Ask HN: Who has moved from the U.S. to Europe? • Hacker News Board

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

#11

Post by humanistbot » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:01 PM UTC

jfk13 wrote: post #7

thegypsyking wrote: post #3

I did the opposite and found the us much better. Pay and opportunities are infinitely better, people are friendlier, having a car is much easier and more convenient.

> Pay and opportunities are infinitely better ...if you're lucky enough to be among the privileged.

What do you expect? This is HN, full of tech folks making ridiculous salaries.

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

#12

Post by Finnucane » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:01 PM UTC

eric4smith wrote: post #2

Quoted post unavailable.

We've thought occasionally about going someplace else, but these days it does seem like you're trading one set of problems for some other set of problems. Of course, there may be situations where that tradeoff becomes worth it, if the problems you have are big enough.

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

#13

Post by jypepin » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:02 PM UTC

boffinAudio wrote: post #9

jypepin wrote: post #5

Hey! I'm back in the US but my wife and I moved from SF to Amsterdam for 3 years. We moved with our tech job there and ended up eventually quitting and doing our own company. - 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 go…

One thing expats definitely have to do is readjust their expectations about cost of living and relative expenses. While the payroll for your average European tech guy is nowhere near the stellar heights of the SV bro's, the buying power in Europe is at a level higher than you might expect. Whereas, for a single night out in SoCal I'd spend $100 - $150, dinner movie and drinks - here in Vienna I'd get through just as…

This is completely true. And also, if money feels like it could be an issue, and you are coming from the US with a US network, it's still pretty easy to find contracting work with your US-based network at US rates. That's what we did once we quit our jobs and I was pretty much working 2 days/week.

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

#14

Post by erwincoumans » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:03 PM UTC

jypepin wrote: post #5

Hey! I'm back in the US but my wife and I moved from SF to Amsterdam for 3 years. We moved with our tech job there and ended up eventually quitting and doing our own company. - 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 go…

Was it always intended to be a limited (3 year) trip, of would you consider permanently moving there, if it was made possible?

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

#15

Post by jzellis » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:03 PM UTC

I'm just outside London, moved here to marry my English wife from Vegas. I work part time doing basic IT for a US law firm due to health issues after heart surgery, and Yankee dollars are worth jack shit here - I'm not making serious tech industry money, but over here it's barely enough to survive on.

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.

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

#16

Post by jurmous » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:04 PM UTC

A nice Youtube series comparing cities and lifestyles with Netherlands/Europe and Northern America.

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

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

#17

Post by dukeyukey » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:04 PM UTC

boffinAudio wrote: post #4

I've done it, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. WHERE: I'm Australian, moved to LA when I was 18 and lived there for 15 years. Then, I moved from Los Angeles to Germany (Duesseldorf), and then to Vienna, Austria. WHAT SACRIFICE: No more In 'n Out Burger, no more decent Mexican/TexMex food, no more LA food trucks. These are literally the only things I miss about the USA. Literally every other aspect of…

How does LA and Vienna compare to Australia?

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

#18

Post by nivenkos » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:05 PM UTC

jfk13 wrote: post #7

thegypsyking wrote: post #3

I did the opposite and found the us much better. Pay and opportunities are infinitely better, people are friendlier, having a car is much easier and more convenient.

> Pay and opportunities are infinitely better ...if you're lucky enough to be among the privileged.

Salaries are far higher in the US in any professional field - engineering, tech, medicine, law, finance... even truck driving.

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

#19

Post by AdrianB1 » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:05 PM UTC

boffinAudio wrote: post #4

I've done it, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. WHERE: I'm Australian, moved to LA when I was 18 and lived there for 15 years. Then, I moved from Los Angeles to Germany (Duesseldorf), and then to Vienna, Austria. WHAT SACRIFICE: No more In 'n Out Burger, no more decent Mexican/TexMex food, no more LA food trucks. These are literally the only things I miss about the USA. Literally every other aspect of…

Just curious: how long since you moved out of USA? How long it took to learn German well enough (in your personal opinion) to integrate well?

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

#20

Post by thenoblesunfish » Tue, Jan 25, 2022, 4:06 PM UTC

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 groups of friends, in general. I live in Switzerland, which is particularly harsh on this front - I do not hope to really integrate and accept that as a cost of the other benefits of being here - maybe my grandchildren will. I think it's fair to say that in America, you're American a lot faster.