The Inside Story of Americans Who Regret Moving To Europe

A recurring theme in the media is the appeal of Americans moving to Europe to escape Trump’s America. People joke about having a second passport “just in case” and the romantic idea of Europe as a “social paradise” is often showcased by digital nomads who rack up hundreds of thousands of views on social media sharing their enviable lives. According to a recent article from WIRED, the truth about abandoning America for Europe may not be quite so easy. It turns out a lot of Americans who did leave encounter cultural challenges, including Europeans who don’t actually like Americans (shocking) and many other life challenges ranging from a lack of widespread home air conditioning to the pacing of work life. When you add in European social unrest that we’re seeing with protests in France and the prominence of right-wing political leaders in places like Italy, Germany and Portugal, the allure of Europe in particular is waning for many of these Americans featured in the article who are now planning to move back to the US. Migrating to another country is not an easy thing to do. I only did it once in my life and it took a little over two years for my adoptive country (Australia) to really feel like home. Certainly, some of these regretful Americans may be giving up on their new homes too quickly. Yet the bigger conclusion is that perhaps the idea of fleeing your home country instead of choosing to stay and create the culture you want to live in was an idea flawed from the start. What do you think? Do you see this as a predictable boomerang from people who were not prepared for the reality of living in a new country, or a sign of something else?