And what it reveals about intimacy, cultural norms, and a completely different idea of personal space Spend time in an Italian home especially during a long lunch, a weekend visit, or a casual evening with friends and you may stumble across a moment that leaves most American guests wide-eyed and silently horrified. It’s not the …
I borrowed the plain habits Germans use to make sleep a civic routine. Thirty days later the pill bottle gathered dust, evenings got quiet, and my appetite calmed down enough to move the scale. The plan worked because it was small, repeatable, and built into the clock rather than my mood. Before the Switch: Nights …
The spreadsheet started as a joke. Three weeks after landing in Lisbon, I was sitting at a rooftop bar in Alfama, watching the sun set over terracotta rooftops, nursing a €3 glass of vinho verde. Back in Chicago, this experience would have cost me $18 for the wine alone, plus the Uber to get somewhere …
And what it reveals about time, tolerance, and a different definition of beauty and effort In the United States, the grooming routines of women — especially those related to body hair — are often intense, time-consuming, and deeply ingrained. Shaving, waxing, plucking, exfoliating, and maintaining smoothness are treated not as choices, but as daily obligations. …
So here is the part everyone skips. Nonna’s sauce is not complicated, it is timed. Heat, fat, and patience do the work. The recipe fits on one page. The results do not, because the smell gets into the hallway and your neighbors suddenly learn your name. This is a true Sunday sauce built for a …
Short answer: it’s not a literal rule that waiters hit a red button and your total jumps 2× the moment you say “du pain, s’il vous plaît.” But there is a repeatable chain of small, very French dynamics timing, wording, and restaurant norms that can make a simple bread request snowball into extra line items, …
Think all hotel guests behave the same way? Not quite. While these habits might be standard in certain parts of the world (hello, America!), many Europeans either raise their eyebrows or quietly do things their own way. Here are eight common hotel behaviors Europeans usually avoid and why. Want More European Insights?• 13 Foods Europeans …
When Americans discuss European retirement, they talk about Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy. The conversation occasionally wanders to Greece. Croatia almost never comes up. This is strange because Croatia offers something the popular destinations don’t: Adriatic coastline beauty at 40-60% lower costs than Western Europe, combined with recent EU membership that makes residency increasingly accessible. …
The headaches started in my late twenties. Not migraines exactly, but a persistent low-grade pressure behind my eyes that showed up three or four times a week. I blamed stress. I blamed screens. I blamed the fluorescent lights in every American office I ever worked in. What I never blamed was lunch. For years, my …
Every American thinks they need to move to London or Paris or Amsterdam. Meanwhile, there’s a random city in Poland throwing visa sponsorships at anyone who speaks English and can turn on a computer. They’re literally desperate. These aren’t “teach English to kids” jobs. These are actual careers with European contracts, 25 days vacation, and …
It looks like a magic trick. A mid level municipal worker in Emilia Romagna closes their laptop at 55 and starts spending afternoons in a garden they actually own. Meanwhile a peer in Phoenix hits 62, still juggling rent, driving parents to appointments, and counting down years to Medicare. The Italian is not richer. The …
The email arrived from my old insurance company in March 2022, six months after I’d moved to Valencia. “Your COBRA coverage has expired. To continue coverage, please contact us regarding individual plan options.” I deleted the email. For the first time in my adult life, I wasn’t worried about American health insurance. I was paying …