A huge part of travel means expanding your horizons and looking at how other nations and cultures live. Wherever you go, you’ll see lots of upsides—as well as a ton of downsides. It gives you perspective. Ultimately, what you like about life abroad will depend on your personal priorities, whether that’s good food, affordable healthcare, rapid travel, or something else.
The American members of the r/AskReddit community recently opened up about the everyday things that people living in European countries have that they consider to be luxuries. Scroll down to read their personal opinions.
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Some of the main things that tend to come up whenever someone compares and contrasts life in the United States and life in the European Union include the healthcare system, as well as paid time off. These are extremely important factors to consider before you plan to settle down somewhere.
The US is the only economically advanced country on Earth that does not have statutory paid leave, while the global average, according to Business Insider, stands at 18.2 days. Meanwhile, around half of Americans simply aren’t taking time off, which can lead to additional stress and burnout.
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CNBC reports that the average American employee gets 11 vacation days each year. Meanwhile, people living and working in the European Union get at least 20 paid days off each year, mandated by law. That’s before public holidays are accounted for.
A recent Morning Consult survey shows that many Americans aren’t certain that they’d actually like longer vacations. However, what they do want are longer lunch breaks and shorter workweeks.
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Where healthcare is concerned, the United States has a very bureaucratically overloaded and wasteful system. It needs to be overhauled to make it more effective. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation reveals that the US spends more on healthcare per person than any other wealthy country in the world.
This number stood around $12,555 per American in 2022. That’s nearly twice as much as the average in developed nations ($6,414 per person). The issue is that even though the US spends so much money, the utilization rate isn’t much different from elsewhere. It means that you get less for each dollar than you would abroad.
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Hospitals in the United Sates are consolidated, meaning there’s less competition. There’s also massive administrative waste due and inefficiency. The US spends roughly $900 per person per year on administrative costs alone. That’s four times the average admin cost in other developed nations.
Overall, despite these costs, the American healthcare system does not perform better than in other developed nations. In fact, it performs worse in areas like life expectancy and unmanaged diabetes.
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Healthcare that doesn’t bankrupt you upon using it.I'm an American living in Europe, so..
Affordable healthcare
28 days paid vacation
Sick leave
Affordable quality public transportation
Higher food/water/environmental standards
Seriously, I can never go back. Americans should be raging in the streets all the time.Being able to walk. To the shops, gym, school. Just f*****g walking anywhere without needing a car.Not having to worry so much about getting shot at work or at school, or anywhere for that matter.Less sugar in products.Appropriate drinking age (this whole have to be 21yo is f*****g stupid. Can die for the country and drive a killing machine, can own a killing machine, but can't handle a drink? Stupid).Fewer additives in their food. There’s a reason I lost 19 pounds when I studied abroad in London. The only way I was able to lose weight in America was through weight loss surgery!Food not filled with crazy chemicals. A lot of additives allowed in the US are banned in other countriesThe bread. Coming back from Germany recently and all the bread back home in the US feels like I'm chewing on a kitchen sponge instead of giving my jaw a workout.Reasonable gun laws.Rad architecture, lots of great food, exposure to a bunch of different cultures and languages without having to take a long flight.Good cheeses.As a European that was what I missed the most, when I spent a few months in the US.More time off. When my wife gave birth to our child, she had to use all her vacation and sick pay as "maternity leave". This was a government job.The ability to fly out to major world cultural and historical sites for just a weekend and have it cost relatively little. I did a study abroad program in London, and the ability for me to book a weekend trip to Berlin on RyanAir for like 40 pounds never got old.Pretty sure some European countries have free university and that sounds nice, I wouldn't mind going back and learning more skills but it's crazy expensive here.Chocolate. I lived in Finland for a bit at 18 and their basic Fazer chocolate made our Hersheys taste like wax. They had no idea how much better it was.I'd like to add: no high fructose corn syrup in pretty much every product must be nice.Job security. In the EU, there are certain rules employers must comply with for terminations, including advance notice. There is also a works council process in some cases that employers must comply with before layoffs can take place.
In the US, they can pretty much terminate you same day in many cases.European here but Americans won't come up with it, so I'll help.
