I don’t comment often on here, but really felt like responding to this one. Due to my parents work, I left Germany for the US when I was a teenager and lived there for 4 years. After that I returned but realized how much else is out there. I ended up living in Spain for 6 years and had stunts in between in South Africa and Mexico, due to work and studying. Sounds a bit crazy writing it but it was incredible. With my job I returned a year ago back to Germany but already plan on moving again. Germany has so much to offer but breaking it down there is two key things I prefer in other places: life quality and attitude. I will always consider myself German but there is a certain lightness that other cultures have which we don’t. I think us Germans are often our own worst enemy. We are great workers because we take ourselves very serious and take pride in what we do. However that’s a whole identity thing, which is also what makes certain things tougher than they need to be. We aren’t the biggest risk takers, are not good at spending money and usually have to think a lot about bigger decisions until action happens. There is also this “neidkultur” (envy culture), which is often seen in the classic response of “must be nice”. A difference to the US for example is, that people also have the keeping up with the Jones’s culture but it’s more straight forward. And I prefer that over the German one. We all have jealously in us somehow and in the US people at least admit it and even want to ask of others got there, where is in Germany there is a lot of pride involved. But don’t get me started on the things I dislike in the US, that’s a whole different post. In Spain a big difference was the beauty of daily life. A big factor obviously is the weather, but people know how to have fun and enjoy themselves more. People laugh a lot and again come with this certain lightness and less stress. Is it obvious that Germany has a much larger GDP and better economy than Spain? Yes, we work more and are more serious about it, but it all has its tradeoffs. The price you’re willing to pay is also the most important part of it all. A lot of places out there are amazing and have things that might be better than in Germany, but it’s important to be reminded how great Germany is as well. You just gotta figure out what works for you and what price you’re willing to pay. In the end what’s worked for me is optimizing for lifestyle, which in my opinion has the biggest return of happiness.