Hello everyone from the Basque Country
We are in the Basque Mountains, I think these are called the Basque Highlands
We got here yesterday after a very long day on the road
we drove through 4 countries in one day
As I said, we're back in Spain
as you know, I am from here but I lived many years in the US
she is from the US and lived many years here in Spain
this is a video that we've wanted to make for a long time
it's just to share our experiences and thoughts and highlight some of the differences between the 2 countries
I think it could be fun, so why not, let's do it!
so I'm gonna be rooting for the US
and she's gonna be rooting for Spain
I'm pretty sure that's what's gonna happen
The first point that I wanted to talk about is the landscapes and wilderness
there are beautiful landscapes everywhere in the world
I find that in the US, and especially in the West, it's easier to get away I'm farther away from people
even if it's only because of the vast size of the country
there are wilder areas
that's something I like, even though, having some structures
as I mentioned before in some videos, is kind of cool for images sometimes
it creates that contrast and that drama, so, I like both
Now, food
Food is really important to us
Most of this video is going to be about food
I think what I've noticed the most is that in small towns in the US
there's always fast food chains everywhere, it's actually hard to find traditional food
or just better quality, fresher food, maybe more local food
whereas in Spain, not everywhere of course, but sometimes in smaller towns it's actually easier to
find fresher, more traditional and local food
that's true, that makes it very hard for us when we are on a road trip in America
to find good food, you usually find a lot of junk food and your only options are just
McDonald's and Burger King and sutff like that
while here in Europe being in smaller towns, sometimes, that makes it easier for you to find good
Something that caught my attention the first times that I was going to restaurants in the US
is the amount of options that you have, not only for vegetarians and vegans
just sitting down to order breakfast, they ask you a lot of questions
I still remember when they asked me: "how do you want your fried eggs?"
I was like... "What? I want fried eggs"
I didn't know that they were willing to make them in different ways just for me
this applies to everything else, like dressing for salads, the type of bread, side dishes
I don't know, a lot of options that you have in the US versus here
where you usually have more fixed menus
A very common complaint of Americans visiting Spain or even living in Spain is that
shops and grocery stores all close down around 2pm and don't open usually until 4pm. That's wild!
Yeah, that's not something that you see in the US
and that comes down to working hours
I worked here for many years, I worked in the US as well
9am-5pm in the US is not a thing here in Spain, here it's more like 9am-7pm
with those 2 hours in between for lunch, which makes it much harder in my opinion to balance your work and personal lives
I really, really like the approach in the US where you eat really quick for lunch
Lunch is a super huge ritual here in Spain, the main meal of the day
whereas in the US is just something that you eat really quick and you keep working
so you can get out of there as soon as possible and just head back home
and have a big dinner
Service! When it comes to service, I don't like tipping
it's something that I don't like, I believe that servers should make a living wage from the beginning
But I have to say that the service in the US is so much better than in Spain
It's very easy to go to a restaurant in Spain and to be ignored for a while, for 5 minutes
you don't know if they even saw you, while in the US they come to your table every few minutes
to check on you, if everything's okay, if you want more of this, if you want more water, anything
in Spain, I feel like many times I have to fight to get their attention, just because I want another coffee or beer
I think that might have to do with the way people have meals too
at least in my experience here, even something as simple as getting a snack and a coffee
at a cafe, you're not going to be in a hurry to do that
Yeah, you're going to enjoy it, you're going to have a conversation
and I think that could be why, sometimes, the service is just much slower
they know you're not going to be in a rush because you're here to have a meal
and spend time with the people you're with
and I like that, I like slowing down while having food or a drink
but on the weekends and when you have time
but during the week, when you're just hungry but you have to keep working
I really like being able to just get in, get out
Leftovers! That's huge
So here in Spain it's more and more common lately, you see it more and more often
But in the US, it happens all the time
In the US, if you don't eat all your food you can take it home with you
Every place, every restaurant, they have boxes to go ready so they put the leftovers there
and you can have them for breakfast the next day or for...
Lunch or whatever, I really like that, in Spain that doesn't happen
I think that could be related to Americans normally having snacks or water on hand
and so when you actually get to the restaurant that you want to eat at
you may not be super hungry, and combined with the fact that they say that portion sizes
are way bigger in the US, I don't know if that's always true, I've seen very big portions in Spain too
especially where we live
That is very true, Americans always have something with them, something to eat or to drink, especially to drink
even here, we are hiking and I've seen no one carrying a bottle of water in their hands
That in the US doesn't even happen on the streets of a big city, you see them with water
just in case they get thirsty, I guess
In my opinion, Americans are friendlier
she thinks that that is more in a surface level, they don't really mean it, but it's stills nice
This is related to something else that I've noticed, I think that Americans are in general more positive
they are more optimistic about the future and their potential
while in Spain, here people are more content - I don't know if this is the right word
more content or more satisfied with what they have
That positive mindset has influenced me a lot in a good way, I believe
I think exaggeration is a point that we can talk about, especially with Americans
and I never realized it until you pointed it out to me
but I would have never known, I don't think
Now, I work in a company where there's a bunch of Americans and a bunch of Europeans
something that comes up kind of frequently is exaggeration and how Americans communicate
so differently from people in other countries
In America, everything is awesome, everything is the best, or the worst
Yes, and if an American were to ask you "how are you doing?" and you responded "fine, I'm fine"
I would be a little worried, like oh, oh, maybe they're not okay
maybe I should ask more questions or figure out what's bothering them, because fine is not fine
you need to be good, or great, or having a good day, or whatever
Yes, and it is much easier to get a compliment and word of empowerment or something like that in the US
versus here in Spain, where people rarely give you any compliments, or apologize for anything, or say thank you
things like that, it's very rare, but you know, when they do it, they really mean it!
very cute husky there
Last thing we wanted to talk about in this video is money
Money is very important in every country on this planet
and it's going to drive the decisions of many people no matter what
but in the US it feels like this is 1 or 2 steps farther
One of the things that shocked me the most when I first moved there, and I already knew a little bit about this
because you read about it, you watch the news and stuff like that
it was about debt and the amount of debt that people get into to do stuff, to buy houses, to go to college
I'm talking about people who I personally met, people who had half a million dollars in student debt
people who were maxing out their credit cards because they couldn't get a loan
and that was the only way for them to get some money, and then they had to pay those loans or
those credit cards back at 25% interest rates and things like that
It's just crazy
and people here in Spain don't have that kind of problems
you might get a loan to buy a car, to to get an apartment, but you don't have debt by default
like it feels the average American has, a ton of debt and you have no choice but to work and to always pursue
a better paid job because you have to pay everything that you've been doing during your whole life
and that is just crazy to me
Anyway, these were just a few of our experiences in the US and here in Spain
We're going to keep going on our little hike, we're going back home tomorrow
We'll be back to our regular schedule pretty soon, until then, have fun out there, take care and see you soon!