Image credit: Evan Edinger/YouTube
You learn a lot about your country when you leave it for a while.
Evan Edinger moved to London over 13 years ago to study abroad but never planned on staying overseas permanently. His goal was to get his degree, return to the United States, start his career, and make a life for himself. He thought of his time in London as a "temporary adventure."
But when he finished his degree, he found himself in an unexpected situation: He didn't want to go back. "The longer I stayed in London," Edinger shares on his YouTube channel, "the more I began to notice all of the assumptions that I'd grown up believing in America, the things I was brought up to believe were undeniably true and just the way the world worked—it turns out they weren't true at all."
One of the benefits of living in another country is seeing your country of origin through different eyes. That perspective can cause you to appreciate some things and question other things. Edinger shares nine realizations he's had about the U.S. since he left, starting with one of the most quintessentially American realities he found himself questioning.
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1. Guns
Edinger grew up in New Jersey and describes it as "quite a blue state," but he was still immersed in the gun culture that views gun ownership as a fundamental part of being an American.
"I was raised in a very pro-gun household," Edinger says. "In my family home in America, we had a 12-gauge shotgun, a 10-gauge, a black powder rifle, and a .410 shotgun for the children. My dad would take us out some days to shoot empty cans of beer or play pigeons or sometimes go hunting for pheasants or deer."
He says the notion of not owning a gun was unthinkable in his upbringing. "The idea that other countries do not allow guns is viewed more like these other countries are missing a fundamental right," he says.
His ideas about guns have changed dramatically since moving to London and living in a society without ubiquitous access to guns. "Visiting Philadelphia when I was younger was always scary to me because I never knew who had a gun, who wanted to rob me," Edinger shares. "Visiting New Orleans a couple years ago, I was told by my hotel staff that a few days prior, a tourist was shot and died in the local Popeye's Chicken because he caught a stray bullet of two people having an argument in the restaurant. So, that's just something that people just have to deal with. This constant fear of I could just die being caught in a crossfire and there's nothing I can really do about it because freedom. I've pretty much never felt that level of fear in London at all. And that alone was enough to sway my opinion on guns."
The U.S. has a unique gun culture.Photo credit: Canva
2. Government
"One thing that's really drilled into you pretty much every year of American school is that American democracy is the end-all be-all of government and that it is the beacon of freedom other countries look to emulate. Then, once you become an adult and you see how dysfunctional the U.S. government is, you search for anything to feel better about it and usually settle on 'Well, at least it's not a third world dictatorship.'"
But those aren't the only two options. Edinger explains how the parliamentary system in the U.K. is far from perfect, but it tends to be more effective at actually getting things done because lawmakers aren't constantly stymied by the inherently destructive two-party gridlock we have in the U.S.
"It's messy, yes, but after 13 years away, I've come to the belief that no system of government is perfect," he says. "But most systems in Western Europe are far more effective than what I grew up believing was the 'best in the world.'"
3. Walkability and Public Transport
In the U.S., having a car is practically a symbol of freedom, but Edinger says he's never felt the need to have a car in his 13 years living in London. He says it's been incredibly freeing to be able to walk and take public transit everywhere, and not just in the city. He's been able to travel all over Europe, in larger cities and small towns, and the focus on walkable neighborhoods and public transportation is everywhere.
It's much easier to get around without a car in Europe. Photo credit: Canva
"After having spent some time living in walkable neighborhoods, I would never ever choose to live in a car dependent place ever again," Edinger says. "It is truly one of the most life-changing parts of living over here. And because I'm always walking everywhere, because I'm always cycling everywhere, it's so much easier to be healthy and physically fit without even trying."
4. Food Quality and Price
Europe has different regulations than the U.S., Edinger explains, with an approach that leads to a lot less additives and chemicals being added to foods.
"Europe's food agency focuses on possibilities and the U.S.'s focuses on probabilities. Is it possible an unnecessary additive could be harmful? Europe prohibits it just to be safe. The US agency, the FDA, they only step in if the probability of it being harmful is high. So, that risk is passed on to the average American consumer."
