Lewis and I chose the capital as our new home. Living in Prague, we will be Praguers (similar to Londoners or Berliners). Prague ranks highly in the 2024 World's Best Cities Report. It's the sixth-best in Europe, as per its livability, loveliness, and prosperity. The capital was praised for its aesthetic beauty, refurbished public spaces, culture, affordable food prices, and affordable dining. Datank's "Place for Life" Survey rated Prague as the best place to live in Czechia for the third consecutive year. The qualifications included leisure activities, infrastructure, a civil society, tolerance, acceptance, managed tourism, supreme working conditions, safety, affordable healthcare, and satisfaction of inhabitants.
For over a millennium, the city has been famously full of international immigrants. For example, it is home to 7,000 Americans, 6,018 Chinese, 15,654 Vietnamese, 4,000 British, and 25,988 Russians.
With fortuitous timing in July, the Czech Parliament redid its Employment Laws for nine nations, so Americans did not need a Work Permit or Employment Card to be allowed to relocate to Czechia. Those types of prerequisites exist in most of the European Union, and they are unfair and discriminate against anyone living beyond the EU. They compel EU nations to hire from within the EU before considering the rest of the planet. For example, those regulations give preferential priority to a European (who could be an idiot) instead of a qualified American, Japanese, Nigerian, Pakistani, or Brazilian person. Lewis and I applaud Czechia's common-sense reevaluation to provide free access to its labor market. That will enable it to amass the best talent that the world can offer.
With a high level of safety and community-centric living, the nation is a beacon of tranquility and security. That's a huge improvement for us after living in NYC, which is an unfixed haven for crime for 180 years... despite having the world's biggest police force getting the world's biggest paychecks. Czechia was ranked as the 12th-safest nation in the world! Meanwhile, the USA ranked terribly at the second-worst nation for safety. It's great that we're moving from "one of the worst" to "one of the best". Please click this image to make it bigger/clearer...
We follow the Czech Police on social media, and we are impressed with their true level or courtesy, civic service, and determination to thwart crime. They actively pursue criminals and dangerous drivers. For years, the NYC police increased its laziness with a "No Pursuit Policy". It gave them more time to use their cellphones and eat free food. It allowed dirt-bikes, motorbikes, e-scooters, and illegal all-terrain-vehicles to rampage through the boroughs at all hours--with deliberately noisy engines that made startling "gunshot" noises.
One driver seriously injured my coworker by racing through a public park. Dozens of them plague our neighborhood and cause noise disturbances overnight! Citizens called the police but nothing was done, so they posted the videos online to shame the police into action. Videos showed the motorbikes going past idle police. Nothing was done.
Finally, the NYPD began chasing them only after the Chief of Patrol was hit by one. Then, they started to care. That lack of service shouldn't occur when you pay police the highest salaries in the world.
Seen below, Lewis and I will relish in the safety provided in Czechia.
Decades of results prove that America overspent on police paraphernalia, but its War on Drugs and War on Guns does nothing meaningful. Despite having more weapons and gadgets than any other police in the world, the same neighborhoods still have the same crimes after 100 years! Below, compare the modest Czech police cars...
... to the ridiculous American ones--twice the size (lots of wasted space) with enormous lights that look as if idiotic cavemen designed them.
The trend of superfluous lights (at exorbitant costs) continues the suspicion that NYC police go berserk with their unrestrained budgets. Seen below, why do you need to waste money on "light boards" with words? The car says "police", and there are more lights on it than a Christmas tree.
Czech officers do more crime-stopping with less wastefulness.
We finally found a place where Life-Work Balance isn't still a mere concept; it's in everyday living. Please watch his short video...
America is the only first-world nation that doesn't care to have a law to protect employees by mandating a minimum of vacation time. Employers do not have to give you any paid vacation days; it is a privilege if they do. Also, there is no law making employers give you a paid-day-off for holidays such as Christmas. Many do, but a surprising quantity of employers don't! Please notice these facts, and click on an image to make it clearer...
Americans are overworked (and shamefully by European-owned companies who treat their native employees nicer). Too many Americans succumb to becoming workaholics who are afraid to use vacation days--fearful that they will lose their jobs. Americans do (unpaid) work during their personal time at home... and Lewis was guilty of that, too. Employers in America expect emails and voicemails to be checked by employees who are on vacation. Often, workplaces "punish" employees who take "long vacations" by letting workloads accumulate for them... without assistance. Or they give rewards to other employees and tauntingly say, "You should've been here." It's disgraceful. Pathetically, America's corporate culture decrees that if someone takes two consecutive weeks of vacation (away from work), it will put their job in jeopardy. That's ugly.
