Exploring Quality of Life Abroad

We weren't looking for much when we left the US.

Honestly, we were just looking for a more affordable

place to

survive and have a higher quality of life.

But what we found when we got here was something we never

really expected. We found access to healthcare,

to affordable housing, affordable transportation, fresh

food, amazing community, safety in countries

that we had been told our entire lives were

third world countries. In Thailand, there's universal healthcare.

In Vietnam, 90% of people are covered by

public health insurance, and healthcare costs are much lower.

While we were in Vietnam, we had to take our two-year-old to the ER

after a head injury, and we paid a

little over $7

out of pocket to be seen, and that was without health

insurance. Meanwhile, in America, it can cost $300

just to go to the doctor and thousands of

dollars for an ER visit, and that's with

insurance. And the food, the food here is so

healthy. It is fresh. It's grown locally.

There are neighborhood street markets on

every corner. It is affordable food,

even when you compare it to the wages that the people make here.

There's fresh vegetables and fruit and meat and

spices and pre-cooked

to-go meals that you can just grab and take home with you that are

made by local families. Even the poor families

here eat well. They have access to

affordable, healthy foods. It's not

owned by corporations. It's not profitized.

It's just local people feeding each other.

Compare that to rural America where processed food is more

affordable, may be the only thing available, and

people may have to drive 20 miles just to get to a grocery

store. And the community, the community here is strong.

They are still very much family-oriented.

Families live together. Elders are respected.

Children are respected. People know their neighbors.

They look out for each other. Even us, even being foreigners, we

feel so safe and accepted here. Listen,

we've been told our whole lives that America is the

greatest country in the world, and I'm not here to bash America, but

we still have to acknowledge the problems that we

are facing. A lot of us are truly struggling.

We've been sold the lie that if you work hard enough, that if

you sacrifice enough, everything is going to be

okay. But what I've seen overseas is that a

good quality of life is not only about

wealth and making more money. It is about priorities