Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
When I was in college, I imagined I might prefer living in Europe. I pictured myself twirling around the countryside like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. I even had the apron on!
Little did I know, Nazis would be making a comeback on both sides of the pond.
Ten years ago, I made it happen. I got a visa and moved to Europe—Germany, specifically, where I live off of free health care, bike lanes, and endless vacations.
Okay, not really. But that’s the thing. Americans, generally speaking, tend to romanticize life in Europe. They think it’s all plush train cars, bike lanes with tulip-crested barriers, and long lunches with endless glasses of wine—void of all the stresses typically associated with life in the U.S.
First of all, life is still stressful here. Maybe not as stressful depending on your perspective. But whether you’re a temporary expat or immigrant, you’re trading one kind of stress for another. You have to deal with a different kind of bureaucracy—possibly in a foreign language, build a social support system from scratch, and confront some of the American myths about Europe head on.
--
CHAPTERS
00:00 - European Dream
01:07 - Bureaucracy
04:01 - Building a social life
05:39 - The growing far right
08:12 - Misleading social media
SOURCES: withoutapath.substack.com/p/the-dark-side-of-living-in-europe
Trail running tours and planning: burningriverrunningcompany.com
Sign up to my newsletter so you never miss a video: withoutapath.substack.com
Get 25% off your first three months with Vert.Run using code Joe25 at: https://vert.run/joe-baur/
Tailwind Nutrition: alnk.to/7McmXyf
FOLLOW ME HERE:
Instagram: instagram.com/baurjoe
Facebook: facebook.com/baurjoe
Strava: strava.com/athletes/3879178
Patreon: patreon.com/c/joebaur/membership
Substack: withoutapath.substack.com
#america #moveabroad #lifeabroad #leavingamerica
When I was in college, I imagined I might prefer living in Europe. I pictured myself twirling around the countryside like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. I even had the apron on!
Little did I know, Nazis would be making a comeback on both sides of the pond.
Ten years ago, I made it happen. I got a visa and moved to Europe—Germany, specifically, where I live off of free health care, bike lanes, and endless vacations.
Okay, not really. But that’s the thing. Americans, generally speaking, tend to romanticize life in Europe. They think it’s all plush train cars, bike lanes with tulip-crested barriers, and long lunches with endless glasses of wine—void of all the stresses typically associated with life in the U.S.
First of all, life is still stressful here. Maybe not as stressful depending on your perspective. But whether you’re a temporary expat or immigrant, you’re trading one kind of stress for another. You have to deal with a different kind of bureaucracy—possibly in a foreign language, build a social support system from scratch, and confront some of the American myths about Europe head on.
--
CHAPTERS
00:00 - European Dream
01:07 - Bureaucracy
04:01 - Building a social life
05:39 - The growing far right
08:12 - Misleading social media
SOURCES: withoutapath.substack.com/p/the-dark-side-of-living-in-europe
Trail running tours and planning: burningriverrunningcompany.com
Sign up to my newsletter so you never miss a video: withoutapath.substack.com
Get 25% off your first three months with Vert.Run using code Joe25 at: https://vert.run/joe-baur/
Tailwind Nutrition: alnk.to/7McmXyf
FOLLOW ME HERE:
Instagram: instagram.com/baurjoe
Facebook: facebook.com/baurjoe
Strava: strava.com/athletes/3879178
Patreon: patreon.com/c/joebaur/membership
Substack: withoutapath.substack.com
#america #moveabroad #lifeabroad #leavingamerica