Please watch this video...
*Please use this link to learn about unbelievable challenges that employees endure in New York City:
Making things unbearable is that American employers deprive people of a civilized amount of vacation days, which are standards of decency in most nations around the globe. Unless they are executives, employees must loyally work for the same employer for more than 15 years to accrue merely 3 weeks of vacation. Yet, new employees in Europe start their careers with at least 4 weeks!
Clearly, America retains ugly ideas from the 1880s Industrial Revolution with a disregard for its workforce.
A big insult to intelligence is when Americans are fearful of taking a full lunch hour... as if their work should be more important than nourishment. They usually fall as prey to peer pressure and eat their lunches at the desks. (That is not giving yourself a proper "break", and it usually causes crumbs, drips, and grease on computers and keyboards--welcoming pesty dust mites). I worked at places where managers (illegally) implied that people should skip their lunches to do more work. Rarely do American workers get a full lunchbreak, unless they are unionized. That is why you see Americans (stupidly) walking while eating, eating on public transit, or driving while eating.
American cars have cupholders everywhere for overcaffeinated citizens who are overworked and overstressed but feel compelled to do more with less time. It's improper to eat food on public transportation in Czechia, so passengers don't do it. They eat like "normal people" at tables.
In Czechia, employees enjoy their full lunch-hours, and it's commonplace to actually go out for lunch with colleagues. (In the USA, only executives do that).
Praguers use the full hour to digest nicely.
Folks in Czechia combine their career with plenty of leisure. A thriving economy with low unemployment and ample career opportunities is a godsend to people conditioned to thankless overworked jobs in the USA. Czech society prioritizes leisure and relaxation. Rarely does anyone work overtime, and work is only done at work. In the USA, overtime can be mandatory (even though that is illegal), and I experienced that mistreatment. After a workday ends, colleagues customarily socialize for awhile. (In America, unfixed traffic congestion and infrequent transit compels people to bypass socializing and rush to their long commutes). Lewis and I are thrilled to live in a country where work isn't the goal of life; it is only a harmonious part of a fulfilling life. That is how life should be.
Czech culture priorities households and families, so people are given at least four weeks of paid vacation per year--mandated by law. Most people are given five weeks by their employers. Coming from America where employers want to squeeze as much out of you as possible, that is a humungous upgrade to decency. Some employers give 8 weeks of paid-time off. 77% of companies also provide additional benefits: paid days off for "office/doctor visits", Loyalty Days, "Happy Days" for celebrations, and "Recharge Days" to reset after completing a challenging project. Employers facilitate employees to participate in learning courses--for language, hobbies, or sports. Those activities create a close-knit community. Maternity and paternity leave in Czechia outshines the USA's greedy cheapness as a truly first-world nation.
Lewis and I are moving to a part of the world where tradition outweighs hectic "hustle and bustle". When you live in Europe, you pause for tradition and customs.
As adaptable guys, we anticipate an easy assimilation. The government sustains four Integration Centers in Prague to help newcomers get acclimated with their new community as fast as possible.
They offer Czech Language Classes--including daytrips, socials, and films. Their multi-language staff gives free advice and counseling for navigating Czech culture. With certified instructors, they host Adaptive Integration Courses and workshops to help people who emigrate to Prague. They freely provide interpreters to accompany immigrants to doctors, school enrollment meetings, court hearings, and municipal registrations. Such free services are absent in many first-world places.
We liked the spiffy website named Your Future Is Czechia, which detailed life in the republic, described employment benefits, shared statistics, and gave tips for ingratiating within the culture.
High-quality education is affordable, and tax-paid Universal Healthcare contributes to a prosperous future, so citizens aren't in debt. Those are hallmarks of a caring society--not one merely focused on squeezing money from citizens.
Pollution is vastly lower in Prague, as compared to NYC. Consequently, that reduces the Urban Heat Bubble that cities might have, and it improves your life and your happiness.
A myriad of "little details" add up to a wonderful place to live. Such things do NOT happen in New York City, which expects people to overlook its filth and outdated infrastructure and merely look at its tall buildings and bright lights--and pay heavily for that privilege.
