[Closed] USA (well part of) - What a weird place....?

Well I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, being married to one of 'them'.

A fairly astute first impression I think. Where did you go?

Similar but different runs far deeper than you would ever imagine. I keep uncovering new deeper layers of similarity and difference as I learn more and more.

I think one of their biggest issues is insularity. People just don't look outward - not because they choose to be ignorant about things but because that's the way everything is.

Same language, different culture. The language thing means that lots of people think the culture will be the same.

Nice to visit, wouldn't want to live there.

Same language, different culture.

I found this applies within the US itself. Tallahasse vs San Diego, Atlanta vs Portland and so on.

I'm not saying a thing!

They know how to do food.

I suddenly understand your wife's attitude to Germany Molgrips.

Same language, different culture.

Really??? Fairly sure that is not the case.

They know how to do food.

No. Food was pretty poor, and far more expensive than I had expected. Had two really good meals - pizza in a local (ie non-chain) Italian, and a very, very good steak. Everything else was big on quantity, low on quality.

Same language, different culture.

Definitely - I find in many ways we're a lot closer culturally to the Spanish (where I live) than the US.

They know how to do food.

Disagree. Waffles, burgers and tex mex are all well and good for a holiday but you really wish for a change after a while... Of course this is as much a big city/boondocks thing as anything else.

Culture is not necessarily all that different in many ways. It's predominantly Anglo-Saxon after all, and this gives similaritie that you don't notice til you spend time in a third location as well.

I suddenly understand your wife's attitude to Germany Molgrips.

Like F you do!

Was in North Carolina, so sort of "southern" and sort of "bible belt", which probably explains a lot.

Really, really, could not get my head around all of the rules. Spent a fair bit of time walking in state forests / parks etc. Each place had a list of rules to fill a whole sign board - with "a full set of rules and regs available in the ranger station"...

First up was always - (in order of importance)...

- No alcaholic beverages
- No firearms / concealed weapons
- stick to the trail (or words to that effect...

Big difference on The Rules compared with UK / Europe is that we tend to use rules and regs as a "guideline" to acceptable behaviour. I got the feeling in the US that pretty much every citizen would buttonhole you on the street if you were doing something "different"

Also - the social opener of "Fancy a beer" was often heard, but often really did mean "fancy [u]A[/u] beer" 🙁

As you said - big place. Where were you?

Given you say their petty rules would 'drive Europeans to distraction' - there are many European countries that have rules far more petty than anything the USA can come up with.

What you see depends on where you are standing. A 'long drive' for a Brit means something different to most Americans - several hundred to thousand miles different!

different culture.
...
Fairly sure that is not the case.

I've been a few times. It's a diverse place.

Every time an American visits London and then goes home telling everyone they've "seen England," I kill a kitten. Please don't make the same mistake. (-: Whereabouts did you go?

It's my belief that compared to us, there are some things the Americans do really well, and some things they do really badly. We probably come out about equal on balance.

Spent a fair bit of time walking in state forests / parks etc

This always irritates me. Typically you can only do your outdoor pursuits in special sanctioned areas like state parks or in public owned land (of which there is naff all out East). Lots of states have none, so in half the country your MTBing is restricted to a pootle around the local woodland park being careful not to go to fast or stray from the surfaced trails.. 🙁

I did a 3 month tour of central US and the west cost
what I was surprised at, and liked, was the wide variation in people, culture, food, attitude and music - some good, some bad
I particularly liked San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle and to some extent Chicago
there was a lot I didn't see, but I think I saw enough(!)
you can not judge the US based on one visit to one place

molgrips - that's entirely the impression I got. Only mtb trails I saw were like particularly smooth versions of FC fireroad.

Yet pretty much the whole of NC is forest

Trying to compare the US with the UK is a fruitless exercise, it is such a vast country with many different vibes. A good example is comparing LA with San Fran - same state, very different cities.

Some areas of the country you get awful food - Georgia, North Carolina etc etc, other areas you get fantastic food - San Francisco, Colorado, New Mexico.

Comparing countries would be like comparing London with Stoke-on-Trent!

Ah, ok. I've never been to North Carolina (though I've spent a deal of time in Kentucky and driven through Tennessee and Georgia, both of which border NC).

