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?
Housing is always smaller than you'd get in (at least the western) US for the same price, and I'd bet that's true pretty much everywhere in Europe. Speaking the same language is useful, but Covid has made it hard to make friends or do much.
Despite its reputation, I find that Europe is far more provincial than the US when it comes to food - a lot of stuff you think of as ubiquitous in the West will be "foreign" food and harder 48 to find. (And if you like tacos, stay on that side of the pond.)
Benefits: it's a lot quieter and generally less dangerous than the US. The NHS is absolutely amazing and you'll never want to deal with the American system ever again. People tend to be less aggressive.
From an entrepreneurial standpoint I'm sure it's much harder to get up and running, but I'm old enough to not care anymore. If I could work legally for a UK startup or tech firm doing basic dev I'd be happy enough and well-paid enough to never feel the urge to start my own ragged little thing again.
It is colder in most of Europe than the US, in my experience (not just living here but traveling extensively in my life). If you're a Cali kid, you will miss the sunlight, especially in the winter. It's like a fucking Joy Division video here from October through April. :-D
I think if my wife and I could afford to split our time between here and Vegas, we would. But that's just not in the cards right now.
But hey, at least they're not on the brink of civil war here and the curry is good.
I am French but have been working 12 years for a very large US company , spent a lot of time in the US, go friends there - an witnessed/helped several Americans moving to France.
Salary and healthcare were already covered. The fact that over a 3 days drive across Europe you visit 4 or 5 countries with vastly different cultures is a big plus. And by vastly I mean really vastly. We've been in constant wars for 2000+ years and this created a very nice and specific melting pot + cultural differences.
School will be very different. In France you will have a more formalized way of education (which is not a good thing), but also a very liberal one. Children will be drinking tap water starting at kindergarten and and stay like this their whole life. They won't (usually) go to school on Wednesday.
The office will be less politically correct. You will have people discussing politics and religion - though this became less outspoken the last 10 years or so.
You will have good baguettes and average bread - but still eons better than the average US bread.
Bureaucracy is mcu better than the stereotype. But not good either. You have to learn the power of the "pffff" sound you make with your eyebrows up - which means "I understand that this is the rule, but you know, I have to do/get/send that and it is a huge problem if I don't". Many foreigners foolishly assume that a "no" means "this is not possible".
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pae2AMnmUVA for the more scientific approach to how to be French when you are not.
Pros of Berlin:
- Good transport
- Bikeable
- Safe
- Cheaper than the big coastal cities in the US, with lower rent.
- Good clubbing (not my thing)
Cons of Berlin:
- Healthcare is inconvenient. Doctor's offices won't pick up the phone, and won't leave you on hold. You just have to go in person. Providers all work in small doctor-owned practices, and you get a referral runaround with huge wait times.
- The food in Germany is terrible. The quality of produce and other ingredients is very bad, and the restaurants are nothing special. One notable bright spot is the availability of vegetarian and vegan food. Also falafel and doner.
- The salaries are shockingly low. Really ask yourself if all the comforts of Europe are worth cutting your salary in 2 or 3, and that's before...
- Taxes. The top tax rate here is in the low-40s, comparable to the US, but unlike the US, the top tax bracket starts below $65k.
- Europe has an impending demographic crisis, and the social safety net they fund by plundering your paycheck probably won't be there for you when you retire.
- Stores in general suck. They have fewer, and worse products.
- Everyone still smokes here.
Mainly the US has many benefits:
- Much, much higher salaries - like 2-3x higher than Western Europe _before_ income tax!
- Much larger houses for the price. i.e. you can have a big house with room for hobbies or children rather than just a small flat.
- Lower prices on a lot of fixed-price goods - cars, electronics, fuel, electricity, natural gas, etc.
- Lower income and sales tax so you can save for a property and retirement. This is really tough in Europe, the sort of Tech FIRE culture doesn't exist due to that - wealth is primarily inherited.
The downsides are:
- It's a necessity to drive, but at least outside the big cities it's a lot easier than Europe overall (big, wide, straight roads and automatic cars).
- Healthcare is tied to your employer so it can be incredibly risky when moving as an immigrant since until you get a Green Card, you are tied to the one employer (good luck negotiating a raise!). Note that in most Tech companies, the health insurance gives you better coverage than public systems in Europe (e.g. covering dentistry and annual checkups).
- Less stability in employment - at-will employment, lower unemployment payments (except vs. the UK), no trade unions in Tech.
- Safety in some areas wrt. gun crime, etc. - you have to choose where you live and work very carefully.
- Backwards in some technology (online payments, card payments, digitisation of government services vs. the UK and Scandinavia for example).
A main decision point would be if you have kids. Europe is great to move to if you've already saved a lot in the US, can move to Europe and buy a house outright, get permanent residency and then have children and benefit from better paternal leave and even universal child benefit payments (Kindergeld/Barnbidrag, etc.)
Whereas if you are child-free, and don't already have enough savings to buy property, it's going to be harder to achieve that in Europe IMO.
Gave up my car and driving frequently. Fantabulous gift of freedom not having to deal with traffic and car management. Public transport is a gift, and taxis or very short term car rental programs are a fine fallback.
Gave up some income as salaries are annoying much lower and taxes are much higher. But quality of life, depending on where you go, is much higher.
Get rid of as much of your possessions as you can. You can re-buy what you really need, and with more great activities available (non-COVID times) you spend less time at home needing stuff. Also apartments are smaller, so you don’t want to be crowded with stuff.
My first 5 years were in Amsterdam area, and it’s really fun. So many great social options, including for nerds (lots of tech meetups, often with free pizza and beer :) ). Plenty of bars and clubs and restaurants. Most restaurants are underwhelming and overpriced, so that’s not the attraction… but it provides social options.
If you’re American, it’s incredibly easy to set up residence in Netherlands based on the DAFT agreement. Look it up.
Portugal and Malta have visa programs for freelancers and people who can show that they have reliable income from outside sources. Lisbon is pretty great with much better food on average than Amsterdam. And much better climate.
I miss America's food and diversity and dynamism. It took being here to learn that those things are real. I also miss true deep wilderness, something much rarer in Western Europe.
What have I gained? A saner, simpler, more human-scale life. Pleasure. Security. Not having to hustle. Most of the misery I see in my friends and family in the US has material causes that barely exist here. Especially everything having to do with young children.
One of the best decision in my life.
GAINED: Took advantage of having social network in both ecosystem. I went from engineer to director and growing office to 80 FTE. Being able to relocate can boost your career by many years and I was able to mix best of both worlds.
I like walkable and bike-able cities. High quality of food. Real estate prices and quality is so much better as well opportunity for geo-arbitrage. Plenty of green comparing to plagued by drought and fires California. I do not experience homeless people, do not see people taking drugs or car break-ins as in SG.
I feel also I add way more to ecosystem and helped way more people along the way.
WHAT I SACRIFED: California nature is unbelievable good and diverse. What in Europe will take long trips, in California you got it all in driving distance. Startup ecosystem and concentration of talent was top-notch pre-covid. I love forward thinking and level of intellectual debates. Customer service is way better as well as Mexican food.