*the Erasmus program*
It isn't reserved only for Europeans (I met a Mexican girl and a Korean girl and plenty of Turks who are and are not European depending on who you ask) but generally it's mostly European centric program and a major privilege IMO.
For student exchange - you can broaden your studies and move to another uni to have an entirely different skill set than anyone in your coutnry. The system of international events is so well developed that you'll do things you've never dreamed of. Social aspect is also important. It's fun of course, but you also build an amazing network without having to be rich. You find a short event in Paris two years after exchange? No problem, your friend Pierre will lend you his couch. You get a monetary scholarship so you aren't really that worried about money you'll need to move. It's really amazing.
There's also Erasmus internship which helps with the problem of unpaid internships. As long as you're a student, you can take part in an internship and Eramshs will give money to you and your employer. They now have a reason to actually teach you and you actually get paid for your full time job.
Erasmus also does plenty of other shorter projects for younger and older people so it's not only reserved to uni students. The accommodation and food is usually paid and you do amazing things.Mandated employer supported vacations.Access to ubiquitous and fast rail travel.Bike-able cities. When I lived in Munich it was a paradise for biking. I could take my bike almost anywhere in the city and region without much concern and I loved doing it. Not every city in Europe is like that obviously, and Munich is probably one of the best, but almost every major city I visited in Europe had a lot of people on bikes, and good infrastructure for it. Also intercity rail and bus travel. The US has both of course but just not in the same league.Cubicle toilets. Public bathroom door gaps are uncomfortably wide.I was gonna say those fresh squeezed orange juice machines in all the grocery stores, but I just read all the comments about healthcare and vacations and remembered I live in a delusional hell.Affordable and effective public transit.
I love visiting Europe. I can pop on a street car, bus, or underground and get to where I need to go. No dealing with traffic, no money for gas, no worry about being late. Europe public transit is very time efficient.
Not just speaking of city public transit either. For the price of a tank of gas or two in America I can pop on a train and go through 3 countries.
Not to mention Japan’s public transit with the Shinkansen. Couple hours and you’re hundreds of miles away. It’s wonderful and very easy to do.Historical sites.Better work/life balance.Fruits and vegetables that taste good.Excellent coffee and pastries in close physical proximity.Easier to eat healthy. It’s so hard and expensive to eat clean.Those nifty towel heater / dryer racks.Long as hell lunch breaks.
I once worked in the US office of a French company. Folks in France would see movies on their lunch break. Some would play full tennis games, shower afterwards, then return to work. Some would go home and take a nap.
My lunch breaks: I consider myself lucky if I can squeeze in a quick walk, quickly jam some food down my throat, and maybe take a leak and then get back to work before folks start looking for me.*Where to begin*...
You can summarize it as "an actual first world existence."
Such things as: universal health care, strong social institutions such as labor and leisure and retirement and parent leave, all underwritten in a way that prevents runaway inequity and a two-class society; walkable/bikable and more sustainable cities which have robust public transportation within and between them, meaningful guarantees around privacy and online surveillance...
...all married to democracy.
The US has some things going for it of course but if you could pick only one, ...Quality flour. I buy French and Italian flour and have it shipped to bake with because the stuff in America gives me eczema and joint pain (but I am not Celiac). Whatever the difference is, it’s legit.Economical diesel cars that go like a scalded dog. I drove a couple while in Europe and wished I could have brought them home. Power and economy.I had to pay $3,000 after insurance to deliver my baby. Delivering for free or low cost seems like a luxury.I am not American, but France have the best newborn / new post-pregnancy help in the world. Actual physical help; not referrals and information leaflets. Someone even does your grocery shopping for a wee bit when you have a baby to help you with time management.Cost of Living. I live in a high cost of living area in the USA and the countries I have visited in Europe (Scotland, Ireland, Spain, France, and Italy) felt so cheap and made me feel like a kid in a candy store. This may not apply to some of the Nordic countries that I haven’t visited.Real butter.Better coffee.Bidets
I used them in Italy and I really wish we had them here in America.Cheap air travel…i feel like europeans would understand why we dont travel outside the country more when $700 dollars one way is considered a cheap international flight.Public baths/saunas for the community that aren't crazy expensive.The music festivals, Wacken, Download, etc.