The bible belt is a bloody weird place. People with statues of the Virgin Mary in their garden, and not just like garden gnomes, but four-foot high statues and bigger.

It's my belief that compared to us, there are some things the Americans do really well, and some things they do really badly. We probably come out about equal on balance.

that. not that i've spent that much time out there, but when i do i'm generally working. over a 2 weeks period you're lucky to get a couple of days worth or fruit and veg in regular meals that are bought out. more meat than you can shake a leg at though...

i also find it odd that you can be arrested for not having any money in your pocket too 😀

ver a 2 weeks period you're lucky to get a couple of days worth or fruit and veg in regular meals that are bought out.

That's almost certainly regional. I never had a problem (as a veggie) until I went to Las Vegas, where I almost starved to death.

I spent a while living with a mate from the US, in Missouri, and I found the place to be quite liberal to be honest.

Drivers seemed far more relaxed than in Europe, we could take a boat out on the river whenever we wanted, with no licences etc, and could go shooting whenever we wanted too.

The food was great if you know where to go (it's difficult finding good food in the UK too if you don't know the area), and it was far cheaper than here.

Like anywhere, the differences in culture should be embraced, rather than viewed as being strange.

They are a bit strange though...

😉

Drivers seemed far more relaxed than in Europe

They are relaxed, but that seems to be because they don't care about what they are doing 🙂 Every time we go past Chicago we're sucked into a big raft of traffic barrelling along at 85mph 6ft apart, and if you look around people are yakking away, chatting on phones, staring blankly ahead.. quite worrying.

the differences in culture should be embraced

Ordinarily I'd absolutely agree. But as an "outdoors" type person I found it utterly frustrating to be surrounded by forest (even in the resi areas), but have access to none. Or to have access so severly regulated. I expected "the outdoor life" to be a big thing, but basically it wasn't.

My "outdoorsyness" didn't really embrace a culture that seemed to revolve around homelyness, the CAR, the MALL and work, (oh, and even though our hosts didn't do religion, Religion).

Ohh, and on The Rules thing - questioning / challenging Authority seemed to risk being involved in a deeply subversive activity

Your problem Molgrips, not mine.

Used to live and work in Missouri, we had some event and they were trying to work out how many people they could seat in the gym. The subject of sticking to fire regs came up, didn't help any as there were no fire regs in that particular county.

So I can't say in my experience there are far more petty rules etc. I think there are different rules and because they're rules you're not used to they stick out but I'm not convinced there are more. Take a look at the number of byelaws on the back of a national trust sign next time you see one.

I always think United States is a bit of a misnomer, because they're not really that united, they all have different rules, laws, tax systems etc.

Your problem Molgrips, not mine.

What is?

ebygomm - in Mrs Grips' home town (and possibly elsewhere) you are not allowed to park on the side of the road facing the wrong direction. It's stuff like this that I find remarkable. There are a great many very minor rules and laws. It seems to be very easy for the local govt to slap on another rule for some local reason without any objection.

Funny - apart from the weather we'd looked at Raleigh NC as a possible place to live - one of the best restaurants I've ever eaten in was there as well. They owned a farm on the edge of the city and grew / farmed nearly everything they served - so food is subjective.

I sort of agree about the wilderness access - except you didn't mention hunting (which is certainly off the trails) and the trails they do have are far better and nore extensive than a few trail centres. I visited York PA and saw some wonderful singletrack there. I regularly visit MO and ride some lovely maintained dedicated singletrack there. Richmond VA has a loop in the middle of the city that is over 20 miles long. Different, but mostly different because they haven't been constrained by a lack of space - hence why they built such sprawling towns and cities with no regard to anything - they didn't have to.

you are not allowed to park on the side of the road facing the wrong direction.

Fairly sensible road safety rule there really. Cuts down on stupid driving accidents I bet.

you are not allowed to park on the side of the road facing the wrong direction

That rule applies in a lot (most?) places in the USA and elsewhere too, e.g. Australia

I'm not sure I'd describe it as a petty rule, just one that I'm not used to. I'm sure there are similar rules in the UK which seem absolutely normal to us but strange to a foreigner.