I strongly recommend watching the Not Just Cars youtube channel to understand the issues of US travel infrastructure.
Biggest sacrifices: Pay is kind of a huge one. There are very few companies (even global ones) that pay the same in Europe as they do in the US. If I moved back to the US with my current company, I would get a ~70k/year increase in salary. Social situation is the other big one. It's hard to ever feel like you totally fit in as an expat.
Biggest gains: Quality of life is generally higher - food is better (quality, not taste, Munich's food scene kind of sucks), public transportation is better, healthcare is largely better (although again, a little weird in Germany). 6 weeks of vacation as a baseline in most places and unlimited sick leave. Generally more of an emphasis on work/life balance and taking time for yourself.
It's very difficult to compare things like housing, social life and salary without knowing where you're coming from and where you're considering going. Countries in Europe have GDPs per capita ranging from under $5,000/year to over $100,000/year.
Really one of the few things you can say context-free is: you'll have more vacation in virtually any European country.
It's also very likely the healthcare, social systems (unemployment, day-care, etc.) and public transit will be saner. But again, you're comparing two very large, diverse places, and it's hard to reason about them in such generalities.
Biggest sacrifice I had to make was downsizing my residence. I have a small flat in Helsinki instead of a large US home. Homes are generally much smaller here, though with more rooms for the square footage than they do in the USA.
I have gained so much. I live in a place where it is safe for my children to wander the city alone. I live in a place where I never get harassed by homeless people in the street, in an exceptionally clean city with very little crime.
I live by the sea and enjoy clean air 365 days a year, instead of smoking the state of California every summer.
The Finns have an extremely strong predisposition to minding their own business. It makes it a little harder to make friends, perhaps, but I love not having to deal with busybodies. I am partially blind, and travel with a cane or a guide dog from time to time. In the USA I was harassed almost daily by people who didn't understand that you don't have to be totally blind to benefit from a guide dog or a white cane.
In Finland I have never been questioned about this.
They also have a much more work to live mentality and better work life balance than in the USA. You notice this when you see that when people introduce themselves they often do not mention their profession, as it's not seen as a core part of their identity like it is in the states.
I don't own a car, as the public transportation is so great here that it isn't worth the hassle of having one.
I have enough children that the taxes aren't actually that much higher for me. If I was a single person then the math would be very different, I am sure.
Local salaries are much lower than in the USA, but I do contractor work for US companies and still charge US rates so I haven't felt the impact of this personally.
I love having access to good health care that isn't tied to my employment; it makes being self-employed much easier.
I love being able to walk everywhere. The USA is a terrible place to be a pedestrian.
https://www.youtube.com/c/NotJustBikes
Good example how different life is for example for kids in The Netherlands compared to USA/Canada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul_xzyCDT98
By far the biggest sacrifices are family, friends and social network.
However, the opportunities for growth and learning far outweigh the cons.
Staying connected with people in different time zones can be challenging, but technology provides so many solutions.
For example I use FaceTime to talk with family. It doesn’t cost anyone anything (if they are connected to WIFI) and I don’t have to deal with the cost for international calls.
Building a new social network is hard. Meeting people (especially now) is hard. You will want to dedicate a large portion of time to put yourself in environments that can allow you to meet people, who will hopefully become friends.
The growth and learning opportunities are life changing and I think it is certainly worth trying to live and work abroad for a couple of years.
I can try to answer any questions or clarify if anyone has any more questions.
- Largest sacrifice is not visiting family as often
- Came here because my wife is English
The UK is close enough to the US that things seem almost normal, but lots of subtly different things. The biggest thing is the culture, the English tend to be quieter, more reserved, and that manifests in a lot of different ways.
I speak Spanish, but not Italian. Italy was very difficult to find housing and communicate, Spain was a bit easier, but Spanish culture is very different than US culture and had some very surprising things. It would be good to be familiar with any culture you dive into.
Northern Europe tends to have a larger percentage of English speakers, so basic day to day things are easier to do (like finding housing).
The most difficult thing is probably a bit of "outsider" feeling and the language barrier in other countries, but there are lots of Americans in the UK to help ease that, and UK culture is easier to get used to than some of the others, especially if you have an English partner
- Where do you live?
Portugal (although we spent the first year in Spain).
- What's the biggest sacrifice you had to make (i.e. pay, housing, friends, etc.)
I have one good friend in the town I used to live in the USA, I miss hanging out with him. (I work remote so not much else)
- What have you gained? Everything.
My family has a high quality of life in every way. One of our biggest complaints is that in the USA it is super hard to make friends as everyone is super stressed, doesn't go to parks, and work long hours. Within months of moving to both Spain and then Portugal we have made great friends (even in small town Portugal). It is mind blowing how much happier this has made my wife.
The health care is amazing, I cry a little every time I use it. I have a chronic condition that I need to keep an eye on... and to be able to have a doctor read my chart before I come in and who answers all my questions is just mind blowing. In the USA I tried to pay for two sessions just so they would talk to me... and I couldn't even get that. They just rush me out without explaining anything.
I biked in the states a little, but had too many close calls in a college town and avoided roads. Here I use the bike lanes all the time, and do 1,00+ km long bike tours.
The work life balance is better and people are less stressed overall. No place is perfect, but overall labor has paid time off and gets to have a life even if they are working minimum wage.
Biggest sacrifices: Germany is an ethnic monoculture, and Germans aren't too friendly with darker-skinned foreigners, especially if you are vaguely Turkish-looking. I also had to learn German, which was an uphill battle considering how German people treated me.
Gained: Great health insurance and access to cheap and convenient travel throughout the rest of Europe.
I moved out of Germany after 2 years of trying, and failing to assimilate. Now I live in South America.
Still totally worth it IMO. I moved to the UK for a few years, got cold and moved back to a warm part of the US, but missed it and moved back to the UK. I have no intention of moving back to the US again.
TL;DR - I highly recommend doing this move if you can afford to do it (financially and socially).
Where do I live: Central London
What's the biggest sacrifice: I kept my job in the move and took a ~25% paycut in my job and got slightly worse hours. But the biggest sacrifice was being an ocean away from my friends and family. Oh and the clothes dryers suck here :-)
What have I gained: So much. I got to live in a city of 10M+ people with every possible amenity and activity you could ever want. I got to travel to so many parts of Europe that I never would have gone to otherwise. I learned how to make friends intentionally, something I haven't done since college. I learned how to work remotely effectively, something I thought I couldn't do. I learned how another country works day-to-day, which I think is hard to do without first-hand experience. I learned how to travel with last-minute plans (thanks Covid and RyanAir). I learned how much time I can spend alone with my wife in lockdown without going insane (infinite, so far!). In general I learned that we can live almost anywhere if we are determined to do it.
If it wasn't for my friends back in the US, I'd stay in London permanently. But after ~3 years in London we'll probably head back and try to resume our old life in some form. I hope that when I am older I can return, maybe I'll retire in Spain or send my kids to college in Europe.
Is anyplace outside London considered inclusive?
Seek out communities (meetup, etc), and if you're doing it for a startup, you're doing it for the wrong reasons.
