For all the stories of American families who鈥檝e bid adieu to the United States to give their kids a different upbringing in France, decamped to Italy for a better lifestyle or made the move to Portugal to afford health care and retire on the cheap, there are plenty of Europeans who鈥檝e crossed the pond and made America their home and say they鈥檒l never return to the European continent to live again.
Since regularly features expats 鈥渓iving the dream鈥 in Europe, we decided to find out what the experience has been like for some of those seeking opportunities on the other side of the Atlantic.
We spoke with a handful of Europeans who are embracing American life about what brought and ties them to the United States. Here鈥檚 what they said:
A can-do, 鈥榗owboy mentality鈥
Florian Herrmann, 44, originally from Munich, Germany, first came to the United States in 2006 as part of a university exchange and internship program in California.
When that ended, he returned home to Germany before being recruited to work for a small family business in Wyoming.
鈥淚 was always a career hunter, super career-focused,鈥 says Herrmann, who eventually started his own tourism marketing business in the United States,. 鈥淓verything changed for me when I came to America. People told me the sky is the limit, if you see it you can do it.鈥
He finds the American spirit of 鈥渟upporting the underdog鈥 particularly powerful. Herrmann, who is still a German citizen, says he plans to pursue U.S. citizenship when the option for Germans to have dual citizenship becomes easier.
鈥淭he mentality here is 鈥楲et鈥檚 give it a try.鈥 And if it doesn鈥檛 work, they say, 鈥榃ell, you did it and now you know it didn鈥檛 work,鈥欌 he says. By comparison, failing at something as an entrepreneur in Germany is something you 鈥渃arry on your shoulders,鈥 he says, and usually means less opportunity in the future.
Herrmann, who lives with his American wife and their two kids in Lander, Wyoming, a small town that鈥檚 home to less than 8,000 people, says he feels fortunate to live in such a tight-knit community with a can-do, 鈥渃owboy mentality,鈥 too.
鈥淪mall town America is still absolutely amazing,鈥 he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a support system I just don鈥檛 see happening anywhere in the world. You know the police officer, the people from the courts, the neighbors. My friends will visit from Germany and see me waving to a police officer and wonder what I鈥檓 doing.鈥
Although Herrmann loves the wilderness of Wyoming, he admits it can feel isolating at times. And while he would consider moving back to Germany for a year or two, he doesn鈥檛 think he could ever return there long term.
鈥淚 have become too Americanized. I love my life and the way I live,鈥 he says. 鈥淲hen I go back, I think, 鈥業 really couldn鈥檛 live here anymore.鈥欌
鈥淚 know that I will be buried here,鈥 he adds. 鈥淚 feel like an American. This country has done a lot for me, and I鈥檓 committed and thankful.鈥
An 'innate optimism'
Gabriele Sappok, 54, founded in New York City in 2006 after leaving Stuttgart, Germany, to live with her German boyfriend (now her husband and business partner). The optimism of American life is what inspires her most.
鈥淚 love my home country, but the general vibe in Germany is the glass is half empty versus here, where there鈥檚 this innate optimism that I cherish and love,鈥 says the German citizen who has a US green card.
When she鈥檚 back in Germany, Sappok says Germans complain about how Americans will casually ask how you鈥檙e doing 鈥渨ithout really caring,鈥 she says.
鈥淚 explain to people there that it actually makes my day when people ask how I鈥檓 doing in the U.S., it鈥檚 a gesture I appreciate,鈥 she says, adding that there鈥檚 a huge cultural divide between Europe and the United States, not to mention within Europe.
鈥淚n Germany, it鈥檚 almost like it鈥檚 expected not to be happy-go-lucky all the time because then people doubt your sincerity,鈥 Sappok says. 鈥淵ou have to have a certain level of cynicism and criticism because that鈥檚 what makes you smart.鈥
She says she gets very upset when she sees Europeans 鈥減ooh-poohing鈥 the United States.
鈥淭his is a good country, it鈥檚 truly a good country,鈥 she says. If she and her husband eventually move back to Germany, it will only be for the support of the social system there.
鈥淔or us, in the end, it鈥檚 going to be a question of can we afford to grow old in the U.S. and New York City in particular,鈥 she says.
Sappok is aware she benefited from things like free university education in Germany and 鈥渄idn鈥檛 really pay it back,鈥 she says, since she moved to the U.S. early on to work and live.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a little bit of guilt there, but as long as I can work and can do what I鈥檓 doing, I don鈥檛 want to move anywhere,鈥 she says.
The only things she says she misses from her home country are family and certain dishes, including the Swabian specialty called maultaschen, beloved in her native Stuttgart.
鈥淵ou can get a lot of things in the U.S., but you still cannot get those dumplings,鈥 she says.
