People often assume that life in the U.S. and Europe looks broadly similar, especially in countries with comparable wealth and infrastructure. But when Reddit asked Europeans what Americans have every day that feels like a luxury abroad, the answers revealed just how differently societies prioritize space, convenience, accessibility, and comfort — even in places we think of as peers. From giant fridges and central air to disability access and free refills, Reddit users shared what Americans take for granted — and why it stands out abroad.
If you take people from roughly similar socioeconomic parts of the world, you’d think their lifestyles would be similar too. As it turns out, nothing could be further from the truth.
As civilizations have grown throughout history, different societies have gone down very different paths based on what matters to them. And THOSE priorities can be shaped by hundreds — if not thousands — of factors: weather patterns, religion (or lack thereof), how stubborn their residents are (hello, USA!), how much open space they have, how much they prioritize accessibility, what products were invented locally, and the laws that developed along the way.
So, for example, Kinder Surprise Eggs are perfectly fine in Europe but had to be changed in the U.S. because of laws about inedible objects being embedded in food. Cough syrup with codeine is sold OTC in some parts of Asia, but not here because the DEA considers codeine a controlled substance. Laser pointers above 5 milliwatts are commonly sold overseas, but the FAA considers them a hazard to aircraft, so they’re restricted federally.
But don’t be disheartened! There are lots — and I mean LOTS — of things people in the U.S. have access to that people in Europe are, well, a little bit jealous of. Some are fun, some are a little sad, but all of them are real.
The AskReddit forum is, as they call it, “the place to ask and answer thought-provoking questions.” A couple of years ago, a Reddit user going by Prof_Xdr asked:
Europeans of Reddit, what do Americans have everyday that you see as a luxury?
There were over THIRTEEN THOUSAND REPLIES! But don’t worry — we picked out some of the best ones.
- Disability access everywhere. I can go to any place — theatre, store, office, school — with confidence that I’ll be able to navigate fine in my wheelchair, with ramps and elevators available.
(That comment sparked its own discussion about accessibility challenges in historic European buildings — including how difficult it is to make the upper floors of a 500-year-old castle wheelchair accessible.)
- You can pretty much choose to live in any climate you like when you live in the USA and still be in the same country. You like 4 seasons? Move to the Northeast. You like a humid ocean climate? Move to Seattle. You like dry, warm weather? Move to Los Angeles. You like deserts? Move to Arizona. You like warm and humid weather? Move to the Southeast. As a German who loves warm weather, I am always jealous because of those options. If I wanted to try to move somewhere warm, I would have to move to a new country and learn Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, Greek, or other southern European languages.
(The above had close to 200 responses, including a long conversation about how different Northern and Southern California can be — and how Hollywood became the film capital partly because the “TMZ” (Thirty-Mile Zone) gives filmmakers access to nearly every type of environment within about 30 miles: beach/ocean, mountains, forest, desert, urban/city, and rural areas.)
- Big kitchens and big refrigerators/ freezers. Even in my student apartment we had a pretty good sized kitchen. I was dating a Czech girl and her parents came to visit. When they went to my apartment for a dinner, the mom was just amazed at the size of my fridge. They were amused when I dumped the scraps in the sink and turned on the garbage disposal. They’d heard about it but had never seen one.– Granadafan
Fun fact about one of the replies – they said that “he Czechs call it an americká lednice, which means an American fridge and when you look at Czech appliance stores that’s how they advertise large two door refrigerators.” Funny, we just say they have French doors. I wonder what the French call them?
- Space. America is f**king enormous. — fullspectrumdev
Similar comments included “The massive houses, a special room just for your massive washer and dryer units, 2 car garage,” “Space, room, land,” and my favorite: “I’m from Texas, but lived in Amsterdam a couple of years. My closet in my Texas house is bigger than a couple of the bedrooms in the place we lived in the NL.” Well, none of them are wrong. Although I don’t think they really looked into the tiny apartments you can find in NYC.
- Free refills — Meeeeehhhh
Funny response to this one: “While traveling with a friend, he was determined to get a refill at a restaurant while we were getting lunch. He also didn’t speak Spanish and thought he could smile and get his way. He took his cup to the register, placed it in front of the employee and smiled. The employee had a confused look, but proceeded to take his cup and then toss in it the trash for him.” Oh well!
- The two most peaceful neighbors ever ( 🇲🇽🇨🇦 ) — renzofisa
As a reminder, this was written about 2 years ago. I’d say our neighbors are still as peaceful as possible, consider who THEIR neighbor now is. 🙁
- Wawa. My American husband always went on about it how he’d love to just drive to Wawa. I never got it until we spent thanksgiving with his parents.. Bring Wawa to the UK please. — mythicalkcw
I’ll trade you some Wawaa for better access to (A) Pret A Manger and (B) banoffee pie!
Oh, and Buc-ee’s was eventually mentioned a few sub-threads down.
- Central air conditioners, its hot here in spain — _Neo_64
Central air DOES have its advantage LOL.
- As an American who has lived in Europe for the past decade: toilets that hold enough water in the bowl that you don’t have to scrub them after use. I’ve never gotten over the fact that Europeans have all decided it’s perfectly normal to have a communal toilet brush sitting in a disgusting little cup of fluid next to every toilet that we are all supposed to use after every poop. — bigdruid
Someone’s response to this was that Europeans then fully sneer at Americans having “pools of water” in their toilets. “It’s a lot less messy and stinky, I’ll tell you that.”
- How cheap cars are. A regular Honda Civic in my country costs more than a Mustang in the US.– padumtss
Again, these were written 2 years ago. Our days of cheap cars are loooooong gone, and are only worse with the tariff money they’ve added. A Jeep Wrangler Rubicon is $110k? Are they CRAZY???
- Distance to Russia– Lakridspibe
Amen. (unless you’re in Alaska)
- American here but I’ve heard that they don’t have garbage disposals in their sinks over there. I use mine every day and can’t imagine life without it.– watchingbigbrother63
Garbage disposals always bring up conversation and comments. This thread didn’t disappoint. They ran the gamut from “Here in Finland the scraps are separated and used to generate gas and composted. ” to “Hmm…my european garbage disposal is called chickens. ”
Our take on the question and responses
There were hundreds of more responses (again, you can read it here), but you get the gist of it; there are plenty of typical things in the U.S. that Europeans wish they had better access to – just like there are things in Europe we Americans wish we could get. I guess in that respect, we’re more alike that you’d think, huh?
What are some things in other countries that you wished they had here?
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
