Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Ten years ago, I got hit by a car while riding my bike. About a month later, I moved to Germany where I’ve been for the past decade this coming August.
Getting hit by a car was, in an ironic sense, the perfect send off for me. It was the culmination of years of close calls with cars, whether I was on a bike or just walking around in my neighborhood. And one of the main reasons I wanted to move to somewhere in Europe was so that this was less likely to happen.
And I got it.
When I moved from the U.S. to Germany, I couldn’t have imagined I’d spend all of my 30s living here. It still seems surreal to me that I’ve been here longer than my high school, college, and graduate school years combined—and am now a German citizen.
But there was never a pull to move back to the U.S. permanently. Frankly, I didn’t want to go back. I love visiting family, grabbing a beer at Great Lakes Brewing, and something to nosh on at Larder. But I’ve found the grass to be greener here, in Europe, for how I like to live—and this seems to be pretty consistent to the American experience abroad.
In this video, I’m going to share the biggest differences I’ve noticed after moving abroad—and how I view freedom very differently from how I understood it growing up in the U.S. The last point is—surprise, surprise—the most important to me.
--
CHAPTERS
00:00 - I got hit by a car
01:12 - Guns
02:17 - Physical and financial security
03:42 - Linguistic and cultural diversity
04:41 - Walkability and public transportation
07:11 - Freedom is in the eye of the beholder
08:55 - Coming up next (Uzbekistan, Zelda)
SOURCES: withoutapath.substack.com/p/how-i-view-the-us-after-10-years
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
Ten years ago, I got hit by a car while riding my bike. About a month later, I moved to Germany where I’ve been for the past decade this coming August.
Getting hit by a car was, in an ironic sense, the perfect send off for me. It was the culmination of years of close calls with cars, whether I was on a bike or just walking around in my neighborhood. And one of the main reasons I wanted to move to somewhere in Europe was so that this was less likely to happen.
And I got it.
When I moved from the U.S. to Germany, I couldn’t have imagined I’d spend all of my 30s living here. It still seems surreal to me that I’ve been here longer than my high school, college, and graduate school years combined—and am now a German citizen.
But there was never a pull to move back to the U.S. permanently. Frankly, I didn’t want to go back. I love visiting family, grabbing a beer at Great Lakes Brewing, and something to nosh on at Larder. But I’ve found the grass to be greener here, in Europe, for how I like to live—and this seems to be pretty consistent to the American experience abroad.
In this video, I’m going to share the biggest differences I’ve noticed after moving abroad—and how I view freedom very differently from how I understood it growing up in the U.S. The last point is—surprise, surprise—the most important to me.
--
CHAPTERS
00:00 - I got hit by a car
01:12 - Guns
02:17 - Physical and financial security
03:42 - Linguistic and cultural diversity
04:41 - Walkability and public transportation
07:11 - Freedom is in the eye of the beholder
08:55 - Coming up next (Uzbekistan, Zelda)
SOURCES: withoutapath.substack.com/p/how-i-view-the-us-after-10-years
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