Pm for story time, but basically, it's an adventure, and one that will be of (mostly) your own making
I lived a few years in Canada so I can compare to North America.
France is not what tiktok videos about US expat living in Paris show you. You probably know about French strikes, bureaucracy, rude people etc. But also France turned into a violent country in the last 2 decades, and is the worst in western Europe. No city is safe. The health system is cheap, but not really good and it is very hard outside Paris to get an appointment to see a dermatologist, ophthalmologist, any specialized doctor. And if you opt for Paris, housing is of low quality, very expensive, cramped and very hard to find a rental.
The only benefits: cheap wine/cheese and plenty of vacation.
IMHO, Netherlands, Danemark, Sweden/Norway/Finland, Germany (especially Munich), Austria, Switzerland are better options. And if the low wages are not a problem, Portugal, Czech Republic could be nice.
- Where do you live? SF -> Amsterdam
- What's the biggest sacrifice you had to make (i.e. pay, housing, friends, etc.) I was shocked when my HR department told me our salaries would pretty much be cut in half. I was also furious because I was going to be working remotely for the same team, doing the same work and would bring the same value. We still did it, and honestly, I felt richer over there. Housing is much cheaper both renting and buying. Groceries felt like no matter what we'd buy, it'd be 20E. Even after 3 years we'd be surprised at how cheap it is. Activities, restaurants, etc are all much cheaper too.
We left a bunch of friend behind obviously but made friends there. Like most expats, mostly other expats through work and not a lot of locals.
Weather sucks.
No amazon and it sucks not to have it when you are used to buying everything and getting it the next day. Also, probably because of the amount of countries there are, buying things online seems to be shipped more often from other countries and the delivery times are usually longer.
- What have you gained? As mentioned, despite /2 our salary, we felt much richer, much more comfortable. When we quit our jobs we felt comfortable not making a lot of money because even our mortgage there was cheap. Working for a US tech company still put us way above the average income. Also, like in most of EU, great healthcare and other benefits.
Amsterdam in particular is great for biking/walking, it's truly a very nice city except for the terrible weather. We still talk about how we miss our lives there, but would never move back because of the weather, especially compared to the bay area.
I think the TLDR of our experience was that EU was just more chill, more comfortable, a bit broader in terms of culture, less grind less work. I was so happy about where i'm at in Amsterdam, and as soon as we got back to the US, something, I'm not sure what, made me get back on that hedonic treadmill and grind again for more more more and more.
I'd recommend it :)
I moved to the US because the earning potential as a software engineer is simply so much higher than anywhere else, it's ridiculous. Compared to Australia in particular where up until 2003 or so the standard of living was exceedingly high. But now the cost of living in Australia, particularly in local earning potential terms, is actually awful.
So, Europe. I lived in 3 places (the UK, Switzerland, Germany). All of these places are different and that's the first thing you should know. The UK isn't Italy. Spain isn't Estonia. Many non-Americans have this view that the US is all one place. Anyone who lives here knows that's not true. LA isn't Omaha. NYC isn't Kansas. Europe is no different. In some ways this gap is even wider because there are many language barriers too.
The UK is a hybrid between continental Europe and the US. I found working there to be horrible. High cost of living, low (compared to the US) earning potential and the whole tech recruitment industry there is the worst I've ever experienced. I lived in London in the early 2000s and it was expensive then. It's like 2-3x that now. Unreal.
Even somewhere like Germany isn't homogenous. NRW isn't Bavaria which isn't Berlin or the former East.
I'd say the biggest thing is this: in the US there is a pervasive fear that your entire existence could be wiped out. Worse, many feel like many others actively seek this destruction. Obviously healthcare is one cause here but I think it goes deeper. America, particularly Corporate America, is very dog eat dog. Tech is a little better than this but not by much.
I'd say this is partially true in the UK but less so in continental Europe. Like I never found anyone questioning your "loyalty" to the company (for example) if you took a vacation. it was actually expected. There was less of people telling you how to live your life and feeling like you were telling them how to live theirs.
Don't get me wrong: there are rules you need to live by, more than most Americans will be used to (eg you'll be in for a shock when you try and figure out where, when and how to recycle anything in Switzerland or Germany).
The best way I can describe this is that the default position for anything in the US, the UK and Australia is you can do whatever you want unless it's expressly forbidden. Continental Europe is the opposite: you're only allowed to do what's expressly allowed. This makes society function but many Americans will chafe against this.
Houses and apartments will be way smaller in Europe than Americans are used to. You will need to use public transportation. If you try and drive everywhere then unless you live somewhere rural you will have a bad time. Many European city-dwellers get by just fine with no car at all.
If you have kids they won't have to do active shooter drills in schools. That's a uniquely American problem.
What you gain by living in any under culture is you realize how many of the things you believe aren't universal. They're just arbitrarily chosen norms. This can apply to the smallest of things like when you can go shopping and what sort of shop you need to find something (eg alcohol is only sold in selection locations in Australia but in the UK every supermarket and off-license will sell it).
What you should gain is some perspective that working like a dog because you need that health insurance and you've decided you need to save $500,000 per child to put them through college isn't universal. It's not even normal.
As far as social aspects go, this varies a lot. For example, I found the Swiss Germans to be extremely aloof (to non-Swiss). I found Germans (at least in the northwest) to be incredibly friendly. The UK is a mixed bag. London in s rat race and you'll be judged on what you have way more than most other places. Londoners will reduce you to the postcode you live in (eg "she's so SW7").
The distances are really small. You can get really far really quickly. This doesn't really apply to the UK because the airports are awful. In Zurich by comparison I left work at 5:10 for a 6pm flight once and was at my destination by 7:30.
In this era where remote work is growing, particularly if you're in tech, it's a good time to try it and see what you think.
More for me, I guess.
Gains you'll get in Europe/UK: - much safer, more stable society for raising a family; - lots of history and culture (if you like that, I do); - much better public education, public transportation and public health systems; - much better work/life balance (35 hour work week and 6 weeks vacation); - a broadening of your perspective of life (Americans tend to be rather insular);
Sacrifices of leaving the US: - massive pay cut and much, much higher taxes; This means your net pay will be significantly lower than the US West coast. I am taking a 35% reduction in income; - if you work for a big tech company, their centre of gravity will be the West coast and so you may miss out on some project/career opportunities (this varies from team to team of course);
So, as you can see, from my perspective, having lived on both sides of the pond for decades, the only sacrifices of leaving the US are money related (I don't have any family in the US, though).
My decision to leave the US after 13 years is complex and, as a family man, is heavily motivated by where I think I can offer my daughter the best start in life. We want her to have a quality, classical education in a safe environment. For us, that means returning to Scotland and sacrificing the money of the West coast.
In addition, I have accrued enough wealth over my 26 year career to be financially secure (not rich, though) e.g., I own, with no mortgage, properties in the US and in Scotland. So, being older makes it slightly easier to sacrifice the massive (overpaid?) salaries of the West coast. If I were a young, single twenty-something again, perhaps I would optimise for the money. It's a tough decision.