Edinger also points out that the ability to walk down to the store to get fresh ingredients regularly makes it a lot easier to eat well. "It's one of those things where once you experience both, there is no contest. No contest. So, it's much easier to be healthy in Europe than in America."
5. Healthcare in the U.S. vs. Europe
"If my health does have issues, I am glad it's not something that would ever bankrupt me or cause me to ever think about how much it would have to cost me just to be sick," says Edinger.
Americans often hear horror stories about socialized medicine, but Edinger's experience with going to the doctor and even going to the hospital have been positive, and barely cost him anything.
The U.S. is an outlier in the world when it comes to healthcare costs. Photo credit: Canva
"There are only two types of people that are against the freeing social safety net that is universal healthcare," says Edinger. "People that have never experienced socialized healthcare and people that profit from the broken system. That's it." Most Americans want it, but "most Americans" is not where the money is.
6. Consumer Protections in the U.S. vs Europe
Edinger shares that he bought a MacBook Pro in 2019 that didn't work right, and he hadn't purchased AppleCare because he knew he didn't have to.
"If you buy a tech product in Europe, you have a reasonable expectation that it should last you at least two years free of defects," says Edinger. "And if it's not up to your expectations or breaks down before then, you can demand a return or replacement. This law protects consumers from shady business practices."
He ended up getting his full money back on the computer due to those consumer protections.
"It's laws like this where you really begin to notice a pattern that life in Europe is one that gives more rights to the everyday person over giant corporations and shared benefit over private," says Edinger.
7. Worker Rights
"A quick summary would be 28 days minimum paid holiday, one year paid maternity leave, two weeks paid paternity leave, sick leave, even the right against unlawful termination," said Edinger. "When working part-time at Urban Outfitters in London, even though I worked less than 20 hours a week, I still got two days paid holiday per month. That's insane, right? No, that's just life over here. Meanwhile, I worked five years at a Pizza Hut in New Jersey for over 30 hours per week. Never got a single day of paid vacation."
Indeed, there's more than a handful of European countries that guarantee at least a month of paid days off, with some countries actually requiring a certain number of days or weeks off.
Europeans get far more generous paid leave than Americans do.Photo credit: Canva
Edinger points out the irony that he was always taught that the U.S. was for the individual, for individual freedoms. But in his experience, in Europe individuals have more rights than those with money or power, while it's the opposite in the U.S.
8. Money (Live to work or work to live?)
Edinger says that most things are more affordable in Europe, from groceries to data plans, but Americans do earn higher salaries.
"So if you earn a lot of money and money is your sole defining metric of success, then you can feel a lot more successful in the U.S.," he says. "But because the culture in Europe is work to live and not live to work, you might find that the stress and cost tradeoffs and quality of life erode the value of that higher salary quite quickly."
9. On Romanticizing Europe
People often wonder if Americans romanticize Europe too much, and Edinger says the same question used to be asked of Europeans romanticizing America. But now that we have YouTube and social media and a better ability to see the realities of both places, he says what Americans "romanticize" about Europe is really just the things we want and don't have.
Work-life balance is something a lot of Americans struggle with.Photo credit: Canva
"I think most Americans who are eyeing up Europe are doing so because of the things that America is lacking. Nearly two in three Americans want universal healthcare. Well, America doesn't offer that. Again, two in three Americans want European style vacation policies. America doesn't offer that. And 53% of Americans would prefer to live in a walkable neighborhood, but sorry, America doesn't offer that. The list goes on. If America were an actual democracy, I don't think many of these people would be having romanticized views of Europe at all because they wouldn't need to. They could have everything they wanted in the country they were born and raised."
Of course, every country has its problems and there are certainly downsides to moving abroad. Edinger acknowledges that but says it really boils down to what you value in life. Americans are taught to romanticize the U.S., and leaving it helps you see the reality, what's good about your country and where it has room for improvement.
"I think the main thing though out of everything that I miss about the U.S. that I can't really get here is not rights, not freedoms, not anything that's big on quality of life improvements," says Edinger. "It's just Mexican food and good ice cream."
You can follow Evan Edinger on YouTube for more on his experiences as an American living abroad.
Following certain "rules" can make flying a lot better for everyone involved.
