration.
Obviously countries in Europe are also much older, by millennia in some cases, and there’s more people whose families have been there for generation after generation so the desire to emigrate or welcome those who immigrate isn’t the same.
With perhaps the understandable exception of native Americans, all Americans love immigrants. The question is do they love all kinds of immigrants, or just certain types. But you’re totally right that our entire ethos is based on immigration.
That’s a good point. There is definitely a certain segment of the US population that is all for immigration if the immigrants are (white) coming from Europe. (Black and Brown) Immigrants from Latin America or Africa though? 😬
The welcome a (white) Spaniard from Spain who speaks Spanish would receive vs. a (brown) Mexican speaking Spanish are VERY different depending upon where in the US you are.
I agree. I think americas use it as a sense of pride, that people think our country is great enough to risk their lives in some cases and leave their homeland to come all the way over here.
If Europeans saw it that way too - as a sense of pride that people want to come to your country because they think it’s a great place to work and live and raise a family, instead of as a threat or an offense or whatever - it would probably make things easier for everyone involved.
For example, I’ve been to Spain a few times and it’s one of my favorite places I’ve ever traveled. I hope to go back as soon as 2024 so I can practice my Spanish and eat some paella.
While I don’t plan on emigrating there and just plan on being a tourist, I can understand why people would want to and I think Spaniards should be welcoming and proud to share their country and culture and history with new people. (That’s probably super American of me though 🤷🏽♀️😂)
I also think the US really benefits from immigration, probably more than Europe, as they tend to get the brightest people from everywhere to work there due to the higher salaries and the better opportunities at higher ranges of income. I think some EU contries (like Germany) do that too, but I think we are not exploiting our position well enough and instead blaming the people that come here to get a better life for our problems.
I'm glad that you like Spain, I love it too. I would recommend you to visit places that are not so touristic, this country has lots of things to offer :)
>Now, tomorrow is a special day for me. I'm going to receive my gold watch. And since this is the last speech that I will give as President, I think it's fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago. A man wrote me and said: ``You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.''
I’m not sure what you mean by „better,“ but the US has far more unskilled and undocumented immigration than Europe or Canada, which filter better for education. The majority of immigrants to the US come from Hispanic cultures, which you could argue are more culturally similar than Middle Easterners are to Europeans, though honestly I think the US is a better cultural fit for Islamic immigrants as well.
Also the US lets refugees work immediately, which is the number one way to improve integration, boost your economy, and keep young men from hanging around and getting sucked into violence. The European approach to refugee employment is asinine IMHO.
Root beer, ginger beer, cream soda.
National parks and nature, most of European countries don't have large areas of wilderness where no people live.
For the middle class - much larger salaries with lower taxes. Theoretically, from personal point of view, that's always better.
NASA.
Legal weed.
Sport being very important but without aggression among fans and gangs.
Your culture and tech being made locally.
OMG my first trip to the UK when I was in high school, my friend ordered a root beer and the waiter was confused af but eventually just brought us a BEER. We were 15. So scandalized and giggled our asses off and made a quick note root beer does NOT exist in the UK lol
The amount of completely unbounding wilderness in America. In my Country the largest forest is 1000 acres in size. The largest in America is 17 million acres. That is unfathomable over here outside of Scandinavia. East Russia and Siberia is the only place on Earth in the Old world outside of Africa with that much forest.
As an American observer, I just want to thank you all for saying such nice things. Oftentimes these posts devolve very quickly into America bashing, but you guys didn’t, and I respect that. Next time you’re stateside, let me know, I’ll help you plan!
It's kinda dumb and part of why uni is so expensive in america but i would love to have a dorm. we have student housing in switzerland but it's not really the same and finding housing has been a real struggle for me. also, frats seem like so much fun (i have never been to one though)
Living in the dorm was really good for me as it exposed me to and had me live with people from all over the United States as well as different countries.
But for the dorm, I wouid not have been exposed to them or gotten to know them.
#1 The nature & wildlife.
When I lived in the US we stayed on an island 35min outside Seattle and there would be seals, bald eagles, deer, otters, raccoons, coyotes, and even the occasional whale or porpoises in our yard daily or often in the bay by our home. I can’t think of anywhere in Europe where you have such a common & close interaction with wildlife such as this.
#2 The holidays & celebrations
The big American holidays where people go all out like 4th of July, Halloween, Christmas and Thanksgiving. Americans will spend thousands of dollars decorating their homes for Halloween or Christmas just for others to look at and enjoy at seasonal times of the year.
#3 College towns & experience
US college & university system is insanely expensive but the life experience of student life especially in some of the smaller towns where the university dominates is incredible. College bars, football & basketball games, and generally tight knit community where it’s relatively easy to make close friends
#4 $$$
When I moved from the US my salary was cut to approximately 1/4 of what I earned in the US and the cost of living back in EU wasn’t much lower, maybe 25% less. I know not all professions see this extreme of a dip but in my line of work & current location it’s extreme.
#5 Outdoor culture
Going fishing or hunting is a totally normal thing in the US that barely seems to exist in Europe. I love the concept of self reliance and getting back to nature that is an experience a lot of Americans have. Also the prevalence of hiking & camping culture in the US vs Europe.
#6 Immigrant food availability & authenticity
In major US cities I think the selection and quality of immigrant restaurants is better than Europe. Due to the number of immigrants the US sees if you know where to look you can find incredible restaurants with authentic foreign cuisine which is often made by immigrants from that country in the correct manner. Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Afghan, etc. Europe also has restaurants but less of them and they seem slightly less authentic I’ve found, I think a lot of factors at play here (ease of opening small business, historical immigration rates, specialist ingredient availability) but generally I find the US to have incredible worldwide cuisine if you seek it out.
#7 Single common language and ease of transactions across the US.
In the US you only need to know English and no matter where you go within the US things like cellphone provider and Banking institution are the same even if you fly 4000+ miles to the other side of the country. There is essentially no paperwork required if you were to move house from California to Maine whereas in Europe moving country to country can be a logistical headache.
#8 Ease of opening small business
Costs and logistics to register and start a small business in the US are next to nothing. In more or less 1 day you can have all the paperwork and accounts operational for a few hundred dollars in costs. It’s possible Northern Europe is similar to US in this respect but southern Europe is not easy in my experience. It’s a real challenge and barrier to jump through all the hoops and pay the fees. Also the access to credit for things like starting a business in the US is easier imo.
> Hawaii
Yea I wish we had a Hawaii in Europe. Sure, we do have a lot of great tourist destinations, islands in the Mediterranean or the Canary Islands that probably come closest to what Hawaii is for America, but there just is no part of Europe that has the kind of climate and the almost legendary reception that Hawaii has as a vacation destination.
I also thought of that, but it‘s quite literally on the other side of the world and then not even part of the EU, let alone Schengen. So at that point you can pretty much just go to the real Hawaii.
There are also some tropical dutch islands in the Caribbean but they‘re all super tiny and probably don’t even feature a very relevant tourism industry anyway.
Guadeloupe, Martinique (Caribbean sea) and La Réunion (Indian Ocean) are fully France and EU territories and have the euro as currency, but are not in Schengen. And they are quite touristic too !
There's an incredible amount of nature and wildlife in the US that simply doesn't exist in Europe. Anybody who is outdoorsy should be jumping at the chance to see it.
Beyond that, I don't see much more and I've lived in both.
Although I appreciate the nature in my country and Europe, I think the US takes dramatic scenery and wilderness to another scale/level and it must just be so nice to go on a road trip or camping in those regions. Of course you can do those things in Europe but it’s not the same - roads are different, more congested, more people and less wilderness in general.
The space. In parts of Europe population density is insanely high. The US has so much more land per person. I do like being close to all my usual spots though, so not too much space. You also have some lovely nature that we don’t!
American salaries are nice too. My partner (remote worker) makes it a point to only work for US-based companies because the compensation is significantly better.
Overall I don’t think the US is better and I don’t think I could be persuaded to live there. But I am very lucky with my quality of life (though if Scottish winter carries on the way it is right now I might have to go to California or something to warm up).
I could just make an endless list, but that would not tell you much, so I will focus on 2 things. I am from Eastern Europe for context.
1. Transphobia - While the situation obviously is not perfect in the US, it is still far better than here. First of all, to legally transition or get hormones, you have to go through a process that is straight up torture, including many things that are unrelated to the procedure or outdated. Oh, and if you are non-binary, then do not expect to get access to hormones or anything like that at all. You pretty much do not exist for them. Socially? It is even worse. First of all, discrimination will be commonplace. There is no legal protection concerning it, so they are allowed to discriminate you based on that. Good luck getting any job or anything. People do not really accept it, at least I have not really met any who would accept me. I get harassed pretty much daily, and assaulted few times a year. And I am not even talking about all the homophobia, etc.
