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After six months in Thailand, the most significant thing an American expat misses is the connection with friends and family, with other misses like Western food, familiar weather, shopping convenience, and ease of communication being secondary.
After six months living in Thailand, an American expat reflects on what he misses about the United States. The most significant factor is the absence of close connections with friends and family due to the vast time zone difference, making spontaneous meetups, adventures, or even simple calls challenging.
Beyond personal connections, the expat misses Western food, noting that while available, it often doesn't taste exactly as expected and can be costly. He also contrasts the hot Thai climate with the more temperate weather of California, which requires a different approach to daily activities and business hours. The convenience of large, one-stop shopping experiences like Walmart is another aspect he misses, as it simplifies purchasing a wide range of goods.
Further points of comparison include the convenience culture of the US, particularly the ease of communication with services like Uber due to a common language. While acknowledging that Thailand is generally convenient and he enjoys the local culture and food, these specific elements highlight the adjustments required when living abroad. Ultimately, the expat emphasizes that while superficial things are missed, the core missing element is human connection.
The primary thing an American expat misses most about the USA is the proximity and ability to spend time with friends and family. Due to significant time zone differences, spontaneous meetups and even simple calls become challenging when living abroad.
Western food is frequently missed by American expats living abroad. While it can be found in places like Thailand, it often doesn't taste exactly as expected and can also be quite expensive compared to local cuisine.
Expats in Thailand may miss the convenience of one-stop shopping found in American big-box stores like Walmart. Additionally, the climate difference, especially from places like California, requires adjustment, and language barriers can cause minor daily inconveniences.
Communication can be easier for expats in the USA due to a common language, simplifying interactions with services like ride-sharing. This contrasts with Thailand, where language barriers can create minor inconveniences in daily tasks.
Family connection is deeply missed abroad because it's hard to maintain the same level of spontaneous interaction and shared experiences. The vast distance and time differences make it difficult to simply drop by or have casual conversations, impacting the sense of closeness.
BIG C is a large supermarket chain in Thailand that is very similar to Walmart in the US. It offers a wide variety of goods, making it a convenient one-stop shopping destination for many daily needs. While not exactly the same, it fulfills a similar role in the Thai retail landscape.
Many expats miss specific Western foods, particularly Southern barbecue and Mexican cuisine. While Western food is available in Thailand, it can sometimes be a compromise between Western and local tastes and may also be expensive. Some expats find that eating Asian food exclusively can become monotonous over time.
The primary thing missed when living abroad is the proximity and ability to spend time with friends and family. The vast time zone differences make spontaneous meetups, adventures, or even simple calls challenging. This human connection is often cited as the most significant missing element.
Burning season in Chiang Mai typically occurs during the dry season, with the worst periods often being in March. It tends to lessen around the Songkran holiday in mid-April. While it can affect air quality, recent years have seen less severe conditions than in the past.
0:13 Hey YouTube, it's a beautiful day here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and I thought I'd answer the question: What do I miss about the United States? Also, what do I miss about living in the United States? Some of you may know that I am a farang, or a foreigner, living in Thailand currently in Chiang Mai, but I'm originally from the United States of America. Some of what I talk about in this channel is certainly influenced or informed by that experience as an American.
0:44 What do I miss about the United States? I would say the first, easiest, most obvious factor is that I miss my friends from the United States. I have quite a few wonderful friends in my hometown, as well as some of the other cities that I've lived in. Due to the distance, I can't spend time with them like I could if I were back in the United States. I think it's about a 12-hour time zone difference from where I'm originally from, so it's like I'm directly on the opposite side of the planet here in Thailand.
1:11 Can that be challenging? Well, certainly in some ways, it can be challenging. It's not always easy to find somebody here that speaks English. It's not always easy to have a deep or complex conversation due to the language barrier. There are also a lot of factors that are harder to quantify, but definitely, I miss being close to all of my good friends, being able to go on adventures in the US, being able to go on hiking trips or kayaking trips, or perhaps just exploring the city and going to concerts. There are a lot of different activities that I really enjoy doing with my friends in the United States that just aren't as accessible here in Thailand.
1:50 That's something that you'll have to get used to when you are living overseas: the elapsing of time without being around a lot of these people that you care about. It's definitely challenging at different times, certainly if you're in a stressful situation, you're going through a rough day, and you can't call or text a friend because they're asleep, it's the middle of the night for them. The good news is I'll probably be back to visit at some point this summer. It'll be great to catch up with everyone and see everyone, be able to spend time with people.
2:24 The number two thing that I miss is Western food. Now, I'm going to add a qualifier to this one: it's not going to always taste exactly like what I'm used to, whether it be pizza or steak. It's just going to be often at least a midway point between Western taste and a local taste. Because there are a lot of people here in Thailand that want to try Western food, they want to see what it's like to have this food that is popular in Europe or popular in America or popular in Australia. The business owners know that a misnomer is that Western restaurants cater primarily to expats, but that's not always the case.
3:03 You may notice that they include certain sauces or certain flavors or certain ingredients that you're not accustomed to having on that dish. And that's something that I've noticed where I'm from in the Southern US, barbecue is very popular. It's harder to find here. I'm not going to say it doesn't exist in Thailand; certainly, the Southern-style barbecue is not so easy to find. The other factor is, of course, cost. Western food is typically pricey here in Thailand. Not a big deal for some people, but certainly other people will prefer to focus on eating local food to save money.
3:38 Me personally, I like to eat Western food. I eat Western food just about every day. I find that the cost is worth it. It's something that is more of a conscious decision than back home in the US, where that's the style of food that I'm eating all the time.
