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How to Live a European Lifestyle in the US

It’s not as hard as you think.

Anthony J. Yeung
Mind Cafe
7 min readSep 12, 2024

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Photo by Zhu Yunxiao on Unsplash

For better or worse, life in Europe doesn’t really exist in the US—and life in the US doesn’t really exist in Europe.

Now, I haven’t been to all countries on the European continent, but over the past 5+ years, I’ve stayed for a long time in most of them. (i.e. I’m not an American who thinks Europe is only Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, and Rome, lol.)

Some housekeeping before we start:

  1. Yes, I’m aware that Europe is a continent of many different countries, cultures, languages, etc.—but these elements are true almost everywhere on the continent.
  2. I’ve also lived in Asia for almost two years so there’s quite a lot of overlap between Europe and Asia. So please, don’t get triggered if I don’t explicitly mention your specific postal code/town/region/province/etc.
  3. Finally, it’s not like life in the US is "bad"—if anything, life is actually pretty nice. (I always chuckle at social media haters who say, “America is a third-world country.” They’ve clearly never been to either.) But these are just a few things that I believe you can incorporate into your lifestyle for more enjoyment.

Let’s jump right in.

Have longer meals and coffee breaks

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Mind Cafe
Mind Cafe

Published in Mind Cafe

Relaxed, inspiring essays about happiness.

Anthony J. Yeung
Anthony J. Yeung

Written by Anthony J. Yeung

Seen in Esquire, GQ, & Men's Health. Founder. Full-time traveler (4.5 years & counting). Upgrade your life w/ my 5 life hacks→ https://bit.ly/2IDx15y

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