is it poorer? richer? better? worse? Is European internet cheaper? are EU food prices outrageous? Is European healthcare better? Is Europe safer?
I had a friend who explored every single country in Europe for several years. He very much liked the EU. He never did come back to the United States except when he had to renew his work visa. He liked Prague the best when he was younger, but ended up staying in Israel for a long time when he got older.
He didn’t really have any complaints about any of the countries in the EU. He said food is much cheaper in Eastern Europe, and you can live there pretty comfortably on the cheap.
Healthcare is not better than healthcare in the States if you have money, but if you don’t, then it’s a lot better. He was injured during some Spanish riots and walked into a hospital and got care despite being a foreigner, and it didn’t bury him in debt, so that’s pretty neat.
My friend was a bit of a rebel and a daredevil, so he was in a lot of areas that were definitely less safe than where we lived in the United States. He was jumped a few times, robbed a few times, and got into a few fights. But this is true of just about any first world nation, if you want to be safe, stick to areas known for safety.
Definitely go spend some time anywhere in Europe if you have the opportunity!
Europeans seem to be happier, healthier, and to have a generally better standard of living than Americans. Small towns in Europe have much more personality than US suburbs, which largely consist of strip mall after strip mall. Food in Europe is focused on quality, whereas in the US the focus is on quantity.
Food in Europe is focused on quality, whereas in the US the focus is on quantity.
Not so much in Netherlands, at least. The portions are huge, and as a Dutch person I like to cook more because I cook better than most “restaurant” “cooks” here.
Gotta find a good restaurant, the cheap, quick or busy places usually aren’t the ones with the best food
Yeah, it’s either not worth the time or €50+ per person (inc. drinks). I really like going out to eat when I’m visiting other countries.
I agree. I currently live near den Haag and the food leaves something to be desired. Kind of a surprise that a country so close to France - a culinary pinnacle - hasn’t picked up a thing or two.
The public spaces seem better maintained than in the USA. Mass transit is also better in general to equivalent American cities. A lot of it feels driven by a relative lack of homelessness in tourist areas combined with continued post war investment in urban areas.
Food seems more expensive in general, but it depends on the country/region.
I’ve never had to deal with EU healthcare besides Covid testing. Turkey is really great for medical tourism.
Europe felt safe in general, but then I feel safe in where I travel in the USA.
Better - I don’t give a shit about richer/poorer because the quality of life is clearly higher and that’s the only reason to care about wealth.
Food prices are extremely reasonable and often below American prices.
European cities are also safer not because there isn’t crime but because the design creates a lot more continuous safe spaces where there are plenty of witnesses and other folks.
Lastly, European Healthcare is much better in terms of cost and quality but if you need something that you can’t get done or done in a timely fashion it’s harder to afford health care tourism.
Afaik if you actually need something you will get it fairly quickly.
That’s why the healthcare system can be slow. We use triage heavily.
Worse, often felt dangerous. One of my friends got pickpocketed, police did nothing. Made the entire trip hard to enjoy when you knew that someone was looking for an opening to steal your phone or wallet.
If it wasn’t for that, I’d probably had liked it, but I just felt like a target.
In the end, big waste of money. 1/10 would not do again.
Where did you go?
Where else but Rome? I thought it was going to be really cool to check out the history, and it was cool, but the pickpockets and the police encouraging the pickpockets and acting like we deserved to be pickpockets ruined it. Plus it cost a lot of money just to get a wallet and passport stolen
Where else but Rome?
I’m sorry but you cannot be serious. Europe is a huge and varied continent and we’re just supposed to assume Rome is top of the list?
No, that’s not what I meant. Tone is lost through text, sorry
I was expecting Paris or London first
Each European city is in its own way unforgettable. It would be difficult to — Rome! By all means, Rome.
Where else but Rome?
You went to a large tourist trap and then complain being picked? BTW, that could as easily happen in any US tourist traps.
No, it really wouldn’t. Pick pocketing isn’t really a thing in America.
As someone from Rome, I feel you. Pickpocketing is somewhat an issue. In more than 20 years living in the city (before I moved) I never suffered from it, but it’s very common among tourists (especially in the underground and certain bus lines). It sucks and often police does nothing because by the time they catch the people (if they do), everything is gone anyway.
That said, beside pickpocketing Rome is very safe (or at least most of the places where a tourist would go, except maybe the surroundings of Termini station).
I didn’t feel particularly safer in Europe… About the same… Watch your wallet, don’t go down dark alleys alone, etc.
Some things definitely felt more grandiose, but on average things felt like they could be in an American city if not for their vintage.
Public transportation was definitely the biggest difference I observed, trains in Germany were an all but fantastic experience.
I was surprised how heavy German food was and how much smoking folks in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria do. It seemed elevated compared to the average US city.
I’m from California, been on various trips around Spain, and France, with under a week spent in both Italy and Switzerland.
I love everywhere I’ve been. I’d be happy to live somewhere in western Europe.
I don’t know if European healthcare is better, but it’s far more civilized in its availability. I haven’t seen much difference between EU and USA for equivalent-quality grocery prices, with the exception of Zurich. I’ve found Europe to be generally safe. There seems to be more “sneaky” crime, whereas the States has more confrontational crime.
Freeway etiquette is far better in France and Spain than California. Trains, of course, are better too.
