10 KEY Reasons I Left The United States (and might never return)

hey guys welcome back to the channel adventure  elliott here from malaga spain and you know i   haven't uploaded in a while and that's  it's because i've been doing a lot of   reflection lately a lot of thinking about  my last two and a half years living here in   spain through the pandemic and all man my  life has changed a lot for the better and   so i thought that i would come up with a list of  10 really well thought out reasons as to why i   as a us citizen immigrated from the united states  to spain and why these reasons might resonate with   you watching and why this might be useful to  people thinking of leaving the united states   to move to another continent like central or  south america or europe and so join me on a walk   to the beautiful city of malaga as i give you guys  10 reasons that i left the united states and why   i might never go back at least permanently that  is we'll see i don't want to say never because   never say never she says because i'm not one of  those people that want to turn in my u.s passport   which is i think becoming more popular these days  if you guys watch the channel nomad capitalist   you know what i'm talking about but i'm not one  of those guys i'm always going to value my u.s   citizenship and at the same time value the  opportunities that our passport gives us   to have other opportunities abroad such as living  and traveling throughout the world depending   on your situation so let's go okay so let's  get started with number 10 and that is that's   healthcare right healthcare a lot of people would  put this way up on the list like number one but   i'm 28 years old so i haven't had any scares yet  knock on wood but it's one of those things that   i just go wow i listen to stories back home from  family and friends of things that have happened   with healthcare and i never had any situation  where i had to take an ambulance or had to go to   the hospital emergency room in my life i'm really  lucky that way so here if you pay into the system   if you are a resident on a certain type of visa  residency or you're a citizen you pay taxes and   you get complete full coverage health care you're  never gonna have to pay a thousand euros to get   emergency room visit or more than that um and  additionally if you decide to go the private route   i have a friend in madrid who's 60 years old and  i think he pays around 120 euros per month for   full coverage now i'm not an expert on health  insurance but we all know the situation in the   united states is is horrible uh i wouldn't wish  anybody to be financially ruined by something like   a broken leg or you know a freak accident that you  hear about all the time which is just a tragedy   quite frankly and that just doesn't happen here  in europe it doesn't happen even in latin america   in latin america you can pay out of pocket and  get medical care there for you know significantly   more cheaper that's why there's a thing such as  medical tourism but enough about that let's go on   to reason number nine all right the ninth reason  thinking back why i left the us is because i   wanted to become more of a minimalist which i have  done and it's probably one of the most freeing   relaxing stress-free feelings you can have uh in  fact you know when i sold my car i was living in   milwaukee wisconsin before i sold my car i  sold a lot of my belongings i threw a lot of   stuff out and i haven't looked back and i don't  think i'll ever try to go back to that situation   where you just keep accumulating materials that  really don't mean anything you know of course   many of our things can be stored online  now it's always good to have a few   sentimental things but really once you get past  that connection to things that don't mean anything   you can really move forward stress-free in your  life and so minimalism is number nine on the list   the eighth reason uh i decided to  move abroad in particular spain was   to gain a skill in in this case the particular  skill uh was to learn spanish well to improve my   spanish and i've definitely improved it a ton you  definitely need you know more than like six months   in a country immersed to be able to get to  a level where you really you know can get   what you want out of the language and in my case  i wanted to be able to gain the skill of speaking   spanish writing spanish so that i could move back  to the united states and use it in a job setting   and at this point i'm definitely at that level um  i use it in my job now but this could be applied   to anything it doesn't have to be a language  it could be something like all right i have   to become a digital mat to survive what skills  do i need to learn in order to survive because   this isn't your country that you're moving to you  have to learn and have a means to survive you're   not going to be able to get a job over a local  especially without a work permit and so how are   you gonna provide value and earn money so you're  gonna be forced to learn a skill and this was   originally like the top reason i chose to move to  spain was to be here for a year learn the language   i mean actually improve the language  i already knew spanish a little bit   and so yeah this is a big reason and in terms of  learning a skill you know i couldn't improve my   spanish to the level it is by living in wisconsin  i could practice online with some friends i had   in school but you just you just can't take  the next step with something it's like   it's like you want to become a plumber or a welder  but you're not going to weld to to be do that how   are you supposed to learn you can't learn by  the books you have to come put yourself in the   situation find yourself in difficult situations  and see what happens