I’m a member of the Association of Voluntary Guides York. Here we take visitors on a free guided two hour walk around the city. When I say free, I mean totally free and that includes free of tips or commercial recommendations. We cover our own expenses and do this as a hobby and a service to our city. No tips because we have some pride in ourselves and are not beggars. Last year I took my wife on a bus tour in the North East of the US. There was a guide on the bus who introduced herself by stating that her minimum tip was $5 per person per day and the same for the driver. The bus first took us to a restaurant run by her friend who also wanted a tip. But then as we arrived at each place of interest another guide would get on the bus and state his minimum tip. Then every time you order a drink in a bar the bartender expects a $1 for each service! We had previously paid for the bus and entry to the places of interest and of course we had paid for a tour guide on the bus.So why all these extras? At Gettysburg the guide was a retired teacher in uniform and was very knowledgeable. He wanted a minimum tip of 25$ per person, so I spoke to him about this and explained that visiting the US for us Brits is like visiting the third world as we are constantly surrounded by aggressive beggars looking for handouts, he failed to understand and simply reduced his demand down to 20$! Americans need to learn some civic pride and self respect.
@@robertmurray8763 In most countries waiting staff are paid a decent salary; they don't rely on tips to make a living. Tips are an extra left at the client's discretion to show their appreciation of good service.
Let’s do the Maths of tipping. So my friend at Gettysburg with his minimum $25 tip per person. A typical Bus contains say 40 people. So that’s $1000 of tips per bus. Then maybe he does 2 or 3 Buses per day! So why would he want a pay raise if that means stopping the tips? There is of course no record of these cash payments, so I’m guessing that this is also an illegal tax dodge!
So, the metric for happiness ( let's stick to first world countries as you can actually compare those) ---- Having healthcare, great public schools that actually teach, safe environment, nice social safety net if you get down on your luck, job that comes with mandatory vacation and sick days, at least a year of paid maternity leave that you can split with your partner, great - widely spread labour unions. Good work- life balance. In most first world countries, those are your rights. In US they are a privilege that most do not have.
You could say that the happiness index measures "smooth sailing", or less obstacles in life to worry about, which then leads to being glad and content, rather than over the top happy about everything. At least this is the Danish definition of this index and the word "glad" that also exist in the Danish vocabulary.
The happiness is also measured by the feeling of security the population has. Social security, health security, being able to pursue hobbies and such.. I think. It is not about how often you smile, it is also your level of general security.
@@sifrasmussen2315 yes! it's about being sure about the majority of people think about topics and agreeing with them. For example, seeing a dropped wallet on the floor and kmowing that everyone else would also no steal it. An alignment to your morals and way of thinking.
My brother and sister in law spent a few weeks in the US and the thing they spoke most about when they got back was how horrific the homeless problem was in LA. They'd walk from one wealthy looking lovely street, turn the corner and be surrounded by tents and filth and desperate people all over the place. They even saw numerous families with young children just living on the streets. They couldn't believe how grim it was for the people there and they couldn't wait to leave. They've travelled to a few 'third world' countries and found LA to be even worse.
My grandfather is at the age where he confuses Hitler with Napoleon and such now but I remember him talking about the time he visited LA and was told he couldn't just go and walk outside the hotel around midnight. Something they happily did in Southern France without thinking twice.
I recall being told the same thing in Beverly Hills in the early 80s when we were taken by friends for a drive around there - apparently a popular tourist-y thing to do. But, according to them, if you were to decide to get out of your car there and take a pleasant stroll around the streets, you'd probably be stopped and questioned by police for your outlandish and highly suspect behaviour! I can't think of any other city in the world I've visited where people are not free to enjoy the pleasures of a walk around in the public areas and places of interest. The 'Land of the Free' with its city planning designed apparently primarily for cars rather than people might seem a lot less free than imagined...
I traveled to the US from 2002-2010 about 2 x a year. After 2010 I said to myself unwound never return to the US (there is a Chinese saying that you should never go back to a place you were happy). Looking back, the most amazing thing that undiscovered in the US was the nature. The national parks just crushed my soul for its majestic and beauty ❤
I travelled around the southeast of the US In October/November. One thing was really great for me, being handicapped: everything was accessible. And I liked the State/National parks. You pay a small entrance fee and you have free parking inside, a visitor’s place in some and you have clean restrooms. As for the rest: - no fixed taxes, so you never know how much you have to pay in a shop - everything is extremely sweet, even bread - if you get your bill in a restaurant they’ll already give hints how high the tip will be, starting with 20% All in all: fantastic landscapes to explore, but no place I never would want to live in.
"no fixed taxes, so you never know how much you have to pay in a shop" I'm pretty sure America is one of the only countries to add tax on top of the purchase price. "everything is extremely sweet, even bread" Idk why you'd want bread to be sweet, but European sweets are much better than American ones. "If you get your bill in a restaurant they’ll already give hints how high the tip will be, starting with 20%" America is also one of the only countries where tipping is basically mandatory. I'm not paying an extra 20% because you guys can't pay your staff properly. So yeah, all of that stuff you consider to be good is either normal in Europe or is really weird.
LOL the comment on McDonalds... it's so true. The Mc's and Burger Kings in Switzerland are really nice looking and the food is good for what it is. When we went to Las Vegas everyone said to go to In-n-Out Burger, it was supposed to be SO good and a must-do. Well that was a huge disappointment. The food sucked big time. A bunch of shady people, loud, dirty tables, soggy fries. Just horrible.
I have visited a lot of countries around the world, but have never felt the urge to visit the USA. Watching that video hasn't done anything to change my mind. Probably the opposite if truth be told.
As a European who has travelled across the US for a few months, I was disappointed with most cities - but the countryside? Man, the nature & landscapes were next level and the people were so friendly. I unexpectedly really enjoyed Appalachia, for instance. But you’ll have to take some time to travel around und it helps to be outdoorsy for sure. If that’s not what you’re looking for - skip the US.
250 dollars for one day at Disneyland is a trifle expensive. When you're in London, you can get a day-return by air to any country in Europe you choose, for less than that. Of-course, you can stay longer if you wish, but you CAN do it there and back the same day quite comfortably. Even on the train - you'll get a big day-return discount (through the Channel tunnel).
Lack of city centres are also an Australian thing. It was deliberately done in early town planning for crowd control and to prevent people from having a place to congregate and cause "problems". However, some of our cites have now recently developed city squares afterwards on old rail yards (Melbourne) etc.
My daughter goes to America often. Her most hated place is Vegas followed by LA. She was shocked in San Francisco when she went out early evening and homeless people were everywhere. She found a secondhand store and bought all of the blankets they had for them. She is used to Australia and it looks like it has been vacuumed and washed each night. We don’t like litter and I didn’t know just how clean it is here until reactors from other Countries started telling me. She loves NYC and Chicago although I have heard Chicago has gone down hill big time since she was last there. Her second trip to America she was asked to apartment sit for 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year. The Apartment was in Manhattan with a doorman. She called me to ask if she is supposed to tip the nice man who always opens the door for her. Like I would know? I told her to buy him a Christmas gift. She still loves America but it is more the concerts she can attend and not so much the place. I have had stopovers in LA Airport 6 times and I refused to go outside. There was enough stupid inside to keep me entertained, sorry.
Your sister is right, LA and Vegas are completely overrated. I've been to LA a couple of times, and it's a couple of times too many. It's the most overrated city in the US. Nice beaches (though the water is so cold) and weather, but the rest is "ehhh" and too spread out. Hollywood area looks like Vegas and San Francisco now. NYC is a lot of fun, with tons to see. Downtown Chicago is really nice, though I would stick to that area.
All those places you've mentioned have been Democratically ran for the last 50 to 55 years. You all need to travel to the real places in America. Not just the tourists traps. 🇺🇸
I've travelled to the States many times and enjoyed it. There are a lot of really amazing places and things to see. I'm not so keen on travelling there nowadays. The big thing that's deterring me is the tipping culture. It's got out of hand and it seems like you have to tip (heavily) everywhere - restaurants, bars, hairdressers, taxis. Makes for an expensive trip and difficult to budget.
Maybe we are being a bit overly critical towards the US - I went to US several, visited many places for work, and even lived there for 6 months once. First of all, I found people to be very, very nice. Not only smiling and saying hello, but also when you get to know them better, very open, welcoming and overall with a very positive attitude. Us Europeans are more cynical and grumpy on the outside, but also nice on the inside, once you cut through the outer layer. We are just different cultures. Impressions about places is highly subjective - but here are mine: I didn't hate Las Vegas, it was kitchy and dirty, and weird in many ways, but I went along with it and enjoyed it. The gambling place I enjoyed much more was Reno, Nevada - much cleaner in a nice mountain setting. San Francisco was meh for me, some nice parts, rather dirty, full of homeless people nobody cares about, but still I had some nice walks there, nice sights, museums etc. I loved Sacramento, CA, a nice smaller city, much more clean and well kept plus the nearby Napa Valley was excellent (wines and sights). I visited rural Georgia and Arkansas - loved it - nice nature, nice people, smaller cities like Athens, GA, and Fayetteville AR were just great to visit. Didn't like Atlanta so much, but also a nice day trip. I loved Miami Beach (not Miami the city) as I could enjoy the ocean in April, and the town is much more walking friendly. NEW YORK - I liked it very much, a special kind of energy, I walked Manhattan up and down, found it very interesting, also other parts like Queens, Brooklyn and Astoria... I would go back for sure. All in all, I like the US a lot, I never felt unsafe and often I felt very welcome everywhere I went. Maybe I was lucky, maybe it's just me trying to adapt and accept different places... Sure, I was at times irritated by some things, but I prefer to remember all the good stuff.
the problem with san francisco and any major US city is the massive wealth inequality, but san francisco has to be the most jarring I've seen, theres ULTRA wealthy areas next to streets full of unhoused people :/ my brother used to live there and paid probably the equivalent of $600k+ for a 400sqft HOUSE, the cost of housing is so out of control there that if you aren't rich you can very easily end up living on the streets
Sorry but Finland being the happiest place is not a PR branding thing like Disney is. There are some world rankings somewhere, sorry I dont have a pocket version EDIT: I had to look it up and it's World Happiness Report is a publication released annually by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It ranks countries based on various factors that contribute to happiness and well-being.