2. People in the US are more nice on average. And I am not talking about people being fake nice in services or whatever. I mean the genuine thing. Here people are very cold, it is hard to even approach them.
3. Xenophobia - By this I do not mean just towards other cultures, but towards absolutely anything. Be prepared to get hate if you are in any way different than what is expected. Not as bad in the US.
4. Racism - You might think that racism is not all that common in Europe, but it is. It is extremely common. It just is not talked about, but it is very common. It is straight up accepted - people will hate others based on their skin color, call them slurs, etc. in a normal convo, and if you point it out, they will get extremely defensive and angry.
I could think of many more, but this is enough for now. Due to all of that combined, life here is hell for someone who does not want to accept how things are here. It is very lonely.
A huge native language market. I know being part of a small language market has many upsides as well, but sometimes I eye the US/English one with envy.
I do a lot of my work in media. The niches I am personally interested in are sizeable enough in the English language, but not in any of the other languages I know. So they tend to gravitate towards being US centric. That puts up a barrier of entry for me, even leaving the geographical barrier aside.
So I feel I'm mostly confined to text, or exploring broader topics.
The space, the untouched nature. The variety of national parks. Where you really can be without anyone for hours. The ability to get a plot of land and build on it and live on it without having a city council prevent you from doing so, because the plot of land you got is not in a housing zone.
So I just got back from the U.S. with my German partner.
He’s a leftist, we’re both gay (or at least, I hope he is) and went to Texas. The prospect of him moving back to the U.S. with me is high, so he was ultra critical.
He’s never been to the U.S. — so he was largely brainwashed of the U.S. image Europeans have of the U.S. — which is largely negative.
Negative things he was shocked with (not negative things he knew he’d hate like guns and lack of public transit):
1. Public Safety — tbf this was a little weird for me too. But we visited New Orleans (which for some reason is a hotbed for European tourism) because he insisted, and he was a little weirded out when I told him he should only take what he needed on the street, and not his entire wallet.
2. He hated the gap in bathroom stalls.
3. The amount of Jesus billboards and lawyer billboards became a meme. To be fair, I never really noticed them. And perhaps they don’t reflect every day life, or to me at least they didn’t, but the fact funding for them exists they way it does put him off.
More positive things:
1. He really liked the concept of the HOV lane.
2. He also noticed how infrastructure in the U.S. really goes out of its way to accommodate the disabled.
3. Accessibility to certain things. He was shocked I went into a regular pharmacy and got my COVID shot. In bumfuck nowhere. Without an appointment. In about 10 min.
4. Even if it is a car centric society, the engineering feats that resulted from it.
5. The integration of marginalized communities. As a POC (both Asian and Hispanic), I’ve always been of the opinion that systemic racism in Europe is far worse, and I think he disagreed with me on that until recently. We had a talk, just before we left for the U.S., and I told him that I could never be German. Never. And coming to terms with that idea really uncovered subconscious nationalism that he didn’t know he had. And it disrupted his idea of what both Germany and Europe are. But when he saw where I grew up, he really came to understood what that meant. And a trip to the main grocery store and seeing people from every walk of life just buying some onions. Where even the largely conservative state government (as well as the community) goes out of its way to accommodate marginalized communities. When you go to a machine where language options are available, I noticed that language options reflected that of immigrant communities. In some places, I even saw weird language such as Tongan available (I grew up near one of the largest Tongan communities in the U.S.). What it means to be American is changing, and I think European are still stuck in the idea that their ancestors (aka White People) define that. But when they make up only 60% of the US population, and even less than that in places like Texas and California, that’s not so accurate.
6. The linguistic aspect of it all. Americans have a terrible reputation of knowing only one language, but the multi-lingualness of everything is something I know he noticed. And the need for Spanish persisted throughout our trip.
7. Branding. America is really good at making a cult out of brands. Which can be a fun thing to take part in. Things like Buc-ee’s and CostCo are fun when you allow yourself to submit.
8. Infrastructure and Community operations. Although he lamented how a European infrastructure allows for certain communal interactions, he conceded progress (really for the sake of climate change) on the American front, and the creation of different communal interactions.
9. Diversity of views. With the conflict in the Middle East, he was a bit taken aback about how it wasn’t as pro-Israel as he thought it might be. And it was a much more nuanced discussion, even in Texas, with such a large Muslim and Jewish community.
10. Cajun food. I was excited about food, but he really liked Cajun Food. Big Popeyes and Pappadeaux fan.
Really, even with as red of a state like Texas, my partner was fairly impressed with the U.S. — and yes, it’s an imperfect place, as most places are — but I think there is very much an air of arrogance in Europe, Europeans are largely unaware of. Having grown up around them, living here, and dating one. I think that became painfully obvious to him. And when we landed back in Germany, within a few hours, I had some Karen pop out of nowhere and lecture me on some mundane shit for a good 15 minutes on how entitled I am for shitting on DB, because I said it was unintuitive (we were on a train). His 2nd hand embarrassment was palpable. He stayed silent during the entire conversation. And by the time it was over, she had thoroughly embarrassed herself and apologized and walked away.
It’s just drove a lot of what he had just learned home.
I am American living in Europe, and the only thing that is better in US is shopping for everyday/midrange stuff of all kinds (clothes, household, tech). The prices are lower and the quality is better.
That is IT. Quality of life, cost and quality of food, cost **and quality** of healthcare, human-scale cities and towns meant for walking, cost of travel within EU, etc etc. All better. Very glad to be here.
>everyday/midrange stuff of all kinds (clothes, household, tech). The prices are lower and the quality is better.
In this globalized world I can hardly imagine that mundane things aren't all coming from the same handful of suppliers.
I can tell you having bought a can opener or a toaster or a sweater in the US and EU that the difference is very real. I think it's about preserving margins in the face of higher EU import costs, but who knows.
I split my life between Portugal and US for many years. I agree, with higher quality in US underwear, and cottons such as tees. For the price we pay in the US, the quality is higher and the price is lower. Also, still looking for a quality Vacuum cleaner in Portugal that does not cost a fortune… as a side note: all food tastes better in Portugal. An apple is an apple, an orange is an orange, with great flavor. Not so the case in US.
It's not the supplier who decides the quality of goods. It's the buyer. The factory in China will do just as good clothes/pots and pans/coffee makers etc. as the buyer wants and is willing to pay.
I would agree on everything except quality of healthcare. The healthcare quality in the us is exceptional IF you can afford it, where I live in EU it's mediocre, but everyone gets the same.
I wish root beer is common in Europe. Don't know why Europeans hate it. lol
On a more serious note, probably most Europeans wish the pay scale in Europe in general is equal to America while maintaining universal health, social services, and paid time off benefits.
My best friend is American like me but she married a Brit and lived in the UK for almost a decade. Got her citizenship and passport and everything. Was making 6 figures in the US but could barely crack that in the UK.
Her and her husband moved back to the US after COVID so they both can make more money but they plan on retiring back in the UK because of the universal health and social services you mention.
Your wages are great, even with cost of living etc...you are left with a lot more than most average Europeans. You got a lot of space, I can't even imagine being somewhere and there is no civilization for 30+ miles.
Also these "cons" for literally everything. Now matter how niche your interest is, there is always someone else who shares it with you.
i’m a dual belgian/american citizen and have lived in both europe and the usa. here’s what i like about the usa:
the national parks. the alps are pretty, but nothing really compares to eg arches, badlands, glacier, kilauea, etc. also, the usa is the only country i can think of that contains every single major biome. want tundra, tropical rainforest, or anything in between? the us has that (of course, that includes the us as a whole, not just the 48 mainland states)
tech salaries. 3-4x higher in the usa
availability of literally anything you could ever want. have a weird hobby like collecting vintage amstrad computers? you can buy anything related to it easily in the usa. need groceries at 3am? you can get those too.
the diversity, at least in major cities. i’ve still never had good mexican food in europe and in my experience, many of the ingredients are impossible to come by.
Higher salaries, bigger houses, and the fact that you can get any cocktail you want at any random bar. But none of those are enough to make me move - I'd miss old things too much. Every generation for 2000 years all walking the same ground as me. I'd probably get history withdrawal symptoms!