3:53 The number three thing that I miss about living in the US is the California weather. Coming from California, the weather in Thailand can be really hot, especially compared to where I lived near San Francisco in Northern California. That's something that I have had to take some time to adjust to. There's definitely a difference as far as temperature goes, as far as what you can expect when you're out walking, you're riding a bicycle, or you're working out. All of these things require a little bit different strategy or approach when you are dealing with especially hot weather.
4:31 It's a situation where I think a lot of Thai people take something almost like a siesta during the hottest part of the day. And if they can, people kind of chill out, they take a nap, they stay in the shade. This is different than California, where at least in San Francisco, I felt like my day was much more oriented toward being busy during the day and not doing as much at night. It seems like a lot of the businesses close early, whereas here in Thailand, there's a fair amount of businesses that, I think due to the weather, are focused on doing business at night.
5:01 I've seen some restaurants open from like 4:00 PM until 10:00 PM or something like that, maybe 5:00 PM until 11:00 PM or midnight. I think I've even seen some that are open from 6:00 PM to 2:00 AM. This is different than the Bay Area, where very few businesses are open really after like, I think, midnight, 11:00 PM, maybe midnight. Most of the businesses are closed, and many close at like 9:00 PM.
5:26 So that's something to think about. Number four, and this is kind of a silly one, I think for some people, but I do miss Walmart, big box shopping. That's something that's just not as common here in Thailand. We do have department stores, we do have shopping malls, but we don't have something that's like a one-stop shop. And that, coupled with my lack of a car, means that shopping is a little bit more complex here. It takes a bit more time, typically. I have to go to a few different places.
5:55 You don't really get that experience of, 'Okay, I'm going to drive my car to this one store and I'm going to buy everything.' So that's something I miss about the US is I do miss at times these Walmart or big box store experiences where I can go to that one store, I can get a meal, a haircut, deodorant, or toiletries, I can get food and snacks, I can get furniture. You get everything at that one place. And if you've taken your personal vehicle, depending on the size of your personal vehicle and the size of your purchases, you could just go get all that stuff and then go home and relax.
6:29 But sometimes here, I have to take some time to search for a specific item. There are a lot of small businesses that may not have an inventory system like Walmart, where I can search for an item and find out if it's at the store before I even head over. That's not the case here in Thailand. Often, I have to do a little bit of thinking and get a few options, right? So for a pharmacy that I go to, I have a few options of places that I like to check. If one doesn't have a certain thing I want.
6:56 If you are used to being in the US or perhaps another developed country that has Walmarts or big box retail stores, that's something that you may miss that you don't necessarily have that ability to take your car over, get everything you need in one store, check out, and then be done for the day. You may have to do some searching here. Now, they do have Makro here in Thailand, but it's not exactly the same thing. I checked one out earlier today. This was a food-oriented one, and so they had a decent selection of bulk foods, but if you're going in expecting it to be exactly like a Western-style store, they're not going to have exactly the same items.
7:35 Although they had a great variety, I do want to give Makro a lot of credit. I feel like they do a great job of stocking a lot of different bulk items. I'm sure if I were a restaurateur, that I would be down there all the time. Number five, number five thing I miss about the US is the convenience culture.
7:50 Thailand is a very convenient place to live, but there's certain aspects of living in the US, like I mentioned in my point number four, the big box stores. That is the most convenient iteration of that thing in the US. We do have certain kinds of conveniences, especially for an English speaker, that are hard to beat. Like with Uber, we do have an Uber equivalent here in Thailand, but one thing that can be challenging, although they do have great translation tools, is the language barrier.
8:22 Whereas if I call an Uber driver, I know in the US, I can call them up, they speak English, I'll be able to communicate with them, help direct them to my location, hop in, and be able to head to the destination. Here, sometimes it takes a little bit of like, translate and trying to communicate back and forth, 'Oh, can you pick me up here?' That's once again, not the end of the world. It's not a major thing.
8:43 I really had to stretch aside from point number one about my friends to find anything that I miss about the US, to be frank. But that's one of those things. Additionally, certain products, because they are priced, and sometimes higher in the US, they do get priority there. I don't know if it's just a business decision, but I've noticed with DJI products, I really want to get the Osmo Pocket 3, but it's pre-order only in Thailand, whereas it is available on Amazon in the United States. There are some other examples that come to mind as well.
9:16 I mean, namely that in the US, I have a car. I'm familiar with the traffic flow and all that. So here in Thailand, I'm afraid to drive, makes it a little bit more challenging. Back in the US, I could just hop in my car, get around town, handle all the conveniences that I want to handle, and then head home after I'm done.
9:33 One other convenience that I'm not going to make a big deal out of, but it's relevant, is definitely back home, everybody is speaking a common language with myself. That is convenient, right? To be able to quickly speak to somebody to get service or to help with making the right purchase or dealing with customer service. All these kinds of things, there is an element of convenience that I do miss about the US.
9:57 Oh, just to recap, the first point is really the main one: missing friends, missing being able to meet up with people, be able to spend time with people. That's a hard one to...
10:08 With people, that's a hard one to overcome. The rest are pretty superficial. They're not really a big deal, I find. Thailand to be convenient. I love the Thai food. I could go on and on about how much I enjoy Thailand.
10:20 But if you asked me, "What do you miss about the US?" these are my reasons. If this was helpful, let me know down in the comments below. If you take an extended trip to a different part of the world from where you're from, let us know what you miss about your home country.
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