How right can somebody be? 10 years ago, 4 Brit guys - few nights in San Fran, drove down to LA, few nights in Hollywood then a couple in Vegas, where we arrived on Labor Day. 35C. We could not wait to get out. Staying at the only non-gambling/smoking hotel (Mandarin Oriental) was a blessing, and I'm a smoker! Glad I saw it, but never again. I found most of it to be profoundly sad. Not to mention tatty. We flew to NYC for the final days, and it felt like another civilisation. First visited NYC in 1990, returned many times and witnessed it changing hugely. With my partner, I took my older brother/SIL (both 73) in 2022, who'd never been. We did it all swanky, stayed at The Chelsea, and the city never felt safer. Fun for us, as they wanted to do all the tourist stuff we hadn't for decades. Not been near Times Sq since 1990, but they wanted to see it and it was the only place I felt uncomfortable (and we'd been all through LES, Chinatown etc). Walking up from the Subway there was discarded bedding covered with faeces we had to step over. There were scammers everywhere and I had my hand on my wallet in my pocket. I got them out of there as fast as I could. San Francisco has gone the opposite way to NYC. It wasn't cosy back in 95, with huge homeless problem. Still sketchy around the Haight.
I’ve been to a lot of American cities and I can’t lie I met some really nice people, but I won’t go back because US is a miserable place where people shoot first then ask questions. Our hotel gave us a town car, the driver brought out his gun to show us, thought we were crazy because we didn’t have guns. I loved Prague so beautiful
I have visited the US about 6/7 times the last time (California) was such a horror an expensive horror that it put me off. If I do go back it will probably be to visit Yellowstone park.
I went to New York this year and it made London seem so clean! Central Part and Battery Park were nice - the rest was a dump. As for Times Square - its not a square! Its a major road with wider pavements with shops selling garbage. And dont get me started on JFK airport - it was like trying to get into a third world country. I wont be rushing back.
Rather like Heathrow and London. Last time I visited London was in 2017 and I vowed it would be my last. It certainly did not feel like my capital city anymore.
1. Totally agree, Vegas is a showy place that is not that good. It's for gamblers and people to act like idiots. Went once, don't need to go back. 2. That's just bad planning. Disney World is HUGE, 25,000+ acres. There is no way you are going to go and see all of it in a day. Completely on him for doing an awful job of researching a place. Yes, it's expensive, but there is a lot to do and see there. I'm not even a Disney fan but I have fun when I go. 3. San Francisco has gone so far downhill that past couple of years, it's sad. It has some really interesting places to see, but it's literally become a shit-show. 4. NY Times Sq is a tourist spot. Of course it's crowded, it's the main place tourists want to go in a large city that gets lots of tourists. The rest of the city is fascinating to see, and there are so many things to do there. 5. McDonalds. I'm with him. I rarely eat fast food anyway, but it's even worse in the US then it is in Europe.
I'd like to tell the Czech that those cities in Europe with the center plazas are 900+ years old appropriate for riding your horse and 'parking' the horse. The US is not even 250 years old and it's not Europe. Different Style, different Continent. We have air conditioning and garbage disposals. 😅😅😅
I think US cities don't have town centres so much because they were created from scratch as a grid, rather than growing organically from an ancient small settlement. Somewhere like London, "the city" is still the old Roman city, a tiny 2000-year-old dot in the centre of the sprawling metropolis.
Well, if your cities suck, enjoy this huge different landscape of your country! Hopefully one time, I'll be able to visit the Bryce Canyon and the Yellowstone National Park and maybe the giant Redwoods as well. And I wish I could go to Bronners in Frankenmouth, Michigan. They are the largest christmas shop in the world 🥰
5 things to remember…1) it’s always further than you think…the distance from Boston to San Diego is further than the distance from Boston to Dublin…the U.S. is a land ocean…there is very little that is easy to walk…it’s just the way it is…Population Density…lower than Europe…Paris has more people per square mile than the Big Apple…🤷♂️ Climate…the U.S. has every type of climate and this deeply effects each state…Large population…340 million people…After India and China…there’s the United States…that means people of all different kinds and much diversity….finally, Federalism…not just Texas, but every state is like its own country…many were their own country for a while…from the 13 colonies who were the earliest British Colonies and have a strong British influence and use a legal and economic system and follow very British style of government to the newest state…Hawaii…who does things like California and is quite independent. Europeans don’t understand the fact that the U.S. states are very different from one another…some deeply conservative and some almost European liberal…
As a Brit who has never been to the US I feel this was a bit harsh as saying “the US is……..” is a bit unfair as California is super different than Texas which is super different from Maine etc etc. but in his defence I have heard some US citizens complain about some of the same things after having visited the UK like not being able to walk anywhere in the US and public transport being way better in UK but I suppose again it all depends in which state you live. We all have our qualities guys and girls
usakistanis(liberals and conservatives) and pretty much all the same. the differences are tiny. i wouldnt set foot in usakistan unless i was paid such an obscene amount of money that nobody would be willing to pay me....
America is; the beaches, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sequoias/Redwoods, Zion, Shasta, Glacier, Grand Teton, and Arches National Parks, Alaska...most of those are with unique features existing only in the US! Most Americans love open spaces and freedom! If they can afford to leave the mega-cities and relocate to some country home - they will. Remote workers are moving to small towns or country homes with good satellite communications. Farmers and ranchers are not flocking to the cities for a better life - they are staying home where life is actually much better. Suburbs are still viable for working folks living and working in the cities, like cops, teachers, store owners, lawyers, etc... The sad reality is that the US is slowly destroying the concept of cities which are becoming traps for poor people without marketable skills or homeless and/or mentally ill!
The city centre thing I think is that European cities are old and developed around that central square whereas modern cities are now designed and Connor said are designed around cars.
The Disney comment was idiotic. I'm British and even I know Disneyworld is massive and cannot be done in a day. The recommendation is 2 days per park! A bit of research would've saved him money and stress. 'Assumption is the mother of all F* ups' as they say and he assumed it would be less busy at Christmas which is the complete opposite. He probably based his presumptions on the Euro Disney in France which can be done in a couple of days. Again...Assumptions. Seems for the most part this guy hasn't done any research which as a travel blogger I expect is the least you can do for anywhere in the World you're planning on going. PS. If you ever travel to Uruguay, check out the Mc Donald's there, they're considered like a posh place to go to eat and are fabulous compared to the usual we get here in London.
I spent one month backpacking on my own in the US some 20 years ago, I got an Amtrak ticket and visited numerous cities from west coast to the east coast. I had a great time met many many people and visited many beautiful places, but I can't lie, I saw a lot of poverty, there were some cities I got out of the train station and felt so unsafe that I walked straight back in and left that city, I was scammed a few times, during the whole time I was there I never stopped looking over my shoulders until I crossed the border into Canada and I felt instantly more relaxed. The US has a lot to offer but the price you pay to be there is too great, and I'm not talking about money.
Just a heads up on happiness index- it's not a medial happiness per-se (i.e. John, Marry and Will would rate how happy they are on a scale from 1/10 and divide it by three), rather how happy are people with certain sectors- healthcare, education, public services etc., calculate and add up the score points, divide them through sectors and see the highest net score. So happiness of Finland shows that Finns are overall the happiest about what their government are doing overall.
It’s not “happiness”, but being content in spite of their struggles… and again Europe is a continent not one single country, culture, people, language or society. It varies greatly from country to country, from east to west, north to south! I’m from Norway, and it’s nothing like the Czech republic, and I was once in Prague when in high school. Compared to Norway, tho richer culture and history, they are poorer and have a lover standard of living. And in Norway McDonalds is considered junk food!
When it comes to City Centre Planning, you have to take into account that European cities have developed over many hundreds of years from small villages and towns and so all of our streets have names and squares etc. In America, the cities have been build big from the outset and that is why to make things easy, they were built on a sort of grid system, hence you will get addresses like: 2257, West 64th Street. It's easier to give the streets a number rather than a name.
I went to New York for New Years Eve (from UK) in 2004 and 2005, avoided Times Square, 5th Avenue etc. like the plague. First night we were there I asked the doorman of our hotel where to get a drink at this time (11pm), and was directed to a great little bar called Jack Dempsey's (W33 Street). Had a great time (apart from the morning after the Whisky vs Tequila drinking contest we had with a bunch of Puerto Rican's), met loads of interesting people (locals and tourists), and went around a lot of the 'lesser' known areas as a result (Meatpacking district, Greenwich etc.). Zero trouble, just had a damn good time.
Also he needs to know that the size of the mainland US is the size of the entire Europe. So yeah everything is compact in their country because they're so small.
Don't think too much about the word happiness on that list. It's not about who laughs the most, but if I got it right rather about who feels the safest. Safe not only in the sense that no one will shoot you, but also in the sense that you will not be homeless if someone in the family gets cancer, that your children will get an education, and that you will always have food for the day. Why Scandinavia often ranks higher than equivalent countries, despite the darkness and cold, I think also has to do with low expectations. But I definitely think that people in many poor countries laugh more than the Scandinavians, but that's not what the list is about.
Yeah, the word happiness is a bit reductive. I live in Scandinavia and believe that people are generally more happy with their lives here, and that being because of a more pro-public good governing and equal access for all to the basic foundations of a functioning society (education, healthcare, etc.) Maybe it should be renamed to the "Content with life in your country" index.
To be fair to Americans, there are some wonderful places to visit: Grand Canyon, Monument Valley in Utah, Yosemite, etc etc. It's exactly the same in the UK. Personally, I don't much care for cities whichever side of the "pond" you are on. As an Englishman I have of course been to London - maybe three times - but I doubt I will go again.
Hi, Connor, as a late Christmas present to engineering-loving you, here is something that I think you'll love: "When Steel Meets Sweat: Eiffel's Megastructures | FD Engineering" - Free Documentary - Engineering (on YT). Today being the 100's Anniversary of his death, I thought you might like this in-depth portrait of a great megaprojects constructor, namely Mr. Gustave Eiffel, who realised much more than the famous Tower in Paris ... and the structure of N-Y's Lady Liberty. (I wonder if any of the millions of tourists who visit these awesome landmarks ever ponder over the fabulous technical prowess they represent?) NB: At a time when computers hadn't yet been invented, engineers used ... their heads! Happy New Year to you!
the happiness scale is based on actual data on. - What is the world happiness index based on? The ranking uses six key factors to measure happiness - social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption. Besides ranking the countries, the report also looks at the state of the world in 2023.Mar 23, 2023
Hi connor hope you had a great Christmas day , I went to florida Disney World in the early 90s , we loved it it was my first venture abroad with my sister and best mate at 18 yrs old we felt safe , got about easy , everyone was very helpful 😊.