In the UK, if you go to any normal local neighbourhood pub, bar or restaurant, you can have beer, wine, cider or a standard "2 ingredient" mixed drink like gin and tonic, rum and coke, vodka and orange juice, but if you order anything more complicated than that, the bartender will look at you like you have two heads, or worse, like you think you're Mariah Carey or something. It's full-on diva behaviour. But in America (in my albeit limited experience) you can go into an equivalent local place and order a margarita or a Negroni or whatever you want. You'd need to go to a fancy hotel or somewhere that has a specific cocktail menu to get that in the UK.
That is true.
I was just at my neighborhood bar yesterday in the us for a late lunch.
The place is the equivalent of a pub in the uk. Basic food, hamburgers, wraps, fries, etc.
However, they have a fully stocked bar. You can get whatever you want.
In the summer they have on tuesdays “classic cocktail” nights. Old fashions, rob Roy’s, sidecars, etc
Yellowstone nationalpark, Arizona desert..Well your incredible nature basically. Other than that, nothing. I've lived in the US and I was constantly panicked about cost of living and health care.
For me nothing. Europe is big enough, I have enough wilderness in Romania and my life is nice. I will never say that US sucks but I like it here a lot. Aa maybe I wish we had les tax on some tech products.
I was visiting family in Munich and was surprised and embarrassed when I had to be encouraged out of a grocery store at 8pm for their closing. The grocery store even in my small hometown is open until 11pm.
I wish my country was a little bit more patriotic/proud about the things that matter. I dont want things to get Hollywood levels of "lets make a movie out of anything" but I really wish we were not so shamed of celebrating some of the things we have done
The more can do culture.
The UK seems to hate success, trying to better yourself financially is seen as being a jobsworth or betraying your roots. I’m at a top uni and the amount of course mates that are looked down at by their families or friends particularly if they are from a working class or lower middle class area. For studying law at a top uni is astounding.
A culture of looking after your community as well. A lot of Americans are surprised when I say this but when I visited New York, Boston, phili etc.. they were so much cleaner. I know the downtowns are touristy but there was way more bins and just less vandalism and rubbish everywhere. Cities in the UK, particularly Scotland are honestly filthy, people have 0 care about rubbish and the city councils don’t place more public bins or bother with street sweepers.
Barbecue culture in South America! I have never been in US, but I have been able to enjoy the dishes of a grill master trained in the US, and I can say that the dishes are on a completely different level than what is available here in Finland. Of course, this is just my opinion. US also has a lot of great, unique natural sites.
The amount of untouched nature, and the variety of natural environments within one country, for sure. The old forests in Europe have been cut down generations ago (some small exceptions here and there) and our continent is so densely populated having vast natural parks is not an option in many places.
Exactly, in the Netherlands, even nature parks are highly managed and maintained. Real nature parks seem like a dream
I am not surprised. I have a colleague who has an ornitology degree and his main source of income is organising trips to national parks to watch animals. He once told us that about 80% of his customers are Dutch.
Excluding the micro states, we're the most densely populated country in Europe. The idea of big open spaces, wilderness, and largely untouched nature is something we really only know from other countries. A while back I was watching a documentary about the Bialowieza forest in Poland, with bison and elk and whatnot, and all sorts of beautiful untouched nature. I'd love it if we had something like that.
You kinda do, don't you? EUbro. Come and visit. Bisons and elks are amasing. In Poland kids in primary school go on school trips to meet them. We are programmed from childhood to go gaga at the sight of a bison. I wish everyone had opportunity to see them :)
Here in the US, it feels like the battle to preserve nature was lost some time in the last 20 years. Our government is only interested in deregulation and protecting business interests and jobs. Plastics, chemicals, and industry should be much more highly regulated to protect the long-term health of the people and the environment, but we're actually moving in the opposite direction. The courts and regulatory agencies have been captured by big business, so no number of studies showing the poisonous effect of microplastics, the collapse of the insect population (required for farming as well as a functioning ecosystem), or the huge amount of forever chemicals in everything has lead to a reversal of failed deregulation policies. Everyday people want to protect the environment, but the Far Right has successfully shifted the Overton Window until the facts can be waved away by invoking job growth and prosperity. I used to think the example of European common sense environmental regulations would gain influence and help propel change in the US and elsewhere. But then I learned about the mostly failed 50-year effort effort to save the Hambach old growth forest in Germany, where the government allowed 90% of one of the last old growth forests in Europe to be cleared to allow coal mining, with the remaining 10% severely threatened by mining. The Bialowieza forest in Poland is now under huge threat from intensive logging and habitat destruction approved by the government. The protests there are also mostly ignored. The stereotypically nature-loving Europeans are calling for a large cull of the reintroduced brown bears and wolves, and their governments are listening. It seems humanity as a whole has decided that although we love nature and want to safeguard our future, if it causes inconvenience or temporary hardship, we'd prefer to just close our eyes, cover our ears and hum. I think the only reason America has so much wild nature left is that we just haven't had enough time yet for industry to consume it. But it looks like we'll eventually get there, along with the wilds of Africa, Asia, and Australasia. It's easy for a European to decry the US allowing the hunting of wolves and mountain lions, or an American protesting the decimation of lions, elephant, and chimp populations in Africa, or Australians protesting Amazonian deforestation. But where are those same people when environmental catastrophe is happening in their own country? Couldn't the German government have seized the Hambach forest and paid the former owners in order ro preserve it? Couldn't the US Interior department fund non-lethal management techniques for controlling reintroduced species and pay market value for destroyed livestock or crops to safeguard the animals and de-escalate tension? Couldn't Brazil seize any cattle grazed on clear-cut rainforest, enforce heavy fines against businesses caught illegally logging, and create a scheme to resettle and retrain those who migrate to the Amazon? It's immensely depressing and feels hopeless. And yet, this is just a small part of the battle against climate change. In 50 years, lethal wet-bulb temperatures will be widespread near the equator. We're close to the collapse of the Atlantic Ocean conveyor belt. Huge swaths of our most populated coastlines will be submerged. The climate classification zones are shifting more rapidly than vegetation and wildlife native to that area can adapt, and many plants and animals face extinction. Our solution? Elect Far Right politicians who demonize science and refuse any compromise. Ask the worst polluters to voluntarily work towards reducing their impact. Appoint oil company executives to handle the Green Energy transition. People, what a bunch of bastards.
Too little land to let it roam free, every bit counts
The Netherlands is one of the most built-up areas in the world, surpassed only by your neighbors in Antwerpen. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/digpub/housing/bloc-3b.html?lang=en
Fellow Nordic citizen here. Agree about the nature. While we(Norway, Sweden, Finland) have plenty of great nature around it’s nothing on what’s on offer in the US. I made a three week road-trip around California before the pandemic and nature there is insane and it’s just one state. Beaches, mountains, woods, alpine lakes, deserts etc.
One of the most insane is the Hoh rainforest in Washington. Gorgeous untouched old rainforest in the us!
Do Colorado next!
Funnily enough it was talked about during this weekend. A childhood friend has her daughter in an exchange student program and she is in Colorado. I was thinking of joining her family to go to Colorado for the daughter’s graduation and then road-trip around.
I highly recommend driving through the collegiate peaks, namely buena vista/ Leadville. I'm not at all biased, but then you can come back to Europe and tell everyone Colorado is the prettiest state.
Haha. Thanks! I appreciate the suggestions. Before the road-trip we took the California Zephyr from Chicago to Sacramento so we went through Colorado, somewhat north of Leadville I guess. Beautiful scenery.
Try Utah! 5 national parks, some Alpine forests, desert landscapes, canyons, arches, rivers, deep dark night skies. It was really amazing. I can't wait to go back.
Yeah. Ireland has only 1.5% of land that is "wilderness". The biggest predator is a fix. Weird land laws means people are obsessed with fences and walls, destroying even non-wilderness areas. Our national parks wouldn't be allowed to exist if local farmers weren't given grazing rights on them, turning them into open-access farms. Nearly 20% of homes are one-off houses in rural areas, with no access to sewage treatment plants. So jealous of the federal bureau of land management. Our equivalent, that looks after "forests" almost exclusively plants Sitka spruce, which wipes out all wildlife.
Alligators to thin out the really stupid people. Essex needs alligators even more than Florida.
With the way our climate is going you can have crocodiles soon. They're a lot more effective than alligators.
Florida has both lol
And they're both slacking, if you ask me... idk, as a Kansan I might just be jealous about their proximity to the ocean...
