13 Things that are BETTER in the U.S. (than anywhere else)

I have been to over 40 countries now on five different continents. Amelia has been to 37 countries, and we can say without a doubt that the U.S. kicks everyone else's butt in the things that we're going to talk about in this video. That is so true. But before we dive in, if you are new to our channel, I'm Amelia. And I'm JP. And we can help you fast track your move abroad, whether you want to expat to one country or slow travel around for a while or full time like we are. Yeah, exactly. All right, let's dive into this list. And the very first one is plumbing. And this is top of our mind right now, because where we're staying, we have a nice new high rise condo with sewer smells coming out of our bathroom as we speak. Yes, yes, it is a bit unpleasant. Luckily, it is not all the time, but it's enough to make us notice and think why can't people around the world plumb stuff properly? I know. I don't think they put pee traps in the showers. This is something that's common in the U.S. It's by code. You have to do it. So that you don't get the sewer coming up to the shower. But so many places in Europe and Asia that we have been to, the sewer gases just pour out of the shower. It's horrible. Yeah, this is not as bad as some places we stayed in in Chiang Mai, which was terrible. And we saw it on the street, too, but it's been in multiple countries. I know it's I don't understand it. This is a new condo to like less than two years old. It should not have sewer smell. I know. I feel sorry for the people who own these units. Yeah. The next thing is electricity. The U.S. knows how to do electricity. How many places have we been to, Amelia, where there's been one outlet in the kitchen and nowhere near where you need to use it? Yeah, like that place we stayed in Kumbaya, where there was only one plug in the entire kitchen and it was right next to the sink. There was there was this much counter space and the plug and the sink. So we had to plug everything into the sink with the water and the you know, the steam and everything else. And the whole the whole living room area only had two plugs and one of them was broken. The other one was behind the sofa. Yeah, that does happen a lot where they just don't have nearly as many outlets. I understand it if it's in an old historic building. But that was a new condo. Yeah. Remember that place in Kuala Lumpur that where the the plug for the cooktop came out from the cabinet and plugged in the plug right above the stove, like right where you cook is an electric outlet. And the cooktop was plugged into it. Well, and we've seen that in other places, too. They have that in Toronto. Yeah, it's unbelievable. That's one thing I love about the U.S., because there's codes. I remember when I remodeled my house by code, I had to put a plug on the end of the peninsula in my kitchen, which at the time was a hassle because the electrician forgot to do it. And then the inspector came and said, You got to have a plug here. I'm like, Do we really? He's like, Yes, you have to have a plug here. I would use that plug more than any other plug in the whole house. I was so thankful that they put it in. Well, then that's going to lead me into OSHA, our safety standards in building and construction, because we have been all over the world. And I am shocked by the way people are out constructing things without actually harnessing themselves in. I don't know how they do it. Their balance must be incredible. So I was walking home in Cuenca one day and there was a guy standing on top of a concrete block wall two stories high with a sledgehammer breaking up the blocks beneath his feet. Then he would pick it up, throw it over the sidewalk where people were walking into the dumpster out in the street. Remember that? That would not happen in the US. I can't. I don't know how he stayed on that wall. That's amazing. Remember the guy we just saw this the other day, the guy that was straddling that that huge ladder and was moving it like so. He was like walking with the ladder. He was about 10 feet off the ground walking with with the ladder. He was doing some cabling or something. We've seen people put the ladder up in the middle of the street, leaning against the cables to to work on the cables. I'm guessing they were not electricity. It was probably cable or telephone or something. But one guy was down at the bottom in the middle of the street. The traffic going like this. And he's got his ladder against the cables wiring stuff. Yes, we do not take those safety standards for granted. Like the rest of the world does. Apparently, it's crazy to see what some people do. Yes. OK, the next thing is ADA accessibility. Americans with Disability Act. If you have a mobile mobility issue, you're not going to find a country that's as good as the US. I completely agree. We get asked about this on occasion, and it's a tough one for us to answer because we like to walk and we notice it when things are not walkable. I can't even imagine if you needed to use a wheelchair or if you were sight impaired or if you have any sort of mobility issues. Yeah. Some of the newer areas are pretty good. Like Belgrade Waterfront, where we are now, it's brand new development. It's pretty handicap accessible. It is, but it's still not great. It's still not great. And it's not reliable. So like our bathrooms and the front door here have a threshold that's that high. It's square. It's not rounded. So you