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.
#1
Healthcare that doesn’t bankrupt you upon using it.
Image source: joe_ordan, Accuray
#2
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.
Image source: Alladin_Payne
#3
Being able to walk. To the shops, gym, school. Just f*****g walking anywhere without needing a car.
Image source: jakash, Nick Shandra
#4
Not having to worry so much about getting shot at work or at school, or anywhere for that matter.
Image source: miss_poetflowerr
#5
The 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.
Image source: Full-Ad6660, Angelo Pantazis
#6
Less sugar in products.
Image source: GODHatesPOGsv2024, Ulysse Pointcheval
#7
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.
Image source: Ilovefishdix, Egor Lyfar
#8
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!
mochahotness:
Food not filled with crazy chemicals. A lot of additives allowed in the US are banned in other countries
Image source: degrassibabetjk, Davide Cantelli
#9
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).
Image source: Overlandtraveler
#10
Reasonable gun laws.
Image source: Creepy-Floor-1745, Markus Spiske
#11
Rad architecture, lots of great food, exposure to a bunch of different cultures and languages without having to take a long flight.
Image source: Derp_State_Agent, Flo P
#12
Good cheeses.
OddConstruction116:
As a European that was what I missed the most, when I spent a few months in the US.
Image source: AsIfIKnowWhatImDoin, Gabriella Clare Marino
#13
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.
Image source: shartnado3, Djordje Petrovic
#14
Those nifty towel heater / dryer racks.
Image source: SwiftKnickers, Michiel van Kaam
#15
I’d like to add: no high fructose corn syrup in pretty much every product must be nice.
Image source: -nabtab
#16
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.
Image source: BaldingMonk, Marten Bjork
#17
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.
Image source: drewhead118, Nathan Cima
#18
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.
Image source: Kruppe0, Dom Fou
#19
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.
Image source: ltlyellowcloud
#20
Access to ubiquitous and fast rail travel.
Image source: grandwahs, Daniel Abadia
#21
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.
Image source: tbone338, Dele Oke
#22
Better work/life balance.
Image source: evil_burrito, Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦
#23
Mandated employer supported vacations.
Image source: QuothTheRaven222, Pascal Meier
#24
Historical sites.
Image source: SultanofShiraz, Jessi Pena
#25
Fruits and vegetables that taste good.
Image source: juicyc1008, Jonas Kakaroto
#26
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.
Image source: TantrumMango, Louis Hansel
#27
Excellent coffee and pastries in close physical proximity.
Image source: Final_Pomelo_2603, Jonas Denil
#28
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.
Image source: ConstantinopleFett, Murillo de Paula
#29
Cubicle toilets. Public bathroom door gaps are uncomfortably wide.
Image source: ScSM35, Possessed Photography
#30
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.
Image source: AvocadoSmashed, Pâmela Lima
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