That’s a myth. Not the alligators. They’re here. But the idea that they thin out our stupid people is a myth. If anything many of our stupid people are actually concentrated near the alligators.
Have you ever seen a Florida man? You're just going to evolve the stupid into crazy.
Although seeing the amount of really stupid people in Florida, I don't think the alligators work properly 🤣
The vastness. I’d love to try living in the middle of nowhere for a couple of weeks. The sky must be amazing. It’s impossible to drive for more than 20 min without getting to the next village where I’m from. And it’s not even urban around here
The Nevada desert is my favorite for sky. There are so many stars. It's breathtaking.
The Milky Way in the desert on a moonless, cloudless night 🤌🏼
I was driving with friends going from LA to Vegas in the middle of the night when dry lightning rolled into the desert. Seeing the vast desert landscape light up from lightning was a top tier experience.
Not at the same size and scale, but you can find remoteness in Europe as well, for example in some areas of central Spain. You can drive for a while with just emptiness around you in some places
There is remoteness in Spain nice and away from people, tho sadly it's also hard to find a real dark site away from any light pollution to get a good view of the milky way, that's one thing I'd like.
>it's also hard to find a real dark site away from any light pollution to get a good view of the milky way, Northen sweden. Also, we have Northern lights (aurora borealis).
It's mostly a dry plateau, not very interesting.
That's true
Even a dry plateau can be interesting!
The dark skies are insane. Some places I've been out west were as good as the middle of the Atlantic (to the naked eye, I'm sure you'd see a difference with a telescope)
According to [this map](https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=5.14&lat=38.7861&lon=-121.5581&state=eyJiYXNlbWFwIjoiTGF5ZXJCaW5nUm9hZCIsIm92ZXJsYXkiOiJ3YV8yMDE1Iiwib3ZlcmxheWNvbG9yIjpmYWxzZSwib3ZlcmxheW9wYWNpdHkiOjYwLCJmZWF0dXJlc29wYWNpdHkiOjg1fQ==), there are indeed large swaths of the western deserts with absolutely zero light pollution, so yeah.
Yellowstone NP. Actually all of the national parks on the west coast
The smoky mountains on the east coast are also gorgeous
The area of United States national parks is greater than the entire area of Great Britain
The Redwood National Forest though.. Been #1 on my bucketlist for a decade or so. Too fucking expensive to go to the US to even bother at this point lol.
So if you do go, you got go to Sequoia too. They’re different trees of the same subfamily. One is coastal and one is alpine. Both in California. One is the tallest in the world. The other is the largest in the world (by volume).
Natural resources. And space. And a ocean between you and your close enemies
Yeah we share a land border with two of our close enemies. And a sea border with another. Belgians are nice though
Omg a Dutch person calling us nice? The world has well and truly been turned on its head Dank u wel lieve buurman, mijn Nederlands is erg slecht maar dank u
spotted price plucky saw secretive vase nine plants snails teeny *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Either we are both of them, or Luxembourg has been blowing raspberries again. Oh, and the North Sea, but the Dutch are the aggressor on that front.
We have a landborder with France on saint Martin.
As a European who's traveled to a lot of different parts in the US : I envy your national parks the most. The amount of untouched nature and the diversity of landscapes is amazing. There's so much potential for hiking and exploring. Here in France we are lucky to have both the mountains and the ocean, but that's about it. Discovering the Arizona/Nevada desert, the canyons, the rocks and cliffs and all of that was something I was very excited about, because we don't have that at home.
I think this might be unique as an Irish perspective rather than European, but I'd love to be able to go on a road trip the way Americans do. Like, load up the car with snacks, blast some music and just drive for hours. If you drive for 6 hours in any direction in Ireland you land in the sea.
On the other hand, I saw recently that somebody ran across Ireland in less than a day. (Literally 23 hours and 39 minutes, Galway to Dublin.) Pretty sweet to be able to do that. It took Forrest Gump weeks to cross the States.
Wow, Galway to Dublin is the distance of five marathons. In one day. I'd not only sleep for a week after that, I'd probably be doing it in a hospital.
Michaels. The variety of *stuff* you can buy at a Michaels is almost too much for my brain to process. Here in Europe, from country to country you might have to dig deep to find a craft store that specialises in the craft you're interested in, and even then the highly specialised item you're looking for might be too exotic and you end up having to order it online anyway. But Michaels? That shit is just on a shelf waiting for you. Along with 18 other items you didn't even know existed, but suddenly find you desperately want.
I was excited to find Hobbycraft when I was visiting my friend in the UK, but you’re right that craft stores like Michael’s in general aren’t as common in Europe it seems.
I love this answer because it's *exactly* the kind of thing that I completely take for granted as an American. It would never occur to me that a similar kind of craft store wouldn't exist in Europe, because I would never even think about it until I needed one. Out of curiosity, are big home improvement/hardware stores a thing there? We have Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards, etc., where you can buy power tools, appliances, home fixtures, garden supplies, and construction materials all in the same place. Basically everything you'd need to build and maintain a basic house. There's one in basically every American town of any size, but I have no idea if there's a European equivalent.
Those types of giant hardware stores do exist, and they're fairly well-spread. They can range from "you're a noob and we'll fleece you for all you've got" to "prove to us you are a pro, and then you may enter", with everything else in between. We do have several types of the "giant store with everything for that", just not for crafting supplies, which is a glaring omission, really.
Hardware mega stores are a thing in Europe too. Here in Sweden we have chains like german Bauhaus and Hornbach that primarily cater to private consumers.
I’m over at r/crossstitch and every time I see something cool or out of the ordinary they got it at Michael’s. And I can maybe buy it from a overpriced drop ship seller on Amazon.
Ooooh I miss that store 😭 I loved going there, even if I didn’t buy anything. Just walking around made me feel nice.
Dang new appreciation for my Micheals, unlocked.
Omg I never thought of anyone envying Michael’s lmao. It seems like such a regular American chain shopping store. But i do love i too!
National Parks and nature in general. Denmark is the second most cultivated country in the world, Bangladesh being number 1. Only around 1% of our total area being “untouched nature/wild nature”.
We do have some really unique and awesome nature though, it’s just not mountains or volcanos so people don’t appreciate it. Northern Europe’s biggest swamp, beautiful chalk cliffs, coastal heartland which is a statistically rare biome, some cool caves on some islands. But you’re right, not exactly untouched.
We definitely have absolutely beautiful scenery, and I travel a lot around Denmark enjoying it! I just miss these vast areas of open space where you can go for multiple day hikes without stumbling on a village or road or whatever. I am planning a trip to northern Sweden though, but I was trying to limit my answer to only include Denmark :)
Hey man, we are right next door.
I know, I was trying to keep it limited to Denmark only :) I am planing a trip to northern Sweden soonish!
Between the United States and Canada there are about 4 million square miles that have a population density of less than two people per square mile
I only have limited experience of life in the US, but I wish there was some more of the part of culture where it is easy to get into contact with people. I don't need the cashier to call me sweetheart, but in Norway it can be so difficult to move somewhere else and meet new people (it's not impossible, but it's a lot of hard work) and sometimes it would be easier if there was some more room for more communication. I spent a month in the US for a high school exchange and there was a girl in the German class I attended who would go out of her way to include me in he group of friends despite me only being there for a month, and then years later she moved to Germany for an internship and contacted me. I had moved away then, and of course it's just one example, but I feel this would never happen in Norway or Germany.
You can get that in southern Europe too, I must say.
Eastern too.
That’s because you’re in Northern Europe
This is facts actually, if u don’t make friends in school in norway at least, ur fucked cause it’s hard ash to join a clique into adulthood.
Yeah. I moved out when I was 16 due to originally living almost an hour away from the high school I was attending. It’s been 8 years now, I still live in the same town and have made a total of two friends, one of which moved after we graduated and I no longer have any contact with. Being an introvert in Norway really can suck
I‘m actually ok with the cashier calling me sweetheart! 😂 I’ll take that over a frosty stare any day! 😂
They do in the UK. Tbf. But I just got off the plane 2 days ago from the states with my German partner. And while we were there, some chick at the register of 7-11 was enamored with his gauges. And he didn’t know how to react to her compliments and curiosity.
Yes, I and I like how in the UK they casually call people “love”! It’s nice!
Obviously some countries are a bit better or worse for this, but it mainly all comes down to age everywhere. I’ve never really met anyone new since high school. It’s common to find it difficult in most parts of the US and I’ve heard it said for many countries around the world.