A side note to counter the pay cut: one tech area where the UK is more advanced than the US is finance. There are a lot of interesting FinTech start-ups. Also, working in the City of London typically pays enormously well (better, typically, than a West coast big tech salary + stock package - for people my age, at least). But it's a very high pressured, high stakes environment compared to the campus life of a big tech company.
I live in Milan (Italy), it’s gorgeous, glamorous, full of life, history and art. I wouldn’t say I made any sacrifice, at least after 4 years I still don’t perceive any. Here I feel a citizen, not just a worker. Here I can clearly see a future for me and my family.
Financially it's a bad decision in tech, but I'm pretty neutral about it and even with the pandemic I've travelled quite a bit.
I like being the only American around.
- Europe is very different, not a country and not even a union (parts of Europe are NOT in European Union)
- Northern Europe has cold climate, more difficult languages, higher taxes and usually better services
- in Southern Europe people are a lot more relaxed (some can confuse that with lazy, but it is not), a lot friendlier but poorer
- in Germany and Austria it is very important to speak the language well in order to integrate. They are also very strict in many ways (lots of rules and regulations).
- most of France is really nice; salaries are a bit low
- Switzerland has top salaries and life standards. It is probably the best place to live if you are highly qualified.
- the Netherlands and Belgium have pretty bad weather. In the Netherlands most people speak a very good English
- Eastern Europe has lower salaries and cost of living, but imported products (an iPhone or a Tesla car) are very expensive. However people are friendly, life is accessible and the nature is great if you are into it: lots of hills and mountains to hike, access is permitted in most places. Criminality is in general extremely low for violent crimes, robbery and corruption are fairly common in some places.
- Poland and Hungary have some right wing governments that are not very popular with the EU politicians, but for the citizens is not really a problem (except abortion restrictions in Poland, but that is a sensitive topic for a very religious country)
- Ukraine is not a good place yet, not enough English speakers, but it may improve in the next 10 years. Belarus is not a good idea, full stop. Moldova is very poor. Albania is nice, but the language is a barrier and the country is quite poor. Montenegro is soo tiny. Other than these 5 countries, Europe is OK to live a decent life, especially if you have family. Even less known countries like Slovenia are still nice if you like that kind of small country with lots of mountains.
- Pay and all the amenities of home, particularly in regard to food (both fast and cooking at home varieties)
- Well, a wife, but everything else is in the negative
Very short version of a long story: Am American. Company got bought, I was laid off. Travelled for a while. Friend eventually got me to move to Estonia to work. Hated it immediately. Made plans to move back, met a girl, stayed for said girl because US immigration is excruciating.
Now you may be asking what I disliked about it. I’ll try to highlight the top points in roughly descending order:
1- Pay in Europe sucks by comparison with the US, and I’m not talking net pay after you pay for your free healthcare, I’m talking gross… it just sucks. I would say take what you made in the US and halve it, at least. In Estonia a Senior Dev salary is about what a teacher makes in the US somewhere in the south (not a high income area). Living expenses are not necessarily commiserate with the pay, especially with my €850 power bill last month.
2- The weather is abysmal. No one on either continent seems to realize how far north Europe is vs. the US (thanks Mercator!). In Estonia the sun doesn’t actually set in the summer, and in winter you get sun from about 9am to 3:30pm. Both HUGELY messed with me (and still do 4.5 years later).
3- There is a huge language barrier. Even in Tallinn, and places you would kind of expect to be better about it, like a big pharmacy chain, you’ll routinely (read: daily) have issues if you don’t speak Estonian or Russian. I’ve also had people just get annoyed and throw up their hands and stop helping me if I speak English. They calm down and come back… most of the time. I’ve even considered moving to Helsinki (80km north) just to live in a society that doesn’t glare when you say “hello”.
4- The free public healthcare is worthless if you don’t speak Estonian or Russian. There is one GP that every expat I know goes to in Tallinn because he speaks English very well, but if you need anything else you’re screwed and will probably just pay out of pocket to see a private specialist. Private health insurance is a growing trend for this reason, but if your company is largely Estonian (or Estonian run) no one will ever think it’s worth spending money on. Even the Minister of Health recently said they’re working on the issue but that the “ultimate solution is to learn Estonian”.
5- People aren’t friendly. It’s (somewhat) true that Estonians “warm up” once they get to know you, but neither friends nor strangers will ever come close to what you’d be familiar with in any of the English speaking world. I even actively avoid making eye contact with people now - just walk with your head down. At a bar you never talk to the drunk stranger next to you.
6- There is a definite racism and xenophobia issue here. If the US had been conquered as many times and by as many different groups as Estonia I’m sure we’d have the same problem, but I honestly expected better for an EU country. Even if you’re as pasty white as they are, as soon as you challenge or complain about something, out comes the “Estonia is perfect, leave already” attitude. As with many places in the world, you also run the risk of paying the “foreigner tax” - knowing that you’re a foreigner they’ll just assume you don’t know how much something costs and will just blindly pay whatever they say. Complaining will likely get you a string of Estonian or Russian you don’t understand and potentially the person to just leave.
7- Service in general is awful. I don’t know if it’s because they don’t work for tips or because employment laws make it almost impossible to fire someone or what, but I hope your food comes out right the first time and you don’t finish your drink because chances are good you won’t see your server again until they want to be paid.
8- Kind of related to that, and something I have trouble explaining that should really be higher on this list… no one seems to care about their jobs in the same way they would in the US. I don’t mean as far as keeping the job, I mean doing it. Kind of an “I’ll do my job, but I’m not going to work my ass off or do anything more than absolutely required” kind of apathy. It doesn’t matter if the company is trying to win a new client or is afraid they’re going to lose one, none of the employees seem to care either way, like they don’t realize or care if their jobs might disappear as a result.
9- For some reason every employer wants to give you a stupid cheap backpack. I’ve already got an expensive one, how about just giving me a bonus of whatever you’d have spent on it instead?
- Social life. Yes, modern technology makes it easier than ever to keep touch with friends from across the globe, but you need to expect to lose some relationships there. Not all friendships can survive the distance. The time zone difference also makes it annoying to keep in touch (e.g. you will be finishing a day's work and wanting to get in touch with friends, but their day has just started).
- Transportation. Now I don't know how you feel about cars but this was a huge win for me. I have driving and public transportation in Europe is usually very good. My driver's license has actually expired a few years back and I do not miss it. - Compensation. You simply won't find jobs that pay as much as the ones you can find in Silicon Valley (or perhaps in the major American cities). This won't necessarily be all that base. See my next point;
- Reasonably good public services in general. This will of course vary between countries, but you can expect to find reasonably good public services all around Europe. Healthcare is included in this but it can sometimes be a bit cumbersome to get an appointment with the right kind of doctor (you need to first go through a general practitioner who will refer you to a speciality). This can be mitigated however. See next point;
- Cheaper healthcare in general. Even if you opt for the convenience of private healthcare, you can expect to find it waaaay cheaper than in the US. Your job with also offer you health insurance which will cover most of your expenses making having access to private healthcare really affordable.
- Job safety. I guess this varies with the state you live in, but in Europe you are likely to find that the labour laws work more in your favour than in the US. This can paradoxically get annoying for you in a few very particular situations, but all in all, it's nice to feel safe this way.
