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?!

We can get to Greece and all manner of sunny places on far shorter flights than many have to fly to get to Florida in the US. What happens if you lose your job? Re workers rights the US has far less holiday and what little rights there are stand to be eroded even more. The US train passenger service falls far behind other advanced economies.

We get it you love the US however many love the UK. Most would never swap.

The culture and architecture IS very samey. The culture is all Catholic, and the architecture is either Baroque or Mediterranean-villagey. You can't tell whether the below is in France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, Bosnia, Switzerland...it all looks like this.

I actually love the US and have visited many times. Would I want to live there- no

Seriously!

Do you not think you are coming across as arrogant, why are you convinced it's all jealousy, jealous of what? I don't think when someone doesn't like something I do or buy they are jealous, my first thought is that they simply don't like it - no double meaning.

Equally, I would argue your well and truly manifesting the cultural propensity of the U.S. which is to be very patriotic.

In my mind, people having opinions about stuff is fine, you don't agree with them but surely life isn't black and white. Plenty of good things and beauty in the U.S. but to dismiss all people's criticisms as coming from a place of fundamental jealousy is just childish.

It's a cultural manifestation, of course not all Americans but all on this thread have, someone on the thread said the Americans are go getters so yes, it is related to that. I thought they liked being the best, isn't it in their DNA. Why is that a put down?

Please stop now you are embarrassing yourself.

Yes “American” culture is valued and celebrated… but if you look at the roots of it all of the symbolism and patriotism is a method of unifying very different cultures and large geographical areas.

You’ve, no doubt, heard about all of the immigrants that have and continue to make the US its home, right? I mean we have a statue dedicated to it and everything. I mean up until a month ago we didn’t have an official language as a country.

As for what you hear about America first, well yes that is what you’d hear most about in an international forum… I invite you to google ‘states rights’ and report back what you’ve learned.

I’m not going to speak for another poster… but I believe what they were getting at in the ‘samey’ comment about Europe is that a lot of the big cultural icons and architecture were built around the same time and commissioned by the same entity (The Catholic Church), the leaders of the day were royals that intermarried between countries so it’s on the whole very similar, but yes there are differences. I don’t think anyone thinks that all of Europe is homogeneous.

I still don’t know what your Danish relatives have to do with any of this and I doubt they’d appreciate being dragged into this shitshow of a thread.

I best most people would guess the scene I posted above to be Italy. Well it's not, it's northern Croatia. See? All looks the same. Now see the contrast between THESE American landscapes, all of which are from mainland US:

I posted an explanation of myself above; maybe you didn't see it. TLDR: I am not going to put up with people making out that my life is crap because I live in the US.

How is the culture 'all catholic'? Europe isn't just the Mediterranean? This does just come across as ignorant and so far fetched that I can't take you seriously.

People are responding to the OP's question and questioning the validity of their ideas, it isn't about you and plenty of said about the pluses of the U.S. whereas you have just dismissed a whole continent as 'samey'.

Well, I'm American and I don't know many who are quite so hive minded. I guess over in the states they could assume you align with people marching on Southport chanting, 'stop the boats'? That I can assume that, along with the desire for sovereignty, is in your DNA?

Because those things are very much cultural manifestations.

Europe is a deeply Catholic continent. How can you not know that?

• Catholic Church: European countries with significant or majority Catholic populations are Andorra, Austria, Belarus (western), Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina (central and southwestern part), Croatia, France, Germany (western and southern regions), Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia (the Latgale region), Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands (eastern and southern regions), Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland (central and southern regions), Ukraine (western part) and Vatican City.[42] There is also large Catholic minority in Albania (10–15%).[43] In the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, Catholics comprise roughly 10% of the population. In Serbia and Romania, Catholics constitute over 5% of the overall population.
• Eastern Catholic Churches are found mostly in Ukraine (western), Italy (southern), Slovakia (eastern), Romania and Hungary. Small numbers of adherents exist in Russia, Serbia, Poland, France (especially Corsica), North Macedonia, and Greece. Most Catholics in Scandinavia are the result of immigration from other countries in Europe and elsewhere.[44][45][citation needed]

OP asked if she was BU to be jealous of the US lifestyle, and as someone who lived for 32 years in the UK and 18 years in the US, I'm well-qualified to answer. My answer is that life in the USA is miles better than life in the UK, in so many ways, so she's not being unreasonable. Sorry if you don't like that it's so fab here. 🤷‍♀️

No you are, with your comments about immigrants, this surely must be satire, are you joking?

"Yes there are differences" understatement of the year. Europe the continent is very diverse, for a start there are 200 languages spoke, no the Architecture is not the same, I'm married to an Architect, he would definitely agree on that one with me!

You pulled my relatives into this, when you posted that they would fill me in on the gaps? I was asking what you meant by that? I initially referenced them as I was suggesting it isn't just the Brits that are bewildered by certain behaviours l.

I loved the UK the most before I lived in the US, too. Life is absolutely brilliant here. The hot summers are comfortable because there's ceiling fans all over, and air conditioning when it's really hot, there are water fountains everywhere so you can always get a cool drink, there are insect screens on the window so you can have your windows open on a warm night and not get infested with big fat gross moths, there are way more public toilets - life is so much more convenient and comfortable.

As for losing my job, I have more protection here in Massachusetts than I had in the UK. It's also easier to save a cushion as life is cheaper, salaries are higher, and tax is lower. But I would do the exact same as I would have had to do in the UK - get another job. I have far better life insurance/salary insurance/longterm care insurance/critical illness insurance than I would ever get in the UK. I never felt that I had job rights in the UK. If your UK employer wants to get rid of you, they'll find a way.

I have five weeks a year holiday and many "bank holidays" too.

You are closer to many other countries, true, even if they are all quite similar except for the languages.

It isn't 'all Catholic' though is it, what is the %. I suppose in the US it is all Christian if we are arguing that line. There are places where more churches exist than shops!

My main point is, the British just love to tear the US apart, but for most people it's a completely amazing place to live, despite who's in power.

They aren't all quite similar why do you keep peddling this crap, it is bizarre.

Not all Catholic, but the over-arching culture of much of Europe is Catholic.

The US is 63 percent Christian, but it doesn't have the uniformly Catholic culture that Europe has. You don't see shrines to saints by the side of the road like you do in Europe, for example. And the architecture isn't overwhelmingly Catholic like it is in Europe, and Catholic attitudes don't dominate socially like they do in France, Italy, Ireland, and many other Catholic countries in Europe.

So the US doesn’t have any immigrants… alrighty then.

Number of immigrants to the US in 2023: 47.8M
Population of England 2024: 57M

(Seriously you really should stop, it doesn’t appear to be going well for you.

It's not bizarre; I spent my holidays in Europe for 32 years and I found it quite samey. That photo I posted above, you wouldn't have been able to identify which European country it was.

Mumsnetters pick on the US all the time. That's fine, but those of us who live here are going to push back on those criticisms.

Catholicism is 35% in Europe. I’ll take shrines any day over the line of Christian placards you see lined up alongside US roads and banned books.

I felt the same way when I first met my South African partner. Safari, fishing, horseriding, golf, boating, snorkelling, Braai, you name it, they have it.

Then you realise why they moved over to the UK in the first place, because none of that lifestyle is affordable without a job paying either £, € or $.

I grew up with an outdoors-loving family, walks, camping, wild swimming, rock climbing, biking. My partner was cynical about the UK until he met me and my family, realised the fly-fishing he enjoys so much originates from the UK, Trout were literally imported to SA.

If you want it, go and get it.