For those in extended stays in Europe: what do you miss most about US?

Heck I find the same "loss" when traveling in the US as well.
The variety of fresh fruits and vegetables that you'll find in CA super markets AND the fact that those markets are open 24/7.

Though my situation is sui generis, these are things I miss from US: - cheap gas and mostly free parking. By far and large, the two "miss the most" items. Even if it costs now more than $ 4/gallon on average, is still way cheaper than the $ 10.80/gallon I'm paying here. And a weekend trip to Amsterdam sets me back $ 38 on parking (pre-paid) for just 8-10h worth of parking - more expensive than in downtown Chicago. - 24/7 shopping. I have a busy work schedule here and miss a lot the ability to go to the nearest supermarket 11PM without asking or checking whether it were open. Ditto for Sunday shopping. I hate the idea of having to take time off to buy things I can't buy online because stores don't open on Sunday. - a good quality T-bone or other cuts less common here, and older beef than what is more common here - green areas within cities, all parks have people on sight - 30% an 10% being considered and obscenely high income and sales tax, respectivelly, in the public debate (not 52% and 21% as here) - co-workers who will not think it is the end of the World to work 65h/week for a couple months (this is more a particularly situation of mine).

I miss: dipping my hand into a big box of Earthbound Farms spring mix for an easy to put together salad; easy access to organic or locally grown fruits and vegies; the fabulous Saturday farmers market in Bloomington, Indiana, and workouts and yoga classes at the Y. We're gone anywhere from six weeks to six months every year.

The longest I've been in Europe is almost 5 weeks, but the thing I missed the most was hot sauce. I'm trying to figure how to bring a supply for this year's trip! I am able to adapt well to most other situations but the lack of hot sauce is almost impossible to over come :).

Cheap chips (the potato kind) and cheap diet coke.

From my time living in Stockholm ... 1) Being able to do laundry at any time. My building had a common laundry room. In Sweden, a lot of apartments have this system where you have to book your laundry time in advance. Miss your time slot, and you may have to wait another week until there is an opening. And you couldn't do laundry past 9pm. In my building, you did get the whole laundry area to yourself for 3.5 hours (3 washers, 2 tumble dryers, a closet dryer, and some other laundry equipment) so you could do a lot of laundry. But I only did laundry every other week and sometimes had to turn down social events so as not to miss my scheduled time. 2) Certain ethnic foods, particularly Vietnamese 3) Vanilla extract. You can buy vanilla powder but not extract. This is one thing I'd asked visitors from the U.S. to bring to me. 4) Being able to buy wine at the grocery store. In Sweden, you can only buy alcohol at the Systembolaget (state-run). That was about it. I also lived in London, but didn't really miss much there except laundry again. I had one of those combo washer/dryers in my flat. It was really small and because it first washed and then dried, the cycle took like 3 hours and your clothes would always come out all balled up in wrinkled mess.

I lived for eighteen months over a two year period in Poland - nine months in two different apartments. The first flat: Had no refrigerator, which was okay in the winter when I could put yogurt etc. in the window to keep cold, but was a little problematic in warm months. Had a really wonky hot water heater. The water for my showers was either freezing cold or literally scalding hot. I had to rinse in those few seconds in between. (BTW, that was the main reason I have so much experience with Krakow hotels. I went to Krakow at least once a month and stayed in a hotel with proper plumbing so I could take a nice, relaxing shower without fear of hypothermia or third degree burns :P) Neither flat had a dryer which is fine in winter when you can put your clothes on or near the radiator to dry, but other times it could take a day or two for them to dry. Otherwise I missed not having a car; I am a typical American in that I love to drive. However, I truly appreciated the public transportation there. I missed (authenic-ish)Mexican food and barbeque. I don't eat meat often, but I looove barbeque. As far as expense, while some things were much more expensive, other things were considerably cheaper, so it basically averaged out for the things I needed. That's about it, really. If I had the chance to go back, I'd gladly take freezing showers :) BTW, It sounds like compared to other countries, Poland's stores have more convenient hours.

Definitely, watching sports at a decent hour. Drinking a large Dunkin Donuts coffee while reading the Sunday sports section of the Boston Globe. Fenway Park Fly fishing my favorite rivers back home Huge bookstores like Barnes and Noble or Borders Commercials Batting cages Watching movies in English in a decent movie theater Lobster Having more than one flavor of Sam Adams to choose from The Food Network Customer service Mexican food Walmart, Target, etc. Being able to buy something at 3am Talk radio in the car Mega grocery stores Orderly lines Boston Market Hampton Beach Cripes, there are so many more...

