traveling open your eyes to how terrible the US is in many ways?

[Anonymous]

Recently went to Taiwan, where they rank higher on the freedom index than even the US. It's amazing how things function when everyone obeys the law and it is clean everywhere. Never worried about crimes and guns anywhere. Public transport? Amazing. Regional railways that took over one hour long cost a grand total of about $2.80 FOR TWO TICKETS. Amazing when infrastructure is not built around cars and catering to car culture. Food, much higher quality. Next stop was in Thailand, where one in our party got sick. Went to the hospital and was seen immediately. Got checked out by the attending physician, took a stool sample to determine if there was an infection, and had the results in less than one hour. All of this without using insurance cost a grand whopping total of $83. Imagine how terrible it'd be in the US. Probably at least over $2000 for the same treatment and it'd take triple the amount of time. Even Thailand is so much safer with respect to gun violence and crime. Traveling really opens your eyes to how terrible the US has gotten. I honestly think we are borderline 2nd world. We aren't really that free, healthcare is unaffordable, zero guaranteed vacations, high cost of living, toxic food, terrible infrastructure, severely obese population, and out of control crime and gun problems.

[Anonymous]

Definitely there are often things I miss when I come back. I was just in Prague and Viennaand loved the amazing public transport, great food, walkability, and public safety.

[Anonymous]

What is scary is traveling to places that are seen as far worse than US and beginning to realize that our comparative standard of living is also going down.

I have been traveling to the same second world country to visit family for 20 years and while it has stayed largely the same, the US has gotten dirtier, meaner, and more expensive. When I go to the other country I feel other people are more easygoing and less on edge despite the many issues in the country. Our lack of social cohesion and shared values is beginning to have a very hard impact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is scary is traveling to places that are seen as far worse than US and beginning to realize that our comparative standard of living is also going down.

I have been traveling to the same second world country to visit family for 20 years and while it has stayed largely the same, the US has gotten dirtier, meaner, and more expensive. When I go to the other country I feel other people are more easygoing and less on edge despite the many issues in the country. Our lack of social cohesion and shared values is beginning to have a very hard impact.

True. Ask many Americans who’ve never been to Taiwan or Thailand what they think they’re like. They’ll conjure up images in their heads of backwater country where people live in straw huts and off of $2 per day. Reality is that they’re far more advanced than the U.S. now in many ways. Public infrastructure is ahead. Public safety, crime, and gun violence are far better. There are many Thais with such higher standards of living that they have inordinate numbers of super high end luxury brands all over multiple cities n the country. Taiwan sets an example that the U.S. should follow with respect to freedom and democracy, not the other way around. It’s honestly shocking how little influence the U.S. has now in spheres like Asia, because everyone now perceives the U.S. as backwater hillbillies who only export death, global warming fossil fuels, and are extreme uneducated fools to the point they’re anti-vax and anti-science. We are are borderline 2nd world country at this point controlled by oligarchs.

[Anonymous]

I really hate when people go to another country for 1-2 weeks on vacation and think that everything is idyllic there because they had a good experience during that short period of time.

I’m by no means a jingoist or believe that America is superior in everything. I lived in two separate Asian countries, one as a teen and one as an adult, for two years each.

Yes, some countries do other things better than we do. Most have gun control much better handled.

But education, taxes, politics, economics and societal norms are complex, and you can’t tell just from a cheap hospital visit or train ride how good things are.

Taiwan is not even recognized as its own country by China and many other foreign powers. They could be invaded by China at any time. China still claims Taiwan as its own.

Thailand is a kingdom, and it isn’t exactly pro-democracy sometimes.

It’s too complicated to go into in a DCUM but, your one glimpse into foreign life doesn’t mean everything is better everywhere else.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I started noticing back in the 1990s that many US cities were 10x more dangerous than any European city. Hearing how others in South America and Caribbean view the US made me realize how silly we look. How we muck things up with the car-centric culture, the lack of accessible health care and child svd elder care, the expense to educate…and now, increasingly, with the huge increase in guns

[Anonymous]

Did you not look at the conditions people live in outside the main tourist areas as you flashed by on the train?