One major difference is labor laws. The EU has far more protection, but far less mobility. I remember telling a German friend that I had gotten a new job operating a fairly large power system, after working in a tangentially related field, without any additional study or licenses, and his response was “Only in America!” I hadn’t even considered that this move would be far more difficult in other countries.
One major difference is labor laws. The EU has far more protection, but far less mobility. I remember telling a German friend that I had gotten a new job operating a fairly large power system, after working in a tangentially related field, without any additional study or licenses, and his response was “Only in America!” I hadn’t even considered that this move would be far more difficult in other countries.
Also very German to rely a lot of degrees and certifications. Other countries like the UK (European still even after Brexit) would care more about experience than degrees.
Certainly. Germany is an extreme example.
Your last paragraph is a good one. I fell in love with Sweden when I was there. Then I talked to some teenagers and they said they really wanted to live in America. It caught me off guard. I didn’t understand why they would want to leave a place that seemed so safe, secure, and comfortable. They said they wanted more flexibility and opportunity. Sure, they could get a stable living-wage job and keep it for their whole career, but in America they thought they would have more chances to try new things and reinvent themselves.
Whether our perceptions of each other’s countries are correct or not, for all of us the grass certainly looked greener on the other side of the fence.
Depends where you go.
Western Europe is pretty safe tourism wise.
Further south you go cheaper things are.
internet, food, and healthcare is also per country.Western Europe is pretty safe tourism wise.
Also, if you avoid tourist hotspots. Amsterdam and Paris are much less safe for tourists, namely thanks to pickpockets, than a random village or nature area is.
Poorer? No. Richer? Also no. Cheaper? Some things, like housing and wine. Other things, same or more expensive (such as electronics) Healthcare was at least as good but easier to get into.
I was constantly surprised just how normal/at home I felt. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Went to Iceland a few years ago and the biggest thing I noticed was how clean everything was. In the US, at least where I am, trash is literally part of the street. Little black “gum” streaks, random paper flying about…
I don’t remember ever seeing any litter of any kind anywhere we went on the island.
I do remember seeing a random piece of raw meat on a meadow but that was it and I’m not sure I’d call that litter.
If you’re from the west coast of the US that seems to be a more West Coast thing. I recently went to Chicago and was amazed at how clean it was. The Lyft driver told me it was the cleanest city in the country (and possibly the world since he grew up outside of the states) but I wasn’t prepared for it. I walked everywhere in the city and there just wasn’t a single piece of trash anywhere. We actively looked too.
This is impossible to answer. In one small city (pop c. quarter million) accommodation ranges from about 65k to a couple of million. Ostentatious opulence walks past homeless beggars. Some places have a choice of fibre optic networks whilst others are still using copper wire. (I pay approximately $13 a month for 100gb untethered 5g access, reasonably unlimited fixed access is probably c.$40 p.m.) There’s a choice of food at all qualities and prices. A choice of free public hospitals as well as a private fee-paying one too. There are areas where you can leave your bag on the table as you go to the bar and there are places that not even locals willingly choose to go. A massively mixed bag. The only major difference between Europe and the US (in cities) is that we can walk across ours, in any direction, crossing roads wherever and whenever we want to.
As an American who has been to the EU I can say with certainty that each one of those factors changes within an hour drive from my home. Making them a US v EU debate on an individual scale is meaningless. There’s nice parts and bad parts of both.
Comm’on bringing reasonable and moderate argument on an internet discussion :) You’re supposed to bring strong troll-like arguments about one of them being a worst place than best Korea either because you couldn’t bring your god given car in the pedestrian centre of a European city, or that you fell threatened by the idea of everyone being a gun carrying psycho, even that a guy from the US office of your company brought you to a shooting range
On top of that we’re asking a random assortment of Americans to compare where they live with the places they visit on vacation. Watch your wallet in Europe, people are saying. Duh, yeah, when you are a tourist in a tourist area. That’s universal, folks.
I love Europe. It’s my favourite country. I’m currently learning European so I can speak to Europeans more and enjoy European culture and European food. I love the policies enacted by the European government and I think Europe has a good head of state. I hope to be a European citizen someday and get a European passport. Then I’ll start to learn African and see if the African government will give me a visa to visit Africa
By the same token, people shouldn’t over-generalize about the US either. It’s a big place with massive differences from place to place.
I love Europe. It’s my favourite country.
Is your one in the southern or northern parts of England?
I like the European parts of Europe
Poorer? Some countries. Richer? Some countries. Better? What do you define as better? Worse? Idem. Is European internet cheaper? In some countries. Are EU food prices outrageous? In some countries. Is European healthcare better? Usually, from what I’ve heard. Is Europe safer? In some cities.
Not really a tourist but…
Netherlands, Ireland, and denmark on par for restaurants and bar pricing. Good sourcing is ubiquitously higher quality. Norway expensive restaurants and bars. In general US has better small/micro-breweries.
In EU, women don’t seem as wary of being alone in public or in the presence of masc presenting people. People seem to care less how others present themselves(they’re not offended by eccentric styles). I feel safer in general. America has a bunch of creeps who care that your shirt is pink or your hair is too long for a good Christian.
Healthcare exists. That’s $3k-$10k+ you don’t have to worry about every year.
Public transit exists. Like good public transit. The best systems in the US are garbage in comparison with the exception maybe of NYC. Though US public transit tends to be cheaper.
Can’t speak for Mediterranean or eastern Europe.
Norway … Brewery
What about distillery?
Are you one of those guys that would insist on ham and eggs brekkie even in Israel?
