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

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

#461

Post by gunapologist99 »

hpkuarg wrote: post #156
gunapologist99 wrote: post #148

I've done it and it's been a pretty wild ride that I would recommend it to anyone. I was originally born in Missouri and went right into the Army. That probably sounds like I was a country bumpkin, but I really wasn't. 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 thou…

In case anyone missed it, the poster is describing Jason Bourne.

Darn, was it that obvious ;)

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

#462

Post by busterarm »

Ourgon wrote: post #434
busterarm wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, peanut (or other nut) butter is nigh impossible to find across all of Europe.

Pindakaas (Dutch for "peanut cheese", which you would call peanut butter) on the other hand is available everywhere, at least in the Netherlands. Then again, peanuts are available everywhere, just put them in a blender or use a high-speed mixer to make your own. I've been doing this for more than 20 years now since Sweden is one of those peanut butter free countries (at least here in the countryside it is). The advan…

Everyone I visit in central europe/scandinavia asks me to bring Reese's cups with me.

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

#463

Post by seanmcdirmid »

talideon wrote: post #65
pbourke wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's like a fucking Joy Division video here from October through April. :-D So people used to the Pacific Northwest would fit right in.

Seattle is further south than Paris, so make of that what you will!

Seattle is pretty mild compared to most of the northeast. Seattle, and heck, even Ketchikan, have milder winters than Minneapolis. My experience in Seattle is fairly similar to my experience in Lausanne, except the latter was further south and had a bit more snow.

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

#464

Post by seanmcdirmid »

thefourthchime wrote: post #171
pwagland wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first points are salient. The last point is interesting, since a car is generally much more required in the US, yes it is easier and more convenient to have a car in the US, as well as a buttload cheaper, but life without a car is (generally) a lot less easy or convenient.

I think it depends on where you live. If you live in New York, LA, Chicago, Seattle a lot of the big cities have such horrible traffic I can see the want to get rid of your car. If you live in a place like Austin Texas and work from home, like I do. Having a car is a delight. I can go in any direction and bring my stuff I can get stuff from the store and bring it home. I've lived without a car in New York City, there…

I had to rent a car when I went to IKEA in Switzerland. It wasn't that bad, and seemed like a pretty standard thing to do.

The US doesn't really have urban area car rentals, you'd have to get to the airport first.

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

#465

Post by blunte »

wartijn_ wrote: post #432
blunte wrote: post #134

Netherlands, 10 years now. Actually ready to move on… Portugal, Malta, Thailand, perhaps spending 1-6 months at a time in a given location. 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 tax…

As a Dutchman who used to live in Malta for a few years, I have to warn you: Maltese public transport really bad in comparison. If your bus might be 10 minutes early or 20 minutes late and it won't show in the public transport app. If you want to get somewhere on time that's not within walking distance, you'll need a car (there are ride sharing cars and scooters). Bus tickets are cheap though. And yeah, the climate i…

Thank you for the warning. Are scooters common? In Thailand and Bali that is the easy answer in most cases, and I imagine Malta weather is usually reasonable for this mode of transport.

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

#466

Post by larkost »

karaterobot wrote: post #307
Hamuko wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you be broke as a senior software engineer? Even if the wages are lower than in the US, they're probably still in the better half of the wage pyramid. (I'm a senior software engineer in Europe, doing alright) Did he have massive student debt or something?

He didn't mention debt. I kinda wanted to be vague, since I'm just recapitulating a breakfast conversation I had nine months ago, and don't know a ton of details. I believe that he had to continue paying U.S. taxes in addition to the higher German taxes.

If your taxes wind up higher, then you have to file your U.S. taxes, but they wind up being minimal to 0, as the U.S. counts the taxes you pay there in lieu of paying to the U.S.. Mostly your extra expense should be in fees paid to one of the tax accountants who actually know their way around these tax laws/treaties.

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

#467

Post by wartijn_ »

blunte wrote: post #465
wartijn_ wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Dutchman who used to live in Malta for a few years, I have to warn you: Maltese public transport really bad in comparison. If your bus might be 10 minutes early or 20 minutes late and it won't show in the public transport app. If you want to get somewhere on time that's not within walking distance, you'll need a car (there are ride sharing cars and scooters). Bus tickets are cheap though. And yeah, the climate i…

Thank you for the warning. Are scooters common? In Thailand and Bali that is the easy answer in most cases, and I imagine Malta weather is usually reasonable for this mode of transport.

I would say maybe about as common as in The Netherlands. So it's definitely not at a Bali level, but you can there are still plenty of them.

I didn't buy or long-term-rent one myself, but used https://whizascoot.mt/ and https://gotoglobal.com/en/goto-malta/ and I would buy one over a car. Traffic and parking can be bad, and scooters really help out there. And the fastest you can go on any road is 80km/h, so you can get everywhere by scooter. (the ride sharing ones are limited to 50km/h, so roads with a higher maximum speed are not ideal)

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

#468

Post by _theory_ »

eldaisfish wrote: post #124
thenoblesunfish wrote: post #20

I'm sure others will cover the shorter-term aspects. I'll add that, particularly if you're not young or have a family, it wouldn't hurt to consider the fact that you will probably have a great time for the first N years, but there might be a slump when you realize that you will probably never really integrate and will have a smaller social circle because of it, in a place where people seem to have smaller casual grou…

This is something that doesn't get talked about often and i'm glad you brought it up. For all its flaws, the US (and Canada) are societies built around inclusion. Anyone can become American or Canadian and they have. In North America, you are allowed to retain your original identity and flaunt your culture. In Europe, you must become only French, or only Dutch or only Italian. Your original identity is often erased.…

I have no doubt you're correct, however if the same model were applied in the US it would automatically be seen as racist. And I know you use the word 'ethnicity,' but I posit that no one over here thinks in such nuanced terms, so you'd still end up with the conclusion that this way of living is racist.

Which I suppose says something: maybe race concerns are so highlighted in the US precisely because we do aim to be more inclusive over all.

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

#469

Post by jacquesm »

blunte wrote: post #393
bogomipz wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be curious what is prompting you to leave? I think the Malta and Portugal Golden visas are quite expensive though no?

Netherlands is worth spending a year or few in, but the winter weather is dismal wet and dark. Amsterdam is pretty expensive for rent, and with remote work it doesn’t make sense to live there unless you have a circle of friends you want to be near. Plus, the world is large and interesting… time to continue my exploration. Malta has an actual digital nomad visa which costs something like 300 eur. Portugal has a D7 vis…

Ironically, one of the reasons Amsterdam rents are so high is because of expats willing to pay ridiculously high rents.

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

#470

Post by jacquesm »

chrismeller wrote: post #313

- Estonia - 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 beca…

What you are experiencing is called culture shock. My advice: go with the flow, learn the language as much as you can rather than to default to English stick with your broken Estonian and gradually improve it. Do not expect a foreign country to cater to you, you moved, they didn't. I've lived in plenty of places and this simple rule made my life a lot easier.
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