- Homesickness is real and there's not much you can do about it. You will long for your home, for that old group of friends you used to hang out with, for that spot you used to go when you needed some time for yourself. Also, seeing the people you left behind moving on with their lives will feel weird.
- You will gain a lot of safety. Now I have no idea where in the US you are, but I bet that a somewhat good neighbourhood in Europe will be safer. I came from a particularly dangerous place (doubt you will find a place as dangerous in the US) so this was a huge win for me.
- You will come to appreciate a different kind of life than what you are used to. I don't know how to explain this, but the way of life in Europe is very different from the one in the Americas. Life goals and such are all very different. This will of course vary from country to country.
- You will come to appreciate a lot of things about the US that you didn't appreciate before. I guess this is just a natural consequence of gaining perspective. Nowhere is perfect and nowhere is fully bad.
I don't have a tech background. In 2009, I was a BA holder (Philosophy) working 3 jobs (retail/hospitality/merchandising) with no real prospects. I had always had the bug to get out of the country, but had no specific plan. I took a year to go back to school to study foreign languages (French, Italian, Portuguese) with the plan to find some way to transition to another country.
One of my French professors pointed me to TAPIF (Teaching Assistant Program in France), that gives you a 6 month contract to teach English in French public schools. So, in 2010, I was placed in Lille, France where I "taught" English in primary school. In reality, I got around 900 euros a month (with full benefits) to work around 10 hours a week. I did this for two years, and was able to afford a modest room and a few trips to Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, etc. I also met the woman I would eventually marry.
The TAPIF program disincentivizes a transition to permanent residency, so I instead decided to do a Masters in France. This is highly preferable to doing a study abroad program, since you pay French tuition (less than a thousand euros for the ENTIRE degree...that includes tuition, books, materials, etc.), you can work 20 hours a week, and you get healthcare, housing subsidies, food subsidies, etc. So, while going to school full time and working part time, I could afford a really full life in a an apartment in the city, taking plenty of vacations, and generally not worrying about life.
Until my future wife and I realize we were never going to become French. Don't get me wrong, a lot of expats, both American and European, become French. We just couldn't. Even with above average fluency for non-native speakers, you will be constantly singled out as non-native. You may make local friends, but in France, it is a life's work to become a local yourself.
So, in 2014, we moved to Romania (wife's home town). I managed to get a job with a web marketing company, which provided a decent salary for life in Romania (~$800/month). We had enough to live comfortably in rent for a while, and enough to build a house. We had family and friends, and the ability to take trips both in the country and around Europe. However, even though I learned Romanian (a rare feat for ANY non-native speaker), people still treated me as a novelty. To this day, I will engage in conversation with native speakers in Romanian, and they will invariably respond to my wife, about me, in the third person, while I am standing there. Somehow, being an outsider never really wears off.
It wasn't all bad though, since I did manage to get into tech without having any background. This alone is an achievement, since one of the biggest differences in Europe vs the US is the importance of the subject on your diploma. European education sets you up for a career around middle school. You want to work as a SWE? You'd better take the rights middle school classes to get in to the right technical high school, so you can pass the entrance exams to the PolyTechnic college and earn the degree you'll need to even GET an interview with a European tech company. Not that it's impossible to cross over, but it is far far less common.
The biggest thing I gained was a sense of value in myself and my skills. Having worked for peanuts in tech in Romania, while counterparts in America were pulling down close to or over 6 figures for the same work, I began to lose patience with the whole system. I got extremely lucky to get a remote job with an American company in 2018. My wife decided she would like to transition to an American company as well, and in 2019 we moved to the US.
We are in San Diego now, and our life is miles ahead of where we were before. Yes, the cost of living is higher. Yes, healthcare is tied to our jobs. Yes, you need a car because public transportation is insufficient. Yes, America has a gun violence problem.
But we live 10 minutes from the beach (nice beaches too; not sure what's wrong with the water in LA...San Diego provides a far superior life to LA anyways), we have quality friends from a variety of backgrounds who treat us as equals, the population is diverse in age, ethnicity, education, etc. We will manage the cost of being here, because the benefits are superior to anything we've had in the past.
If you are considering a move to Europe from the US, you should consider these things:
- Language: you need to be ready to learn it; don't rely on other people speaking English
- Friends / peer groups: you need to be ready to abandon your current ones, and start from scratch with new ones
- Family: close family relationships in the US will be difficult to maintain; at best there will be a 5-hour time difference that will hinder communication
- Living space: unless you are taking your big American salary, you can expect to give up your big American personal space
- Cars: in a metropolis (Paris, London, Rome, etc.)? don't even try; in a suburb? think about getting a license (much harder in Europe) and a car (much more expensive than in the US)
- Food: don't be a picky eater
- Measurements: all things will be different...can you measure it? clothes, shoes, food stuffs, liquids, speeds, distances, etc. will be different and no one will care that your American sizes don't match up
- Intangibles: depending on where you choose to live, cultural differences will mean others will seem cold or mean or loud or timid, and you will appear obnoxious or rude or stupid or uncultured...and you have to be ok with that. You will always be wrong, because it's their culture, not yours.
Do I recommend it? Yes.
Biggest sacrifice is my family is all US based, and the time zones really suck for staying in touch. The next thing would be the eye-watering compensation increases in the US in the last 5 years since I left. I'd be making significantly more income if I had stayed. That is something I still struggle with on a personal level.
What have I gained. I suppose a different perspective on the US, to some of the absurd Americanisms that I used to just accept: the crazy amount of patriotism and propaganda, the poverty, ghettos, widespread homelessness, the gun violence, the failing/overpriced medical system. The US is a really messed up country in many ways - it's sad given how wealthy it is and successful in other areas, and all the smart people, it shouldn't be like this.
The NHS is great, although it feels like it's gotten worse since I moved here. Still, everyone can get good quality medical care, it just takes time.
There aren't homeless people everywhere here. I can walk around the roughest parts of London, the worst that will happen is I might get mugged. In Chicago, there were gun shootings blocks away from where I lived with my small children. I went to Colorado over the holidays, and there had just recently been a mass shooting at the Boulder King Soopa which was closed. It feels so much safer here overall.
Europe is on my doorstep and I've spent some time traveling to quite a few different countries, and it's really enjoyable. COVID put a hamper on that for the last couple years, but the opportunities are there.
Pub food is really delicious in the UK. UK sausages are amazingly good. I miss steaks in the US though, although there are some pretty great places in London. Cider is awesome, and I can drink it even w/ my IBS issues unlike beer. Coffee in London is the best I've ever had.
Public transport is great and I can explore the city easily. I can walk out the door and go get groceries, or shop on the high street, or eat out. Not needing a car for every single thing is pretty great once you get used to it.
There's a large amount of diversity and I've met a lot of great and different people with unique perspectives that have given me new insights.
Squash is a great and fun sport and available to play pretty much anywhere without costing a lot.