I'm Australian and had the complete opposite opinion. I've been to the U.S. 🇺🇸 , five times as a tourist or transit passenger. Complete nightmare of a country. Didn't like how the Americans thought murdering humans was perfectly normal. Yes, i saw a lot of people threatened to be murdered for a simple misunderstanding. We had to be very careful what we said. We didn't have freedom of speech like other countries. The only country I've travelled to and didn't feel safe !!
@wendycartwright22 We got told Australia 🇦🇺 was the poorest and most overpopulated in the world, and we had all told what to say. I received death threats. Americans would not sit with foreigners, and everyone was told it had to racially and ethnicity segregated I saw a black woman travelling on a British passport to be shot ( in front of her American children) on the spot because American Customs agents didn't understand geography. Then they told everyone not to repeat to anyone about the incident we all had witnessed. AND THERE'S MORE.
@patrickw123 I've never had any death threats in any other countries. Australian got death threats because we/they said we get four week paid annual leave plus 8 to 10 paid public holidays. We got sceamed at that we lying. Our passports had "Commonwealth of Australia 🇦🇺". Americans thought this meant . Australia 🇦🇺 was a communist country and said they should kill us and Nuke our country (Australia). This was said to us on several occasions by different people ¡!
4:50 You just aged yourself, like me. It's not called MGM Studios anymore. It stopped being called that in 2007. MGM Studios was my favourite bit to visit as a kid. I loved seeing all the sets, design work etc... Working in similar work now I really can understand why the park failed as a studio but I'm really grateful I got to experience it.
When I visited New Orleans ( From London ) we drove from New Orleans to Atlanta - via Tuscaloosa, Chattanooga, and visited smaller towns on the way - my accent was defiantly a novelty. but was quite authentic. I went to New York last December for my 60th - avoided Times Square - But I had a great time
The city thing... (as well as the walking v driving thing). I think it's probably down to the basic fact that nearly all European cities grew. They weren't planned. Most still have medieval street layout in some places, if not medieval buildings that are still in daily use. A lot more American cities were designe, or planned from scratch. And on the driving thing - most European cities grew from a time before cars - when people walked. Or at a push used horses and carts. Things like car parks had to be fitted in afterwards. Plus we have better public transport, and more people use it. A lot of American cities were built after the introduction of cars.
Actually it's because the oil industry and auto makers lobbied (bribed) the politicians to design cities to be as pedestrian unfriendly as possible so you HAVE to drive a car. They're intentionally designed so that you can't walk. It's absolutely insane, and I'm sorry but your country is a corrupt mess. My country is not much better and seems to be desperately following the US model 😢
That is a misconception. American cities also grew. Then they were demolished for the car. The public transport companies were privatized, bought by car manufacturers, destroyed and thus everyone had to buy a car.
Gasoline is super expensive in Europe.. they are not as spread out ..the cities are not designed for major car travel. They are far older than the USA. It is expensive to own a large vehicle..the country roads are very narrow in Europe.
Best new years was 1999 in Stockholm standing at Slussen near the old town and listening to Europe play the final countdown as the clock ticked down to the new millennium. Europe was on a floating barge in Stockholm harbour and the song right after was Rock the Night! I think their hands froze up after that. It was all paid for by this flamboyant Swedish billionaire that used to do such cool things in Stockholm but he died young. He had gone to Europe and asked how much money it would take for them to re-unite and play on new years.
Who was that billionaire and what else did he do? Never heard of but remember the Europe reunion as well, it was a HUGE thing back then and the perfect way to end a millennia.
In Germany one of the main TV stations show again "Streets of San Franzisco", digitally remastered, every day one episode. At weekend 5 or 6 one after the other.
been to all except new york....we have a place called butlins in uk which is a stag/hen party haven...great fun weekend of drinking..las vegas is the same but 100 times bigger, i love san fran but 1 day i saw a bloke taking a shit on a street corner in the main shopping area and everyone just walked around like its normal plus the whole place stinks of weed but its still a fantastic place, san diego old town is fake but done really well with great food places,well worth a visit and everyone needs to visit disney in their lifetime at least once.
I’m from the U.K and visited Las Vegas back in 2007 as part of a holiday of the American West. I totally agree with you that Vegas is like Butlins. The “European attractions” mimicked around the city are quite frankly tacky and an excuse for the American people to claim “they have an Elizabeth Tower, Eiffel Tower and a leaning tower of Pisa of their own” and not have to travel to Europe. Err…no, they’re dog shit compared to the real thing. The only impressive thing in Vegas is how the ladies tits manage not pop out of their cocktail dresses. Plus sides were the stunning canyons, a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon is a must!
Happiness is when you like and love what surrounds you. That's why I agree with you that small communities far from the so-called civilization are happier than most people whose lives have been poisoned by politicians for years.
Nope, that's a romanticized fantasy city people like to believe. First of all, no community no matter how small, get away from that politics nonsense. Unless you're talking about undiscovered tribes in the amazon. I live in one of these idyllic small town communities in the middle of Norway. If you fly over it with a drone it'll look like heaven, and I'm sure you'll find some people that would love to talk about how great it is, like the tourist department. But the reality is that it's BORING. And there are few opportunities for anything at all. Want to be an actor? Nope. Musician? Only if you like the trombone, or if you hate your life enough, which you probably do, then black metal. Sports? Sure, if you play football. Tech industry? Nope. Open a restaurant? You can try, but chances you'll stay open for more than a year are slim to none. Only way you'd be happy in a small town community is if you want nothing, and if you want nothing then you'll be happy anywhere.
@@daniel4647And what are you missing there? Theft, murder, rape, gangs on the streets, police everywhere. You have peace there that is not available in most European cities. If you have never lived in the city, be happy and don't complain. I wrote about small communities free from idiots called politicians. Instead of becoming depressed, turn to God. He opens every door as long as you are honest with him. Try it. Good luck.
Living in a small community is far better. People have a more caring and generous attitude. I've lived in large cities and rare if people know their neighbours. Your number friends is far larger, but real friends There is a lot more to a small community than what you think. They certainly are not boring.
I took a quick look at the World Happiness Report that is quoting Finland as a winner (6 years in a row). It's based on interviewing population samples. So it's that the most people in Finland feel that they are happy, not about standards of living. Yeah, indigenous tribes are probably not included in this report because of logistics. And there are some quite happy, kind people there. And in case You want an even worse version of "the happiest"; najszczęśliwsze. Love from Poland!
Australia doesn’t have city centre but every city has a riverfront area with restaurants and shopping. We have centre but it’s the riverfronts that is the central place
Indeed, these "must see" American spots must be a huge disappointment nowadays! I visited New York in the ealry 80's and I was: - happily surprised at how bautiful some of the Manhattan skyscrapers were, particularly those built in the 1920's, such as the Empire State Building and I enjoyed the view from one of the World Trade Centre's Towers, and from the head of Lady Liberty, reflecting on Ellis Island where so many immigrants waited for their dream of a better life to come true; - happily surpirsed to discover the zoo in the heart of Central Park, where I spent an entire afternoon, feeling as if I were on The Planet of the Ape's movie. In Time Square (not as crowded then), I was witness to an impromptu little celebration of the NYPD rewarding its officers for ... special kindness and helpfulness towards tourists!!! (I still have the photos I took of that humble and moving little celebration). Well ... "times, they are changing", as Bob Dylan said ... and, imo, not for the better, alas.
@@OneTrueScotsman I so agree with you! And from seeing them up close, at street level, I was impressed at how so many buildings of that period feature beautiful bas-reliefs and doors. I absolutely love the 1920's Art Nouveau style that I find still very modern ... with grace and beauty! It's a shame we can't upload photos here. I really love those that I took then.
It’s weird how America says Mickey D’s, because McDonald, the surname, is of Scottish origin, Mac, and means son of, so MacGregor means son of Gregor, McDonald means son of Donald. No Mickey is involved. In Australia, our shortened version of McDonald’s is Macca’s, based on the prefix Mac.
Vegas: totally agreed. If your not gambling you have seen vegas in 1 day so seeing a show or pooltime is necessary. Only been to Disneyland in cali and that was fine, but spendt 2 days, but universal studios was my favorite. Hated san Francisco, it was dirty and sad to say lots of homeless people, not so friendly people overal and hard to find things in center of town. I really like architecture but accept for one small street I was disappointed. The pier was really nice though. In Cali san diego was an absolute favorite and such a mellow nice blend of people. I would definitly go back to san diego. But driving highway 1 was awsome. When you get to monterey and go south it gets a lot better. McDonalds in SF tasted like crap. Chlorinated water in the coke 🤮 and the burger was disgusting. Think our rules regarding toxins in the food helps a lot to make it taste better. Finnish people are generally chilled people, they dont complain a lot and are easier to please. And the main reason why they are on top of the list. Us swedes complain a lot more than our neighbours 😂 Think a lot of americans never get the chance to even get out of there home state and then you have nothing to compare with. Think that also effects the happiness index.
Oh nice pronounciation. OFC you have accent, but you got it right. Czech is difficult language, but atleast we pronounce things as we write them. The ŽŠČŘĎŤŇ are just making the consonant soft (cash => keš, czech => ček). The vowels are made longer by this ÁÉÍÓÚ. The Ě is just "IE" and Ů is pronounced the same as Ú. The C is always pronounced TS. Slavic languages have similar structure, and you can understand in between them to some degree. (Alcohol helps). Many czechs emigrated to USA, mainly midwest and texas, you may have our blood.
Actualy czech language is pretty different from other slavic languages. And i am considering pronounciation and also grammatic. There are strong celtic and germanic influences. And also czech language is rather flat, not so many stresses like other slavic languages.
I’m not a great fan of McDonalds but when traveling through New Zealand I had to stop at the McDonalds I the town of Taupo. They have an old DC3 aircraft complete with wings and motors connected to the McDonalds . You grab something to eat go up some stairs. You can sit at a table and eat inside the plane. The only reality the cockpit is glassed off but you can see all of the controls.
In South Africa we have McDonalds , but we also have Steers which is local and better. We also have KFC but most South Africans prefer Chicken Licken which is MUCH better.
I went to New York.... every worker I came across was soooooo unfriendly. I asked the hop on hop off bus promoters which bus to get and you'd think I'd asked them something controversial and inappropriate considering the glares I got 😅 That's when I realized that if you want friendly service or conversation then you need to venture out of the bigger cities.