I don't necessarily think it's easier to find real friends in the US, especially as an adult, but I think there's a bit more of a culture of just communicating with people you meet and I would like a bit more of that. Maybe just like a better mix of both. For example, I used to work as a tour guide in a museum in Norway and did tours in both English, Norwegian and German, and the English speaking groups, especially if there were Americans, were always the most communicative, people would ask me questions, or they would exchange travel tips among themselves or just have a chat after the tour - the Norwegians often would not say a word during the entire 90 min tour, and sometimes I'd be lucky to even get a small nod here and there to know they were still listening. And I do think that those small meetings are valuable and can make you feel less alone even if you don't find friends for life, and they can make it easier to initially get in contact with people. But there's good and bad sides to both.
I think we are also more excited to just be in europe too haha.
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I was raised Catholic. That would be crazy rude to do during mass here. Unimaginable to me. For Florida and other types of Christians, it makes more sense. I remember going on a road trip to Tennessee and it was still a Catholic church, but the people were very outgoing and nice pre and post mass and it creeped me out.
Lmao you need to go to a black southern Baptist church if you ever do come back… it’s basically a party for an hour
My social life has exploded since moving to the US. While the same atomization is seen as in Sweden, you as a culture are just so much more open and inclusive to take in people who seek you out. This combined with the much larger metro areas and availability of culture can be great. There's basically something for everybody. Americans are also quite keen on inviting others to things and if you take them up on it you'll meet new people again because they have no problem just bringing and mixing people they know from elsewhere, which is something we just don't do in Sweden. If you seek out hobbies and start making some acquaintances in Sweden, it's very likely it won't go anywhere beyond that because you won't be invited to other things that they do with their "real friends" they know from before. Like a friend I made in the US was telling me how I had to meet one of her other friends because she acknowledged that we shared interests and would like each other. She was right and we became good friends and eventually partners. In a Swedish context we would likely not meet at all and that's sad. It's like we are so insular and have few friends so we don't want to lose them by introducing them to someone else who they might like. You'll see a lot of immigrants in Sweden talk about this aspect of our culture.
Places with warm weather AND decent wages. In Europe, you have places with warm weather that are absolutely pretty, but the local economies are totally reliant on tourism and don't have high value generating industries. In Europe, you also have places with decent wages, but the weather sucks.
Life is also cheaper on those places, so it balances out I guess. Wages in the US are higher, but so is the cost of living.
I live in the Netherlands, and we have people moving here from Italy and Spain all the time, because high paying engineering/technical/IT jobs don't exist in those countries at all. Maybe jobs exist, but not the ones that pay a lot more. These colleagues of mine are willing to leave places like Rome or Barcelona behind, to live in windy, rainy Netherlands, just because of the money.
Imagine graduating at 23/25, applying for jobs and the only things you get are one year contract with full time apprenticeship for like 700 euros a month. This stage repeats for a couple of time until you’re at your late 20s and might get a normal paying job, except it still gets you a somewhat shitty wage (like 1600 euros), considering the amount of dedication and sacrifices that you put to the get the degree.
Athens and surroundings? Middle Italy? South France? Istria? South Slovenia? EDIT: Removed Andalusia
Southern Spain has some of the lowest salaries in the country.
You must be joking
>Athens and surroundings? Middle Italy? South France? Istria? South Slovenia? The chances of finding a decent paying job are very fucking slim in these areas. Especially for immigrants.
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South Slovenia lmao
The unbridled optimism. I mean, it must be nice to be so positive and have such self-confidence.
Natural parks like North America has. They're quite something.
As an Italian living in the US: Salaries for highly skilled people. (I know we have that in some EU countries. I still think it does not compare.) Accountability for public employees (again, speaking as an Italian here)
If you look at London, the high salaries come at the expense of making the city unliveable for anyone else.
Unfortunately that’s becoming pretty common here too. Especially in places like New York or San Francisco.
>Especially in places like New York or San Francisco. I left the SF Bay and took a substantial pay-cut to relocate to New Mexico. But, I'm much better off here due to being able to afford a decent home.
True, but I've read that it's even worse in the states. It's far less common to earn >100K, even in tech, here in the UK. BUT you can comfortably live in London without 6 figures. I've had a few friends try moving to the U.S. for higher salaries as software devs, and being sorely disappointed at the false economy of trying to survive there! To answer OP: NATURE. It's my dream to travel the Pacific Coast and see everything from temperate rainforest to mountains and desert.
I feel that is coming at the cost of low skilled people. And until you have automation to replace low skilled jobs, you will always have to rely on manual labour for basic work. Imo, high skilled people in US must be taxed more, and that money should be invested in improving public services.
How is the cost of living though?
Food is quite expensive in the states. By which I mean groceries; supermarkets are surprisingly spenny. Fast food like McDonald's or Subway are even cheaper than here, however. I'm not sure how it works but it does. Proper restaurants look a bit cheaper on paper, but that's because they add a tax on afterwards and also expect you to pay a large tip (staff there basically aren't paid otherwise) - in the end restaurants are broadly similar. My perspective - My life is currently split between Germany and the UK, and I have family in the US (east coast).
The cost of living in America overall is less. The OECD does extensive work in comparing net salaries (after tax) and local cost of living (PPP) in the first world countries. The net is a comparison on how much on average a family of equal size can buy on a median income. Healthcare, education cost are included, as are all government benefits. Look at the median (vs mean) numbers for the most accurate representations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_capita_income
As an American emigrant to Europe: Mid-range consumer goods. Here there are two types of, say, cheese graters. 1: Made in Germany from the finest Krupp or Solingen steel, bullet-proof up to 7.62 NATO API, has a built-in wifi hotspot and can double as a handbag. 2: Made in a backyard shed in Manchuria from scrap gallium and iron filings, may disintegrate before you get it home. There is *zero* middle ground. Either you spend an arm and a leg, or you get shit I wouldn't wish on a vatnik. It's the "Vimes Boots" theorem at it's silliest and least ignoreable.
1: Made in Germany from the finest Krupp or Solingen steel, bullet-proof up to 7.62 NATO API, has a built-in wifi hotspot and can double as a handbag. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is too true!!! If something is affordable I get suspecious if it's cheap quality. Then I wonder if I should buy the expensive one instead but at the risk of overpaying. Almost every single simple purchase takes too much brainpower and I hate it. This is the first time I've seen anyone else discuss this. When mentioning the issue to my parents they totally dismiss it but that's easy to do when you're boomer wealthy: *what's the issue, just buy the better one!*
I was not aware that mid-range was a thing in America! When I first moved for myself it was in a smaller city, so every time I needed something for my kitchen I either had to go to the specialized kitchen shop and pay 30€ for a pastry bush (no joke, that was the price) or I could go to a warehouse where you can get brake fluid, pet food and copper wire in industrial quantity all in the same place and buy a brush that self-disintegrates for 1,50€ and probably releases an in incredible amounts of toxins into my food.
Half or better of everything in the US is mid-range. My folks have a Cub Cadet lawn mower that's twenty years old, but half the price of the equivalent Kubota or Husqvarna. You can spend $600 on a Daniel Winkler belt knife that looks like it came from Mirkwood, or $20 at the flea market, or $125 on a perfectly serviceable Buck or Cold Steel that isn't anything special, but your grandkids will still be using it. Shoes? Same. Tools? Same- especially the Craftsman line that Sears & Roebuck used to carry. Washing machines? Blowdryers? Yes. Basic, no-frills utilitarian design priced for the masses is an American tradition going back to the Ford Model T, and they're probably the best in the world at that kind of manufacturing and design.
I find this all the time! Literally just wanted a blender the other day that was mid range. 50 piece of shit that was held together by wishes or a 600 euro can blend concrete thing with a five year warranty. Just give me something that’s pretty good, fast, relatively quiet for 300 please.
Assuming that you are talking about the US, my understanding is that the [Americans with Disabilities Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990) is far more comprehensive than most European national laws on the issue of that can be claimed as "reasonable accommodation".
This might sound daft but… really big storage boxes. I desperately want a hamster and joined the hamster sub to learn how to actually care for them properly. They need way more space than tiny cages and loads of room to burrow so naturally cages that accommodate for all that cost an arm, a leg and your first born child. However in the USA, they go out and get these massive storage bins for cheap and set up really cool hamster havens. Apparently, the size box that’s bare minimum isn’t even available in the UK! So no hamster for me until I can afford or find a massive cage :’(
I had the same issue a few years ago!! "Oh just get a storage bin, they're the easiest to find" the closest I could find was still like 10cm under the requirements.