Not really, because in pulling out from the 'right' side of the road you have to look very sharply behind you. Harder than the alternative in many ways I feel. But it's an example of extra regulation instead of letting people use their judgement.

ebygomm - in Mrs Grips' home town (and possibly elsewhere) you are not allowed to park on the side of the road facing the wrong direction

Look in the Highway Code....

except you didn't mention hunting (which is certainly off the trails)

In WI you get about 10 days to hunt deer. It's really really strictly regulated. And you can only do it on private land with the permission of the landowner. No hunting on public land (bar a few exceptions I think, not sure). There are tons of regs about it too but those are pretty much entirely sensible. However there's no reg about drinking whilst hunting which would help reduce accidents I feel 🙂

And then you have states like Illinois where motorcycle helmets aren't mandatory.

Is it extra regulation or different regulation?

Definitely extra in small fairly silly things imo - although I don't recall the things that made me think that at the time. Possibly not enough in key areas though.

I liked it when I was there 20yrs ago. Big place, nice folk, especially in the NW.

But I did seem to keep meeting coppers inviting me to stop doing what I was doing- generally being in the wrong place, in their inestimiable view, but not up to anything 'naughty.' Quite rule driven with rules enforced as some of the other posters have said, but groovy once you'd accepted how it all worked.

The overriding feelings I got from my visits to America were that:

They have a very similar sense of humour and your average man on the street does get irony, sometimes anyway.

They are fed an awful lot of rubbish by the media.

Very insular, the vast, and I mean vast majority have never been outside America and never will. The rest of the world either doesn't exist or just doesn't matter. Texas in particular seemed to have an awful lot of (educated) people in it who when being told I was from England, asked where that was. One lady in a petrol station was pleased that she knew it was 'near Europe'.

One thing that was universal though through New York, Texas, Colorado, Carolina.... Lane Discipline....What's that?

[i]period you're lucky to get a couple of days worth or fruit and veg in regular meals that are bought out. more meat than you can shake a leg at though...[/i]

hehe. Yeah. All meat dishes. I wouldn't have believed it until it happened to me. And if you ask where the veg is they give you some potato salad.

They are fed an awful lot of rubbish by the media.

Yep. Another major major issue they have is the media. It only wants to sell copy/airtime so standards of responsibility are low I feel. They know they can sell by telling people what they want to hear so will pander to people's preconceptions. Politics is a disaster. It's a house of cards built entirely on spin and waffle, and bears absolutely no relation to how the country's actually run. Blows the whole democratic process out of the water and turns it into pointless vile tribal squabbling.

We have exactly the same problem.

Been to the US 3 times, NY, Maine/Massachusets and Colorado. Nicest people = Colorado. Nicest views = Colorado. Nicest food = Colorado. I quite like Colorado really.

They know how [u]not[/u] to do food.

There. Corrected for you. 😉

Sat here in Houston having breakfast and was chuckling about this thread. If I can i'll try to take a covert shot of the breakfast on offer. OMG.

Spent Easter Hols in the US - Great holiday, but came back with some quite mixed feelings...

It's a strange place. I know the oft quoted line of "Similar but different", etc and recognise that there will be lot of variation state to state and urban to rural.

Modern in so many ways, but so deeply conservative. And for the "land of the free", they do bureaucracy / petty rules in a way that would drive Europeans to distraction.

Interested in others' thoughts on the place (recognising "place" = large diverse continent!!)

Pretty on the nose I'd say. I lived in the midwest for five months (Cincinnati, Chicago) and have backpacked up the west coast into Canada. I've also been to a few states in between, but each one is different. I also work for a company in Seattle and have been there a few times.

But yes, I do find it a strange place. Similarly, my boss finds it odd I live in a 150 year old building.

Spent a fair bit of time walking in state forests / parks etc

This always irritates me. Typically you can only do your outdoor pursuits in special sanctioned areas like state parks or in public owned land (of which there is naff all out East). Lots of states have none, so in half the country your MTBing is restricted to a pootle around the local woodland park being careful not to go to fast or stray from the surfaced trails..