My daughter went to many states in USA re work for a week or 2 at a time from about 15 years ago, until Covid hit - and loved the USA And a few other countries. I got a keyrings which are all hooked on to each other and hung in my wall, from everywhere she went. San Francisco, just says USA with a lucky penny in keyring, Venice Beach, New York, Seattle, Arizona, Florida, California, Santa Monica, Texas, San Jose. Miami. She absolutely loved the USA. Took special pics and vids for me. Oh yeah, flew over the Grand Canyon in a chopper. New Zealand, Singapore, Canada. Some i can’t read, I’m getting new glasses lol. Ireland was her last before Covid hit. NSW, Tassie, Darwin. There’s a Disney one, but I remember that was Disney Hong Kong. And I’ve never left Aussie shores 😂 Now I have to hang them up again, they weigh a ton lol Her husband took her over to LA for her birthday for a holiday too.
Happiness is the derivate of the content curve. So you'll experience happiness when you get more content, and you'll experience sadness/sorrow/depression when it goes down. Happiness is a therefore not a permanent state, it is a measurement of change. That said, I agree the happiness index is bullocks.
I asked my wife where would she like to visit in America. She said....Bush....which in Australia means, anywhere remote with very few people. What about L.A, Vegas, California, Disney Land, Warner Bro's, New York etc....she just started swearing like a sailor at me ??? She did say she would've liked to checked out the back streets of New Orleans, but its all washed away, so Nah !!! Go figure...lol
For sure that one of the happiest people are those tribes living on remote islands far from civilaziton. becose they don't have to stress about so many things like modern people do. ( their main focus is to catch food not to make money ) for example : you want job that will treat you like a human person and not a slave, you want good hours and pay If you live in a country where any job will be enough to pay for your living and transportation and some extra will remain on bank account at the end of the month , then the happiness rises up a lot.
City centres i think is to do with zoning of residencial and commercial areas. Residential areas seem to be on the outside of the city and commercial in the centre in most cases. Also most of the US is designed around the car with more parking spaces than cars and you have to drive to get to most places. Walking is more unusual. While in European cities you can walk most places or use public transport.
10:35 an Austrian immigrant who was also an architect started doing exactly that in the US: building pedestrian zones and marketplaces in the US. But then you screwed it up somehow and it became shopping malls.😢
OK, but. I am a Finn and used to do my PhD in Davis, California a long time ago. I have been a lot around California and New York and visited some 40 states. I am saddened to visit San Francisco today, that is true. New York is great with museums etc and I would never go to the Times Square again, but it is not New York. As to Las Vegas, in the early 80s it was a great place to stop on a long journey, because the gambling hotels were a cheap place to stay overnight. Perhaps not so anymore. Disneyland was never something for me.
There will always be two type Europeans going to America, the blind and easily impressed and the educated and cultured. The easily impressed Europeans will immediately feel at home in America while the educated and cultured will feel horrified in America. While America definitely does have a lot of historical sites, a big part of America, to a European, comes around as fake and uncultured. The most extreme is probably a place like Las Vegas where the American focus on desperately trying to copy European historical sites is downright ridiculous.
I lived in the US for nearly 5 years in the late 70’s. Travelled a lot. Visited frequently in the next 20 years. It is a wonderful fantastic country if you drive. Vegas must be the worst place and you only go to Disney Land/ World with children. I just love the South and Eastcoast but not exclusively. Everywhere amazing scenery and in the cities fabulous museums and art galleries. I would love to go back but I wouldn’t drive anymore. Sad about that. For me it is easier to visit Europe as it is compact,walkable, with good public transport.
US is new, but not that new. I saw a video with old pictures of us towns showing that they had a city center and a quare, but they have been removed during the cars revolution. So piratically you lost all the squares and walk able cities, for making space for cars and parking-lot
Happiness report takes a lot more into account than just how happy people look outward. That would be easy to fake and in some cases can be considered as a coping mechanism. You should probably react to some of the happiness report videos that there are to get a better picture of it.
The US is not about cities it is about people and the majority of the population are nice people, unfortunately big cities in any country, happen to attract the not so nice people. Parameters to measure happiness. The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network publishes the report, and the Gallup World Polls collects the data. The report measures happiness based on six factors, namely gross domestic product, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and corruption. Besides ranking the countries, the report also looks at the state of the world in 2023. Feeling safe, not worrying about medical bills sending you into bankruptcy, not living to work but working to live, plus food regulation that looks at keeping the population healthy rather than catering to the big companies making money.
Even though my country Australia is closer in appearance to the US than Europe...the city centres in Australia are way better...there may not be squares in our cities (with exception to my city Adelaide) but the buildings are closer together and much better for walking...too many US cities have many blocks of paved car parking areas that seem to separate the buildings so they are disconnected and far apart. Australian city centres are denser and more compact...examples in the US could be Boston and NYC in density and closeness of buildings...only the aesthetic in Australia is obviously different. Some of the worst cities in the US for city centres spread apart and full of parking lots are Phoenix, LA, most of the cities in Texas and surrounding states.
My kids wanted me to take them to Las Vegas about 20 years ago and so glad I did not go. They were 14 and 18 at the time, so were impressed by the movies. Foot bridges might help cross a road? I was told to never kiss Minnie Mouse, as you would get sick! Ten year olds will never have a bad memory of any amusement parks. There was one city in the UK, I know of, that rented a whole hotel to put homeless people in over Christmas. That is thoughful, but maybe build something to house them? A bit like London...try finding a Londoner in London in the summer. My daughter and husband went to NY a few years back and enjoyed it. They did hang around Central Park area though and did a helicopter trip over that French Statue. McDonald's are always nice inside, except for the food. Happiness is made by the family and friends around you, not necessarily environment and certainly not material things. A lot of European/UK cities go far back in time, well before cars existed. There was always a town centre for the market etc. America should not try to emulate Europe. Be yourself, even if it is crap! 🤣
Happiness is satisfaction witout fundamental sorrows. You don't desire more than you've got. I'm convinced that this persuit for happiness has changed into a persuit of wealth. Money is the only thing that counts in the US. Even if it's a question of life and death -think about your health care system! (Many can't afford the costs for an ambulance, a doctors appointment or a sugery) And what's about child care? How could you be happy with these deep sorrows?
That was so true, I have looked at many US cities/towns, on Google Earth, and can never find the centre (as we know it) You can zoom in on what looks like the central area, but it is always a multi-lane road with identical square buildings alongside, and no shops! They're presumably all in indoor malls. There are some exceptions, 5th Avenue NY is def a shopping street, also Boston appears to be more 'user friendly' for us Europeans for mooching around 🤔 I went to Santa Monica and the word that springs to mind is 'scruffy', certainly not the glam place I expected. San Francisco was better, then, but not a walking city, that's for sure, no surprise there. Alcatraz was awesome, I have to say!! 🤪 On the whole, the words boring and sterile come to mind, sorry! 🥴 🙋♀️🇬🇧
Happiness is an individual thing…I’ve looked at it…it’s a socialism index…not a happiness measure…to find out if someone is happy…you gotta ask a representative statistical sample of people at different times how they feel…and across age ranges…and understand that is correlational only…I like what I do…as a neuroscience and psychiatric nurse… I am happy with my community, its small … and quiet … am I happy … sometimes…it depends on my health and if I’m really busy or if my family is doing well and they’re happy
Disney world in Florida was good. 2 things that make it bad is before you could buy tickets for the parks you wanted to go to but now it’s one ticket for all parks. Even if you don’t want to visit them. I found universal studios better and the ticket price was far cheaper. Also at Disney they didn’t do refillable cups, universal did. So you’d have to buy a separate drink every time and when it’s as hot as Florida that’s extremely regular. If you had kids drinks alone per day becomes a crazy outlay. Universal you could buy one cup and fill it all day for a fraction of the price and the rides are better.
I’m a member of the Association of Voluntary Guides York. Here we take visitors on a free guided two hour walk around the city. When I say free, I mean totally free and that includes free of tips or commercial recommendations. We cover our own expenses and do this as a hobby and a service to our city. No tips because we have some pride in ourselves and are not beggars. Last year I took my wife on a bus tour in the North East of the US. There was a guide on the bus who introduced herself by stating that her minimum tip was $5 per person per day and the same for the driver. The bus first took us to a restaurant run by her friend who also wanted a tip. But then as we arrived at each place of interest another guide would get on the bus and state his minimum tip. Then every time you order a drink in a bar the bartender expects a $1 for each service! We had previously paid for the bus and entry to the places of interest and of course we had paid for a tour guide on the bus.So why all these extras? At Gettysburg the guide was a retired teacher in uniform and was very knowledgeable. He wanted a minimum tip of 25$ per person, so I spoke to him about this and explained that visiting the US for us Brits is like visiting the third world as we are constantly surrounded by aggressive beggars looking for handouts, he failed to understand and simply reduced his demand down to 20$! Americans need to learn some civic pride and self respect.
I would never do any of those organised things for exactly that reason....just book my hotel then do my own thing . ...
If only they could put so much energy into fighting for their right to fair wages!
In many countries, tipping is regarded as begging, and it's illegal to demand more money than the set price.
@@robertmurray8763 In most countries waiting staff are paid a decent salary; they don't rely on tips to make a living. Tips are an extra left at the client's discretion to show their appreciation of good service.
Let’s do the Maths of tipping. So my friend at Gettysburg with his minimum $25 tip per person. A typical Bus contains say 40 people. So that’s $1000 of tips per bus. Then maybe he does 2 or 3 Buses per day! So why would he want a pay raise if that means stopping the tips? There is of course no record of these cash payments, so I’m guessing that this is also an illegal tax dodge!
So, the metric for happiness ( let's stick to first world countries as you can actually compare those) ---- Having healthcare, great public schools that actually teach, safe environment, nice social safety net if you get down on your luck, job that comes with mandatory vacation and sick days, at least a year of paid maternity leave that you can split with your partner, great - widely spread labour unions. Good work- life balance. In most first world countries, those are your rights. In US they are a privilege that most do not have.
A good answer to a simple question that M Jibblin himself could've googled in a few sec.
you forgot family and friends that attribute the most to happiness
You could say that the happiness index measures "smooth sailing", or less obstacles in life to worry about, which then leads to being glad and content, rather than over the top happy about everything. At least this is the Danish definition of this index and the word "glad" that also exist in the Danish vocabulary.
The happiness is also measured by the feeling of security the population has. Social security, health security, being able to pursue hobbies and such.. I think. It is not about how often you smile, it is also your level of general security.
it's also about social cohesion. Being in a community of like-minded people.