Czechs use smarter ways to do things. For example...
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Unlike how Central Park eliminated horse stables in 2007, horseback riding is popular in Prague's metropolitan area.
In NYC, kayaking is rare and intermittent on polluted waterways, but it occurs year-round in Prague's clean river and lakes.
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...with access to famous wine-growing regions!
We'll also be overjoyed to have access to healthy recipes... which are considered a luxury in the USA because most people pay to eat "junk food".
We anticipate lovely perks, such as Open Castle Day: free access to manors and castles across the country.
With some overlap, Open Monument Day gives people a free peek inside all types of monuments.
Open Tower Day freely admits people to otherwise restricted office towers, parapets, church spires, clocktowers, and carillon bell-towers!
Czech culture takes care of its things and keeps them pristine.
Not only are the roads and waterways kept clean, they are promptly repaired and updated swiftly to be excellent.
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We will enjoy joining the rest of the world using the Celsius temperature system: it's so much easier! Only the USA obstinately clings to its own ways of measuring.
We will join the rest of the world using the Metric System! (Only three countries insist on doing it differently).
We will join the rest of the world in cheering for football teams.
Equally odd, while most of the world plays cricket, America wants to play its own sport of baseball. Its professional teams advertise a World Series, but no other country in the world is allowed to play.
We're also looking forward to less rain. Yes, you read that correctly. New York City gets an average annual rainfall of 44.8 inches (114 cm). Prague gets 20.7 inches (52.5 cm). We'll be happy with 50% less rain... and nicer weather.
We'll be thrilled to experience a better/mild climate. Despite the lies from NYC's promoters, the globally-reliable Köppen-Geiger measurements classify New York City as a "humid subtropical climate". We agree. It's as muggy as Hong Kong, Singapore, Uruguay, the Gulf of Mexico, and southern Brazil.
We would much rather be outdoors to enjoy summer--like Praguers do--instead of being cooped-up inside and dependent on air-conditioning. In the milder climate of Central Europe, we will cherish every summer evening when we can go outside without sultry heat. This quick video describes a typical weather report for NYC in summer...
We will join the rest of the world using the Metric System! (Only three countries insist on doing it differently).
We will join the rest of the world in cheering for football teams.
America calls the world's football "soccer", and it created its own entirely different game that it named football. Its football championship is insular to only includes domestic teams.
Equally odd, while most of the world plays cricket, America wants to play its own sport of baseball. Its professional teams advertise a World Series, but no other country in the world is allowed to play.
We're also looking forward to less rain. Yes, you read that correctly. New York City gets an average annual rainfall of 44.8 inches (114 cm). Prague gets 20.7 inches (52.5 cm). We'll be happy with 50% less rain... and nicer weather.
We'll be thrilled to experience a better/mild climate. Despite the lies from NYC's promoters, the globally-reliable Köppen-Geiger measurements classify New York City as a "humid subtropical climate". We agree. It's as muggy as Hong Kong, Singapore, Uruguay, the Gulf of Mexico, and southern Brazil.
We would much rather be outdoors to enjoy summer--like Praguers do--instead of being cooped-up inside and dependent on air-conditioning. In the milder climate of Central Europe, we will cherish every summer evening when we can go outside without sultry heat. This quick video describes a typical weather report for NYC in summer...
NYC's unstopped pollution ruined its protective ozone layers, so New Yorkers get skin damage faster than people in Prague. Hence, Praguers enjoy summer more.
Regardless of the season, Czechs are adaptable and weatherproof. We will enjoy matching their gumption and stamina as we go outside for fresh air and do things despite a drizzle (which many Americans cringe at--often cancelling plans last-minute due to a mere sprinkling of rain).
Most of all, Lewis and I anticipate a society that does things properly. (In the USA, the word "proper" is an insult... and that proves my point). I'll explain how things go properly in Prague...
Architectural history is preserved through all the centuries, starting in the 900s. Conservation is a national priority (instead of demolition to make space for unneeded skyscrapers that are rarely filled).