People telling you to 鈥榞o for it鈥
Originally from France, Laurence Noguier, co-owner of the restaurant in Chicago, moved to the city in 1998 when she was 27.
She also cites the spirit of American entrepreneurship as something she cherishes about her adopted country.
鈥淚n the U.S. if you have a project, the proper work attitude, a little common sense and the will to make it, you really find an audience, a support system and people telling you to 鈥榞o for it!鈥 she says. 鈥淚f they have connections or resources, they will share these for you to get to the next step.鈥
France, by comparison, is a place where 鈥測ou really need capital and connections to be an entrepreneur and the feature of failure is more inhibiting,鈥 she says.
But her love for the United States goes beyond the business possibilities.
鈥淚 am an optimistic person. I can鈥檛 stand the 鈥榠t was better before鈥 mentality,鈥 she says.
Noguier, who is 53, says she also experiences less ageism here than in France.
鈥淭he U.S. makes me feel relevant as a 50+ years old woman. Age is not a judgment. I feel empowered in the U.S., that I can be heard more than if I was in France,鈥 she says.
That said, she does find the 鈥渃onstant quest to be better, more efficient and more relevant鈥 in the United States exhausting at times.
And while the cost of health care in the United States compared with Europe is 鈥渜uite exponential,鈥 she says, 鈥渢he cliches that there is no health care nor retirement in the U.S. are actually false.鈥
Her heart and soul are bound to two countries, says Noguier, who has a green card and is planning to pursue citizenship this year.
鈥淚 feel more like an American when interacting with French people from France, and I want everyone to come here to the U.S. and try to discover themselves in another world,鈥 Noguier says. 鈥淭hough I am proud to be European, I find myself, my personality, to be a much better fit in the U.S..鈥
Mixing into the melting pot
Clodagh Lawless, owner of tavern in Chicago, grew up in Galway, Ireland, and first came to America in 1998 after her parents secured visas for the family to move.
She says living in the United States has afforded her the privilege to get to know and befriend people of many different ethnicities.
鈥淭he U.S. is a melting pot of people from many different cultures. That brings so much worldly education that cannot be found in any school or university,鈥 says Lawless, who became a U.S. citizen in 2017.
Unlike the Ireland of today, she says, when she was growing up there, she didn鈥檛 have the opportunity to meet many people from other countries since Ireland was not yet a major destination for migration.
She also prefers Chicago鈥檚 weather.
鈥淕rowing up in the west of Ireland, it always seemed to be raining,鈥 she says. 鈥淟iving in Chicago for 27 years, I just love the two seasons, winter and summer.鈥
She says while she鈥檒l never say never, she cannot see herself ever moving back to Ireland full time.
Her sons love being Irish-American, Lawless says, and are very proud of their Irish heritage as well as their 鈥渘ow-American鈥 mom.
鈥淏ecoming a U.S. citizen was one of the proudest moments of my life,鈥 she says. 鈥淛ust knowing the opportunities and privilege that comes with being an American makes me teary eyed every time I speak about it.鈥
Sunnier shores
Lorna MacDonald came to the United States in 1979 when she was just 17 from Penzance, England, aboard a 45-foot sailboat she used to traverse the Atlantic Ocean with her mother, father and brother.
鈥淭here was no room for growth in what my family was doing in England, all my friends were leaving for Dubai or Australia at the time,鈥 she says. 鈥淢y dad always had an incredible sense of adventure.鈥
The family landed in Singer Island, Florida, and were bound for the Chesapeake Bay but fell in love with St. Augustine, Florida, while sailing through.
And that鈥檚 where they remain today. By 1981, the family had opened , a beloved local restaurant MacDonald still owns, and by 1986, she鈥檇 become a U.S. citizen.
She returns to England regularly to visit school friends with whom she stays in touch, MacDonald says.
鈥淟ast time, my one friend got everyone together at the pub. It鈥檚 crazy how the years go by and you still connect,鈥 she says.
But she says you 鈥渃ouldn鈥檛 pay her鈥 to go back to live.
鈥淲hen I go home now and look at the hometown, it鈥檚 really kind of depressing,鈥 she says of Penzance. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not vibrant, the economy there is a lot worse than our economy here. It seems very much more oppressive than here, and the weather has a lot to do with it.鈥
She also doesn鈥檛 miss the class structure she grew up with in England, she says.
鈥淗ere you meet all walks of life every day. It鈥檚 less judgmental of people and more go with the flow,鈥 she says.
That said, England will always be home, MacDonald says.
鈥淏ut I refer to the U.S. as home when I鈥檓 there.鈥
Florida-based travel writer lives in Tampa and is working on getting her Italian citizenship.
