I feel the same after moving from the US to the UK in 2018. My family does not understand why I won't move back. But since I moved away, I've been healthier; I used to be pre-diabetic but not had low blood sugar since shortly after moving. I also broke BOTH my ankles this year (bouldering) and had to stay in hospital and get surgery, which is the first time I've even used the NHS to that extent or stayed in a hospital at all. I'm so grateful that I didn't have to go into $20k of debt. Also, I got diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago and access affordable prescriptions. Not everything is perfect here but daily life's just a bit easier.

I've watched a lot of videos about the differences between the US and Europe but they're never as blunt and direct as you are in this video. It's genuinely refreshing to see. Also, as someone who lived in London until 2012, it's amazing to hear someone praising the bicycle infrastructure. That wasn't a thing when I lived there! But it's proof that cities can change for the better — and relatively quickly — if the political will exists to make it happen.

In Poland, people often joke that the US is the richest Third World country :D

I'm Welsh and worked in Washington DC for a couple of months back in 2019. My colleagues in the office could not understand that I was happy to walk the 1km back from Navy Yard to my hotel in the capitol. They were constantly offering me a lift (which was very nice) and were baffled that I enjoyed walking home at the end of the work day.

I had a uni lecturer (Irish) who spent years working in the US. One day, her 5 year old came home and told her he had a drill at school. She assumed fire, and he explained no shooter (or whatever the correct term is). They moved home to Ireland a few months later. The idea of our children being in danger at school is absolutely outrageous, abhorrent, inconceivable.

I've been watching you for years but have never commented here or on any other YouTube video, but this video is exactly the answer when people in the UK and America ask why I left the good ole USA for England. Thank you, Evan! Yes, exactly this!

Thankyou. As a Brit it's easy to forget that for all our problems, we have a lot to be thankful for. I'm glad to be European and British/English.

I had the same issue with moving to Australia. I was born in Australia, but grew up in America until I was 24. I couldn't afford university in America. I wanted to go to med school, but because I had Australian citizenship, I came here for university. I did accounting and the got into med school. I got a living stipend, school paid for, worth a government loan, very cheap. After I finished, i decided to stay and work in Australia. It's been the best decision I've ever made.

American here who moved to England 8 years ago. Now have dual citizenship. Will not go back.

The reason we obsess over money instead of quality of life in the US is that, since there's no social safety net at all anywhere in the US, you need to gather up a pile of savings that will serve as your personal safety net.

We moved from Colorado to Italy last February. It has been very different sometimes difficult but sometimes amazing. Now that we are getting settled down where our child is going to school everything is falling into place. Our home is beginning to feel like home. We love walking around, I'm getting into shape, next week we are taking our first fun trip to London, then we have a trip planned for Venice and we are exploring our new home city. Like everything it takes time but we are excited and love our new family first future.

My bf did a year abroad at Texas A&M and was almost arrested bc he tried to walk back to his apartment after grocery shopping. Apparently that‘s „suspicious“ and he was told just to get an uber. Why? He was healthy and his legs functioning and it was just a 1.5 km (roughly a mile) walk. 😂

Sat down and watched this with my kids the morning and they loved it. So many things they’d taken for granted. They grown up watching Friends and other US shows and definitely have a rose-tinted view of what America is like. Thanks for the frankness and candour.

Lived in the US for my entire life, mostly in the suburbs. I've never been outside of the country. I visited NYC for the first time in March. I didn't expect that my main takeaway wouldn't be the city, wouldn't be the statue of liberty or even the M&M store.. It was the public transit system. Sure, people drive and sit in traffic, but it was nice having the option not to drive-- No sitting in traffic, no road rage, no having to look out for clueless drivers, or even having to pay for gas. Plus, we got to the next borough in 15 minutes or less. Riding the train everywhere was SO freeing, for the body and mind. You see real faces, not cars. It was nice.

Last year, I visited Europe for the first time, staying in Germany, Italy and Poland. While every country had its own unique pros and cons, and it was an amazing time in each, Germany hooked me so much harder than the others. It hooked me, but not in a way I would’ve expected. It was the feeling of being “home”, something I’ve never felt in my life, and had no idea the void that it had created in me. Germany felt like I had finally arrived home after a very long trip. I’ve been unable to explain it because I’ve never felt anything like that before, but it was as if every fiber of my being was saying “this is finally it, this is where you were always meant to be”, and I haven’t been able to shake it since. I have now been studying German for the last year, I’ve tried my hand at other languages before, but always fizzled out when I didn’t have a long term goal to use it for. I never considered learning German before, wasn’t even in my top 10, but now it’s autopilot. I don’t think about needing to practice every day, I just do it, because I know every lesson gets me closer to my new goal. Anyways, sorry this was so long, but I felt the need to share it. I had always heard how different Europe was, but knowing something logically, and experiencing that same thing, are totally different. And seeing/experiencing what life could be truly rocked my world.

Excellent video. American immigrant living in the UK (ironically also a NJ native 😊) I always say how hard it is for people who never lived there to understand how different it really is. The US is so far behind Europe in a plethora of ways! Been watching you since before we left and really appreciate your work!

Moved from Virginia to Spain 2 years ago. Never going back. I feel so much better and the quality of my life has improved tenfold. Wish everyone could have the same opportunity.

My bff and I went to London for our 40th birthdays a couple years ago. During some exploration, we accidentally wandered into a schoolyard. Just wandered in. By accident. And we just wandered out again, no one shooing us away. I just started to cry. I work at an American school, locked, gated, and fenced. I carry a school-issued panic button around my neck. Not so much land of the free as land of the afraid.

Loved this video! Went to London earlier this year and other cities in Europe. Really showed me how much better life can be with walkable communities & higher quality of life as someone who’s lived my whole life in Canada.

I lived in the UK for three years during my time in the US Air Force. It RADICALLY changed my opinion of life in other countries. Then I got a job as a field tech for a communications company and have traveled the world with them. Yeah... If I could get a stable job in Europe, I'd never look back. If for no other reason than my kids' safety in school.