When we call one country or another our home, in reality, we live in a tight bubble where the things we eat, ways we communicate, and stuff we call normal is only natural as long as we don’t exit it. But it takes as little as a single vacation abroad and as much as changing countries, to see your views and customs starting to shift.
So one redditor turned to Americans living abroad and asked them a seemingly simple, yet very telling question: “how has your view of the world changed since you moved out of the US?”
Sooner than we knew it, the answers came flooding in with expats sharing stuff they experienced in foreign places. Turns out, some of these experiences have changed the way Americans look at their home country from the very core of it.
#1
Moved to the UK 4 1/2 years ago. I had a sneaking suspicion that America wasn't as great as we were led to believe, but now I know. The ability to go to the doctor when you need to, and not worry about having to pay a massive bill is indescribable. The UK has its problems, for sure, but just knowing that if I get hurt or get sick that the NHS will take care of me is an amazing and wonderful feeling. Thank you to everyone at the NHS!!!
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316points
Bored Panda reached out to Kacie Burns, an American actress, dancer, and singer currently living in Florence, Italy who went viral for her fun and lighthearted TikTok videos on cultural quirks of the birthplace of the Renaissance. We previously wrote about her in this article!
We asked her how living in Italy has changed her views about life, and Kacie assured us that it has definitely taught her a lot about “remembering to enjoy my life. Eat the pastry. Take a day off work. Go sit in a park just to enjoy the sunshine.”
“It's ok to grind the pavement—something I admire about Americans and the US—but life isn't just all about the hustle, and living here has taught me to slow down and not let life pass by,” Kacie said.
#2
Over 20 years now outside of the US, mostly in the UK but also spent some time in a few other places.
Realising how brainwashed the average American is. Reciting the pledge of allegiance every day at school, prayer groups at school, staying in sh**ty jobs for the sh**ty healthcare, no sick days, no vacation days, no maternity leave, no universal healthcare, crazy university debt, the list goes on and on and it's crazy. It's not normal.
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276points
#3
There’s so much less daily pressure in my adopted country. It’s hard to explain. It’s like walking out of a crowded, harshly lit, loud room into a calm cool night. My phone isn’t exploding with telemarketers. I don’t live in fear of my healthcare disappearing. I can bike to work, where I make a living wage that lets me actually live. My weekends are respected. I can live simply with no expectation to hustle and grind. I feel free.
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254points
#4
I lived in Japan for a couple of years, and as a Black artist, I received respect there that I have never experienced in Texas.
204points
When it comes to things she likes about Italy that we don’t have in the US, Kacie said it’s “The understanding that not everything has to be a race, politics, or a competition.” On the other hand, “Italian bureaucracy can be a challenge sometimes—I'm from NYC where things move quickly, and sometimes I definitely miss the hustle and organization that NYC has!”
#5
For me, it was just how abysmal public transportation and urban planning are in the US.
We have such awful public transportation and we design most of our cities in a way that makes it nearly impossible to ever get around without a car.
Giant parking lots, 10-lane highways, no sidewalks, huge roads with cars moving at highway speeds, non-existent bicycle infrastructure, zoning that bans density, etc.
Did you know that Atlanta and Barcelona have similar populations (in their metros) but Atlanta takes up 10x as much land? That's how bad sprawl is in the US, especially in the Sun Belt.
Walkable cities and good public transportation are just so good for quality of life, in my opinion.
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184points
#6
Living in the Netherlands…life doesn’t have to be so hard. It doesn’t need to be a competition over who owns the most stuff. National anthems do not need to be played at sporting events. Buy quality, not quantity. Take good care of your neighborhood, for there is not free land available down the road. Let nature be nature, not a place for you to show off your atv. Yards are silly.
171points
#7
One thing that strikes me is that everyone else in the world has an opinion on the US, often strong emotions, both good and bad. I was sitting in Seoul airport and a Korean man chatted me up, asking me where I'm from. He was very grateful to US soldiers when I told him I was American. Other times Europeans think we're really stupid because of our lack of worker protection and universal healthcare (and they are very cognizant of things like our higher maternal mortality rate which most Americans don't know).
I think that changed my view of the world: America is entangled in everybody's business. Our soft power with things like movies, songs, and video games and products like Coke and Starbucks penetrates the whole world. The reverse is not often true - many things that are near universal don't make it into the US.
Getting off the American thing, I realized most people want the same things in life and most people from any country just want to get along. It's the government and the elite that try to pit people groups against each other. I consider China and Russia to be outright enemies of the US, but I'm friends with people from those countries and they're good people, trying to live their life, raise their kids, and have a little fun.
Also, everybody is racist. In the US, we're displaying that in public and there's an actual effort to fix it. That's not always the case with other countries - some are perfectly content to remain biased against other races.
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155points
Most importantly, Kacie said that “every country has their good and bad points, and talking about what we like and don't like doesn't have to turn into a debate over which country is better or worse.” Essentially, “We're all human,” she said and concluded with an important message: “No matter where we're from, we have something to offer, because at the end of the day we all want the same things—health, love, happiness. It's important that we listen and learn from each other, and in that way we can ALL live more fulfilling lives.”
#8
I've realized that people in the US know really NOTHING about other countries and couldn't really care less. (My son''s MIL asked me if I had indoor plumbing.)
I've been living in my new home for about 20 years and for the last few years, I want to kneel and kiss the ground here and be so happy that I am NOT still living in the US. I still have family there but I don't even want to visit the country.