Well, I must live in the right city, as many of the missed items listed by everyone, Frankfurt seems to have in abundance: Wonderful Farmers markets on a daily basis, with tons of local produce, ethnic restaurants abound, and the city is about 45% green. Hot sauce is in every grocery store as well as in the ethnic markets. yum, Harissa from my neighborhood Turkish store is a must! Many of the grocery stores are open until 2200 and many of the REWE store are open until midnight. Do I miss Sunday shopping? No, not really, once I got used to it. Since I have almost always had to work on Sundays, it never made much of a difference to me whether or not I could shop. I wish museums were open on Mondays though. Mexican or Tex/Mex restaurants are lacking and cheddar cheese or monterey jack cheese would be nice to have available. A wider variety of frozen veg. would be nice, though I am used to just making fresh veg now. Good white corn is number 1 on my list of missed foods. Larger apts. with easy availabilty would be cool. Since I don't have a car the fuel prices don't affect me. No house, so not being able to mow the lawn on a Sunday doesn't affect me either. I do wish that grilling outside was easier.

Rik's list reminded me of another small thing: sitting where you want in a movie theater. They have assigned seating and the person in the ticket booth, trying to be helpful and give everyone a prime seat 2/3 back and in the center, has everyone sitting together in a little knot when the rest of the theater is empty. Haha! Of course you can move if you know no one will show up with a ticket for the seat you moved to, but it's just funny. Some of the ticket sellers would show you the computer screen so you could choose your own seat - they were always surprised when I chose a seat half-way down or on the aisle.

Quite honestly, there's not a lot I miss. I really like the flow of life over here. Even the fact that stores are closed on Sundays. It forces me to do my shopping efficiently throughout the week, so that Sunday can really and truly be a day off. I don't particularly miss US sports or the annoyingly intrusive commercials during them. I wouldn't mind paying less for petrol now and again, though. The foods that I miss here- cheese steaks, hoagies, blue crab with bay seasoning, Chinese take-out (not that the US version of Chinese food is any more authentic, but the German version is very bland). I miss the selection of fresh seafood available on the East Coast (not too much available in this part of Germany), but my regular trips to Belgium satisfy that urge. Overall, it's so much easier to find good food here that I really don't miss most US food too much. I miss summer days at Ocean City, NJ, but De Haan in Belgium has become a good surrogate.

There isn't very much I miss of those types of things. I have enjoyed almost everything in every place I've lived in Europe. But I will have to say I miss plumbing that works well. The British people seem to have an enormous tolerance for bad plumbing. Maybe I've just been unlucky, but where I live, in all my friends' houses, and almost every place I've visited in the UK has had temperamental plumbing. You just never know when you flush what, if anything, will happen. And I really dislike those separate hot and cold water faucets on the bathroom sink that are very common here. Even the single kitchen faucet has the hot and cold water coming out in two separate streams, so if you hold your hands under it, your left hand gets burned and your right hand freezes. Small price to pay for getting to live here, I suppose, but still.

Food is a huge part of what I miss. While there are a variety of ethnic restaurants in Stuttgart, the vast majority of them are designed for a German palette and so there's a major loss of authentic flavors, and a lot of blandness. In particular, really good south Indian food, Vietnamese food, Chinese foods and different varieties of Chinese foods (Schezuan, Hunan, Cantonese dim sum, etc), Japanese food, varieties of American food (good BBQ, philly cheesesteaks, American breakfast, good burgers made fresh), Mexican food in general...I could go on and on. And when I have found good ethnic food it's SO much more expensive than in CA, reservations needed, there's no such thing as a cheap Pho joint, y'know? I do have access to fresh ingredients but I try to shop locally/seasonally so I do miss out on ingredients I could get nearly year-round at home, or stuff I could get cheaply at home. Dungeness crab!! Really good mixed drinks with fresh fruit juices and high quality ingredients, not pre made sugary mixes and low-quality spirits. I have found a couple of places in Stuttgart that actually do nice "handcrafted cocktails" but that's rare. Rye and good tequila and mezcal. Good bourbons. California wine! They think American wine and beer here is laughable so there's almost no access to the mid-to-higher end stuff that's very easy to get back home. I'm sure this all makes me sound like an obnoxious snobby foodie. I'm actually able to access a lot of foods/ingredients better than I thought I'd be able to, but I still miss plenty.