Depends where you are, California is hammered with State and I assume Federal parks. Big Sur was a favorite of mine as I was staying with my brother & working in Santa Cruz. I only really discovered it (even though it was fairly close by) because the wind blows in one direction only on the West coast, North to South. So when you go for a cycle along highway 1 (a quiet road) I was always cycle into the wind on the way out and it is horrible, not hard just horrible so I started cycling up in the mountains to avoid it and come down to highway 1 further down. I often cycled down from the mountains on a dirt track for miles I think. Harder but far more pleasurable.
I did a fair bit of cycling but only in 2 states Oregon and California. You tend to see a lot more people that way??
Reference bureaucracy I could not get my social security card without my birth certificate. My US passport was no good despite being born in UK i.e. UK birth certificate needed(I am a dual national).
Also I find that a lot of Americans working in retail behaved like automons. The "have a nice day" was said with zero.....can't think of the word? I remember going into a Subway for a sandwiched and saying only a little bit of that etc and the woman just ignored me. There is a huge proportion of people working in retail who appear to have no personality at all, having a joke with most will extract no response whatsoever?
On the other hand when cycling along the west coast I decided to get away from highway 101. I met a few different people!! At a place called Eureka I decided to go right to get back to the coast. Got a map from the tourist office (no contours on it) and went towards the coast. Now the tourist office did say a bit of a storm was due. Anyway I suddenly found myself cycling uphill........for about 3 hours eventually I got to the top and could see the coast down down down bugger road turned left and went up again not as high but all the same up for about 2 hours. eventually I got to the coast road pitch black no visible houses, signs by the side of the road saying no stopping or you will be shot (in farmers field) or words to that effect even though I was on a state road?? Storm was well started hammering down (wind behind mind). I kept going but I knew I would get nowhere near to a camp site for at least 12 hours. Eventually a pick up slowed down (about 5th car I had seen in 8 hours +) and the driver, a woman asked if I was enjoying myself? No that much I said and she offered me a lift. She had 2 large puppies in the pickup who chewed me all the way to a bar in the middle of nowhere. Before we got there she asked me what I did for a living and I asked her. She said I grow marijuana? erhh should you be telling me that? Its ok we don't get police out here?? When we got to the bar she said I just got to do some business and I will come back and pick you up?? Nice enough people in the bar but with suspicious nature.......I wonder why. She eventually got back and said I should reconsider going to a camp site because of the storm but didn't if I recall right offer an alternative.......lovely looking blond....cowboy boots a bit iffy style wise. Got to the site put my tent up with great difficulty had to tie it to a tree. During the night storm got worse and worse had to go out and straighten the tent needless to say the tent blew away. It wasn't cold so sat there in the rain till morning.....sickener I was within a 50 yards of a toilet block could have spent the night there. Found the tent about 100 yards away in a tree. Like all these sites they are really for Winnebago’s and only where they can't fit one is for tents. There was only one Winnebago there the one who collected the site fees.........He got f*** all from me. Had to cycle about 70 miles to a motel (to find a cheap one) so I could dry everything off. Now they were a bit odd around there (the no stopping or I will shoot you sign being the one that was most over the top). So the point of the story make sure the map has contours and when they say there is a bit of a storm coming and they live by the coast well.....nothing more to be said!

😯

Oh yeah mapping is a bit of a chore.. we're used to one set of definitive maps, but there lots of companies produce lots of maps for lots of different purposes, and very few are 'topo' maps ie with countours. As far as I can tell mostly you do your riding from a route guide in a book, a schematic map and trail markers.

if you think its the same language try bumming a fag .or ask them if kids take their own rubbers to school . when i was working at a summercamp there i told the kids to get their costumes ready to go swimming and they all wanted to dress up as cowboys .they are very optimistic and open but after a while you start longing for a bit of irony or sarcy -ness.

So the point of the story make sure the map has contours and when they say there is a bit of a storm coming and they live by the coast well.....nothing more to be said!

Sounds like an interesting story, but surely the moral of the story...

So the point of the story make sure you don't go camping in a storm when an attractive blonde pothead with 2 big puppies has told you she'll pick you up after attending to some business....