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142points
#9
I’ve learned a lot about compassion and patience. I’ve lived out of the country for 5-years, in a 3rd world country. You see how consumerism now defines many aspects of life in the US, keeping up with the Jones’s and taking on tremendous debt to do so. The media drives it and it’s reinforced by both media and society. Many people are defined by their stuff.
I’ve learned that you can be brilliant mentally, artistically and super innovative in business but not have discretionary income. But you can have friends and family and free time and, most importantly, happiness. Here few define themselves by their job and their title - it’s a job not life. I’ve learned that spending time with others simply to listen to them and get to know them, for the sake of knowing them (not networking nor trying to advance an agenda) brings about more happiness for me. I’ve disassociated my professional life from my personal life and as a result am far happier than I could have ever imagined
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137points
#10
Crime. I went from living in D.C. at the height of the crack epidemic in the 80s, where carjackings were invented, to Germany where you couldn't even lock your Mercedes from the inside.
125points
#11
I’m sure others have said it but universal healthcare is such an obvious thing when you live in a country with a system in place. I really don’t get why we can’t get our own people behind the idea.
117points
#12
So much. Where do I begin. My view has become more proportional, the world is interconnected and much smaller than I ever imagined. There are as**oles everywhere. Everywhere has its own slew of issues. It’s not about wage but the lifestyle that goes with it. For example in Italy I made pennies but the lifestyle was rich and relaxed. Minimum wage in Australia is fantastic and the lifestyle is easy going. London it’s high stress for a good paying job but great fun. Basically the lifestyle is what matters. I can’t speak for everywhere in America but I left because I couldn’t handle the hierarchical view of career, the stress and the 2 week vacation per year trap. What you do is who you are, at least from my experience, and I wanted a mental shift.
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107points
#13
The facade of American exceptionalism starts to fade the longer you spend away.
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100points
#14
I have lived in England for 17 years originally from the East coast of the US.
I have no problem walking around at night in my town or most cities here in England. Back in the US I wouldn't do this.
My world view expanded. I know more about stuff outside the US now. I work in a global firm and it is obvious who has never been outsider the US when you talk to them.
I still can't make a proper cup of tea. But I prefer green tea and coffee.
The book Watching the English helped me understand the people here a bit better. The book The Culture Map helped me understand people around the world a bit better.
I can find just about any food over here now so I don't even miss that.
We have the NHS, less work hours and a better work life balance overall.
97points
#15
I lived abroad for about 8 years all together (New Zealand, Netherlands, and Canada) before moving back to the USA for a job I couldn't turn down.
First of all, there is a really good adage that "in Europe, 100 kilometers (or miles) is a long distance, but in America 100 years is a long time." The Netherlands is so tiny that you would be hard pressed to remain within its borders if you drove just 3 hours in any direction from where I lived, with cute towns the entire way, and that was just the standard distance I drove to get home when I was in university (with nothing in between). Meanwhile, the house I lived in was built in the 1600s and there was nothing weird about that, which is a sheer marvel to any American who visited. I suppose both of these applied on some level when living in Canada/NZ too- maybe it's more an "Old World" versus "New World" distinction.
The other one that's worth noting is how a lot of American politics and outlook is a bit like how if you throw a frog into a boiling pot of water, it will jump out immediately. However, if you slowly raise the pot to a boil, the frog will never jump out. There's a lot of things in the USA that are horrific and, IMO, it's just a culture afraid of so much these days. It certainly wasn't when I was younger, and a lot of the politics would be incomprehensible even a decade ago but are part of mainstream conversation. That's a real shame.
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95points
#16
I have lived in Mexico 3 years now. I’ve come to realize that the entire world does not revolve around what’s going on in the US. Even the mexico is a very close neighbor, you can go so many days without having any idea what’s going on, which is awesome honestly. I don’t vote here, so I don’t also really care what’s going on with Mexican politics either. Whenever I go back home, I realize how much of the day is spent in the US in fear of doing something wrong, breaking a rule, or just kinda being in fear. The level of anxiety of most people is extremely high in the US. Even though I will always love my home, I realize that when I live in the US, I’m constantly in fear of being “forced” into major debt via medical bills, an accident, rent etc. I don’t even have insurance in Mexico, even when I’ve had to go to the hospital or see a specialist, it’s so unbelievably affordable for extremely good care.
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94points
#17
I moved from California to Sydney, Australia about 10 years ago. The obvious ones like healthcare and paying people a living wage are hard for me to see what it's like in the US. I love the US but just to visit now. I wouldn't want to raise my kids there.
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87points
#18
I’ve had the good fortune of living on 4 continents, and in each place outside of America I’ve felt like my brain was on vacation.
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77points
#19
Well, I moved to Canada like 3.5 months ago, my expectations were not that good, but damn i was wrong, clean streets, friendly people, lower taxes, cheaper and effective healthcare and police working fine, but I feel really bad for Litton that burned down.
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73points
#20
I'm in the States now, but I lived in Japan for a few years when I was younger, and it changed a lot of things for me. Mostly, I realized the value of things like socialized medicine and a social safety net in general. I also came to really admire and adopt the cultural attitude that doing something "great" is less important than simply doing your best at whatever you do -- ultimately, it shed me of my tendency to mentally classify jobs as "respectable" and "not respectable."
OTOH, my upbringing taught me to question authority and value truth and individuality, and many of the conflicts I had with Japanese culture ultimately reinforced all of those things. ...Although at the time, I hadn't realized how many of my fellow Americans could and would ultimately take those values to bizarre and dangerous extremes.
71points