@@NoctLightCloud True, not being in a place where you have to be nervous, of who you speak your mind too.
@@sifrasmussen2315 yes! it's about being sure about the majority of people think about topics and agreeing with them. For example, seeing a dropped wallet on the floor and kmowing that everyone else would also no steal it. An alignment to your morals and way of thinking.
This video has just made me even more sure that I never want to visit the US! It just doesn't appeal to me at all.
Same for me, too.
Hello lady from Devon. Go visit Blackpool and Middlesbrough and let us know what you think.
yea it was my dream :D but nowadays maybe national parks... and canada... but my dream change to visit south korea and japan
@mrs_g I have been to 14 countries, very glad i live in USA, but appreciate the fact i have traveled and experiences more.
My brother and sister in law spent a few weeks in the US and the thing they spoke most about when they got back was how horrific the homeless problem was in LA. They'd walk from one wealthy looking lovely street, turn the corner and be surrounded by tents and filth and desperate people all over the place. They even saw numerous families with young children just living on the streets. They couldn't believe how grim it was for the people there and they couldn't wait to leave. They've travelled to a few 'third world' countries and found LA to be even worse.
They went to L.A. lmao
@@robertmurray8763 solid. LA sucks. If you want a good California experience go to San Diego
@@robertmurray8763 sounds like you spent most of your time on trains. That sucks
Probably took the advice of a canadian
We have the best aviation in the world. We don't do that
My grandfather is at the age where he confuses Hitler with Napoleon and such now but I remember him talking about the time he visited LA and was told he couldn't just go and walk outside the hotel around midnight. Something they happily did in Southern France without thinking twice.
I recall being told the same thing in Beverly Hills in the early 80s when we were taken by friends for a drive around there - apparently a popular tourist-y thing to do. But, according to them, if you were to decide to get out of your car there and take a pleasant stroll around the streets, you'd probably be stopped and questioned by police for your outlandish and highly suspect behaviour!
I can't think of any other city in the world I've visited where people are not free to enjoy the pleasures of a walk around in the public areas and places of interest. The 'Land of the Free' with its city planning designed apparently primarily for cars rather than people might seem a lot less free than imagined...
I traveled to the US from 2002-2010 about 2 x a year. After 2010 I said to myself unwound never return to the US (there is a Chinese saying that you should never go back to a place you were happy). Looking back, the most amazing thing that undiscovered in the US was the nature. The national parks just crushed my soul for its majestic and beauty ❤
I travelled around the southeast of the US In October/November. One thing was really great for me, being handicapped: everything was accessible. And I liked the State/National parks. You pay a small entrance fee and you have free parking inside, a visitor’s place in some and you have clean restrooms.
As for the rest:
- no fixed taxes, so you never know how much you have to pay in a shop
- everything is extremely sweet, even bread
- if you get your bill in a restaurant they’ll already give hints how high the tip will be, starting with 20%
All in all: fantastic landscapes to explore, but no place I never would want to live in.
"no fixed taxes, so you never know how much you have to pay in a shop"
I'm pretty sure America is one of the only countries to add tax on top of the purchase price.
"everything is extremely sweet, even bread"
Idk why you'd want bread to be sweet, but European sweets are much better than American ones.
"If you get your bill in a restaurant they’ll already give hints how high the tip will be, starting with 20%"
America is also one of the only countries where tipping is basically mandatory. I'm not paying an extra 20% because you guys can't pay your staff properly.
So yeah, all of that stuff you consider to be good is either normal in Europe or is really weird.
LOL the comment on McDonalds... it's so true. The Mc's and Burger Kings in Switzerland are really nice looking and the food is good for what it is. When we went to Las Vegas everyone said to go to In-n-Out Burger, it was supposed to be SO good and a must-do. Well that was a huge disappointment. The food sucked big time. A bunch of shady people, loud, dirty tables, soggy fries. Just horrible.
I have visited a lot of countries around the world, but have never felt the urge to visit the USA. Watching that video hasn't done anything to change my mind. Probably the opposite if truth be told.
I'm sorry you feel that way. Don't judge america because New York and California suck.
I'm from Arizona. I can solidly say that it's pretty sick to live here
2/50
As a European who has travelled across the US for a few months, I was disappointed with most cities - but the countryside? Man, the nature & landscapes were next level and the people were so friendly. I unexpectedly really enjoyed Appalachia, for instance. But you’ll have to take some time to travel around und it helps to be outdoorsy for sure. If that’s not what you’re looking for - skip the US.
@@lisabelw7782 As an America who came to Europe. I was very disappointed. Isn't Europe supposed to be beautiful?
250 dollars for one day at Disneyland is a trifle expensive.
When you're in London, you can get a day-return by air to any country in Europe you choose, for less than that.
Of-course, you can stay longer if you wish, but you CAN do it there and back the same day quite comfortably.
Even on the train - you'll get a big day-return discount (through the Channel tunnel).
Lack of city centres are also an Australian thing. It was deliberately done in early town planning for crowd control and to prevent people from having a place to congregate and cause "problems". However, some of our cites have now recently developed city squares afterwards on old rail yards (Melbourne) etc.
My daughter goes to America often. Her most hated place is Vegas followed by LA. She was shocked in San Francisco when she went out early evening and homeless people were everywhere. She found a secondhand store and bought all of the blankets they had for them. She is used to Australia and it looks like it has been vacuumed and washed each night. We don’t like litter and I didn’t know just how clean it is here until reactors from other Countries started telling me.
She loves NYC and Chicago although I have heard Chicago has gone down hill big time since she was last there. Her second trip to America she was asked to apartment sit for 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year. The Apartment was in Manhattan with a doorman. She called me to ask if she is supposed to tip the nice man who always opens the door for her. Like I would know? I told her to buy him a Christmas gift. She still loves America but it is more the concerts she can attend and not so much the place. I have had stopovers in LA Airport 6 times and I refused to go outside. There was enough stupid inside to keep me entertained, sorry.
Your sister is right, LA and Vegas are completely overrated. I've been to LA a couple of times, and it's a couple of times too many. It's the most overrated city in the US. Nice beaches (though the water is so cold) and weather, but the rest is "ehhh" and too spread out. Hollywood area looks like Vegas and San Francisco now. NYC is a lot of fun, with tons to see. Downtown Chicago is really nice, though I would stick to that area.
All those places you've mentioned have been Democratically ran for the last 50 to 55 years.
You all need to travel to the real places in America. Not just the tourists traps.
🇺🇸
I've travelled to the States many times and enjoyed it. There are a lot of really amazing places and things to see. I'm not so keen on travelling there nowadays. The big thing that's deterring me is the tipping culture. It's got out of hand and it seems like you have to tip (heavily) everywhere - restaurants, bars, hairdressers, taxis. Makes for an expensive trip and difficult to budget.
You don't have to tip anywhere, I'm so sick of people always saying this, it's not true!
Maybe we are being a bit overly critical towards the US - I went to US several, visited many places for work, and even lived there for 6 months once.
First of all, I found people to be very, very nice. Not only smiling and saying hello, but also when you get to know them better, very open, welcoming and overall with a very positive attitude. Us Europeans are more cynical and grumpy on the outside, but also nice on the inside, once you cut through the outer layer. We are just different cultures.
Impressions about places is highly subjective - but here are mine: I didn't hate Las Vegas, it was kitchy and dirty, and weird in many ways, but I went along with it and enjoyed it. The gambling place I enjoyed much more was Reno, Nevada - much cleaner in a nice mountain setting. San Francisco was meh for me, some nice parts, rather dirty, full of homeless people nobody cares about, but still I had some nice walks there, nice sights, museums etc. I loved Sacramento, CA, a nice smaller city, much more clean and well kept plus the nearby Napa Valley was excellent (wines and sights).
I visited rural Georgia and Arkansas - loved it - nice nature, nice people, smaller cities like Athens, GA, and Fayetteville AR were just great to visit. Didn't like Atlanta so much, but also a nice day trip. I loved Miami Beach (not Miami the city) as I could enjoy the ocean in April, and the town is much more walking friendly. NEW YORK - I liked it very much, a special kind of energy, I walked Manhattan up and down, found it very interesting, also other parts like Queens, Brooklyn and Astoria... I would go back for sure.
All in all, I like the US a lot, I never felt unsafe and often I felt very welcome everywhere I went. Maybe I was lucky, maybe it's just me trying to adapt and accept different places... Sure, I was at times irritated by some things, but I prefer to remember all the good stuff.
I lived in the US off and on for years and didn't hate anything, but the poor quality food really bothered me.
the problem with san francisco and any major US city is the massive wealth inequality, but san francisco has to be the most jarring I've seen, theres ULTRA wealthy areas next to streets full of unhoused people :/ my brother used to live there and paid probably the equivalent of $600k+ for a 400sqft HOUSE, the cost of housing is so out of control there that if you aren't rich you can very easily end up living on the streets
Sorry but Finland being the happiest place is not a PR branding thing like Disney is. There are some world rankings somewhere, sorry I dont have a pocket version
EDIT: I had to look it up and it's World Happiness Report is a publication released annually by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It ranks countries based on various factors that contribute to happiness and well-being.
How right can somebody be? 10 years ago, 4 Brit guys - few nights in San Fran, drove down to LA, few nights in Hollywood then a couple in Vegas, where we arrived on Labor Day. 35C. We could not wait to get out. Staying at the only non-gambling/smoking hotel (Mandarin Oriental) was a blessing, and I'm a smoker! Glad I saw it, but never again. I found most of it to be profoundly sad. Not to mention tatty. We flew to NYC for the final days, and it felt like another civilisation. First visited NYC in 1990, returned many times and witnessed it changing hugely. With my partner, I took my older brother/SIL (both 73) in 2022, who'd never been. We did it all swanky, stayed at The Chelsea, and the city never felt safer. Fun for us, as they wanted to do all the tourist stuff we hadn't for decades. Not been near Times Sq since 1990, but they wanted to see it and it was the only place I felt uncomfortable (and we'd been all through LES, Chinatown etc). Walking up from the Subway there was discarded bedding covered with faeces we had to step over. There were scammers everywhere and I had my hand on my wallet in my pocket. I got them out of there as fast as I could.
San Francisco has gone the opposite way to NYC. It wasn't cosy back in 95, with huge homeless problem. Still sketchy around the Haight.