Non-food-related: Target. God I miss Target. It would be nice if there was a store you could buy everything at that was somewhere inbetween an Aldi and a high-end department store. Old Navy/The Gap Stand-up comedy, improv stuff like UCB Theater in LA, midnight movie screenings of cult movies, being able to see independent or rare movies (in my language at least) Pleasant year-round weather! Huge bookstores in my language Clean deserted river beaches for swimming, the beach in general, redwood forests... A lot of my complaints though are Stuttgart-specific or rather living-in-a-not-world-class-city specific. I could access a lot of the food and cultural stuff I miss in places like Berlin or Vienna or Paris I think. Even Frankfurt or Hamburg would probably be preferable to me, I'm just a big city girl and Stuttgart is fairly provincial. Half my complaints would be relevant to living in Rapid City South Dakota as well.

I agree with Jo, Tom and D.D above aside from friends and family there is not much I miss about the US after living here for a month. I'm looking forward to staying for at least a year, having just retired. My heat, plumbing, transportation and of course the shopping and the food is fine by me.
I live without a car and get more exercise. My life is simpler now and I find it liberating. My weight and blood pressure have dropped after being here only one month. I'm OK with the clothes washer I have, though I like the US washers and dryers a lot more, but there is a laundromat in town that has them if I need to use one. I keep current on US politics and entertainment via internet and the limited English cable channels I have, but I am actually glad to be removed from the stress and craziness of much of it. My life has a different focus now. For entertainment I hop on the train and spend the day in Paris exploring new places. I may not enjoy it forever, but I am very much right now.

almost all the food we missed years agi is now available in the UK. We have to go to Oxford or London for good burritos and London for BBQ (not exceptional, certainly not Riskies but OK). Only thing we can't get - and no reasonable substitute found anywhere we have looked in Europe is - Gold Bond Medicated Powder. Anybody coming over, gifts gratefully accepted...

I must add, as a secondary thing I miss: drier, light, sharp snowflakes that fall on Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. The snow in the Alps (let alone places much closer to the North Sea) is different, nice in its own way, good for skiing at lower altitudes but it doesn't have that powder feeling of Steamboat Springs or Jackson Hole. Minor thing, I know. Now, something I forgot to add is that I miss a lot the possibilities of having a nice and reasonably big (the land plot, not necessarily the building) detached house. They are extremely expensive even in smaller cities. I miss having a decent-sized private lawn, or not having neighbors' windows too close to mine. Here, a 1800 sq. ft. house in a 1/4 acre plot is something I can't honestly dream of even in a relatively good-paying job.

Drinking fountains.

I can truly say that when I'm in Europe, I do not miss anything about the US.

I've been living over here for 3 years now. I miss a shower that is big enough for you to bend over and pick up the soap if you drop it! I miss Mexican food! I miss sunshine! But, everyday I count my lucky stars for the opportunity that I have to live and travel here.

Interesting discussion. In some points I do get the impression that it's not always the difference between Northamerica and Europe but rather the difference between rural life and the big city. * I paid $18 for 3 hour parking when I had a downtown lunch meeting last week. In small town Germany that would have been 1 Euro max. * During the Canadian winter the range of fresh groceries is definitely nowhere near what it would be in Europe (or California for that matter). * You miss American wines???? I wouldn't miss American wine when I can buy French or any other for 1/4 of the price I pay here for the equivalent.

I think what you miss or don't miss depends where you are in Europe. In big cities with large American expat population you don't have to miss almost anything. Obviously staying in smaller towns or villages is different. I somewhat miss shows of my favorite comedians: Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Steve Colbert but that's about it. I don't miss over commercialized American sports. There are plenty of sport shows on European TV. Few times I was in Europe at the time of Olympic games and IMHO they are quite better in showing it than we are here.

MEXICAN food now available in the Marais! So many have quite understandably mentioned Mexican food. So you'll be glad to know about this taco/Mexican restaurant that has opened in the Maraisan excuse for a trip to Paris for those of you living in Europe. Candelaria 52 rue de Saintonge Here is a link or you can search on the New York Times or IHT websites. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/dining/at-long-last-tacos-in-paris.html?_r=1&scp=16&sq=hidden%20gardens%20paris&st=cse

Okay, guys, don't less this go to your heads, but what I discovered that I missed when I was 19-year-old student staying Germany for six months, was American guys. ; ) I can't put my finger on exactly what it was, but I so remember when I go home thinking, "Ah, yes, American Guys, I missed you." Pam PS I'm not sure I actually missed them when I was there, but more recognized the former absence when I returned home. ; )