I'm in Delaware currently (second smallest state, Mid-Atlantic, just below Pennsylvania)

It's a small college town, but is a great place. People are friendly, generally slim and healthy, travelled and educated. I end up having a conversation with just about everyone I speak to in the supermarket. There is a lot of employment here, Dupont, Gore, Bank of America. The roads are far friendlier than Edinburgh ever was - I think I've had 2 'incidents' in 9 months on the road, a horse trailer came far too close during a long overtake, and someone yelled 'Asshole' through a window. I'd get that every day in Edinburgh.

Food is excellent, lots of great seafood - crabs from the Chesapeake Bay etc. Portions are moderate - the only time I've been shocked was when ordering a half plate of nachos which were too much for me to eat - and I can eat.

Beer - pretty good. Local brewery in Delaware produces some great bottled beers. Drinking laws are pretty severe here. They'll ID you if you look under 40, alcohol is only available in the liquor store. You can't drink outside.

Restricted riding - yes that is a pain in the backside. However, I'm lucky; I have ~100 miles of singletrack in the woods within a 5 mile road ride. Night riding can be done but only with special permission.

What do I miss? Haggis, back bacon, sausages, hills, manual cars, fast twisty roads.

Oh yeah, carding. I remember getting asked for ID and thinking "good god, I've been drinking for ten years..." heh.

I lived in a small college town in Washington (and I mean Washington, not that D.C. place) for a couple of years and loved it. Outdoor lifestyle was the norm, food was good and people were friendly.

Would move back there tomorrow if I could get a decent job.

I've been all over the place . . .

On thing I would say is, don't expect them to fawn over you because your English, it won't really happen!

But the stuff and people you see over there are just ace/weird.

Last year we went to South Beach . . .

Me and the missus were walking down the street and there were a couple of afro caribbean transexuals sitting on a corner, (the missus is of Afro Caribbean descent), . . . one of them piped up in their best camp accent, . . . "She gone an got herself a white boy" . . . . !

In New York the missus was accused of hating Black men "She hates the black man" cus she was with me too, . . . arhhh God Bless America!

Lot of hang ups still evident, . . . but at least they ain't afraid to express what they're thinking!

. . . and what other place would you see a 20 something with a baseball cap on backwards, with his arm out the window of a pimped up Rolls Royce playing some rap music!

It's got it's faults, but that is part of the excitement!

"On thing I would say is, don't expect them to fawn over you because your English, it won't really happen!"

being scottish in bakersfield works though - despite my best efforts for it not too - thankfully a colleague was with me to take care 😀

spent a couple months in houston and a month in bakersfield, california

houston i could live without

i quite like bakersfield and surrounding because of open space , and national parks all round ! - and far enough away from LA 😀

don't expect them to fawn over you because your English, it won't really happen!

That's absolutely regional. In touristy areas you're right. Off the beaten track in the back of beyond it's practically celebrity status.

Off the beaten track in the back of beyond it's practically celebrity status

+1

I'm another one who married an American. I've generally had great experiences over there. Although most of the family and friends are on the coastal bit of Washington state up to Vancouver, she has family over near the Idaho border in rural areas too. The vast majority of people I've met have been friendly, even to the level of a petrol station attendant buying me a coffee at 4am because I looked too tired to drive without a pick-me-up (didn't work, petrol station coffee is awful). Of course there are some odd ones but for every moron who wants to ruin your day there's a counterbalance. So basically just like the UK really.

The food in the US is good if you don't just stumble from IHOP to taco bell to dennys etc. I've had some fantastic meals in all kinds of places from "fancy" restaurants to small diners and cafes. As for beer, well this is the selection in a supermarket in Spokane, a small provincial city in eastern Washington, where they have a better selection of British beer than some shops here (there's more out of shot too).

[img] [/img]

Obviously it has its downsides and although I love visiting (and after 12 years of regular visits it seems like home from home), I wouldn't want to live there. The massive amounts of driving people who live in less urban areas do, the costly health insurance and the general political situation all are a turn off. That said, if the right job came along, I'd certainly not be put off.

I spent six months in Phoenix, AZ.

Overall enjoyed the experience, but as others have highlighted they could teach the French a thing or two about bureaucratic, petty, rules - which is quite an accomplishment.

Eating out is cheap if you just order from the starters menu, which is equivalent in size to a UK portion. Got frustrated at being asked for ID EVERYWHERE I went if I wanted a drink, even if you look about 80 you'll still be asked.