It's not all roses though. Brexit. Tory austerity policy is bonkers. Quality of education has gone down a lot, I am struggling with this as my son goes through secondary. There is a bizarre class system perpetuated by widespread independent (private) education which gets subsidized via tax exempt status. NHS waiting lists are super long. Quality of services has gone down it seems - it is hard to find good community facilities and centers which aren't falling apart or overcrowded. Taxes feel absurdly high for what we get. Housing costs too much. US taxes can be a nightmare as an expat.
Downsides:
The most obvious sacrifice is financial: I took a substantial pay cut to come here, and, on top of that, I now pay more tax. The day-to-day cost of living is a bit less in Utrecht than in Seattle, but not (nearly) enough to compensate. That doesn't make much direct impact on my disposable income — I have more than enough to live on from month to month — but it does mean I save substantially less.
House prices are out of control here; buying a house that we like feels like an impossible dream.
It's also harder to meet people and make friends. Part of that is Covid-related, of course, but the language issue makes it hard to join groups, clubs or activities — although my neighbours can speak effectively perfect English when necessary, that's understandably not how they want to spend their down time. That's compounded because most people my age are well embedded in social networks already, so it's hard for a newcomer to make connections with them.
I miss the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. The Dutch flatlands don't really compete.
Upsides:
The level of visible poverty is much lower. I found the level of homelessness, begging, deprivation, in the places I lived in the USA to be genuinely distressing. That's much less of an issue here (not zero issue, but much less).
Similarly, the level of visible inequality is lower. Sure, there are rich people and poor people in the Netherlands, but the differences feel less stark. Even the fairly poor have a decent standard of living. This makes me feel much more comfortable. I should add: neither this point nor the one above it are intended to minimize the plight of people living in Europe who are really struggling.
There's a safety net. I was well paid in the USA; I had good health insurance, etc. But there are enough “gofundme” stories of people who were in a similar position, and for health or whatever reasons it suddenly all goes wrong and they need help to deal with whatever life throws at them. Here, I'm pretty confident that if I or my family are suddenly unable to work, there's a safety net and we won't be out on the street. (In practice, if it had all gone wrong in the USA, I'd have escaped back to the UK, but you take my point.)
In general, infrastructure feels more solid. The road surfaces are better (seriously, American roads are terrible). Trains well-kept and reliable. Public spaces are clean and well maintained. Banking systems feel like they are decades more modern.
A good standard of education is fairly ubiquitously available to everybody, without costing a fortune. Although I save less, I don't have to worry about how I'm going to afford to put my kids through college.
Evens:
I biked everywhere in Manhattan, in Seattle, and now in Utrecht. I have never owned a car. I guess I failed at my American integration!
As to what I've gained, which I think on balance is more than I've given up:
- I met the girl who is now my fiance here. When living in the US I was quite certain I would never marry. I'm 41 so I've been around a bit and seen and done a lot, but my perspective changed a lot when I came here. That's pretty specific to me and not something everyone will experience, but I definitely count it as a gain for me.
- If you compare the legal frameworks of Ukraine and the US, US is far superior in terms of freedom. Not only rights reserved to the people, but also limits place on the government. Even in these troubled times, that legal framework restrains a lot of authoritarian ambitions that would otherwise impose on the freedom of US citizens. In Ukraine almost none of those protections exist. To give one example, the government closed some Russian-language television channels because they were furthering Russian interests in Ukraine, and this was within the power of the government to do.
That said, the reality feels very different. Because the rule of law is weaker here (but not so weak that it's a might-makes-right anarchy), I feel a lot more free. You might or might not like that, depending on how much of a rule-follower and law-and-order type you are. I am fiercely independent and deeply resent stupid rules, so for me it's great. To give one example which might scandalize some of you, in the depths of the COVID lockdowns when everything was mandated shutdown by law and masks were required everywhere, I was drinking cocktails with my girlfriend in a packed cocktail bar where you couldn't find a mask for love or money. Make no mistake this was illegal, and if police found out they could shut down the bar, fine the patrons and seriously fine the owner, but this doesn't happen because the owner of the bar is connected and bribes have been paid and the Ukrainian people are ungovernable in the best of times anyway.
- I listed the healthcare system as a sacrifice, and it is, but it's not all bad. It's vastly cheaper than the US, and way more accessible if you're willing to pay just a bit more. I mentioned my heart problem; I had a cardiac MRI with contrast in Kyiv to confirm the diagnosis; it was scheduled the day after my doctor ordered it, and it cost a bit under USD 200. I then had another one done in Miami just to make sure they didn't miss anything; I had US health insurance but it has a high daily co-pay so the MRI cost me something like $900, and was booked a month in advance. The conclusions were the same from both MRIs.
For better or worse, you can buy almost any drugs other than narcotics without a prescription. The process is, a doctor tells you "you should take $DRUG, here I'll write it down for you", you go to a pharmacy, and ask if they have $DRUG. If they do, you give them money and they give you $DRUG. It's great. I can stock up on the meds I take for blood pressure, for example, without asking a doctor's permission. Obviously that's risky, but they never developed the equivalent of our Sullivan Act giving doctors a monopoly on pharmaceuticals. Another fun anecdote, my cardiologist prescribed (again, "prescribed" just means "told me to go buy") phenobarbital, which you can just buy in the pharmacy over the counter.
- I appreciate what I have, and the little things in life, a lot more. Ukraine is a very poor country, although the city center where I live is populated only by the rich and foreigners. Nonetheless, this results in a completely different mentality. I've become much more resilient, able to tolerate disruptions (eg, the elevator isn't working again and I live on the 6th floor; fuck it I'll just hump my shit up the stairs like usual), and much more appreciative of the wealth and comfort I left behind, and may someday return to.
- We're at this moment almost surrounded by Russian combined arms BTGs, but my family and friends back home are freaking out much more than I am. Because this is Ukraine, bad shit happens, it's been happening for a thousand years, we'll make it or we won't. I really admire this mentality, and I've tried to cultivate it in myself. That's not to say there aren't a ton of problems here (there are), and a lot of shitty people (there are), but I'm happier here. When I go back to Miami or DC to visit, I feel like a foreigner. My friends have $1M houses bought on credit and live lives of incredible comfort and ease, and it's hard to believe that was ever me. My fiance is from Donetsk and already fled Russian invaders once, yet she doesn't want to live in the US. "Too many rules", she says. I totally get it now.
- There is essentially no gun violence.
- Education is a lot better and more evenly distributed.
- Access to abortion and other reproductive health care.
- Far less dependent on cars (walkable cities, trains, public transit).
- Better legislative regimes--you can see this in sectors like food safety.
- Better balance between employer and worker rights, which leads to...
- Better work/life balance.
- Lower income inequality.
- More diversity of culture.
- So far, no insanely huge forest fires or mega-droughts.
- Stronger anti-discrimination laws (including protections for LGBTQ people and immigrants).
- College is very inexpensive.
- Retirement infrastructure is much stronger.
- The US government and election system is... it's bad.
Here are things that give us pause:
- Depending on how you look at it, a lack of diversity. The US is super diverse; only a few cities in the EU really come close. It is true that the EU is home to lots and lots of cultural diversity, but when you look at like, raw numbers of Black/Asian/etc. people they're worse.
- The rise of nationalism--we mostly think it's less of an issue in the EU than it is in the US, but TBD on this, especially as climate migration increases.