you couldn't get in here in a wheelchair. Not easily. No. So but there's an elevator and a ramp out front, but then you get into the unit, into the building and you can't get into the unit. Yes. Yeah, that was a new building. Yeah, no, it's crazy. It's like they just don't go quite far enough. Like the person who is designing it does not think through the all of the usability. Yeah. Yeah. So we've seen that all over, especially in the historic center. It's just not at all accessible, which makes sense because some of those are a thousand years old. I mean, it makes sense. But even some of the newer areas and the newer sidewalks don't have ramps and or they're really steep. Like we'll see a ramp that's a 45 degree angle. Yeah. I don't know how you would get up and down that safely. Yeah. So that the U.S. kicks everyone's butt at accessibility. Most definitely. OK, so the next one is obvious, Amelia. Consumerism. You can find anything that you want in the U.S. either online or in stores. You can have it delivered the same day. I remember when we were at your family's house and her niece had to order some something for school and it was literally there within a couple hours. That was impressive. I couldn't believe I barely pressed the button. It's like they placed the order back in time. I will tell you, once you leave the U.S., you do learn you can just go old school and go from store to store and find what you need. But nothing beats that selection and that quick availability. Yeah. The convenience of it. It's just so easy to find anything and everything that you would ever need in the U.S. That's been on our mind because we've been looking for our favorite spices and we have not found nearly the variety that we were hoping to find and that we do find in some countries, but still not like the United States. Yeah, that brings us to the next point, which is the variety. There's just so much variety for food like restaurants. Some places we go, there's like two or three different kinds of restaurants or one entire street will be nothing but steak and seafood. That's it. They all have almost identical menus. And the U.S. there's just so much more variety of food, hobbies, gadgets, electronics. You can find anything. Yes. We lead the world in stuff. Yeah. The next thing is highways. I sometimes really miss a U.S. highway because they are so efficient and fast. They don't go from six or eight lanes into one or two lanes. There's no stoplights in the middle of the highway. These are all things we've seen around the world. Well, and we were talking about this other day is that sometimes people look at a map and they think, oh, this is only going to be a couple of hours driving. No, it's actually like six to eight hours driving because there is no direct highway because you have to take one lane roads and wind through an area. Yeah. And the average speed is like 30 miles per hour. Yes. Which would be what? 15 kilometers or double? I don't double. I think that'd be 60 kilometers. OK, so one thing the U.S. does not do as well is the metric system. Yeah, we don't know. Oh, signage. That's another thing. The U.S. is great with signs and airports on the roads, highways and stores. I guess you're going to an event. You know where you're going because there's a sign that points you there and multiple signs like each leg of the journey has a sign outside that we are lost all the time. The signs are horrible outside the U.S. This is JP's pet peeve. It drives him crazy. Prague is the absolute worst. Like Prague doesn't even have signs in the metro. When you enter a station, you have no idea what station you're in on the metro in Prague. And we were very confused the first time we went there. It actually has improved a tiny bit, but still nothing compared to the U.S. or Germany is the other one. You like Germany. I love Germany. They like their signs. Yeah, my ancestors, my my brother and out there in Germany and Austria, they are good with the signs. But yeah, the U.S. has great signs. Yeah, I really appreciate that. OK, innovation, Amelia. This is a big one. Nobody innovates like the U.S. I'm sorry we we invented the airplane, electricity, telephones, personal computers, smartphones. Let's see what else I ride shares. Airplane. I already said airplanes. Airbnb, which kind of makes our travel lifestyle possible or short term rentals. Maps. Yeah. The map apps, you know, so that you can see where you're going when you're walking around a city you've never been in before. The translate apps. Yeah, those are a game changer for travel. I tell you, like all these things that make travel easy, if not possible, full time, like what we're doing. Almost all of that stuff was invented in the U.S. When you said map, I was envisioning the real old school map. The scroll to roll it out. I'm pretty sure that started elsewhere. Yeah. No, the map apps that where you can see like I'm walking on this street. I do like those apps. I know it is amazing all of the stuff that the U.S. has innovated. And we walk around and we see all these people doing their selfies and using our the maps and the ride shares and stuff and all of that stuff that people from all over the world use started in the U.S. It's pretty amazing to think about. All right. This is a good time to mention our new free starter membership for the Turtle Travel Club, so you can go meet with other members and find other people who love to travel as much as you do and actually just start connecting