For comparison, the island of Manhattan was settled in the 1640s. There are 62,000 of buildings on it. Yet, none were preserved from the 1600s! That history and heritage of the United States of America is gone forever. Also discarded were nearly all of the historic structures from the 1700s during the birth of America and half of the ones from the 1800s. Full of greed, NYC preferred to demolish them, so it could add ever-taller buildings with ever-smaller spaces, so it could squeeze more profits from its occupants. Profit always outweighed preservation. Irreplaceable buildings were never harmed by any war, yet NYC’s greed destroyed all but six from the 1700s. Of the 13 Colonies, New York was the second-oldest and sixth-largest, so its destruction of history was a deliberate disrespect to the entire nation.
(For these photos: above was in 1910 and below is now).
The few times that you see NYC's historical elements are when the city does construction and reveals what was covered. Each thing is prettier than the cheap stuff that replaced it.
For example, Lewis and I currently live in a part of Astoria that was blessed with cobblestone streets, but NYC paved over them with inferior bituminous asphalt and tarmac (to make petroleum companies happy, since they manufacture those things). Those low-quality replacements disintegrate within one year and give excuses for overpaid road crews to do the work again (and accrue more unnecessary overtime at taxpayer expense). However, in Prague, cobblestone and stone-paved streets are preserved... and they are more durable and handsome.
As you can see, Prague preserves more history than NYC—yet it also modernizes more than NYC! While overpaid NYC authorities claim that such things can’t be done, Prague proves otherwise… as do many cities in other countries.
We are looking forward to dining al fresco in clean air with an abundance of outdoor seating. In overpriced NYC, most outdoor dining is marred by never-ending roadwork (due to lucrative contracts with construction entities) that ruins the mood with dust, debris, and noise pollution.
In contrast, roadwork and infrastructure improvements in Czechia are done with foresight for the convenience of residents. When a road is torn up, all of the work is done at once. In NYC, overpaid construction crews return within months to rip it up again, and traffic requires detours again. In the history of NYC, that was never stopped, except for a moment during Mayor Bloomberg's tenure. After he left, the city's agencies quickly reverted to wasteful (and highly inconvenient) routines.
We prefer paying our taxes to prevent those hinderances... like Czechs do.
Lewis and I also look forward to enjoying less traffic jams and less congestion on roads. Please click on the image below to make the news article bigger/clearer...
Drivers in America are very bad, and a stupid habit of rubbernecking delays everyone. Compounding the problem, never-ending highway repairs and "road construction" cause massive traffic problems that worsen commuting times or the ability to get anything done. NYC proves a lack of progress/improvement for 100+ years! How stupid can they be? (Neanderthals run the city).
Unfixed for a century, America's traffic (seen above) looks like a third-world-nation (seen below).
In Czechia, the Directorate of Traffic Safety enforces laws and driver skill, and their police have less drivers to manage because Praguers smartly use bicycles, public transit, and their own two feet.
Anything is better than America's circuitous highways with onramps and offramps that seem designed by Neanderthals.
In Czechia, highways are cleverly created, and roads implement a smart invention: traffic circles.
Despite having some of the worst traffic problems in the world, American communities resist using them. Czechia is smarter.
Perhaps it was instilled during the Soviet Occupation, but Czechs understand the efficiency of smaller (yet spacious) cars.
Meanwhile, Americans were brainwashed by advertising and media-placement to spend money on oversized unmanageable behemoths that are hard to park, guzzle fuel, yet made America's steel and petroleum companies happy.
Brainwashed by advertising and lured by peer pressure, gullible Americans waste hours per day waiting in long lines to enter stores, buy event tickets, buy phones, use the post office, do banking, or do grocery shopping.
That doesn't happen in Czechia. After suffering from long queues to buy groceries during their Soviet Occupation, Czechs don't wait in lines anymore. If a promoter tries to force people into a long queue (to build enticement), Czechs will bypass the area. If stores allow long queues to form at entrances or cashiers, Czechs will not spend money there. In that way, America is more "Soviet" than a nation from the former Soviet Bloc!
We will finally live in a mostly cashless society that prefers Tap-and-Go payments. In America, people have old habits and still write/mail paper checks for payment. In Czechia, wherever you pay with plastic, employees never take your card away from you. For security, they bring wireless payment machines to you, so your card number never leaves your sight.
That technology should occur everywhere in the USA, where credit card scams and fraudulent purchases (with stolen information) are rampant--unstopped for the fifth year. But that doesn't happen in the USA because businesses are too cheap to invest in it. Americans naively allow strangers to walk away with their credit cards. That seems dumb.