The police carry big guns and aren't afraid to use them.

Love this thread.

It should be automatically linked to every "Americans are all evil morons and the country is sh1te" comments from the Usual Suspects on here...

mapping is a bit of a chore

which is a bit of a global thing. Very few countries have anything close to OS.

I miss the range and quality of fast food in the US. If you just want to pop in somewhere say on the way home from something you get a good choice and it's ok. In the UK it's Burger King at a service station or pub lottery, and that's not exactly fast either.

... or food, half the time.

mmmmm I'm another one with the transatlantic other half but she made the move this way. Yes there are differences but you soon get used to them. Some places I could happliy live (Austin, Durango, Baltimore was ok) but other places such as Orlando are not my ideal place to live. Some nice village type places outside of that mind you.
Will I live there? Probably at some point. Where? I have no idea.
I have seen the a big white convertible cadillac with the driver wearing a stetson and the car had moosive longhorns on the bonnet, Boss Hogg stylee and I don't think he was being ironic with it 😉

I went to Colorado earlier this year. In the main, I was struck by the excellent customer service and generally polite & hospitable nature of everyone we met.

Plenty of pros, a couple of cons: 1) a few places didn't recognise British passports let alone driving licences when buying booze 2) lavatory design.

No matter where we went (restaurants, clubs, airports...) all of the cubicles/stalls had a massive gap at the bottom and in the door so you get a cracking view (sorry) of a chap dropping the kids off at the pool. I think it's a good indicator of how much mutual trust there is that they still want to be able to see all that.

Encountered a huge range of characters, including a nutty Dick Cheney fan and a woman taxi-driver who was concerned about the proposed cuts to the World Service. Completely disingenuous to suggest that all are insular-minded.

Different yes, but I can't wait to go back.

Totally agree about the petty rules of the land of the free: when living in San Diego I got ticked off for crossing the road, sorry, jaywalking. I'm 30 years old, I can cross a road with no traffic. Obviously I didn't say that or I would have been tasered. And the restrictions on use of the great outdoors are something else. But, despite reservations about America, I love Americans, particularly so for the response of my two flatmates from Georgia when I told them I was an atheist: "Whaaaat! You worship Satan?!"
Me: erm no.

My experience is that the USA beats the crap out of the UK:

I have family in southern california, between LA & San Diego. visit every year. It's bloody fantastic ! I could easily live there (if it wasn't so warm)

People there are really friendly, helpful, a whole lot slimmer and mostly better sense of humour than average brits. The salad/fruit section in their local supermarket is about 2 acres - nearly as big as the beers one.

Oh, and the biking is ace. There's loads of bikers on the roads and I can be on a proper mountain track in half a mile from the door, or the local singletrack hillside within 200 yards. If I want to go to the beach it's about a 10 mile ride/drive (and I have to pass some "famous" biking trails to get there). The local riders are waaay more friendly than in the UK - pretty much insist that you ride with them, or want to tip you off about their best trails. I've even been offered a set of lights and a night ride shuttle trip with a bunch of lads within 10 minutes of meeting them (and the same offer from a shop once as well).

thinking about it, yeh, it's weird alright

My experience is that the USA beats the crap out of the UK:

Hehe, can't beat a good sweeping statement eh? 🙂

My experience is that the USA beats the crap out of the UK:

You're generalising based on experience of one place, similar to those who complain based on the same limited experience.

I've been to NY, didn't like it much. The NW of the country is nice though - did some nice boarding at Mt Baker, and Oregon is lovely (never made it to Portland but I've heard it's very liberal and bike friendly).

Hehe, can't beat a good sweeping statement eh?

You're generalising based on experience of one place, similar to those who complain based on the same limited experience

Yeh, that was the intention behind it really

I have family in southern california, between LA & San Diego. visit every year. It's bloody fantastic ! I could easily live there (if it wasn't so warm)

And yet ... the folk there voted for Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

People are indeed slim and beautiful in California. Some might say it's because they are shallow and obsessed with surface beauty... Not that I'm saying that mind, just "throwing that idea into the air" as Americans might say 🙂

Last time I went to Richmond I was struck by how slim and attractive everyone was 🙂

[i]cubicles/stalls had a massive gap at the bottom and in the door so you get a cracking view (sorry) of a chap dropping the kids off at the pool.[/i]

Some places have no doors, or indeed cubicles.