Things I miss while away on trips of more than a few weeks... - Having a variety of clothes to choose from. I'm the last person in the world when it comes to "fashion sense" (I have none, don't care about that). BUt I miss being able to open a drawer/closet and pick which shirt/pants to wear. On the road, it's limited to the small number of garments I've brought along. And by the end of the trip, with hand-washing in sinks, those always start looking a but tired after a couple weeks. - My own bed/bathroom. Just 'cause they're familiar. - American breakfasts. Even though I rarely eat an American-style breakfast, and I like European-style breakfasts, for some reason after a couple weeks overseas I start craving bacon & eggs. - Clean air. Lots of smokers in many places I go, and they have not yet been broken as they have been at home. This is getting better with the passing years, but still has a lot of improvement needed. - Eventually I just miss everything being easy (effortless, really) and second-nature - money, language, food, etc. These are not complaints - I love taking extended trips - just the things I start to miss eventually. It makes coming home easier.

BG, I agree with you and the others about not missing much. My post was a bit long, but I was mostly just reminiscing. (Plus I'm a bit hypergraphic:P) I was the happiest I've ever been in my life when I was living in Poland. Maybe if I had stayed longer the little inconveniences would have lost their charm, but nothing aside from the wonky plumbing was a real issue. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had that opportunity, and I thank my lucky stars that a dear friend of mine nagged me into following through with my dream. Others told me I'd get homesick and have to deal with culture shock, and that working abroad isn't the same as being on vacation. But my very wise "fairy godmother" kept reminding me how short life is and that if I didn't go when I had the chance I'd regret it. She had no idea how right she was. I went and worked very hard but had the time of my life. Things have changed since then - if I hadn't gone then, I would never have had the chance. So follow your dreams if you have the chance, everyone! (Okay, again with the hypergraphia:) )

D.D., I always have a chuckle over the British plumbing. BTW, I moved into a house in the States with the separate faucets as well. A quick trip to Home Depot solved that problem.

As an exchange student in West Germany in the late 80s I missed: 1. Doritos 2. REAL Italian Food (all my German friends wanted to eat at Pizza Hut all the time; having worked at Pizza Hut for a summer, let's just say I was not thrilled)
3. COLD milk 4. Any TV that did NOT include ALF, Punky Brewster, or Dynasty (the BIG hits in Germany at the time) 5. Any music NOT featuring David Hasselhaff (again, a HUGE german hit in the late 80s)

This year I'll miss the Master's and the Final Four championship. The two main things I miss are my own bedroom and having a closet of clothes to choose from.

"and having a closet of clothes to choose from." OK, that reminds me of something I miss from the US- closets. These are actually pretty rare in German and Belgian houses (and perhaps many other countries). Most people use large wardrobes to store their clothes, which work well for that purpose, but not for all the other random stuff you usually stuff in your closet.

Mary- Funny you should mention hot sauce. When I was in Vienna, I piled a large serving of scrambled eggs onto my plate at my hotel, where there was a lovely included breakfast each morning. Not even thinking, I looked everywhere for a bottle of hot sauce to no avail. I asked the manager, who went in the back and kindly brought me a bowl of olive oil with red pepper flakes in it! Needless to say, I ate a lot of salmon and cream cheese for breakfast the next couple of days.
Every time I decide I'm going to take the plunge and become an expat, I think about how my NFL Sundays will be gone and I will not be able to have any decent Latin American food. Then I change my mind.

@James....didn't you read the OP....it says "I'm not referring to relatives or friends"....when asking what people miss. Of course I would miss the family, especially my fantastic beautiful granddaughter.....but I wouldn't miss anything else.

I think Rik mentioned missing Borders. I'm missing that too, and I'm in North America! One of the many stores that is going out of business due to the ease of downloading books and music off the internet.

Decent bathrooms---especially showers in which I do not soak the floor!!! Hee hee.

After being overseas for a year, the first thing I ate was a burrito. While I was away I missed not having a CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid every 3 blocks where I could pop in and get things as I needed them (snacks, water, subway/bus tickets, cheap cigarettes, shampoo). I also missed off price shopping at places like Ross, Filenes, TJ Maxx and Marshall's and I missed my closet at home. Living out of 1 backpack for a whole year gets tiresome after you've worn the same "dressy" outfit for the 100th time! I missed certain American tv shows (and before someone pipes up and says "You are in Europe! How can you waste your time watching tv?!" I'd like to say it's one thing to not miss or want to ever watch tv on a 2 week vacation, but unrealistic to go a whole year and think you are never going to miss having a night to watch tv). I also missed my Tempurpedic mattress everytime I slept on some cruddy bed that was too hard or too soft.