Furthermore, Czechs don't use many credit cards. Those are "poisonous" American inventions that banks use on gullible people to ensnare them in debt, make them pay more (via interest rates) for purchases, and make card-holders pay annual fees (for the privilege of using cards), while also making businesses pay Card Usage Fees (for the privilege of using cards). Years ago, I attained an American Express Platinum Card, which was the second-to-highest status symbol. Yet, Amex forced me to pay $450 per year for the privilege of owning their card! That's disgusting. No intelligent person should overpay for overpriced nonsense. So, I went against the brainless trend of most Americans and got rid of it. I'm happier. (Now, Amex overcharges cardholders $700 per year)!
The worst aspect is that America forces people to own credit cards to obtain a good Credit Score. That nationwide scheme requires people to have a good Credit Rating if they want to get a house, apartment, car, loan, or investment. (After a lot of work, I achieved an "Excellent" rating: the highest level). America is the only nation in the world that does that... and swindles its citizens during the process.
Yet, America is notorious for having banks and financial institutions that suffer data breaches, so hundreds of hackers get personal information. We will gladly forgo credit cards (and their scams of Reward Points) and rely on debit cards from Czech banks.
In fact, in Czechia, the four biggest banks share their ATM networks, so customers can use any ATM without a fee--regardless of their bank. That is truly first-world. It will never happen in America's greedy finance industry.
Generously, we look forward to Czech banks that actually pay interest on money that you give them. For decades, American banks greedily paid 0% interest on money that customers gave them, while they used that money to enrich themselves.
The USA has a fake two-party system: they pretend to want different things but both work for the same lobbyists and corporations.
Czechia's parliament involves 18 political parties, so none accumulate too much power. Many successful first-world nations have that type of coalition government. Naturally, politics is centered in the capital (but without the horrid Road Closures that occur weekly in America's capital).
City-level politics seems to run with an overall satisfaction. Nowhere is perfect, but the world Happiness Report attests that Czechs are content. Praguers seem happy with their City Council and Mayor. The first Mayor of the Royal City of Prague took office in 1784. (Before that, many neighborhoods had their own sovereignties from the king). Each mayor is a guardian of administrative integrity and also a regional governor, and they wear a metal Chain of Fealty. It was handmade in 1898 of pure gold.
The mayor is one of seven keyholders who is needed jointly to gain access to the hidden Crown Jewels Chamber within Prague Castle, under Saint Vitus Cathedral.
Mayors are chosen by the City Council, and the Council is elected by citizens. Surpassing the chauvinism in NYC, Prague had its first female mayor in 2014. The current one is Bohuslav Svoboda, who has a penchant for bowties. He is a native Praguer, and he is a physician.
Compare that integrity to the current Mayor of New York City, who allowed frenzied criminals to go unpunished for years, allowed underperforming police to accumulate the largest paychecks in the world, allowed the world's worst transit system to embezzle billions of dollars, and helped industry monopolies to harm millions of citizens.
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Evidently, NYC's corrupt politics haven't improved since 1856!
Political corruption is vastly less than in NYC (notoriously greedy and corrupt since 1852), and wastefulness of taxes is one of the highest sins.
In America, news reports repeatedly feature politicians being arrested. But Czechia's police usually only have to handcuff "typical criminals".
On the topic of taxes, we know that the United States is greedily only one of only two nations in the world that imposes citizenship-based taxation. Furthermore, it devised a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act to track Americans. (Some EU banks are fearful of its penalties and won't work with American immigrants and expats. Thus, a surge of Americans renounced their citizenships to escape America's captivity). We'll be thrilled to belong to a country that doesn't squander its tax revenue. While Czechia invests in infrastructure and Quality of Life for its citizens, the USA perpetually wastes money. Please watch this brief video...
Healthcare in the USA is profit-driven and hugely overpriced (causing stress and debt to citizens), and its medical industry has no intention of improving. As a relief from that, we will appreciate Europe's Universal Healthcare: affordable, useful, preventive, accessible, and attentive. Please watch this short video...
Lewis and I anticipate paying less taxes than in America (which was founded to prevent Taxation Without Representation but now overtaxes its citizens more than most nations on Earth). Until now, our hard-earned paychecks were reduced by nearly half: federal income tax, state income tax, New York City income tax, Social Security tax (that will never help anyone in our generation), Medicare tax, and New York Paid Family Leave tax. More deductions took our money because America refuses to give Universal Healthcare. So, we lost portions of our paychecks for dental and medical insurance (despite having to pay deductibles and large sums for anything that our insurance refused to pay). Our income was also reduced by retirement funds, because American companies usually refuse to provide pensions. This year, Lewis' company (a French one that provides pensions to French people) cancelled its pension for new employees in America forever. New employees will have to lose parts of their paychecks to fund their own retirement.