and if you progress well   great for you and if not you got to find  a different way so learning a skill is   one of the reasons i came here and you know  i could have went to mexico central and south   america to do this as well even in united states  city but it wouldn't be the same and also if you   go to a country in south or central america what  are your work options you're more limited than   if you find a way to come to europe or to spain  and i'll touch on that later so the seventh reason   is climate well spain is a mediterranean climate  and for those who move to places like mexico   or colombia it's obvious that the climate is  better year-round than most of the united states   you know i'm from wisconsin i got sick of the the  winters that just yeah the winters were rough you   guys all know what northern united states is  like and you know well you could say well why   don't you move to florida or texas or california  and the cost of living obviously is much too   high there and there's other things that many  people there's other reasons that one would not   want to go to florida for for example so  spain central and south america obviously   climate is super important for many people who  leave the united states and i mean here in spain   here in the southern coast of del sol we're in  malaga spain the climate is phenomenal year round   we do get some cold days you know like lows of 50  45 madrid is a lot colder actually i lived there   for two years but in general the climate  is significantly better i can be outdoors   all year round get exercise go to the beach even  if i'm not gonna swim and just kind of enjoy   the well-rounded climate that we have  here in spain and the same can be said   if you were in central or south america which  is another place that i would like to live   with the spanish that is so reason number six  you guys is well when you live abroad and you   have access to the whole continent of europe it's  kind of like one big perpetual travel experience   and you live here but you feel like you're sort of  on vacation and of course that novelty eventually   wears off but even after two and a half years  i've traveled all around spain you can see my   channel i have hundreds of videos here also  in other countries and you know just like that   non-stop wonder lost adventure exploration just  never goes away and you know i got that as a kid   taking road trips to florida and more importantly  my first trip out of the u.s was in 2013   backpacking in mexico just a young little 18 year  old didn't know what i was doing but it really   opened my eyes and i found out that man this  ordinary life of never leaving the place you're   born is just not for me and so one very important  reason of living abroad is everything's a new   experience it's just a non-stop travel experience  that never ends the novelty might wear off but   it hasn't so far for me and if it does i'm still  learning new things i'm still experiencing new   things learning new skills and not everybody's  going to have that same experience but at least   for me that's how it's gone alright so the fifth  reason um maybe might not apply to latin america   but it definitely applies to here in europe and  in particular spain and that is the infrastructure   the walkability the the way that cities are made  the public transport is just top-notch everything   is taken care of you see people are out walking  enjoying their lives there's restaurants to eat   the cities are designed for you to go out explore  to walk to be in contact with humans you know this   could be like the number one reason but for  me it's number five which tells you something   so when i go back to the united states i  was in milwaukee minneapolis which quite   frankly both are really nice cities i like  them eau claire wisconsin as well but how   can you have a downtown city like milwaukee  wisconsin and the streets are completely empty   i mean everything is so spread out there's not  these bike paths everywhere and there's not people   out socializing even in the summer i mean yes  there are but not to this level that if you were   to come to europe you would see what the social  life and social scene is like here as a result   of the infrastructure that really just puts the  u.s to shame at least from a european standpoint   now latin america you're going to run into  infrastructure problems you're still going to   have okay public transport but the social scene  in the united states sorry the social scene in   latin america is much better because even the  cities there are more built and designed for   the street life to happen however they obviously  don't do a great job maintaining their roads   you know for many many reasons that we're not  going to get into this video but yeah just   needless to say the infrastructure here in  the country of spain and the most of europe is   i mean mind-blowing it's really mind-blowing  and i didn't even think of it until i moved here   and i was just like wow a huge eye-opener for  me the infrastructure i want to take a moment   to mention my good friend colin up in ireland who  sends me his homemade and organic beard products   like beard oil beard balm and beard butter now  i use these products on a daily basis and they   really do help me with maintaining a soft  moisturize and clean beard one of the cool   things is the products contain natural ingredients  like peppermint tea tree and lavender which just   gives it a natural touch that has really grown on  me as i continue to use it you can check out his   website by clicking on the link in the description  of all my videos all right back to the video the   fourth reason i decided to immigrate was well  check this out real quick roman theater and   morrish runes the fourth reason