right away. Yeah, we have a very active community that chances are really good. You're going to meet somebody in your neck of the woods. Geez, maybe even the same day. Yeah, our members meet up all the time all over the world. They've met all in countries all over the world and they hang out. And the nice thing about being a member of the club is it's an instant icebreaker. So you guys have something to talk about right away, and it makes it really easy to go meet with people, new people. It sure does. Scan this QR code and go to TurtleTravelClub.com to learn more and sign up. Again, it's free with our new starter membership. Yep. Looking forward to meeting you guys on and offline. All right. Back to our list. The next one is sports. Everywhere we go in the world, we see soccer fields or football fields, as they're called outside the U.S. That's really common in Ecuador. They call them you have the church and the temple. Yeah, the church, the Catholic church and the soccer field or football field. But in the U.S., it's every sport all the time. Anything you want to play or watch. And it's it's like a whole event. It's the U.S. has the sports thing. Well, sure, because we have all the professional sports and then we have college sports and for people in their local communities are really into the high school sports. I mean, you got all of it. Yeah, the sports are something else. Yeah. The next thing is national parks. So I guess this is all in line with things that you enjoy doing. The national parks in the U.S. are really unrivaled in terms of size and number. I completely agree. I don't think about the Rocky Mountain National Park. Yeah. Park is amazing. It's huge. Yeah. Then they're all over the country. Those parks are incredible where you go hiking and camping and just relaxing. Whitewater rafting, lay by the lake, skiing. We used to love hiking and in the Rocky Mountains. Every weekend we would go up there and go hiking. Yes, there's so much. Well, geez, when you just talk about things to do outdoors in the U.S. because it's such a huge country, there's so much to do. But I won't go down that list. All right. The next thing is the diversity of landscapes. You're going to have a hard time finding any country that's as diverse as the U.S. We have everything from the Arctic tundra in Alaska or the Arctic Circle in Alaska, all the way to the tropics of Hawaii and southern Florida. We have like beaches in the desert, the desert. We have forests. We have the Rocky Mountains. I mean, it's unbelievable. Yes. The Great Plains where I grew up. Yes. So much variety and diversity. Oh, Redwood Forest. I love the Redwood Forest. I went to the Muir Woods where they filmed Star Trek or the Star Wars movie. The first one or the second one, I guess, with the Ewoks. That's the third one. The third one. That's the Empire Strikes Back. No. Return of the Jedi. Yes. Yes. With the Ewoks. I can't believe I had to pause. Shame on me. I know. I know. Anyway, that's cool. I love Muir Woods. It's cool. But I've also been to the Redwood Forest. And I have not been to those. Yeah, those are neat. You have New England, Autumn, Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon. Yellowstone. Yellowstone is another one we've never been to. Yeah. Also National Parks. I mean, there are a lot of countries that have a lot of these things, but there's I can't think of a single country that has all of these things. Yeah, probably not. Especially when you talk about the difference in temperature type of things. I mean, we have the Atlantic, the Pacific Coast and then the Gulf Coast. Yeah. We've got you covered. I know. And then that's not even including the territories like the American Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam. If you include all those, I mean, it's unbelievable diversity. It is. I'm going to end with the friendly people. Yeah. That's one thing that came out of the World Cup is that all the people who visited the U.S. talked about how friendly everyone is. And we've talked about that. And the Europeans kind of think we're a little too friendly sometimes, especially in these standoffish cultures like maybe Germany and Austria. Yeah. They think we're a little strange. They don't like it when we're quite so casual and personal. But it's hard. That's who we are. Yeah. And it's nice to know that the rest of the world does like that. Yeah. Yeah. So that was one of the things I thought was interesting, the observations of all the people in the U.S. Everyone is friendly. We are friendly. Now, I guess we should have put ranch dressing in there because that was the other big one is that everybody loved the ranch dressing. You know what? I'll say it. Not a fan. Yeah. OK. It's not my favorite. I don't like it either. And we have not seen it outside the U.S. I didn't realize until they brought that up that it was kind of a uniquely U.S. thing. Yeah, I didn't either. It's not because we don't consume it. Yeah. It's interesting. All right. We'd love to hear from you guys in the comments. Did we forget anything that makes America stand out? Please don't talk about politics. This is meant to be a fun video, not a politically divisive video. Absolutely not. Yeah. And before you go, remember to check out the Turtle Travel Club by going to TurtleTravelClub.com and signing up for your free starter membership. And if you don't mind, leave us a like, please. We really appreciate it. And we will see you all in our next video. All right. Ciao. Ciao.