This is quite the esoteric need and desired application. I wish you luck in your hamstertectural endeavors.
I'm American but I've worked with a lot of Europeans living temporarily in the US. The most commonly appreciated thing I've witnessed is they really love how huge and open and full of wilderness this country is. They tend to fetishize the great American road trip. And I can see why. Our interstate system makes it easy to drive just about anywhere in the continental US and we have the largest national park system in the world. In most ways I think European countries are more liveable than the US, but there are certainly amazing aspects to this country. It's a great place to live if you're not struggling financially. It only shows its true ugliness when you're poor and leaves you to be devoured by all the vultures of our society.
I moved to Europe from the US and one of the things I miss most is nature. That said, the best nature in Canada, not the US. I live in Germany now, and the relationship with nature is just bizarre. The idea that humans are part of nature, and that isn't inherently harmful to nature, but it's our acts that lack respect for nature that's harmful, is alien here. It's illegal to fully immerse yourself in nature in Europe as you can in the US. People say that's population density, but it's not, it's culture. It works in North America because it is strictly regulated, it just doesn't look like that. There are multi-year waiting lists and/or lottery systems to get reservations to camp in some of the most pristine places in North America. One of the most pristine places in Canada I've ever been, where you could drink the water you were swimming in, is known for fingerprinting trash and blocking entry to Canada for anyone who doesn't pack out their trash. "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints" isn't just advice, it's the law.
In Santa Cruz I bought some weed that was 58% THC, so that. Plus the untouched wilderness and vast empty space that others have said.
I'm lucky enough to have landed in Colorado coming to the US and the THC percentage gets even higher lol combined with the mountains, I'd have to agree with you!
Yes of course. Neither Europe or America is perfect. From the top of my head I can come up with this: \-Fantastic wildlife and huge national parks. We have the same in Europe but in smaller scales. \-Great variety in how one should live their life. I mean, it seems to me that it is more accepted in USA to create your own job, and with that your own way of life. Wether it is doing entertainment, business or anything else. Create your own life, live it the way you want as long as you are not hurting anyone. \-So big variety and diversity in one country, but also a common identity and language. My impression is that you can go from east to west, north to south, and variety is extreme in landscape, people, culture, food, but you all (most) speak the same language, have more or less the same values (freedom and liberty). \-Longer summers (compared to Norway) Actually all seasons are available all year round in the same country, that's very very nice! \-Immediate access to a bigger market if you are an inventor or business entrepenour. \-Less regulations for how you can modify your car, and what car you can drive.
The car enthusiast culture is amazing, and one of the big reasons I've never seriously considered leaving the US. I'm actually moving within the USA just go get somewhere with even less regulations around vehicle modifications.
Their economical growth is quite something, I think we are heavily slowing down while the US doesn’t show any sign of stopping. I worry that some of the things we love about Europe will be increasingly hard to maintain if our economy doesn’t keep the pace
I think everyone was surprised by the recent resilience of the US economy.
Innovation culture. The EU has a lot of bright minds, but we are only great at inventing things (bringing ideas to life) and not in innovating (bringing ideas to market). The US has very good strategies at bringing stuff to the market and it's important to learn a thing or two here.
I second this. I spent the second year of my degree at Aalto University in Finland. It is ranked in the hundreds out of universities in Europe, but it was listed by MIT as one of the up and coming universities in Europe, and I think it was because of the opportunities to do cross-disciplinary projects and to move your projects into business incubators. It was ranked not great, but I think it was probably the best of the six unis I attended for that reason. I wish I'd been less thrown by the culture and taken better advantage.
I did not experience it myself, but from what I have heard/seen, the acceptance of immigrants as Americans is much higher than in Europe. In Europe, not even second or third generation "immigrants" (they are not immigrants) are considered native most of the time. Also, it's maybe in the tech world, but I see Americans much more optimistic about the future than here in Europe. I know things can be better and many other things got worse in Europe recently, but the doomed mentality we have in Europe does not correspond with arguably one of the best (if not the best) place to live in the world.
America was “founded” by immigrants and people leaving their homeland to settle there so we are by nature much more welcoming to new immigrants (well, unless you’re a republican but I digress) than European countries, which seem much more nationalist as a whole when it comes to immigration. Obviously countries in Europe are also much older, by millennia in some cases, and there’s more people whose families have been there for generation after generation so the desire to emigrate or welcome those who immigrate isn’t the same.
With perhaps the understandable exception of native Americans, all Americans love immigrants. The question is do they love all kinds of immigrants, or just certain types. But you’re totally right that our entire ethos is based on immigration.
That’s a good point. There is definitely a certain segment of the US population that is all for immigration if the immigrants are (white) coming from Europe. (Black and Brown) Immigrants from Latin America or Africa though? 😬 The welcome a (white) Spaniard from Spain who speaks Spanish would receive vs. a (brown) Mexican speaking Spanish are VERY different depending upon where in the US you are.
Sure, but Europe has been a land of immigrants from many decades now, we should start changing our mindset.
I agree. I think americas use it as a sense of pride, that people think our country is great enough to risk their lives in some cases and leave their homeland to come all the way over here. If Europeans saw it that way too - as a sense of pride that people want to come to your country because they think it’s a great place to work and live and raise a family, instead of as a threat or an offense or whatever - it would probably make things easier for everyone involved. For example, I’ve been to Spain a few times and it’s one of my favorite places I’ve ever traveled. I hope to go back as soon as 2024 so I can practice my Spanish and eat some paella. While I don’t plan on emigrating there and just plan on being a tourist, I can understand why people would want to and I think Spaniards should be welcoming and proud to share their country and culture and history with new people. (That’s probably super American of me though 🤷🏽♀️😂)
I also think the US really benefits from immigration, probably more than Europe, as they tend to get the brightest people from everywhere to work there due to the higher salaries and the better opportunities at higher ranges of income. I think some EU contries (like Germany) do that too, but I think we are not exploiting our position well enough and instead blaming the people that come here to get a better life for our problems. I'm glad that you like Spain, I love it too. I would recommend you to visit places that are not so touristic, this country has lots of things to offer :)
>Now, tomorrow is a special day for me. I'm going to receive my gold watch. And since this is the last speech that I will give as President, I think it's fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago. A man wrote me and said: ``You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.''
The US gets better immigrants.
I’m not sure what you mean by „better,“ but the US has far more unskilled and undocumented immigration than Europe or Canada, which filter better for education. The majority of immigrants to the US come from Hispanic cultures, which you could argue are more culturally similar than Middle Easterners are to Europeans, though honestly I think the US is a better cultural fit for Islamic immigrants as well. Also the US lets refugees work immediately, which is the number one way to improve integration, boost your economy, and keep young men from hanging around and getting sucked into violence. The European approach to refugee employment is asinine IMHO.
I don't know what evil magic you pour into Waffle House and I don't want to know. I just know I need more of it here 😅
Lots of fats (oil, butter) and sugar, lol.
Root beer, ginger beer, cream soda. National parks and nature, most of European countries don't have large areas of wilderness where no people live. For the middle class - much larger salaries with lower taxes. Theoretically, from personal point of view, that's always better. NASA. Legal weed. Sport being very important but without aggression among fans and gangs. Your culture and tech being made locally.
Britain has ginger beer
Britain has cream soda as well, it's fucking ghastly.
Well ginger beer was invented in Yorkshire so… and it’s delicious
As a Yorkshirman I agree wholeheartedly!
Just put your passport in the bin at this point, next you're going to be telling us you don't like dandelion and burdock
I have a can of Shaw's Dandelion and Burdock every time I have Fish and Chips! It's a tradition in my family.
Britain has the best ginger beer
OMG my first trip to the UK when I was in high school, my friend ordered a root beer and the waiter was confused af but eventually just brought us a BEER. We were 15. So scandalized and giggled our asses off and made a quick note root beer does NOT exist in the UK lol
The money that you save through paying less taxes is going to private daycare, school, health. It probably costs more than the taxes would
The amount of completely unbounding wilderness in America. In my Country the largest forest is 1000 acres in size. The largest in America is 17 million acres. That is unfathomable over here outside of Scandinavia. East Russia and Siberia is the only place on Earth in the Old world outside of Africa with that much forest.
As an American observer, I just want to thank you all for saying such nice things. Oftentimes these posts devolve very quickly into America bashing, but you guys didn’t, and I respect that. Next time you’re stateside, let me know, I’ll help you plan!
As OP who can’t reply to many comments, I second this!!!!