And yet ... the folk there voted for Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

While we got Thazza and then Blair ??

Last time I went to Richmond I was struck by how slim and attractive everyone was

People from Sunderland feel the same way about Leeds.

You've got to remember that the US is the size of Europe: we don't think that someone who's been to a dozen European countries is insular but we laugh at Yanks who've never left the East Coast tho they've been in many states from subtropical Florida to Maine.
Travel is different there.
Some aspects are bad, some good. I sometimes enjoy my visits, sometimes not.

I used to work for a large US-based IT company. We had massive 'kick-off' meetings - 17000 people in Vegas for a week! I was surprised to find that despite the language issues, I felt much closer to my European colleagues than the Americans. Not that the Americans were bad, just very different, so someone from the UK has more in common with an Italian or a Spaniard than an American.
30 years ago, I spent a while travelling from Boston to LA via Memphis, Nashville, Canada, Iowa, Chicago and San Francisco using a combination of Greyhound buses and hitch-hiking. Since then I've visited Texas and Washington on business. Some of the deep south places are frightening, but overall people are friendly and helpful. Decent coffee is unobtainable anywhere more than 10 miles from the sea.

Don't get me wrong now, I have spent reasonable amount of time in a small Mid-Western town as well as travelled to other places, and there's a lot to like about America and Americans.

That's true of most places too though. Different things of course, but there you go.

We could live in the US if we wanted, but we don't. A few things concern me about living there -

1) The work culture. In a professional position you are a bit of a slave. Everyone I hear about who works in IT does very little else apart from work. See the movie 'Office Space' for more details. The cost of property in parts of the country means you have to suck this crap up too.

2) The trail access situation. If you live in certain areas, you are quids in. Otherwise - forget MTBing. In Northern Wisconsin there's thousands of square miles of forest, which is great. Most of it's dead flat, but whatever. In the town where Mrs Grips is from, there's a few spots 20 miles away with a handful of regulated trails and a tiny scrap of land nearby with no bike stickers all over the place.

3) The healthcare thing. Even if you have insurance through your job it only covers you for so much. Having a kid for example is often not covered, so you have to shell out for the medical bills. AND on top of that they more or less force you to have the full medical procedure with doctors, operating theatres and the whole nine yards. Why? Tempting to think it's just so that they can make money out of you.

4) Consumerism. If you think it's bad here, it's way worse there. Everywhere you go you are being hassled to buy buy buy spend spend spend own own own ALL the time. And people do mostly. They don't travel or go and do stuff they just buy shite. So then people invent shite to sell them. Toaster oven anyone? Muffin baking machine? Any opportunity to make some item to SELL you is jumped upon and bled to death in a frenzy of marketing.

Ok so I'm going overboard there, but it's still a bit off-putting. Everyone seems to work in retail, but where the geoff does all the money come from in the first place? I dunno.

5) Schools would concern me a bit too. Apparently everyone hates High School. Why? It's a highly charged mix of insane academic and social pressure where everyone seems to be antagonising everyone else. Ever wonder why there are so many films either devoted to or referring to it? Would scare me to have to put one of my kids through it. And university - dear me. It costs a ton, so the rich kids have a ball and breeze through, whereas the poor ones have to work like slaves on their uni work AND spend the rest of their waking hours flipping burgers or some such drudge. Half the time it costs too much to stay away so they have no choice but to go to their local college instead of the prestigious uni that does the course they really want. And you have to slave away to fund courses that are totally irrelevant to what you want to do in the name of a well rounded education. In the name of profit more like... And it takes four, five, six years because you have to spend most of your time working.

6) In most of the country you drive everywhere, you don't walk anywhere. You have nowhere to walk to. Every time you leave the house you get into a car. This bugs me. Ok so out East it's not quite that bad.

You've got to remember that the US is the size of Europe

Nothing like as diverse though.

so someone from the UK has more in common with an Italian or a Spaniard than an American

Italians don't even have much in common with Italians. I certainly have more of a shared culture and view with Northern Europeans - but not so much with the Med nations.