My first trip to Europe (1987) included a week's stay at a hotel in Brussels. They made a feeble attempt to serve American style breakfasts (Hey guys, that's not real bacon). Even in Germany, I missed bacon and eggs. Since then, I've gotten to like German breakfasts with the crispy "Brötchen" and salami-like sausage. I really like soft boiled eggs - try to get them here. Somehow, eggs any style means any "American style". On one of my last trips, the Königshof in Mainz, where I stayed before flying home, had a table with scrambled eggs and real bacon. I said, "I can have that any time in the US, but this is the last day for decent breakfast rolls and soft boiled eggs", and ate from the German buffet.

I've been living in Israel most of my adult life, but back in 1997 I moved to the San Francisco Bay area for 8 wonderful years. I've been laughing about everyone missing the American food. When I'm in the US (including those 8 years) I mostly do not like the food. The fruits, veggies, fish, chicken and dairy products here are so much better. Except for pizza in Chicago, which is the best in the world . . . and authentic Mexican food. What I miss: - the public libraries, - the national parks and the state parks, those wide open spaces and amazing vistas - a very few foods: real key lime pie, See's Little Pops (chocolate), corn tortillas - SHOPPING. Not food, but everything else. Target, Home Depot, deparment stores, outlet malls, buying decent quality without paying a fortune. I get back to the US about once every 2 years now to see friends and family and to shop. I end up coming back here with 3 full suitcases. This time I splurged on shoes and sandals, easily buying 2 or 3 pairs for what one pair would cost me here. The trip before, it was bed linens.
I really missed the Daily Show and the Colbert Report but now I can watch them whenever I want on the net.

I'm never away long enough to miss anything, but family living abroad tells me they miss "exotic" food, like tacos. And they miss college sports, including (maybe especially) the mascots. And they miss PB&J...nobody outside of the US is apparently aware of this combo. And they miss Twizzlers.

Mexican food....which is to say, Americanized mexican food. Never found anything in Europe close enough.

Some friends from back home just sent me an unsolicited care package. It included 7 different kinds of hot sauce and japanese kewpie mayo (which i can get there but i won't tell them that!) i think what they packed speaks volumes. i'm tempted to start carrying around a hot sauce bottle in my purse. i've thought so many times that schnitzel would be so much better with some spice.

"i've thought so many times that schnitzel would be so much better with some spice." If you haven't eaten it yet, try Zigeuner Schnitzel. Probably mild by your standards, but about as spicy as you're likely to find in Germany. EDIT: Also, if it helps, Rewe usually sells Tobasco sauce.

Nigel, the next time I am travelling to the UK (won't be until next year am afraid), I shall bring you the Gold Bond powder! Wish you had mentioned it last year when we were in Oxfordshire for 5 weeks.

Yes, I probably would have enjoyed a Schnitzel better had some Louisana hot sauce been around. True, Zigeuner Schnitzel is probably as spicy as it gets for a Schnitzel. Maybe I haven't been away long enough, whether for three or 12 weeks in Europe, since I don't miss the American breakfast at all, as an example, or much of life here at all. I don't think about that when I'm over there. But, then my European stays have been too short. Whether in Germany, France or in England with the full English breakfast, I have no problems with the taste and what is served in the typical French or traditional German breakfast. No problem adjusting to the taste of coffee in France or in Germany, though I prefer the French coffee to that in Germany, if given a choice.

No question: Garbage disposal.

@Eli - that's lovely...

Tom: Oh, I know (I am a regular Rewe shopper because I like paying too much to feel like I'm in a U.S. supermarket, but getting over that and going to Aldi more often) but I am kind of a hot sauce maniac and like to have variety. Luckily I have commissary access and they stock a bunch of different kinds, too, as do the asian stores in Stuttgart. And another friend just came back from the states and brought us more hot sauce varieties. I literally have 9 types of hot sauce in the fridge right now. But I love hot sauce so I'm grateful for each and every one. The most important thing my friends shipped me is canned huitlacoche. it's hard to get in the U.S., and impossible in Germany, the only ingredient I have been unable to find for Mexican cooking. It's a disgusting-looking-but-absolutely delicious corn fungus. I'm hoping to get good enough with my Deutsch that I can go tot he local corn farmers this summer and ask if they have any infestations - outside of Central America, cobs that get the fungus are usually thrown away. Fresh huitlacoche is like the poor man's truffle, and similar in flavor.

A lot of ice in my drink!

Garbage disposal. Now available in the UK. John Lewis carries about 5 of them.