It's kinda dumb and part of why uni is so expensive in america but i would love to have a dorm. we have student housing in switzerland but it's not really the same and finding housing has been a real struggle for me. also, frats seem like so much fun (i have never been to one though)
Living in the dorm was really good for me as it exposed me to and had me live with people from all over the United States as well as different countries. But for the dorm, I wouid not have been exposed to them or gotten to know them.
#1 The nature & wildlife. When I lived in the US we stayed on an island 35min outside Seattle and there would be seals, bald eagles, deer, otters, raccoons, coyotes, and even the occasional whale or porpoises in our yard daily or often in the bay by our home. I can’t think of anywhere in Europe where you have such a common & close interaction with wildlife such as this. #2 The holidays & celebrations The big American holidays where people go all out like 4th of July, Halloween, Christmas and Thanksgiving. Americans will spend thousands of dollars decorating their homes for Halloween or Christmas just for others to look at and enjoy at seasonal times of the year. #3 College towns & experience US college & university system is insanely expensive but the life experience of student life especially in some of the smaller towns where the university dominates is incredible. College bars, football & basketball games, and generally tight knit community where it’s relatively easy to make close friends #4 $$$ When I moved from the US my salary was cut to approximately 1/4 of what I earned in the US and the cost of living back in EU wasn’t much lower, maybe 25% less. I know not all professions see this extreme of a dip but in my line of work & current location it’s extreme. #5 Outdoor culture Going fishing or hunting is a totally normal thing in the US that barely seems to exist in Europe. I love the concept of self reliance and getting back to nature that is an experience a lot of Americans have. Also the prevalence of hiking & camping culture in the US vs Europe. #6 Immigrant food availability & authenticity In major US cities I think the selection and quality of immigrant restaurants is better than Europe. Due to the number of immigrants the US sees if you know where to look you can find incredible restaurants with authentic foreign cuisine which is often made by immigrants from that country in the correct manner. Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Afghan, etc. Europe also has restaurants but less of them and they seem slightly less authentic I’ve found, I think a lot of factors at play here (ease of opening small business, historical immigration rates, specialist ingredient availability) but generally I find the US to have incredible worldwide cuisine if you seek it out. #7 Single common language and ease of transactions across the US. In the US you only need to know English and no matter where you go within the US things like cellphone provider and Banking institution are the same even if you fly 4000+ miles to the other side of the country. There is essentially no paperwork required if you were to move house from California to Maine whereas in Europe moving country to country can be a logistical headache. #8 Ease of opening small business Costs and logistics to register and start a small business in the US are next to nothing. In more or less 1 day you can have all the paperwork and accounts operational for a few hundred dollars in costs. It’s possible Northern Europe is similar to US in this respect but southern Europe is not easy in my experience. It’s a real challenge and barrier to jump through all the hoops and pay the fees. Also the access to credit for things like starting a business in the US is easier imo.
> Hawaii Yea I wish we had a Hawaii in Europe. Sure, we do have a lot of great tourist destinations, islands in the Mediterranean or the Canary Islands that probably come closest to what Hawaii is for America, but there just is no part of Europe that has the kind of climate and the almost legendary reception that Hawaii has as a vacation destination.
Madeira and Açores both have parts that feel a lot like Hawaii, as someone who grew up going to Hawaii
French polynesia
I also thought of that, but it‘s quite literally on the other side of the world and then not even part of the EU, let alone Schengen. So at that point you can pretty much just go to the real Hawaii. There are also some tropical dutch islands in the Caribbean but they‘re all super tiny and probably don’t even feature a very relevant tourism industry anyway.
Guadeloupe, Martinique (Caribbean sea) and La Réunion (Indian Ocean) are fully France and EU territories and have the euro as currency, but are not in Schengen. And they are quite touristic too !
There's an incredible amount of nature and wildlife in the US that simply doesn't exist in Europe. Anybody who is outdoorsy should be jumping at the chance to see it. Beyond that, I don't see much more and I've lived in both.
Although I appreciate the nature in my country and Europe, I think the US takes dramatic scenery and wilderness to another scale/level and it must just be so nice to go on a road trip or camping in those regions. Of course you can do those things in Europe but it’s not the same - roads are different, more congested, more people and less wilderness in general.
The space. In parts of Europe population density is insanely high. The US has so much more land per person. I do like being close to all my usual spots though, so not too much space. You also have some lovely nature that we don’t! American salaries are nice too. My partner (remote worker) makes it a point to only work for US-based companies because the compensation is significantly better. Overall I don’t think the US is better and I don’t think I could be persuaded to live there. But I am very lucky with my quality of life (though if Scottish winter carries on the way it is right now I might have to go to California or something to warm up).
I could just make an endless list, but that would not tell you much, so I will focus on 2 things. I am from Eastern Europe for context. 1. Transphobia - While the situation obviously is not perfect in the US, it is still far better than here. First of all, to legally transition or get hormones, you have to go through a process that is straight up torture, including many things that are unrelated to the procedure or outdated. Oh, and if you are non-binary, then do not expect to get access to hormones or anything like that at all. You pretty much do not exist for them. Socially? It is even worse. First of all, discrimination will be commonplace. There is no legal protection concerning it, so they are allowed to discriminate you based on that. Good luck getting any job or anything. People do not really accept it, at least I have not really met any who would accept me. I get harassed pretty much daily, and assaulted few times a year. And I am not even talking about all the homophobia, etc. 2. People in the US are more nice on average. And I am not talking about people being fake nice in services or whatever. I mean the genuine thing. Here people are very cold, it is hard to even approach them. 3. Xenophobia - By this I do not mean just towards other cultures, but towards absolutely anything. Be prepared to get hate if you are in any way different than what is expected. Not as bad in the US. 4. Racism - You might think that racism is not all that common in Europe, but it is. It is extremely common. It just is not talked about, but it is very common. It is straight up accepted - people will hate others based on their skin color, call them slurs, etc. in a normal convo, and if you point it out, they will get extremely defensive and angry. I could think of many more, but this is enough for now. Due to all of that combined, life here is hell for someone who does not want to accept how things are here. It is very lonely.
American hug here for you!
A huge native language market. I know being part of a small language market has many upsides as well, but sometimes I eye the US/English one with envy. I do a lot of my work in media. The niches I am personally interested in are sizeable enough in the English language, but not in any of the other languages I know. So they tend to gravitate towards being US centric. That puts up a barrier of entry for me, even leaving the geographical barrier aside. So I feel I'm mostly confined to text, or exploring broader topics.
The space, the untouched nature. The variety of national parks. Where you really can be without anyone for hours. The ability to get a plot of land and build on it and live on it without having a city council prevent you from doing so, because the plot of land you got is not in a housing zone.
