Americans Who Lived Abroad Are Sharing The Things They Were Excited To Experience Again When They Moved Back
The US has its fair share of problems, but there are just some uniquely American experiences that can't be replicated anywhere else.
Earlier this week, I asked the Americans of the BuzzFeed Community what they were excited to experience again after living abroad, and it might just make you appreciate the mundane, little things a little more:
1."Going to restaurants and getting FREE, unlimited, safe drinking water with your meal. In so much of the world, you pay for bottled water every time you’re thirsty."
–Anonymous, 35 years
2."Convenience. The convenience of everything. We lived in the UK for four years and traveled extensively; and it was amazing. I miss living in Europe all the time. However, we absolutely take for granted how great it is to have 2-day delivery, free returns on almost everything, the customer always having the benefit of the doubt, being able to see a doctor today if I have to, etc. The list goes on and on."
–James, 40 years, New York, NY
3."I literally stopped on my way home from the airport after four months in Denmark to get Chipotle. I thought about it every single day I was there."
–Aleksa, 30 years, Columbus, OH
4."Hot dogs, Dr. Pepper, and FRESH AIR! Paris, France has downright awful air quality. I never once considered how relatively clean cities in Texas were until spending a while away in the city of lights. Must be because every other Parisian and their dog is a smoker."
5."American currently living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil here. I'm moving back to my hometown (Houston) for four months until I move to The Hague, The Netherlands, at the end of April. I don't miss a damn thing from the United States except for a proper American sandwich."
"Triple decker club with turkey (not really a thing you can buy here in the grocery stores) and roast beef (surprisingly, also not really a thing you can buy here in the grocery stores) and American-style bacon and lettuce and tomato on white bread or sourdough...I'm drooling just thinking about it. There are Subways here but it's not really quite right."
–Cecilia, 42 years
6."I was an exchange student for a year in the 80s in a mid-sized town in Bolivia. When I came back to the US, I could not believe I had forgotten about scalators! I had not been on one in over a year!"
–Anonymous, 52 years, Boston, MA
7."I lived overseas for 11 years in four vastly different countries. A few things I missed the most were grocery stores (choices are so limited overseas, having to go to multiple stores for things), American Amazon, and authentic Mexican food."
"America has its faults and I never thought I’d move back, but after Covid things changed. I found myself coming back and enjoying a lot of little things I didn’t even think I missed that much. Iced beverages, being able to do simple errands without a language barrier, AC, central heating, the list goes on and on!"
–Anonymous, 37 years, GA
8."When I lived in Korea (I moved from the US to Korea as a 9-year-old), what I really missed most was Campbell's soup and public libraries. Those things are common there now, but in the mid-1990s, the only way to get American grocery items was to pay extremely inflated prices at import stores... if they even had it in stock. Campbell's soup was (and still is!) a comfort food for me; in the US, I often came home from school and heated myself a can of soup as a snack."
"Libraries existed in Seoul, but they were more places to study than check out books (books were pretty cheap there, so most people just bought them). On top of that, there were very very few bookstores in Seoul that sold books in English and I was hooked on Agatha Christie mysteries, so I wanted to read them in their native language. Whenever someone visited from the US and asked what they could bring for me, I would send them a list of the Christie books I already had and ask for 'any Christie book not on that list and some Campbell's soup.'"
–Anonymous
9."Lived in Germany for several months – the roads are SO small!! Most roads are only large enough to support one lane traffic or two if you’re near the autobahn. When I moved back to the states I legitimately sighed in RELIEF seeing our wide open roads!"
"Driving in Europe was a nightmare for many reasons (a dishonorable mention to the constantly changing speed limits), but in the States, there's plenty of room for everyone on the road."
10."A big fat juicy American cheeseburger. With a pile of nice greasy fries."
–Charley, 59 years, Upstate NY
11."X-Large cups of any beverage was what I missed most. And ice!"
12."The candy. That’s it."
13."Driving a car and American Chinese food."
14."I missed cheap wine and snacks from Trader Joe's and having one single "super store" like Target where you could get everything from a cute top to frozen pizza."
–Anonymous, 50 years, San Francisco, CA
15."I lived in Ireland for four years, moving back I was most excited for grape flavoring!! Everything purple in the UK/Ireland is blackcurrant flavored. Even traditionally American candies like Skittles and Starbursts purple candies are blackcurrant. Medicine, food, candles, I couldn't stand it. I missed artificial grape so much!"
–Lacy, 21 years, CO
16."Not me, but every time my brother comes to the US to visit me, he eats as much cheese dip from Mexican restaurants as he can and buys about 10 bottles of the knock-off brand Chick-fil-a sauce, lol."
–Zara
17."Diversity! There are few countries in the world where you can meet so many different types of people, eat different types of food, and experience so many different cultures."
–Anonymous, 42 years, US/Mexico/Spain
18."The one thing I really missed that I couldn’t work around or substitute wherever I lived was the little things like pre-made puff pastry or cookie dough or pie crust in the freezer section at the grocery stores. Tbh, grocery store options were the only thing I really missed."
–Anonymous, 32 years, ME
19.And finally, "I studied abroad in Europe. I missed ice in water and other drinks, washcloths, dryers to dry my clothes in (everything had to be lined dry, including towels, which felt like cardboard after), and adequate A/C!"
Now, it's your turn! Have you spent time abroad? Tell me what you were most excited to experience again in the comments below!