I’ve been to a lot of American cities and I can’t lie I met some really nice people, but I won’t go back because US is a miserable place where people shoot first then ask questions. Our hotel gave us a town car, the driver brought out his gun to show us, thought we were crazy because we didn’t have guns.
I loved Prague so beautiful
I have visited the US about 6/7 times the last time (California) was such a horror an expensive horror that it put me off. If I do go back it will probably be to visit Yellowstone park.
I have been USA three times and twice as a transit passenger 35 years ago.
It was a horror story for me !!
I went to New York this year and it made London seem so clean! Central Part and Battery Park were nice - the rest was a dump. As for Times Square - its not a square! Its a major road with wider pavements with shops selling garbage. And dont get me started on JFK airport - it was like trying to get into a third world country. I wont be rushing back.
Rather like Heathrow and London. Last time I visited London was in 2017 and I vowed it would be my last. It certainly did not feel like my capital city anymore.
In Kraków there's a McD in the old town in a medieval cellar
Same like Prague. Actualy in the city center of Prague are only medieval cellars.😄
1. Totally agree, Vegas is a showy place that is not that good. It's for gamblers and people to act like idiots. Went once, don't need to go back.
2. That's just bad planning. Disney World is HUGE, 25,000+ acres. There is no way you are going to go and see all of it in a day. Completely on him for doing an awful job of researching a place. Yes, it's expensive, but there is a lot to do and see there. I'm not even a Disney fan but I have fun when I go.
3. San Francisco has gone so far downhill that past couple of years, it's sad. It has some really interesting places to see, but it's literally become a shit-show.
4. NY Times Sq is a tourist spot. Of course it's crowded, it's the main place tourists want to go in a large city that gets lots of tourists. The rest of the city is fascinating to see, and there are so many things to do there.
5. McDonalds. I'm with him. I rarely eat fast food anyway, but it's even worse in the US then it is in Europe.
I'd like to tell the Czech that those cities in Europe with the center plazas are 900+ years old appropriate for riding your horse and 'parking' the horse. The US is not even 250 years old and it's not Europe. Different Style, different Continent. We have air conditioning and garbage disposals. 😅😅😅
I think US cities don't have town centres so much because they were created from scratch as a grid, rather than growing organically from an ancient small settlement. Somewhere like London, "the city" is still the old Roman city, a tiny 2000-year-old dot in the centre of the sprawling metropolis.
And they have been rebuilt as well. Look on older US cities maps and pictures. Most US city buildings are barely 80 years old (emphasis on most).
Well, if your cities suck, enjoy this huge different landscape of your country! Hopefully one time, I'll be able to visit the Bryce Canyon and the Yellowstone National Park and maybe the giant Redwoods as well. And I wish I could go to Bronners in Frankenmouth, Michigan. They are the largest christmas shop in the world 🥰
5 things to remember…1) it’s always further than you think…the distance from Boston to San Diego is further than the distance from Boston to Dublin…the U.S. is a land ocean…there is very little that is easy to walk…it’s just the way it is…Population Density…lower than Europe…Paris has more people per square mile than the Big Apple…🤷♂️ Climate…the U.S. has every type of climate and this deeply effects each state…Large population…340 million people…After India and China…there’s the United States…that means people of all different kinds and much diversity….finally, Federalism…not just Texas, but every state is like its own country…many were their own country for a while…from the 13 colonies who were the earliest British Colonies and have a strong British influence and use a legal and economic system and follow very British style of government to the newest state…Hawaii…who does things like California and is quite independent. Europeans don’t understand the fact that the U.S. states are very different from one another…some deeply conservative and some almost European liberal…
As a Brit who has never been to the US I feel this was a bit harsh as saying “the US is……..” is a bit unfair as California is super different than Texas which is super different from Maine etc etc. but in his defence I have heard some US citizens complain about some of the same things after having visited the UK like not being able to walk anywhere in the US and public transport being way better in UK but I suppose again it all depends in which state you live. We all have our qualities guys and girls
usakistanis(liberals and conservatives) and pretty much all the same.
the differences are tiny. i wouldnt set foot in usakistan unless i was paid such an obscene amount of money that nobody would be willing to pay me....
You ll still be likely to get shot in all states.
That s what the biggest turn off about the USA.
Insécurity is the main issue, followed by food.
@@etienne8110
but if you carry a gun, you magically become bullet-proof.....
America is; the beaches, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sequoias/Redwoods, Zion, Shasta, Glacier, Grand Teton, and Arches National Parks, Alaska...most of those are with unique features existing only in the US! Most Americans love open spaces and freedom! If they can afford to leave the mega-cities and relocate to some country home - they will. Remote workers are moving to small towns or country homes with good satellite communications. Farmers and ranchers are not flocking to the cities for a better life - they are staying home where life is actually much better. Suburbs are still viable for working folks living and working in the cities, like cops, teachers, store owners, lawyers, etc...
The sad reality is that the US is slowly destroying the concept of cities which are becoming traps for poor people without marketable skills or homeless and/or mentally ill!
The city centre thing I think is that European cities are old and developed around that central square whereas modern cities are now designed and Connor said are designed around cars.
The Disney comment was idiotic. I'm British and even I know Disneyworld is massive and cannot be done in a day. The recommendation is 2 days per park! A bit of research would've saved him money and stress. 'Assumption is the mother of all F* ups' as they say and he assumed it would be less busy at Christmas which is the complete opposite. He probably based his presumptions on the Euro Disney in France which can be done in a couple of days. Again...Assumptions.
Seems for the most part this guy hasn't done any research which as a travel blogger I expect is the least you can do for anywhere in the World you're planning on going. PS. If you ever travel to Uruguay, check out the Mc Donald's there, they're considered like a posh place to go to eat and are fabulous compared to the usual we get here in London.
I spent one month backpacking on my own in the US some 20 years ago, I got an Amtrak ticket and visited numerous cities from west coast to the east coast. I had a great time met many many people and visited many beautiful places, but I can't lie, I saw a lot of poverty, there were some cities I got out of the train station and felt so unsafe that I walked straight back in and left that city, I was scammed a few times, during the whole time I was there I never stopped looking over my shoulders until I crossed the border into Canada and I felt instantly more relaxed. The US has a lot to offer but the price you pay to be there is too great, and I'm not talking about money.
Just a heads up on happiness index- it's not a medial happiness per-se (i.e. John, Marry and Will would rate how happy they are on a scale from 1/10 and divide it by three), rather how happy are people with certain sectors- healthcare, education, public services etc., calculate and add up the score points, divide them through sectors and see the highest net score. So happiness of Finland shows that Finns are overall the happiest about what their government are doing overall.
It’s not “happiness”, but being content in spite of their struggles… and again Europe is a continent not one single country, culture, people, language or society. It varies greatly from country to country, from east to west, north to south! I’m from Norway, and it’s nothing like the Czech republic, and I was once in Prague when in high school. Compared to Norway, tho richer culture and history, they are poorer and have a lover standard of living. And in Norway McDonalds is considered junk food!
When it comes to City Centre Planning, you have to take into account that European cities have developed over many hundreds of years from small villages and towns and so all of our streets have names and squares etc. In America, the cities have been build big from the outset and that is why to make things easy, they were built on a sort of grid system, hence you will get addresses like: 2257, West 64th Street. It's easier to give the streets a number rather than a name.
Doesn't look like that in the cowboy films... They all started somewhere small.
David, that's just in NY.
I live in Columbus Ohio. A medium sized city.
We have proper street names here.
Yes Brian, agreed. The Whitehouse is on Pennsylvania Avenue, I believe.?@@briansmith48
I went to New York for New Years Eve (from UK) in 2004 and 2005, avoided Times Square, 5th Avenue etc. like the plague. First night we were there I asked the doorman of our hotel where to get a drink at this time (11pm), and was directed to a great little bar called Jack Dempsey's (W33 Street). Had a great time (apart from the morning after the Whisky vs Tequila drinking contest we had with a bunch of Puerto Rican's), met loads of interesting people (locals and tourists), and went around a lot of the 'lesser' known areas as a result (Meatpacking district, Greenwich etc.). Zero trouble, just had a damn good time.
Also he needs to know that the size of the mainland US is the size of the entire Europe. So yeah everything is compact in their country because they're so small.
Don't think too much about the word happiness on that list. It's not about who laughs the most, but if I got it right rather about who feels the safest. Safe not only in the sense that no one will shoot you, but also in the sense that you will not be homeless if someone in the family gets cancer, that your children will get an education, and that you will always have food for the day. Why Scandinavia often ranks higher than equivalent countries, despite the darkness and cold, I think also has to do with low expectations. But I definitely think that people in many poor countries laugh more than the Scandinavians, but that's not what the list is about.
Yeah, the word happiness is a bit reductive. I live in Scandinavia and believe that people are generally more happy with their lives here, and that being because of a more pro-public good governing and equal access for all to the basic foundations of a functioning society (education, healthcare, etc.) Maybe it should be renamed to the "Content with life in your country" index.
I feel like the guy in the video has fallen for so many tourist traps. Like you can in any country.
Even New Yorkers don’t like Times Square. It’s just a place to pass through to get to somewhere else.
To be fair to Americans, there are some wonderful places to visit: Grand Canyon, Monument Valley in Utah, Yosemite, etc etc. It's exactly the same in the UK. Personally, I don't much care for cities whichever side of the "pond" you are on. As an Englishman I have of course been to London - maybe three times - but I doubt I will go again.
McDonald's in Vatican city was really cool, highly recommend. It had a patly glass floor so you could see the catacombs beneath.
Hi, Connor, as a late Christmas present to engineering-loving you, here is something that I think you'll love: "When Steel Meets Sweat: Eiffel's Megastructures | FD Engineering" - Free Documentary - Engineering (on YT).
Today being the 100's Anniversary of his death, I thought you might like this in-depth portrait of a great megaprojects constructor, namely Mr. Gustave Eiffel, who realised much more than the famous Tower in Paris ... and the structure of N-Y's Lady Liberty. (I wonder if any of the millions of tourists who visit these awesome landmarks ever ponder over the fabulous technical prowess they represent?)
NB: At a time when computers hadn't yet been invented, engineers used ... their heads!
Happy New Year to you!
the happiness scale is based on actual data on. - What is the world happiness index based on?
The ranking uses six key factors to measure happiness - social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption. Besides ranking the countries, the report also looks at the state of the world in 2023.Mar 23, 2023
Exactly. The name ”happiness” is a misnomer, better would be something like ”easiness of living”.
