To be a bit envious of this lifestyle? (USA)

[ThePinkPonyClub]

I've just watched School Swap: UK to USA on Channel 4 and have ended up feeling a teensy bit jealous of the kind of lifestyle that's possible over there.

Even normal, non wealthy families seemed to be able to live really outdoorsy lifestyles where they can hike and hunt and boat amongst the gorgeous scenery. I feel like in the UK, even rurally it isn't possible as everywhere is so densely populated especially when the weather is nice. The weather is also a limiting factor!

I'm obviously not jealous of the MAGA/Trump craziness or the crappy healthcare and all the rest of the political stuff but purely the lifestyle side of things, it seems so much more possible to live in that free, outdoorsy kind of way.

And the schools seemed to have a much more positive, enthusiastic culture with things like school sports and dances, compared to the UK teens in their drab uniforms staring at their phones the whole time in their miserable, run down secondary school.

aibu? Anyone live this kind of life in the UK? If so, where?!

I haven't speculated on the reasons for the obesity here because it's probably very complex. My point was that there's a ton of healthy food available here in any supermarket.

It may not be as diverse as Europe, although it's about the same size, but it's still way too varied for generalisations imo.

That's a very truthful post, even if you were going for sarcasm! But you for got the teeny-tiny portions of food...
Especially true is the sweetness of every foodstuff, and let's not forget the chlorinated chicken.

You're wrong about Whole Foods accessibility. You're also wrong about other American supermarkets. There is a huge variety of healthy food available in cities and suburban areas. Even deprived rural counties will have a Walmart stocked with healthy food. One of my DCs in an extremely rural area in one of America's poorest and most obese states drives 45 minutes to their nearest Walmart for all the veg and fruit they're used to at home in the burbs of a major city.

This particular DC is an HCP and regularly sees patients who simply never buy what's on offer though they go to the Walmart regularly. They stock up on hot dogs, bread that will survive a nuclear holocaust, and soda even though there are thousands of better options available right under their noses. It's hugely fristrating to deal with people who won't try anything different from what their granny did. You can take a horse to water...

If anyone is interested in the not so nice part of living in America, look for “clean With Barbie” on YouTube. She cleans NY apartments. Horrible dingy depressing shit holes with old not fit for purpose plumbing, rats, cockroaches …. These apartments would result in court cases in the UK

How interesting! I’ve never seen a washing machine that isn’t in a kitchen here. Have gone through all my friends and everyone has that setup. We have a kind of side bit of the kitchen with a second sink so could be a utility but our kitchen is tiny and it’s all one space. Have the washer and tumble dryer on that side. And the freezer in the garage as the kitchen is so small lol.

Spent more time than reasonable thinking about this and still can’t think of a single house or flat I have been in without the washing machine in the kitchen. Am in Scotland though and there are many odd differences so maybe that’s why?

I think most people probably expect a separate utility or utility/boot room in their homes now in England, in the same way many expect ensuites and downstairs toilets/bathrooms. I think the majority of modern/new build homes have them. Freezer in the utility/garage or outbuilding is often in addition to one in the kitchen.

Am not sure about ‘any’ supermarket. My grandparents in law lived in the back woods of Virginia and their grocery store did not have a wide assortment of healthy food options. I think the assumption was that everyone grew things at home so the grocery store was snacks, meat, more meat, meat flavoured snacks, beer, soda, etc. There are massive food desserts in the inner cities as well - which isn’t unique to the states of course

Yeah I have a few friends in new builds but they still have one space for kitchen plus utility stuff. Obviously the majority of flats in the city centre don’t have separate spaces either. I would love a utility room for sure!

Nope, lived in Scotland til I was 30. I've just realised in an Edinburgh tenement I had a washing machine in the kitchen. But growing up, all my friends had utility rooms. My siblings in Scotland also do now.

I dispute your contention that Europe is more diverse.

Local schools where I live (suburb of a major city) have children whose first languages include Fulani, Igbo, Korean, Chinese/ Mandarin, Ghanaian, Polish, Czech, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Amharic, Somali, Portuguese, Haitian Creole and other Caribbean Creole languages, and several dialects of Spanish from all over central and south America, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. There are grandparents who speak even more languages (Vietnamese, Tagalog). Schools in the nearby city report children whose families speak 180 different languages. This is similar to the number of languages spoken by students in NYC schools. Local supermarkets and ethnic shops reflect the diversity.

Obviously, there is not as much diversity the further you go from the cities, but you'll find lots of South Asians working everywhere, and university towns even in states like Iowa will have plenty of students both foreign and domestic whose culture is not Anglo.

Can’t understand why anyone would be jealous of USA. They’re absolutely insane, the food is shit, and the racism and gun violence is disturbing.

As I mentioned, one of my DCs lives in what would be considered the backwoods, but is 45 mins from a Walmart that has everything a nicely stocked supermarket in the burbs would stock, including several kinds of almond milk amd all the fresh fruit and veg you could hope or pray for. There is a small grocery store a few minutes walk from there this DC lives that has a very poor stock of anything you'd want to eat. However this is a part of the world where two out of three of the men are mechanics or know how to fix a vehicle, and everyone has some sort of transport. They go to the Walmart but they do not buy the good fresh food. Many grow their own tomatoes, peppers, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, etc. but the old traditions of canning and preserving have died out and therefore fresh veg is only a seasonal part of the diet.