is social life  now what you see here with the pedestrians   is related to the infrastructure related to the  culture but this is you guys this is every day   this is how life is here every day and not just  in a touristic city even in small towns in spain   and it's the same way in most of central and south  america and i think southeast asia but the social   life encourages people to go out on the street  to live life on the street to form relationships go play outside as a kid play sports go play  football in the lot soccer that is whatever sport   you might like basketball that is the culture  here and many other places that doesn't exist   in the suburbian dystopia that quite frankly is  the united states the most majority of the united   states my dad used to tell me elliot i'm from a  small town in wisconsin go play outside go find   some kids on the block when i was a kid in duluth  minnesota i would play baseball in the in the back   street well i'm sorry that doesn't exist in the  united states maybe in a few cities it does but   being able to go outside and go find some kids on  the block to play baseball like the movie sandlot   just not it's not how it works anymore but i can  tell you for sure here in 2022 what you see here   is real and there's kids that go out to the  alleyway their parents let them go out alone   and they play sports they make friends they  hang out at the local square the local plaza   the social life here is immensely better and it's  just like an eye-opener for me and for anyone that   visits and you'll notice that if you go to places  like mexico costa rica colombia the same thing the   social life the street the street life is amazing  and on that note of the social scene we have the   food culture which is to eat outdoors here year  round and not just in the southern coast of spain   but the majority of the country and mediterranean  and so the eating out social aspect is another   really fun part about living here you can  see the tables everywhere now between 2 and   3 p.m which is the lunch hour here there's way  more people now it's like uh almost 5 p.m so  

we're getting into siesta time and another aspect  of the social scene and social culture here   is hayah she's probably from the uk i know that's  the uk thing um is the dating scene the dating   life and i can tell you from first-hand experience  that back when i was single when i first moved   here the first year my dating life in madrid was  amazing with it being like an international city   of course speaking spanish helps whether you go  here to spain central or south america that will   be a game changer um but the dating life is  great there's so many cool date ideas there's   lots of people there's just so many people  that are looking to date and have a good time   and i really think one of the things that  makes dating life good here in spain is   people's priorities and where they are and it just  seemed like more natural to me here in europe um   but that's my experience but i know that i have  friends who have moved to centrum south america   and they said the same thing the dating life there  is night and day better than in the united states   so that's obviously very important and you know i  met my long-term girlfriend here we're in a a good   healthy and happy relationship of over two years  now and it's been great it's been great so um yeah   if you come to move abroad you just might meet  the love of your life i also want to mention that   i literally met my girlfriend at the grocery  store in the supermarket just by being polite   and friendly and speaking to her and i mean it's  really as simple as that take care of yourself you   can meet people in public you know at the mall  out on the street in the park whatever just be   friendly and yeah that's just another element of  the social life no online dating i didn't have to   do it and it's quite frankly one of the best  things that's ever happened to me in my life   all right the third reason and this is one  of the top reasons and that is of course   the cost of living here and the spending cycle  so as you guys know there's a big problem with   cost of living being ridiculously high and it's  only going up every month in the united states   it's also going up here and around the world  but more importantly is that spending cycle   in the united states and what i mean is just to  survive you know you got to have a car things cost   more it's so easy to get caught in that debt  trap whether it be from school whether it be from   the priorities that people have and using  credit to credit to support those uh habits   everything just seems to cost money  and you try to budget and save money   but it's hard in the united states and so what  happens is you become stuck in a job where you   are just working and working and working and  you're missing out on the things that you see   in this video that are part of this list of 10  reasons as to why i immigrated such as social life   and that debt trap that cycle of spending is  just it just takes you and it's just so hard   to get out of it because the lifestyle there  just perpetuates that spending cycle i remember   i was back in the u.s in milwaukee you know we go  out to breakfast with my friend and a breakfast   like a waffle some eggs a coffee and orange  juice between the two of us it cost 55 dollars   i almost like puked up the food because it was  just ridiculously expensive in here i'm going out   for breakfast for two or three euros right i mean  that's just one example of the spending cycle and   here this is related to minimalism i live a more  minimalistic lifestyle i don't have a car and so   my cost of living rent-wise food-wise habits-wise  it's just overall much lower and something else i   want to add is that