Hi connor hope you had a great Christmas day , I went to florida Disney World in the early 90s , we loved it it was my first venture abroad with my sister and best mate at 18 yrs old we felt safe , got about easy , everyone was very helpful 😊.
Visited US many times on holidays 13 times actually loved it.. I found people very hospitable.. 😊
I'm Australian and had the complete opposite opinion.
I've been to the U.S. 🇺🇸 , five times as a tourist or transit passenger. Complete nightmare of a country.
Didn't like how the Americans thought murdering humans was perfectly normal. Yes, i saw a lot of people threatened to be murdered for a simple misunderstanding. We had to be very careful what we said. We didn't have freedom of speech like other countries. The only country I've travelled to and didn't feel safe !!
I suppose it's what you find we honestly never had a bad word ever said to us..
@wendycartwright22 We got told Australia 🇦🇺 was the poorest and most overpopulated in the world, and we had all told what to say. I received death threats. Americans would not sit with foreigners, and everyone was told it had to racially and ethnicity segregated
I saw a black woman travelling on a British passport to be shot ( in front of her American children) on the spot because American Customs agents didn't understand geography. Then they told everyone not to repeat to anyone about the incident we all had witnessed.
AND THERE'S MORE.
@@robertmurray8763 Sounds like you're the problem. Death threats? Please...
@patrickw123 I've never had any death threats in any other countries. Australian got death threats because we/they said we get four week paid annual leave plus 8 to 10 paid public holidays. We got sceamed at that we lying. Our passports had "Commonwealth of Australia 🇦🇺". Americans thought this meant . Australia 🇦🇺 was a communist country and said they should kill us and Nuke our country (Australia).
This was said to us on several occasions by different people ¡!
Loving or hating is a measure of your curiosity and openness!
4:50 You just aged yourself, like me. It's not called MGM Studios anymore. It stopped being called that in 2007.
MGM Studios was my favourite bit to visit as a kid. I loved seeing all the sets, design work etc... Working in similar work now I really can understand why the park failed as a studio but I'm really grateful I got to experience it.
The only time I have been in San Fransico was in February 1989 & I loved it, must have gone doon hill as we Scots say. 🤪
Same. When I visited it was spotlessly clean & beautiful.
When I visited New Orleans ( From London ) we drove from New Orleans to Atlanta - via Tuscaloosa, Chattanooga, and visited smaller towns on the way - my accent was defiantly a novelty. but was quite authentic. I went to New York last December for my 60th - avoided Times Square - But I had a great time
Quite a difference between 'defiantly' and 'definitely '!
NYE on Times Square was the worst experience I had in my life 😂
Connor, I just looked on google images of your home, Bristol Rhode Island. Looks rather nice to me.
I'll be swift here - haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.
The city thing... (as well as the walking v driving thing). I think it's probably down to the basic fact that nearly all European cities grew. They weren't planned. Most still have medieval street layout in some places, if not medieval buildings that are still in daily use. A lot more American cities were designe, or planned from scratch. And on the driving thing - most European cities grew from a time before cars - when people walked. Or at a push used horses and carts. Things like car parks had to be fitted in afterwards. Plus we have better public transport, and more people use it. A lot of American cities were built after the introduction of cars.
Actually it's because the oil industry and auto makers lobbied (bribed) the politicians to design cities to be as pedestrian unfriendly as possible so you HAVE to drive a car.
They're intentionally designed so that you can't walk. It's absolutely insane, and I'm sorry but your country is a corrupt mess.
My country is not much better and seems to be desperately following the US model 😢
That is a misconception. American cities also grew. Then they were demolished for the car. The public transport companies were privatized, bought by car manufacturers, destroyed and thus everyone had to buy a car.
There must be some small town in US that have it tho
LA is a great example. Had an extensive tram network until the 1960's but was scrapped and huge highways built everywhere.
Gasoline is super expensive in Europe.. they are not as spread out ..the cities are not designed for major car travel. They are far older than the USA. It is expensive to own a large vehicle..the country roads are very narrow in Europe.
Best new years was 1999 in Stockholm standing at Slussen near the old town and listening to Europe play the final countdown as the clock ticked down to the new millennium.
Europe was on a floating barge in Stockholm harbour and the song right after was Rock the Night!
I think their hands froze up after that.
It was all paid for by this flamboyant Swedish billionaire that used to do such cool things in Stockholm but he died young.
He had gone to Europe and asked how much money it would take for them to re-unite and play on new years.
Who was that billionaire and what else did he do? Never heard of but remember the Europe reunion as well, it was a HUGE thing back then and the perfect way to end a millennia.
@@northbreeze0198 Jan Stenbeck
In Germany one of the main TV stations show again "Streets of San Franzisco", digitally remastered, every day one episode. At weekend 5 or 6 one after the other.
been to all except new york....we have a place called butlins in uk which is a stag/hen party haven...great fun weekend of drinking..las vegas is the same but 100 times bigger, i love san fran but 1 day i saw a bloke taking a shit on a street corner in the main shopping area and everyone just walked around like its normal plus the whole place stinks of weed but its still a fantastic place, san diego old town is fake but done really well with great food places,well worth a visit and everyone needs to visit disney in their lifetime at least once.
I’m from the U.K and visited Las Vegas back in 2007 as part of a holiday of the American West. I totally agree with you that Vegas is like Butlins. The “European attractions” mimicked around the city are quite frankly tacky and an excuse for the American people to claim “they have an Elizabeth Tower, Eiffel Tower and a leaning tower of Pisa of their own” and not have to travel to Europe. Err…no, they’re dog shit compared to the real thing. The only impressive thing in Vegas is how the ladies tits manage not pop out of their cocktail dresses. Plus sides were the stunning canyons, a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon is a must!
Visit Prague! Where nothing bad ever happens.
I think he was ironic and referring to the shooting that killed 14 at the Prague University last week.
You mean the first mass shooting at university since 9th century? Yes, shit happens, but still Prague is one of the safest cities in the world.
Great channel, just wondered if youre ever going to finish the thick ot it?
Happiness is when you like and love what surrounds you. That's why I agree with you that small communities far from the so-called civilization are happier than most people whose lives have been poisoned by politicians for years.
Nope, that's a romanticized fantasy city people like to believe. First of all, no community no matter how small, get away from that politics nonsense. Unless you're talking about undiscovered tribes in the amazon. I live in one of these idyllic small town communities in the middle of Norway. If you fly over it with a drone it'll look like heaven, and I'm sure you'll find some people that would love to talk about how great it is, like the tourist department. But the reality is that it's BORING. And there are few opportunities for anything at all. Want to be an actor? Nope. Musician? Only if you like the trombone, or if you hate your life enough, which you probably do, then black metal. Sports? Sure, if you play football. Tech industry? Nope. Open a restaurant? You can try, but chances you'll stay open for more than a year are slim to none. Only way you'd be happy in a small town community is if you want nothing, and if you want nothing then you'll be happy anywhere.
@@daniel4647And what are you missing there? Theft, murder, rape, gangs on the streets, police everywhere. You have peace there that is not available in most European cities. If you have never lived in the city, be happy and don't complain. I wrote about small communities free from idiots called politicians. Instead of becoming depressed, turn to God. He opens every door as long as you are honest with him. Try it. Good luck.
Haha, Recognize that one. Alas I'm norwegian too.Slightly better off here though.
@@daniel4647
Living in a small community is far better. People have a more caring and generous attitude. I've lived in large cities and rare if people know their neighbours. Your number friends is far larger, but real friends
There is a lot more to a small community than what you think. They certainly are not boring.
@@robertmurray8763 Only if you're just like them and think the same
I took a quick look at the World Happiness Report that is quoting Finland as a winner (6 years in a row).
It's based on interviewing population samples. So it's that the most people in Finland feel that they are happy, not about standards of living.
Yeah, indigenous tribes are probably not included in this report because of logistics. And there are some quite happy, kind people there.
And in case You want an even worse version of "the happiest"; najszczęśliwsze.
Love from Poland!
Australia doesn’t have city centre but every city has a riverfront area with restaurants and shopping. We have centre but it’s the riverfronts that is the central place
Indeed, these "must see" American spots must be a huge disappointment nowadays!
I visited New York in the ealry 80's and I was:
- happily surprised at how bautiful some of the Manhattan skyscrapers were, particularly those built in the 1920's, such as the Empire State Building and I enjoyed the view from one of the World Trade Centre's Towers, and from the head of Lady Liberty, reflecting on Ellis Island where so many immigrants waited for their dream of a better life to come true;
- happily surpirsed to discover the zoo in the heart of Central Park, where I spent an entire afternoon, feeling as if I were on The Planet of the Ape's movie.
In Time Square (not as crowded then), I was witness to an impromptu little celebration of the NYPD rewarding its officers for ... special kindness and helpfulness towards tourists!!! (I still have the photos I took of that humble and moving little celebration).
Well ... "times, they are changing", as Bob Dylan said ... and, imo, not for the better, alas.
@@OneTrueScotsman I so agree with you!
And from seeing them up close, at street level, I was impressed at how so many buildings of that period feature beautiful bas-reliefs and doors.
I absolutely love the 1920's Art Nouveau style that I find still very modern ... with grace and beauty!
It's a shame we can't upload photos here. I really love those that I took then.
It’s weird how America says Mickey D’s, because McDonald, the surname, is of Scottish origin, Mac, and means son of, so MacGregor means son of Gregor, McDonald means son of Donald. No Mickey is involved. In Australia, our shortened version of McDonald’s is Macca’s, based on the prefix Mac.
Vegas: totally agreed. If your not gambling you have seen vegas in 1 day so seeing a show or pooltime is necessary.
Only been to Disneyland in cali and that was fine, but spendt 2 days, but universal studios was my favorite.
Hated san Francisco, it was dirty and sad to say lots of homeless people, not so friendly people overal and hard to find things in center of town. I really like architecture but accept for one small street I was disappointed. The pier was really nice though. In Cali san diego was an absolute favorite and such a mellow nice blend of people. I would definitly go back to san diego. But driving highway 1 was awsome. When you get to monterey and go south it gets a lot better.
McDonalds in SF tasted like crap. Chlorinated water in the coke 🤮 and the burger was disgusting. Think our rules regarding toxins in the food helps a lot to make it taste better.
Finnish people are generally chilled people, they dont complain a lot and are easier to please. And the main reason why they are on top of the list. Us swedes complain a lot more than our neighbours 😂
Think a lot of americans never get the chance to even get out of there home state and then you have nothing to compare with. Think that also effects the happiness index.