I don't think food here is any sweeter than in the UK, and the chicken I eat certainly isn't chlorinated.

A lot of US homes are hard to put character into.

That's pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel for criticisms. Weak effort.

@saltinesandcoffeecups Now you know you can’t express any positive opinions about the US here.
There isn’t anything good about the US and we’re all shooting each other while we look longingly into hospitals that no one is able to afford with our lunch bags full of sweet bread and spray cheese.

Hey, were you following me? I love to look at the hospitals, and what's wrong with spray cheese???

Off to polish my gun collection.

I meant diversity of culture to visit as the poster I was discussing this with was suggesting there is no availability of different experiences like the US contains, well that is clearly not the case for the UK as we have the whole of Europe, I have family in Denmark and can and do get to Copenhagen by lunchtime setting off at 6am! Copenhagen is very different to London as is Paris - accessible on the Eurostar very quickly, as is many a European country so it isn't really true that we are limited with choice as was the implication.

Yup.

The US is super-cool, has amazing weather, large homes, and you can have a much better life here on the same salary as at home. Brits put it down all the time because they're jealous, basically! They criticise it but love their holidays here, especially to Florida and NYC! 🤣

Here in the UK, many thousands of miles of footpaths and bridleways go across farmland. ("Acres and acres"? Try tens of thousands of square miles). It's not trespassing - they are public rights of way. There are some dangers (there have been quite a few people injured, and sometimes killed, by cows) but you decide for yourself whether you want to take them.

This is the main difference between the UK and the US, I think - we take the attitude that nature and the countryside belong to us all, and we're all entitled to access our landscape. We also think that exercise and enjoying wildlife and all that are things to be integrated into everyday life and just getting to where we need to be and so on. Whereas Americans consider such things "leisure activities" which are to be segregated from the rest of life, at dedicated times, in special places called "parks". That "trails for all kinds of abilities" made me laugh. Here we just have paths, and we decide what our "abilities" are for ourselves; we don't have some sort of external body to tell us where the "trails" are and advise us on it first. The country's 160,000 miles or so of footpaths and bridleways form a network that covers the whole country - you could walk from one end to the other if you wanted. It's not like, "here's a trail that's five miles long and here's your map". You work things out for yourself.

I suppose this is partly to do with the greater population density - we just haven't got the space to separate out walking (or "hiking" as Americans always seem to say) and the places where it happens from the rest of everything that goes on in the countryside. We have national parks but they're nothing like the American ones where "the wilderness" is held in pristine isolation and there's nothing else there and you need at least a full free day to go. Our national parks have farms and housing and businesses and schools and normal life going on within them, and people just go for a stroll (across farmland, if they feel like it!) before work or whatever. And the same in rural areas that aren't national parks. This is one of the reasons why the UK obesity rate is lower than the American, I would think - it's easier for us to get some exercise without having to schedule it or go to a special place to do it. (Don't get me started on "dog parks").

It's also to do with the greater age of the country - many footpaths date back to the middle ages, when peasants obviously walked everywhere and couldn't get to church or market or whatever without crossing someone else's land. The right of way has often been established for centuries. There are even a few paths that go back to prehistoric times. The farmers get between their fields by driving tractors down them, and the walkers walk down them, and we just keep an eye out for each other and share the space with no trouble at all. I know it might sound odd to you, but it's the culture here and has been for longer than the US has existed. It works just fine.

There are many, many reasons to walk across beautiful British farmland. The peace, the beauty, the views, the wildlife, the solitude. (You can go for hours sometimes without seeing anyone - something I've never managed on one of those American "trails"). The prehistoric monuments (there's lots of them in the middle of fields) which can't be reached any other way. Sometimes meeting friendly farmers, who like to see people enjoying the wonderful landscape, and will point you in the right direction if you're getting lost. At the moment I'm especially enjoying sharing the fields with the beautiful little spring lambs. And when you're tired and hungry, you make your way to the nearest village for a meal or a pint. I pity anyone who doesn't have this; it's one of the greatest things about being British. It's our birthright.

What on earth are you talking about?

Not a big X fan, but I'd suggest you give him a look if you want to see some squalor right here in the good ol UK

https://x.com/Kwajotweneboa

What do you consider 'super cool' about the US and how do you define 'a much better life'?

@ThisFluentBiscuit I don’t think that’s true across the board - we had to see someone on business in an NY flat and it was so small she kept get ironing in the oven and didn’t cook all as kitchen was a cubby hole and had zero storage- like the UK it comes down to location and cash

@Goldenbear. Ah I miss Copenhagen - loved living there. My favourite airport in Europe too

They define it almost entirely in terms of money, IME (that "large homes" was a clue) - and struggle to grasp the concept of anybody defining it any other way. You can talk at length about history and culture and community and beauty and anything else at all and just get a look of utter blank incomprehension, followed by "yes but I earn more and pay less tax and have a really big car". Best to just give up.

I think we can assume that every American you've ever met is a figment of your imagination.