- The EU's response to climate change has been miserable, and they're pretty dependent on autocratic regimes (Russia) for energy.
- The social integration difficulty is hard to estimate, but we assume it's pretty high. Learning a new language is hard, learning a new culture is hard, adjusting to being an outsider/immigrant is hard, and you're doing all this while adjusting to lots of other things.
- Most of our family lives in the US, they're getting older, and we'll miss out on familial support re: child rearing.
---
These all sound high-falutin' probably and they are. But like, what does this mean in practice?
- Our kids will probably never experience low-grade background anxiety of "maybe this is the day a school shooting happens".
- We won't have to play the public/private school game, and our kids won't feel that weird class stratification (I know there are still private and parochial schools, but the difference in the US tends to be a super poor school that people of color can't buy out of, and a super rich school that costs a bunch of money).
- Our kids won't ever have the internal debate about reproductive rights: birth control will be a norm and abortions will be available.
- We'll stay healthy more easily with healthier food and a more active, less car-dependent lifestyle.
- Our lives won't revolve around our jobs, we'll be able to be more present for our kids.
- We won't have to solve all of our problems (education, health care, housing) with huge piles of money, driving us to work harder and take jobs that exploit others just so we can stay ahead.
- Our kids will probably not have to spend a ton of money or time taking care of us when we're old.
- Our kids will grow up in a more multicultural environment, hopefully giving them a broader view of humanity.
This is pretty hand-wavy and high-level, and there's definitely more nuance than I'm describing here. But achieving most of them in the US requires lots of effort, and it's pretty fragile. Like you can try to lead a car-free existence in a smaller city, but as soon as the 1 grocery store by you closes, or you get a different job, or the city changes the bus routes/schedules, your whole life (probably) changes.
After I left the military, I was drafted into an international company specializing in imports and exports. I learned several languages and my specialty was targeted negotiations. Eventually, even though I brought great value to the company, they decided that they no longer needed me and I was offered what seemed (to me) a pretty poor severance package.
This was a real turning point for me. I'd never been separated like that before -- I'd always moved on to new assignments on pretty good terms. Fortunately, I had a little set aside.
After a night of sailing in the Mediterranean, I had a horrific accident; I fell overboard and eventually rescued by a passing fishing vessel. As I healed, I sought to rebuild my life with the help of a few new friends, who I can now never forget.
Of note, even the larger U.S. consulates in Europe were not very kind or helpful! At times, it seemed almost like they were working against me. This may not reflect your experience, however. You're probably asking where the IRS was in all this, and to be honest I've asked myself the same question!
Where do you live?
I spend most of my time traveling and paying off old debts, but I do have a few close friends.
What's the biggest sacrifice you had to make (i.e., pay, housing, friends, etc.)
To be honest, there were people that I was very close to back in the States that I thought were my friends and people I could trust, but I found that most of them couldn't be trusted. Even my former colleagues seemed to not care for me that much. And traveling all the time is a bit of a pain, especially dealing with customs, local police, etc. My old company has blacklisted me, so I've got to deal with that as well.
What have you gained?
Freedom. Even though America is the land of opportunity, and actually I have determinedly pursued a lot of opportunities, some parts were quite miserable and even felt like torture, but I've mostly been able to suppress those feelings, even though they've left some lasting scars.
All told, my life has been pretty interesting, although the U.S. government has proven to me that it is really just a group of people like any other; even with the noblest of intentions, as you gather a large group of people, it becomes far more likely that some bad apples will infiltrate, so "the government" cannot always be trusted, even if it largely tries to do the right thing most of the time. Eventually, someone has to clean house.
I still respect those foundational principles of liberty and justice for all and still try to apply those principles.
Sacrifices:
Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe (last I checked, about on par with Monaco) and software engineer salaries in my experience generally -don't- reflect that.
Iceland is also (surprise!) an island, so getting anything shipped here is both slow and expensive. Ideally, learn to live without stuff you could normally get Amazon same-day shipping for in the states. Never mind the Icelandic postal service is a subject of constant derision for how bad it is at everything.
The weather is terrible (though mostly wind and rain - the temperature is kept mild by the Gulf Stream) for most of the year, with maybe a couple months of summer if a year is particularly lucky.
Employment options for a non-Icelandic-speaker are limited outside "immigrant jobs". This is a consideration both for your prospects as well as, if you're with someone, -their- job prospects. I do think this is slowly changing (slowly getting more high-tech companies that want to attract foreign talent), but at the same time UTL (the immigration directorate) has become tougher about foreign hires in the past few years.
Social life very much depends on your circumstance. It is very easy for a foreigner to fall into a pit of being totally alone because although everyone here speaks perfect English, virtually all social life is still conducted in Icelandic. And there aren't a ton of resources to learn Icelandic from (as opposed to, say, French, Spanish, or Italian). This can be mitigated to an extent both with work connections and local foreigner gatherings.
Dating is also dependent on circumstances. I'm a conservative-ish Christian looking for same and they (almost) don't exist in Iceland. But I have known more secular foreigners who have both met natives and other foreigners here, so it can work depending what you're looking for.
Icelanders are -very- laid back. This can be a pro or con depending on your temperament, but it took a little while for me to get used to. This applies both to time (expect that Icelanders are either late or decide last-minute not to show) as well as to expectations. The unofficial Icelandic motto is "Þetta reddast" which roughly translates to "Everything will work itself out". That sounds cool until you hear it coming from your plumber/electrician/doctor/contractor.
To that last point, I don't recommend Icelandic healthcare. Yes, it's covered by taxes so upfront costs are low, but Icelandic doctors in my experience (and that of other foreigners I've worked with, including European) are quite resistant to actually doing anything. I know a guy who had a serious condition that the Icelandic doctors refused to operate on despite every other doctor he got an opinion from outside Iceland recommending an operation. He was eventually able to push those recommendations through and get what he needed, but it was a lot harder than it should have been.
Living this far north, the seasons have a notable impact on mood and maybe even mental health for some. I've mitigated this somewhat with a sunlamp, but it's still a thing. "Fortunately" it affects everyone so empathy for it is easy to find.
Benefits:
I love that, as is my impression of the other Nordic countries, work is just work and people generally live to have lives. Icelanders are a very creative/artistic people. I know a bunch of musicians here as well as a couple authors.
Iceland is an extremely peaceful country. Both in the sense there's virtually no street crime (political corruption is another question, but at least that stays mostly out of sight) and in that there's no standing military (the closest thing is a coast guard). Also people tend to trust their government (there was none of the American gnashing of teeth over either masks or vaccines).
The landscape is world-famously beautiful. It's sort of surreal living in a global tourist destination.
Although I can't vote yet, I appreciate the parliamentary system over the US's two-party system, although this is far from unique to Iceland among European countries.
Citizenship requirements are pretty simple. Just stay here long enough and learn the basics of the language. Alternatively, marry a citizen. If you can somehow swing residence in Iceland, it can be a good gateway to European citizenship, which can open lots of other doors.
Not unique to Iceland either, but I do believe there's value to living as an immigrant. I've found it helped me grow in empathy towards immigrants in the US, plus it's liberating to realize that you're not necessarily stuck with one government just because you were born there if another one attracts you more.