The standard of living for the majority of people in Asia is still not great. Living in a single room with many family members, often with a dirt floor and an open fire stove for cooking, doesn’t seem that great to me.

[Anonymous]

I was recently in Japan and felt the same way.

[Anonymous]

If you aren’t interested in moving to these places, then there is your answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I started noticing back in the 1990s that many US cities were 10x more dangerous than any European city. Hearing how others in South America and Caribbean view the US made me realize how silly we look. How we muck things up with the car-centric culture, the lack of accessible health care and child svd elder care, the expense to educate…and now, increasingly, with the huge increase in guns

New York City in the late 90s was magical - clean and safe - and I found it better run than London and Paris at the time by far. Of course, things have changed. Cities don’t stay stagnant as administrators change.

[Anonymous]

Op, join expat forums if you really want to know what it's like. There's a reason people don't leave the US in droves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you not look at the conditions people live in outside the main tourist areas as you flashed by on the train?

The standard of living for the majority of people in Asia is still not great. Living in a single room with many family members, often with a dirt floor and an open fire stove for cooking, doesn’t seem that great to me.

Found the person who has never been to Southeast Asia!! 🤣🤣

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really hate when people go to another country for 1-2 weeks on vacation and think that everything is idyllic there because they had a good experience during that short period of time.

I’m by no means a jingoist or believe that America is superior in everything. I lived in two separate Asian countries, one as a teen and one as an adult, for two years each.

Yes, some countries do other things better than we do. Most have gun control much better handled.

But education, taxes, politics, economics and societal norms are complex, and you can’t tell just from a cheap hospital visit or train ride how good things are.

Taiwan is not even recognized as its own country by China and many other foreign powers. They could be invaded by China at any time. China still claims Taiwan as its own.

Thailand is a kingdom, and it isn’t exactly pro-democracy sometimes.

It’s too complicated to go into in a DCUM but, your one glimpse into foreign life doesn’t mean everything is better everywhere else.

The US isn't really pro-democracy all the time either.

I don't think anyone said everything is better everywhere else. But we tend to take things in the US as the default or norm, and to think that this must be as good as it can get. Then you go somewhere that does some things better - and it's eye-opening. We've all had those experiences, if we've been lucky enough to travel.

Certainly, if nothing else, we can agree that our healthcare system is totally f***ed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Recently went to Taiwan, where they rank higher on the freedom index than even the US. It's amazing how things function when everyone obeys the law and it is clean everywhere. Never worried about crimes and guns anywhere. Public transport? Amazing. Regional railways that took over one hour long cost a grand total of about $2.80 FOR TWO TICKETS. Amazing when infrastructure is not built around cars and catering to car culture. Food, much higher quality. Next stop was in Thailand, where one in our party got sick. Went to the hospital and was seen immediately. Got checked out by the attending physician, took a stool sample to determine if there was an infection, and had the results in less than one hour. All of this without using insurance cost a grand whopping total of $83. Imagine how terrible it'd be in the US. Probably at least over $2000 for the same treatment and it'd take triple the amount of time. Even Thailand is so much safer with respect to gun violence and crime. Traveling really opens your eyes to how terrible the US has gotten. I honestly think we are borderline 2nd world. We aren't really that free, healthcare is unaffordable, zero guaranteed vacations, high cost of living, toxic food, terrible infrastructure, severely obese population, and out of control crime and gun problems.

Having been to Taiwan multiple times throughout the past decades, yes there are things to admire about how Taipei and some of the other big cities have transformed in terms of infrastructure and cleanliness, but other parts of Taiwan remain more or less untouched. So yes, public transportation is great in Taipei (don't think you make that argument in even other Taiwan cities), but you're better off with a car in Tainan. Also, you're forgetting the decade of upheaval that Taipei went through in building a modern rail system in the 2000s. Just saying there are a lot of factors specific to Taiwan that don't let itself to easy comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, join expat forums if you really want to know what it's like. There's a reason people don't leave the US in droves.

Because we can’t. It’s increasingly difficult.