Flying on airplanes with dozens of perfect strangers is, in many ways, a social experiment. We're forced to sit in seats that aren't big enough for most of us, uncomfortably close to people we don't know (some of whom are stressed out or anxious), with unclear social etiquette rules we haven't all collectively agreed upon.
And yet we do it because the miracle of human flight enabling us to travel in hours to places that used to take days, weeks, or even longer, is too awesome to pass up. Most of us have things we'd prefer our fellow passengers do or not do to make the experience better for everyone, however, so we asked our Upworthy Facebook audience, "If you could enforce one social rule during flights, what would it be?" The responses were largely what you might expect and you can see them below, but there was one unexpected comment that stood out. The rule that received the most love, with over 1,200 likes, was this one:
Can we please get a "meet the dog" rule on airplanes?Photo credit: Canva
Any dog on the plane has to visit every passenger that requests
While not everyone loves dogs, most people do. And what would make a flight more enjoyable than getting to meet a dog on board? Perhaps we can start a petition to make cabin doggy visits for anyone who wants them an official thing…
Other responses were helpful reminders of both common courtesy and somewhat standard airplane etiquette for those who might not fly often enough to be familiar with it. In addition to the "meet the dog" rule, here are 10 more social rules people wish they could enforce on flights:
Be nice to flight attendants
Imagine being responsible for both the comfort and safety of 100+ people from different places with different needs in a cabin hurtling through the sky 30,000 feet above the Earth. Flight attendants deal with a wide array of people day in and day out, and we should all make sure we treat them with the kindness and respect that they deserve.
Middle seat gets the armrests
Nobody should be hogging the armrests, but if anyone has a right to them, it's the sacrificial soul who has to sit in the middle seat. (And window seat controls the window, in case that's not common sense.)
No matter your age, headphones to listen to things on a flight are a must.Photo credit: Canva
Headphones, please
No one wants to listen to your video but you. Imagine if everyone listened to movies or YouTube videos or whatever without headphones—total social chaos. In public and on planes, use headphones to listen or watch something.
No 'manspreading'
We all know the legroom on flights has become practically non-existent, and for people with long legs it can be hard to not bang your knees up against the seat in front of you. But spreading your legs apart so wide that it infringes on other people's leg space just isn't cool. We're all in the same boat, so we have to respect one another's space.
Keep your shoes and socks on
There may be an exception here for long-haul flights as long as you keep your socks on and don't have stinky feet, but bringing a pair of slippers or something is still courteous. But definitely keep your socks on and be aware that you might not be able to tell if your own feet smell.
One overhead bag per passenger until everyone's got their luggage settled. Photo credit: Canva
Don’t put a second bag or a jacket in the overhead bin until everyone has put their first bag in
Overhead space is limited, so wait until everyone has had a chance to get their carry-on into that space before adding more than your one bag to it. Once everyone's settled in, feel free to add whatever overflow you have.
Try not to fart
We've all been on a flight where someone let one rip and made everyone's eyes water. Unless you have zero choice in the matter, refrain from dropping gas bombs on your fellow passengers. We're all human and humans fart, but an airplane cabin is a tight spot where people can't get away. At least take it to the lavatory if you can.
Be aware of smells in general
Come clean and fresh, but not perfumed. Deodorant? Yes, please. Strong cologne or perfume? No. Food that emits a strong odor? Also no.
Even if you know it by heart, please don't talk during the safety demonstration.Photo credit: Canva
Stay quiet during the safety demonstration
Some people fly all the time and could recite the safety demonstration spiel by heart, but that doesn't mean everyone is familiar with it. It only takes a few minutes and first-time flyers need to hear it. It's respectful to the flight attendants to not talk through their presentation and courteous to other passengers who need to listen.
Remain seated until it’s your row’s turn to deplane
On most flights, as soon as the plane arrives at the gate and the seatbelt sign is turned off, people rush to stand up and gather their luggage. But it's always going to take several minutes to even start getting the first passengers off the plane, and it's not going to go any faster to crowd into the aisle.
If we all follow these "rules," flying can be a more pleasant experience for everyone—even our good doggo friends who might be on board.
Authors are the OG baby name influencers.