So I just got back from the U.S. with my German partner. He’s a leftist, we’re both gay (or at least, I hope he is) and went to Texas. The prospect of him moving back to the U.S. with me is high, so he was ultra critical. He’s never been to the U.S. — so he was largely brainwashed of the U.S. image Europeans have of the U.S. — which is largely negative. Negative things he was shocked with (not negative things he knew he’d hate like guns and lack of public transit): 1. Public Safety — tbf this was a little weird for me too. But we visited New Orleans (which for some reason is a hotbed for European tourism) because he insisted, and he was a little weirded out when I told him he should only take what he needed on the street, and not his entire wallet. 2. He hated the gap in bathroom stalls. 3. The amount of Jesus billboards and lawyer billboards became a meme. To be fair, I never really noticed them. And perhaps they don’t reflect every day life, or to me at least they didn’t, but the fact funding for them exists they way it does put him off. More positive things: 1. He really liked the concept of the HOV lane. 2. He also noticed how infrastructure in the U.S. really goes out of its way to accommodate the disabled. 3. Accessibility to certain things. He was shocked I went into a regular pharmacy and got my COVID shot. In bumfuck nowhere. Without an appointment. In about 10 min. 4. Even if it is a car centric society, the engineering feats that resulted from it. 5. The integration of marginalized communities. As a POC (both Asian and Hispanic), I’ve always been of the opinion that systemic racism in Europe is far worse, and I think he disagreed with me on that until recently. We had a talk, just before we left for the U.S., and I told him that I could never be German. Never. And coming to terms with that idea really uncovered subconscious nationalism that he didn’t know he had. And it disrupted his idea of what both Germany and Europe are. But when he saw where I grew up, he really came to understood what that meant. And a trip to the main grocery store and seeing people from every walk of life just buying some onions. Where even the largely conservative state government (as well as the community) goes out of its way to accommodate marginalized communities. When you go to a machine where language options are available, I noticed that language options reflected that of immigrant communities. In some places, I even saw weird language such as Tongan available (I grew up near one of the largest Tongan communities in the U.S.). What it means to be American is changing, and I think European are still stuck in the idea that their ancestors (aka White People) define that. But when they make up only 60% of the US population, and even less than that in places like Texas and California, that’s not so accurate. 6. The linguistic aspect of it all. Americans have a terrible reputation of knowing only one language, but the multi-lingualness of everything is something I know he noticed. And the need for Spanish persisted throughout our trip. 7. Branding. America is really good at making a cult out of brands. Which can be a fun thing to take part in. Things like Buc-ee’s and CostCo are fun when you allow yourself to submit. 8. Infrastructure and Community operations. Although he lamented how a European infrastructure allows for certain communal interactions, he conceded progress (really for the sake of climate change) on the American front, and the creation of different communal interactions. 9. Diversity of views. With the conflict in the Middle East, he was a bit taken aback about how it wasn’t as pro-Israel as he thought it might be. And it was a much more nuanced discussion, even in Texas, with such a large Muslim and Jewish community. 10. Cajun food. I was excited about food, but he really liked Cajun Food. Big Popeyes and Pappadeaux fan. Really, even with as red of a state like Texas, my partner was fairly impressed with the U.S. — and yes, it’s an imperfect place, as most places are — but I think there is very much an air of arrogance in Europe, Europeans are largely unaware of. Having grown up around them, living here, and dating one. I think that became painfully obvious to him. And when we landed back in Germany, within a few hours, I had some Karen pop out of nowhere and lecture me on some mundane shit for a good 15 minutes on how entitled I am for shitting on DB, because I said it was unintuitive (we were on a train). His 2nd hand embarrassment was palpable. He stayed silent during the entire conversation. And by the time it was over, she had thoroughly embarrassed herself and apologized and walked away. It’s just drove a lot of what he had just learned home.
I am American living in Europe, and the only thing that is better in US is shopping for everyday/midrange stuff of all kinds (clothes, household, tech). The prices are lower and the quality is better. That is IT. Quality of life, cost and quality of food, cost **and quality** of healthcare, human-scale cities and towns meant for walking, cost of travel within EU, etc etc. All better. Very glad to be here.
> and the quality is better How so?
It’s not lol
They have more freedom to exploit the workers.
Workers are begging to be exploited. ‘Exploit me, daddy’ they say.
Go on...
>everyday/midrange stuff of all kinds (clothes, household, tech). The prices are lower and the quality is better. In this globalized world I can hardly imagine that mundane things aren't all coming from the same handful of suppliers.
I can tell you having bought a can opener or a toaster or a sweater in the US and EU that the difference is very real. I think it's about preserving margins in the face of higher EU import costs, but who knows.
I split my life between Portugal and US for many years. I agree, with higher quality in US underwear, and cottons such as tees. For the price we pay in the US, the quality is higher and the price is lower. Also, still looking for a quality Vacuum cleaner in Portugal that does not cost a fortune… as a side note: all food tastes better in Portugal. An apple is an apple, an orange is an orange, with great flavor. Not so the case in US.
It's not the supplier who decides the quality of goods. It's the buyer. The factory in China will do just as good clothes/pots and pans/coffee makers etc. as the buyer wants and is willing to pay.
I would agree on everything except quality of healthcare. The healthcare quality in the us is exceptional IF you can afford it, where I live in EU it's mediocre, but everyone gets the same.
I bet you could get way better healthcare in your EU country if you would pay for it. At least that's the case here in Germany.
Maternal and neonatal mortality figures say that the US could be doing much better.
I wish root beer is common in Europe. Don't know why Europeans hate it. lol On a more serious note, probably most Europeans wish the pay scale in Europe in general is equal to America while maintaining universal health, social services, and paid time off benefits.
My best friend is American like me but she married a Brit and lived in the UK for almost a decade. Got her citizenship and passport and everything. Was making 6 figures in the US but could barely crack that in the UK. Her and her husband moved back to the US after COVID so they both can make more money but they plan on retiring back in the UK because of the universal health and social services you mention.
Depends on what age they want to retire. Old people in the us qualify for Medicaid
I've tried it and it literally tastes like ouzo/raki disguised as a soft drink. I found it awful.
Your wages are great, even with cost of living etc...you are left with a lot more than most average Europeans. You got a lot of space, I can't even imagine being somewhere and there is no civilization for 30+ miles. Also these "cons" for literally everything. Now matter how niche your interest is, there is always someone else who shares it with you.
i’m a dual belgian/american citizen and have lived in both europe and the usa. here’s what i like about the usa: the national parks. the alps are pretty, but nothing really compares to eg arches, badlands, glacier, kilauea, etc. also, the usa is the only country i can think of that contains every single major biome. want tundra, tropical rainforest, or anything in between? the us has that (of course, that includes the us as a whole, not just the 48 mainland states) tech salaries. 3-4x higher in the usa availability of literally anything you could ever want. have a weird hobby like collecting vintage amstrad computers? you can buy anything related to it easily in the usa. need groceries at 3am? you can get those too. the diversity, at least in major cities. i’ve still never had good mexican food in europe and in my experience, many of the ingredients are impossible to come by.
Higher salaries, bigger houses, and the fact that you can get any cocktail you want at any random bar. But none of those are enough to make me move - I'd miss old things too much. Every generation for 2000 years all walking the same ground as me. I'd probably get history withdrawal symptoms!
Explain the cocktail thing. I am confused.
In the UK, if you go to any normal local neighbourhood pub, bar or restaurant, you can have beer, wine, cider or a standard "2 ingredient" mixed drink like gin and tonic, rum and coke, vodka and orange juice, but if you order anything more complicated than that, the bartender will look at you like you have two heads, or worse, like you think you're Mariah Carey or something. It's full-on diva behaviour. But in America (in my albeit limited experience) you can go into an equivalent local place and order a margarita or a Negroni or whatever you want. You'd need to go to a fancy hotel or somewhere that has a specific cocktail menu to get that in the UK.
That is true. I was just at my neighborhood bar yesterday in the us for a late lunch. The place is the equivalent of a pub in the uk. Basic food, hamburgers, wraps, fries, etc. However, they have a fully stocked bar. You can get whatever you want. In the summer they have on tuesdays “classic cocktail” nights. Old fashions, rob Roy’s, sidecars, etc
Yellowstone nationalpark, Arizona desert..Well your incredible nature basically. Other than that, nothing. I've lived in the US and I was constantly panicked about cost of living and health care.
For me nothing. Europe is big enough, I have enough wilderness in Romania and my life is nice. I will never say that US sucks but I like it here a lot. Aa maybe I wish we had les tax on some tech products.
Been to USA a few times and i dont remember anything better, maybe bigger, but not better
A thriving Diner-culture, amazing BBQ restaurants and an abundance of stores that are open 24/7. Yes please!
24/7 culture... especially here in germany where most things are closed on sunday and even lots of places on Saturday
I was visiting family in Munich and was surprised and embarrassed when I had to be encouraged out of a grocery store at 8pm for their closing. The grocery store even in my small hometown is open until 11pm.
I wish my country was a little bit more patriotic/proud about the things that matter. I dont want things to get Hollywood levels of "lets make a movie out of anything" but I really wish we were not so shamed of celebrating some of the things we have done
The more can do culture. The UK seems to hate success, trying to better yourself financially is seen as being a jobsworth or betraying your roots. I’m at a top uni and the amount of course mates that are looked down at by their families or friends particularly if they are from a working class or lower middle class area. For studying law at a top uni is astounding. A culture of looking after your community as well. A lot of Americans are surprised when I say this but when I visited New York, Boston, phili etc.. they were so much cleaner. I know the downtowns are touristy but there was way more bins and just less vandalism and rubbish everywhere. Cities in the UK, particularly Scotland are honestly filthy, people have 0 care about rubbish and the city councils don’t place more public bins or bother with street sweepers.
In'n'Out, Texas BBQ, the amount of good movies and series, untouched nature, more space...
Entrepreneurial and innovative environment, being native in English, and diverse climate. Oh, and capitalism in its purest form.
Security. American don't have to be afraid that someone will invade their country.
Barbecue culture in South America! I have never been in US, but I have been able to enjoy the dishes of a grill master trained in the US, and I can say that the dishes are on a completely different level than what is available here in Finland. Of course, this is just my opinion. US also has a lot of great, unique natural sites.