I noticed my mental health improved considerably when I moved. Admittedly, I was uniquely bothered in Atlanta for purely Atlantan and not necessarily generally American reasons, but it's something I gained so I note it here.
London driving is still necessary if you want to do anything out of town. It's super spread out and despite the Tube being reliable, it doesn't really run at night. London is so huge it's unlikely your friends will live much less than an hour away from you. The roads are tiny and civil engineering here post-dates most of the construction so it's mayhem compared to driving in the US. However, you can get the hang of it.
The NHS is great for (1) the bottom end, basic stuff with a straightforward solution like a broken arm and (2) the high-end emergency stuff like childbirth and cardiac arrest. Assuming you have reasonable health insurance in the US, the NHS falls flat for any kind of non-emergency, non-routine procedure. You'll need to pay retail to get the same care which is about 1.5x what the same procedure would cost cash in the US. Otherwise you'll learn the NHS's "holistic" solution to your problem. You will have the comfort of knowing the less well off aren't in dire straights paying for basic healthcare. If you think it's "free" though, see below.
Taxes are out of control. In addition to about a 50% income tax, most goods and services are also subject to a "value added tax" of 20%. Compensation is also about 60% of the US version. So in exchange for the NHS, you get an "everything is expensive" mentality, and it's super common to hear well-to-do folks complain about the slightest expenses. It's actually very socialist for being one of the largest capitalist democracies in the world.
The law here is much less clear, and somewhat "equity-based" although followed. For example, an individual has recently been convicted of the crime of owning the Anarchists Cookbook. Penalties are less severe.
Real estate costs are 1.5-2x those of an average US city and 1.25x those of New York. While new construction is made to last longer than its US counterparts, e.g., using a lot of brick, most of it has already lasted longer than its US counterpart. In other words, in London there isn't much new construction. Instead, it's a ton of 100+ year-old homes built with period materials and including 10, 20 and 30-year "extensions" strapped on.
The food is generally lackluster except a few categories like Indian. Forget pizza or Mexican food exists.
People are about as friendly as anywhere.
The weather is almost unbearable. It's always somewhat cloudy. There may be a few consecutive days in September that are clear, but any more than 3 and people will start complaining about how "it's boiling out". In the Summer, while it does warm up in direct sunlight, you don't get continental heating and the stable warm temperatures it brings. So you might find yourself wearing shorts out in the morning and wrapping up in a blanket later in the day. You'll note people wear lots of layers.
Part 1:
I moved from Miami to Kyiv, Ukraine three and a half years ago. I see a lot of interesting responses from Western Europe, but OP didn't specify where in Europe so I'll give my EE perspective.
I live in the city center in Kyiv, which is a great city, vastly underrated due to the legacy of the Soviet stereotype.
Big sacrifices, in no particular order:
- Others have mentioned that the houses are smaller in Europe; this is true here as well. But it's not just about the space; apartments here (and the houses I've been in as well) as just not a comfortable. The stairs are steeper, the layout is weird (especially in old apartments like mine which dates from the Stalin era), the corridors are dirty and dark, if there's a clothes washer at all it's in the bathroom and there is no separate dryer. I admit non of this really counts as a "big" sacrifice, but it's something I still notice every day, even after years of being here.
- As I mentioned, I came here to build a company, so I'm not earning a salary on the local economy. The US is by far the best place to earn money in tech, others have already reported that. Ukraine salaries are cheaper than Berlin, but for strong and in-demand talent, not a whole lot cheaper. The absolute top of the market at this time of crazy salary growth is probably USD 7K or 8K/mo; a more realistic salary would be USD 4K to USD 6K/mo. Compared to the US that's shit, but the Ukrainian tax code has a special carve-out for IT, so the income tax on that is only 5%, and the cost of living is pretty low. I think as a foreigner if you could find an IT company that would hire you for a reasonable salary you could set up quite a comfortable life for yourself, although as I said I haven't personally done this.
- I took for granted that in America, foreigners can immigrate and become Americans, not just by law as citizens but in the eyes of other Americans. That emphatically does not happen here. I could live here for 40 years, earn Ukrainian citizenship by serving in the Army, raise Ukrainian children, and when I die, I will die a foreigner. Most Ukrainians I meet are not hostile to foreigners, but they also don't treat me as one of them, and many assume all foreigners are rich and will try to cheat you. I've grown used to this, and it doesn't bother me, but make sure you're prepared for this reality.
- This sounds stupid, but Amazon (and the ability to impulse buy things and get them the next day, in general). The local market has a lot of Western products, but the markup is insane. Ukraine has very unreasonable import taxes on foreign goods, so everything here is much more expensive. Cars could easily end up being 2x the cost of the equivalent in the US. Residents are allowed to import packages worth up to EUR 100 without import duty; after that, it's 20% tax. Amazon does ship some things to Ukraine, but the shipping is unreasonable and almost everything they still will ship to US only, so I use a service (Meest) that provides me with an address in Delaware, and then will re-ship my packages by boat (takes over a month) or by air (takes at least a week and costs a lot more), where I can receive them at the Ukrainian equivalent of FedEx. Obviously this elaborate process and restriction on dollar amount means I rarely order things from abroad. This might be the most first world of problems ever complained about, but I really do miss this.
- Practically no one you will encounter in daily life, outside of tech workers, will speak any English. This was very hard for me because I'm very self-conscious about making mistakes speaking a foreign language. I speak Russian now at an intermediate level (I really should learn Ukrainian, but Russian learning materials are so much more abundant, and I can use Russian in other countries in the region), which has helped immensely. I can't emphasize enough the importance of speaking the local language with at least conversational fluency. It used to be I wouldn't order food delivery because I know they will call me to confirm the order (this is an annoying cultural difference BTW) and I'll struggle to understand them and it'll be a mess and it's better to just eat some crackers. Now I have no fear of communicating, not because my Russian is perfect, but because I've been here long enough and studied enough that I know I'll be able to communicate. If I had not invested multiple hours per day early on in language study, I doubt I'd still be here. It's just too hard, and too isolating.
- The healthcare system here is...not up to Western standards. In summer 2020 had a heart issue, and was really unsure if I needed to evac back to the US or not. I felt like I would die, although my cardiologist in Ukraine said that was very unlikely. Dealing with the healthcare system is really not pleasant for me, thankfully my girlfriend helped with some details. The process is utterly foreign, and bedside manner is not emphasized in Ukrainian medical schools. So if you come here, don't get sick, and if you do get sick...make sure a Ukrainian cares enough about you to help.
- I left all of my friends and family behind. There's no getting around it, that sucks and there's no solution. Ask yourself how badly you want to move. I don't regret my decision but I won't pretend it was easy. I doubted myself many times. It's not easy for me to make new friends even in my home country; it's no easier here. I am friends with the guys I have hired on my team, but I wouldn't say I have any close friends here.
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.
*If you ignore wide swaths of the 20th century, during which certain disarmed Dutch citizens were systematically sent to be executed. Which by the way, happened within plus or minus 1 expected lifetime of your future children.