We know names like Katniss, Daenerys, Arwen, and Atticus come from fantastic works of fiction. But what’s surprising is how many ordinary, everyday names we use now were once just as made up.
In fact, some of the most familiar names in the world—Jessica, Fiona, Vanessa, and Holden, for instance—didn’t exist at all until an author invented them.
And with the recent boom in literary baby names, it’s fun to look back at the authors who dreamed up monikers we all recognize and appreciate.
The Bard, of course, has quite a few notables.
William Shakespeare media2.giphy.com
Is it any surprise that the wordsmith who brought us words like "radiance," “marathon” and “bubble” would also invent not one, not two, but three enduring female names? We think not.
Shakespeare first used "Jessica" in The Merchant of Venice (1596), likely inspired by a biblical name, Iscah. The name remained rare for centuries, only skyrocketing in the late 20th century, reigning as the most popular girls’ name in America from 1985 to 1995.
He also gave us Olivia, debuting her as the charming noblewoman in Twelfth Night. The name didn’t appear in any records before Shakespeare wrote it, and it’s now one of the top five girls’ names in the world.
And while not invented by him, Miranda (derived from the Latin mirandus, meaning “worthy of admiration.”) owes its popularity to Shakespeare’s heroine in The Tempest.
Romantics, poets, and Victorians also made their contribution.
Oscar Wilde media3.giphy.com
Throughout the centuries, literary minds have been busy coining names that would stand the test of time.
- Pamela came from poet Philip Sidney’s Arcadia (1593), combining Greek roots meaning “all sweetness.” It later became a moral heroine’s name in Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded.
- Vanessa was Jonathan Swift’s clever blend of his friend Esther Vanhomrigh’s name…a mashup that became timeless.
- Cedric first appeared in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe (1819), inspired by an Old English misreading of “Cerdic.”
- Cosette, from Les Misérables, was Victor Hugo’s affectionate invention, likely derived from Colette.
- Dorian. Before it was the titular character in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), it was the name of a tribe from ancient Greece. Wilde’s haunting protagonist cemented Dorian as a first name, especially for boys, and gave it that elegant, slightly mysterious sheen it still carries.
- Lorna, the star of R.D. Blackmore’s Lorna Doone (1869), carried a sense of mystery and romance that made it a favorite for decades.
- Lucinda, invented by Cervantes for Don Quixote as an alternative to Lucy, which later charmed Molière’s stage.
- Evangeline, coined by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his 1847 poem, which blended Greek roots meaning “good news.”
- Fiona sounds ancient Celtic, but was actually coined by Scottish writer William Sharp (late 1800s), who used “Fiona Macleod” as a pen name to give his Celtic tales an air of authenticity. A Victorian literary invention disguised as folklore.
- Norma originated in Bellini’s 1832 opera of the same name, written by poet Felice Romani. It is not, in fact, the female version of “Norman.”
- Thelma was created by novelist Marie Corelli in 1887 for her bestselling Thelma: A Norwegian Princess.
Even knights and noblemen weren’t immune: Perceval, the purest of Arthur’s knights, came from a 12th-century French poem by Chrétien de Troyes.
Modern writers joined the club too.
Wendy from Peter Pan media1.giphy.com
Writers of the last two centuries have continued the tradition:
- Holden came from J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye —brooding and bookish ever since.
- Coraline was Neil Gaiman’s accidental misspelling of “Caroline,” which he decided to keep.
- Scarlett first appeared as Scarlett O’Hara’s given name in Gone with the Wind (1936).
- Harper, once just a surname, became a first name after To Kill a Mockingbird’s author, Harper Lee, redefined its image.
- And of course, there’s Wendy, which J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan (1904) transformed from a rare nickname (short for Gwendolyn) into a proper, mainstream first name.
And while names like Cedric and Fiona might feel timeless now, they were once as novel as names like Leia and Asher seem today. From Shakespeare to Suzanne Collins, creative minds from every generation end up becoming baby name influencers in some way, shape, or form.
So, whether your child’s name comes from a centuries-old poem or the latest streaming hit, you’re in good company. Who knows, maybe the next great baby name is hiding in your Netflix queue at this very moment.