11:20 thank you! You're welcome anytime here in Austria🇦🇹
Oh nice pronounciation. OFC you have accent, but you got it right. Czech is difficult language, but atleast we pronounce things as we write them. The ŽŠČŘĎŤŇ are just making the consonant soft (cash => keš, czech => ček). The vowels are made longer by this ÁÉÍÓÚ. The Ě is just "IE" and Ů is pronounced the same as Ú. The C is always pronounced TS.
Slavic languages have similar structure, and you can understand in between them to some degree. (Alcohol helps). Many czechs emigrated to USA, mainly midwest and texas, you may have our blood.
Actualy czech language is pretty different from other slavic languages. And i am considering pronounciation and also grammatic. There are strong celtic and germanic influences. And also czech language is rather flat, not so many stresses like other slavic languages.
Check videos from Australian cities ,clean,clean .Maccas arent allowed to display the golden arch too high and some towns just didnt want them at all
I’m not a great fan of McDonalds but when traveling through New Zealand I had to stop at the McDonalds I the town of Taupo. They have an old DC3 aircraft complete with wings and motors connected to the McDonalds . You grab something to eat go up some stairs. You can sit at a table and eat inside the plane. The only reality the cockpit is glassed off but you can see all of the controls.
In South Africa we have McDonalds , but we also have Steers which is local and better. We also have KFC but most South Africans prefer Chicken Licken which is MUCH better.
HE does come from Prague - which is the most glorious place. It's a very high bar.
Prague really is a beautiful place to visit!
I went to New York.... every worker I came across was soooooo unfriendly. I asked the hop on hop off bus promoters which bus to get and you'd think I'd asked them something controversial and inappropriate considering the glares I got 😅 That's when I realized that if you want friendly service or conversation then you need to venture out of the bigger cities.
My daughter went to many states in USA re work for a week or 2 at a time from about 15 years ago, until Covid hit - and loved the USA And a few other countries. I got a keyrings which are all hooked on to each other and hung in my wall, from everywhere she went. San Francisco, just says USA with a lucky penny in keyring, Venice Beach, New York, Seattle, Arizona, Florida, California, Santa Monica, Texas, San Jose. Miami. She absolutely loved the USA. Took special pics and vids for me. Oh yeah, flew over the Grand Canyon in a chopper.
New Zealand, Singapore, Canada. Some i can’t read, I’m getting new glasses lol. Ireland was her last before Covid hit.
NSW, Tassie, Darwin.
There’s a Disney one, but I remember that was Disney Hong Kong.
And I’ve never left Aussie shores 😂
Now I have to hang them up again, they weigh a ton lol
Her husband took her over to LA for her birthday for a holiday too.
Happiness is the derivate of the content curve. So you'll experience happiness when you get more content, and you'll experience sadness/sorrow/depression when it goes down. Happiness is a therefore not a permanent state, it is a measurement of change.
That said, I agree the happiness index is bullocks.
I asked my wife where would she like to visit in America. She said....Bush....which in Australia means, anywhere remote with very few people. What about L.A, Vegas, California, Disney Land, Warner Bro's, New York etc....she just started swearing like a sailor at me ??? She did say she would've liked to checked out the back streets of New Orleans, but its all washed away, so Nah !!! Go figure...lol
there's a vid about HOW the world happiness report is done, in a vid about the happiest countries in the world
For sure that one of the happiest people are those tribes living on remote islands far from civilaziton.
becose they don't have to stress about so many things like modern people do. ( their main focus is to catch food not to make money )
for example : you want job that will treat you like a human person and not a slave, you want good hours and pay
If you live in a country where any job will be enough to pay for your living and transportation and some extra will remain on bank account at the end of the month , then the happiness rises up a lot.
City centres i think is to do with zoning of residencial and commercial areas. Residential areas seem to be on the outside of the city and commercial in the centre in most cases. Also most of the US is designed around the car with more parking spaces than cars and you have to drive to get to most places. Walking is more unusual. While in European cities you can walk most places or use public transport.
I live quite close to St. John’s University. Just curious what made you choose to go to NYC if you’re not a city person?
10:35 an Austrian immigrant who was also an architect started doing exactly that in the US: building pedestrian zones and marketplaces in the US. But then you screwed it up somehow and it became shopping malls.😢
10:20 Watch some Not Just Bikes videos. It's about a Canadian living in the Netherlands. The short oldest one is a nice intro
Yes, we have the same problem here in Italy, no city centre...
...
...
🤣🤣🤣🤣
'Sir. I think you might have a problem.' 🙂 Love it.
OK, but. I am a Finn and used to do my PhD in Davis, California a long time ago. I have been a lot around California and New York and visited some 40 states. I am saddened to visit San Francisco today, that is true. New York is great with museums etc and I would never go to the Times Square again, but it is not New York. As to Las Vegas, in the early 80s it was a great place to stop on a long journey, because the gambling hotels were a cheap place to stay overnight. Perhaps not so anymore. Disneyland was never something for me.
I'm from the UK and Vegas is my favourite place in the world so that's just his nerdy opinion..he obviously doesn't like fun.
There will always be two type Europeans going to America, the blind and easily impressed and the educated and cultured.
The easily impressed Europeans will immediately feel at home in America while the educated and cultured will feel horrified in America.
While America definitely does have a lot of historical sites, a big part of America, to a European, comes around as fake and uncultured.
The most extreme is probably a place like Las Vegas where the American focus on desperately trying to copy European historical sites is downright ridiculous.
I lived in the US for nearly 5 years in the late 70’s. Travelled a lot. Visited frequently in the next 20 years. It is a wonderful fantastic country if you drive. Vegas must be the worst place and you only go to Disney Land/ World with children. I just love the South and Eastcoast but not exclusively. Everywhere amazing scenery and in the cities fabulous museums and art galleries. I would love to go back but I wouldn’t drive anymore. Sad about that. For me it is easier to visit Europe as it is compact,walkable, with good public transport.
US is new, but not that new. I saw a video with old pictures of us towns showing that they had a city center and a quare, but they have been removed during the cars revolution.
So piratically you lost all the squares and walk able cities, for making space for cars and parking-lot
Presumably, these 'tips' by definition are purely discretionary. So what happens if you have paid for a tour but don't pay the extra tip money?
Happiness report takes a lot more into account than just how happy people look outward. That would be easy to fake and in some cases can be considered as a coping mechanism. You should probably react to some of the happiness report videos that there are to get a better picture of it.
I'm an European living in the US and I approve this message.😢
The US is not about cities it is about people and the majority of the population are nice people, unfortunately big cities in any country, happen to attract the not so nice people. Parameters to measure happiness. The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network publishes the report, and the Gallup World Polls collects the data. The report measures happiness based on six factors, namely gross domestic product, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and corruption. Besides ranking the countries, the report also looks at the state of the world in 2023. Feeling safe, not worrying about medical bills sending you into bankruptcy, not living to work but working to live, plus food regulation that looks at keeping the population healthy rather than catering to the big companies making money.
Even though my country Australia is closer in appearance to the US than Europe...the city centres in Australia are way better...there may not be squares in our cities (with exception to my city Adelaide) but the buildings are closer together and much better for walking...too many US cities have many blocks of paved car parking areas that seem to separate the buildings so they are disconnected and far apart.
Australian city centres are denser and more compact...examples in the US could be Boston and NYC in density and closeness of buildings...only the aesthetic in Australia is obviously different.
Some of the worst cities in the US for city centres spread apart and full of parking lots are Phoenix, LA, most of the cities in Texas and surrounding states.
My kids wanted me to take them to Las Vegas about 20 years ago and so glad I did not go. They were 14 and 18 at the time, so were impressed by the movies. Foot bridges might help cross a road?
I was told to never kiss Minnie Mouse, as you would get sick! Ten year olds will never have a bad memory of any amusement parks.
There was one city in the UK, I know of, that rented a whole hotel to put homeless people in over Christmas. That is thoughful, but maybe build something to house them?
A bit like London...try finding a Londoner in London in the summer. My daughter and husband went to NY a few years back and enjoyed it. They did hang around Central Park area though and did a helicopter trip over that French Statue. McDonald's are always nice inside, except for the food.
Happiness is made by the family and friends around you, not necessarily environment and certainly not material things.
A lot of European/UK cities go far back in time, well before cars existed. There was always a town centre for the market etc. America should not try to emulate Europe. Be yourself, even if it is crap! 🤣
Happiness is satisfaction witout fundamental sorrows. You don't desire more than you've got. I'm convinced that this persuit for happiness has changed into a persuit of wealth. Money is the only thing that counts in the US. Even if it's a question of life and death -think about your health care system! (Many can't afford the costs for an ambulance, a doctors appointment or a sugery) And what's about child care? How could you be happy with these deep sorrows?
That was so true, I have looked at many US cities/towns, on Google Earth, and can never find the centre (as we know it) You can zoom in on what looks like the central area, but it is always a multi-lane road with identical square buildings alongside, and no shops!
They're presumably all in indoor malls. There are some exceptions, 5th Avenue NY is def a shopping street, also Boston appears to be more 'user friendly' for us Europeans for mooching around 🤔
I went to Santa Monica and the word that springs to mind is 'scruffy', certainly not the glam place I expected. San Francisco was better, then, but not a walking city, that's for sure, no surprise there. Alcatraz was awesome, I have to say!! 🤪
On the whole, the words boring and sterile come to mind, sorry! 🥴 🙋♀️🇬🇧
Happiness is based on work leisure lifestyle balance
Happiness is an individual thing…I’ve looked at it…it’s a socialism index…not a happiness measure…to find out if someone is happy…you gotta ask a representative statistical sample of people at different times how they feel…and across age ranges…and understand that is correlational only…I like what I do…as a neuroscience and psychiatric nurse… I am happy with my community, its small … and quiet … am I happy … sometimes…it depends on my health and if I’m really busy or if my family is doing well and they’re happy
Disney world in Florida was good. 2 things that make it bad is before you could buy tickets for the parks you wanted to go to but now it’s one ticket for all parks. Even if you don’t want to visit them. I found universal studios better and the ticket price was far cheaper. Also at Disney they didn’t do refillable cups, universal did. So you’d have to buy a separate drink every time and when it’s as hot as Florida that’s extremely regular. If you had kids drinks alone per day becomes a crazy outlay. Universal you could buy one cup and fill it all day for a fraction of the price and the rides are better.
@@OneTrueScotsman did not know that! If it’s as good as the one in Florida, it’ll be the best in the uk.