when you're forced to survive  because you're on your own you're in a different   country you don't have other people to rely on  you can't go home to your parents for example   well you learn how to budget your money better  because yeah you're across across the ocean in   a different place so that is a big reason number  three cost of living and the spending cycle all   right so the second reason is uh actually quite  interesting and it's you know sort of a result of   being raised and socialized in the united states  and our culture in the united states makes this   happen and that is simply put individualism what  do i mean by that well in the united states um you   know we're socialized to have to move out and find  our life after we turn 18 and graduate high school   um and for some reasons that's good and for  some reasons i don't think that is good uh   but for example i can tell you here in spain and  throughout latin america that's not a thing people   live with their parents sometimes until they're  in they're 30 years old and they get married and   that's not a stretch but what that does in the  united states is that really challenges you to   figure your life out fast sometimes too  fast but it does challenge you to you know   uh find what you have to do in life and and  quite frankly just survive you know but on   the other hand that enables me to not have fear  to do what i'm doing to take the leap of faith   and to move abroad um whereas in some  places if you have the commodities of   living with your parents not having to pay rent  or food that life might be a little bit too easy   um and so i see it as both good and bad and i see  this individualism as a reason that i'm here and   you know i'm here i took the leap of faith because  being raised in the united states teaches you that   and it's really not that much different than  saying hey mom dad i graduated college i got   a job in new york i'm moving to new york city i'm  moving to la you know i'm gonna go chase my dreams   that is what the united states does to us and  so it is good but you know on the other hand   it can lead to a lot of problems it can lead to  loneliness and depression uh a feeling of failure   among many young people especially now in the  united states we have this thing called nihilism   and that is a big problem with the younger  generations in the united states and i don't   think that baby boomers would understand that so  anyways individualism is definitely a reason as to   why i'm here living my life in this beautiful city  and by the way before this i lived in madrid for   for two years and i've been here for six months  with my girlfriend now finally we're at number one   i deem this as the most important reason  and most kind of profound reason and that is   figuring your life out um knowing what you want  and so basically moving abroad as a younger person   or an older person is an experiment right it's  about living in the moment it's about seizing   the opportunity enjoying life on a daily basis  because oftentimes when you get caught in the   rat race the spending cycle the work and labor  force in the united states you often forget   those things and years pass you by you miss out on  great opportunities and skills that you could have   learned and experiences that when you go to your  grave you know that's what you carry with you so   finding my life uh has been a lot easier and  figuring out what i like what i don't like   as a result of moving here and you know i started  to have those ideas back when i first started   traveling abroad in 2013 as a freshman in college  throughout my college career and after college i   was traveling to columbia to costa rica back and  forth before i decided before finally i decided   hey guys i'm gonna come to spain because i found a  teaching program called auxiliares uh the english   conversation assistance and that's how i'm here  i'm on a student visa i earn money on a monthly   basis not a lot you guys can look it up online  uh but i supplement that with youtube income   you know my life has changed a lot here i started  this channel because i wanted to share things   like this with you guys as a result of living in  spain and having these profound life experiences   and now you know if i i question what is my  future i learn to take it more in stride and   not have these existential crises that a  lot of young people have um and you know   i found a wonderful girlfriend here i've made  connections i've immensely improved my spanish i figured out like what is the meaning of life  for me and what makes me happy what doesn't make   me happy and in the united states that was just  a cloudy uh notion i just didn't i didn't know   what i wanted to do in the united  states and you know we still don't know   everything we want to do you know some people  never figure it out but i definitely have   a better idea and that's my story perhaps  many of you resonate with that same thing   uh in different circumstances you know  different countries i know people who moved   to colombia i know people can move to mexico young  folk who are digital nomadic and they like it uh   you know but if some of them are lonely as well  so it's just really um a matter of perspective   based on individual basis for each and every  person so if you guys like this video please like   leave me comments with questions i want to  get to you guys and answer everything i can   and thanks for watching so i'll see you guys in  another video let me know what other things you   would like to know based off of this video and  so i'll see you guys in the next video adventure   elliott peacey note from sunny beautiful  warm mediterranean malaga spain hasta luego

2022-05-02 17:27

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