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Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe?

181 points feraligators | 9 comments | 25 Jan 22 15:44 UTC | HN request time: 1.688s | source | bottom

I've long considered leaving this country for a multitude of reasons.

I'd be curious to hear some first hand experiences of those who've made the move to Europe and what you think of the process and considerations one should make.

A few questions to start the conversation:

- Where do you live?

- What's the biggest sacrifice you had to make (i.e. pay, housing, friends, etc.)

- What have you gained?

Show context
boffinAudio ◴[25 Jan 22 15:54 UTC] No.30073204[source]▶
I've done it, and it was one of the best decisions of my life.

WHERE: I'm Australian, moved to LA when I was 18 and lived there for 15 years. Then, I moved from Los Angeles to Germany (Duesseldorf), and then to Vienna, Austria.

WHAT SACRIFICE: No more In 'n Out Burger, no more decent Mexican/TexMex food, no more LA food trucks. These are literally the only things I miss about the USA. Literally every other aspect of life has improved massively by leaving the USA - healthcare, food, social life. For the first 4 years I walked to work, ffs. Now I ride a bicycle in combination with the best public transportation options in the world (Austria, Vienna).

GAINED: I've completely lost the brain-dead nationalist mentality that had infected me in my earlier life, I've gained Immense amounts of respect for humanity, I've learned German, I've experienced professional software and hardware development away from Silicon Valley standard practices, and I get to see the USA from outside the decadent, rose-colored bubble from which it is usually experienced. I honestly wish I'd left sooner - every time I go back I'm reminded just how much of a shithole the USA really is ..

Plus, living and loving in Europe is just great. There is no greater joy than a trip through the Balkans for a week adventure, or maybe a jaunt to Spain or southern France. Just being able to travel an hour in any direction and being immersed in absolutely foreign culture is a joy like no other. Definitely a great way to ground oneself.

EDIT: The weather was pretty good in LA. But, still: Americans.

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teakettle42 ◴[25 Jan 22 16:25 UTC] No.30073734[source]▶
Vienna is one of the nicest and wealthiest cities in Europe.

LA is a car-centric sprawling cesspool. Even for the US, it’s uniquely terrible.

If you’d moved to some of the less desirable locations in Europe, you’d probably find them to be a shithole, too.

Your lack of perspective (“how much of a shithole the USA really is”) is something I’d only expect from someone half your age on their first backpacking tour of Europe.

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boffinAudio ◴[25 Jan 22 16:31 UTC] No.30073829[source]▶
The Ruhrgebiet is a shithole. But then again, so is Florida. As is North Dakota and most of Utah. Arizona is pretty nice, but I probably think that only because of my Australian skin.

The USA is a huge shithole, and if you don't understand why anyone would think that, I have a bridge to sell you .. under which live 12 families, kids and all, who couldn't pay their medical bills after Mom/Grandpa died of cancer.

It is a very American thing to get so upset when the country is criticized. Haven't run into that in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, or Serbia. Okay, the Hungarians can match American nationalism at times, but for the most part you guys have a monopoly on incomprehensibly bone-headed nationalism occluding your view of the wonders of the rest of the world...

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1. the_lonely_road ◴[25 Jan 22 16:42 UTC] No.30073989[source]▶
Florida is a shithole? You spend too much time on the internet. Florida man is a literal meme that came about because of laws that all state collected data should be publicly available causing the media to get most of its fun crime stories from the very large population there. You realize that a large portion of the richest Americans chose to move there for their retirement? Very large swaths of southern Florida contain some of the most modern and amenity rich sections of the WORLD. Not accessible to the average citizen of course, but then again Luxembourg isn't well known for its accessibility either. We are so much more alike than we are different.
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2. boffinAudio ◴[25 Jan 22 16:43 UTC] No.30074018[source]▶
>You realize that a large portion of the richest Americans chose to move there for their retirement?

Yes of course, making it a shithole for those who didn't.

3. jimbob45 ◴[25 Jan 22 17:10 UTC] No.30074453[source]▶
I was going to write exactly this. Florida is the proverbial city on a hill for its progressive crime transparency policies. I'm tired of the ignorant fools giving it a bad name because they're going to drag down a very healthy policy with them.

I'm convinced that other states and countries try to smear Florida because they're terrified what would happen if they themselves had the bravery to commit to Florida's level of governmental transparency.

https://uwf.edu/go/legal-and-consumer-info/florida-sunshine-...

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4. pavlov ◴[25 Jan 22 17:18 UTC] No.30074576[source]▶
In Florida, six-year-old children live in tents:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/florida-affordable-h...

I get it that Floridians don't want a nanny state, but this kind of thing is why the below-median lifestyle in the state looks like a shithole from a European POV.

The fact that the 1% is so well-off makes the picture look even worse.

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5. ◴[25 Jan 22 17:28 UTC] No.30074767[source]▶
6. wbsss4412 ◴[25 Jan 22 18:32 UTC] No.30075892[source]▶
How do you consider it “progressive” that Florida makes it easy to publicly shame people in the press for their transgressions?

Most of the time it’s just punching downwards.

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7. jimbob45 ◴[25 Jan 22 19:46 UTC] No.30077009{3}[source]▶
I think my link above would be very helpful for you. It's not just about crime transparency, which is something that virtually every state signaled support for in 2020. It's every governmental activity including university meetings.

You know it's working because people get caught trying to circumvent it[0]. The Attorney General hates it[1]. Without it, we wouldn't know about former governor candidate Andrew Gillum being a methhead[2]. I can't confirm this but I'm fairly sure we only know about the expired COVID tests because of this law[3].

I simply encourage you to educate yourself on Florida and to understand that their openness is something to be lauded, not feared or mocked.

[0]https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/01/07/2-...

[1]https://flaglerlive.com/95717/sunshine-law-snyder/

[2]https://www.cbsnews.com/news/andrew-gillum-found-at-scene-of...

[3]https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/desantis-conf...

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8. wbsss4412 ◴[25 Jan 22 19:59 UTC] No.30077179{4}[source]▶
Of those, the only thing I see as being actually significantly beneficial to the public would be the story about expired Covid tests.

Knowing that a former gubernatorial candidate is/was a meth head isn’t a crowning achievement.

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9. jimbob45 ◴[25 Jan 22 20:29 UTC] No.30077604{5}[source]▶
Gillum very likely would have run this year if he hadn't been caught like that.