Relatedly, Lewis and I are glad to escape America's always-increasing Retirement Age... because America uncaringly expects its people to work until they die (unchanged since the 1880s Industrial Revolution).
We are happy to explore Czechia. There are a plethora of places that are safely reachable by bicycle, and bikes are accommodated on trains. Czechia has one of the longest networks of trails and footpaths in the world. 80,000 km (50,000 miles) are marked with signs, which is twice the distance around the Earth!
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America does not care enough about its bike lanes or footpaths to do any of that. This short video depicts how typical Americans scoff at cyclists because they don't prefer cars.
We will be happy to be away from such ignorance, and we'll be ecstatic to safely/efficiently/conveniently use bicycles. Cycling is better for the environment. These short videos demonstrate the pollution in Canada, resulting from petroleum processing for automobiles in North America.
Since the USA does not invest in "information security", those pipelines are vulnerable, and hackers were able to cripple parts of America and deprive citizens from buying gasoline for their cars. It's like a third-world nation. Click on these images to make them clearer...
Lewis and I like that Czech friends notate any plans that they make together in their day-planners. Too many Americans forget, cancel at the last minute, or double-book themselves. We started using planners as students in school, and we still mark things in our schedules and digital calendars.
Too few Americans respect their plans with other people. It's frustrating when so-called friends cancel "last minute", forget that they have plans with us, or can't commit until the day beforehand. Unfortunately, it's acceptable in American society to follow your whims and ignore people whom you agreed to do things with. Those same people expect to barge into their friends' lives unannounced, when it suits them. In contrast, when Lewis and I make plans with someone, we honor our word--and we are punctual.
Regarding coffee, Lewis and I never succumbed to the American mistake of drinking oversized portions, and we never followed America's bad habit of having it oversugared with syrups, artificial flavorings, or sweeteners.
We might use honey, but we never add sugar to our coffee or tea. We prefer pure flavors, and I prefer espresso-based beverages. As such, we'll blend harmoniously with Czechia's preference for high-quality coffee in manageable-sized cups (with saucers).
Americans probably think that industrialized Nespresso pods or overhyped Starbucks gimmicks are "quality coffee". Freshly-ground coffee (done within days, if not upon order) is the true concept.
On the topic of gimmicks, Manhattan is plagued with pedicabs that try every conceivable gimmick: streamers, boombox stereos that can be heard 3 streets away, garish colors, flashing LED lights. They act like they are in a carnival trying to lure customers. But they are merely a visual nuisance, and they obstruct traffic and steer recklessly.
Thankfully, Prague's mayor and City Council voted to ban this type of unsightly rickshaw from Prague's city-center. The mayor said, "The city doesn't deserve to have its streets littered with kitsch." We value that civic-mindedness. However, in NYC's "anything goes if it makes money", pedicabs will remain, just like the mistreated horses that pull carriages in Central Park. *Learn about the horses via this link:
It's also why the USA is one of the few first-world nations that allows taxis with advertisements as eyesores.
We are looking forward to using an efficient postal system. In Czechia, something mailed on one day arrives at its destination by the next day. While living in America, Lewis and I have numerous tales of the Post Office "losing track" of items WITHIN THE SAME STATE, which got stalled for weeks in their processing centers. Despite the tracking numbers, they lack a system to ensure progress of items. When something is delayed/mislaid, they don't notice. Customers must realize it and prompt them to investigate.
We mailed something to Detroit, and it was 10 days overdue from its arrival date. We spoke to a local Post Office employee, who merely shrugged and said, "Well, it's in Detroit." He was hinting that Detroit is another of America's rundown cities, which was the cause of the delay. Neither he nor his manager did anything to help us; they didn't contact Detroit, issue an alert, or give us a new arrival date. In another instance, my friend (who only lives 2 hours away) mailed me something, but it took 4 weeks to arrive! Last week, Lewis mailed something to upstate New York (within the same state), yet because of the convoluted transfer hubs, it was sent to Long Island, then to New Jersey, and then to its destination in upstate New York.
Unlike how Central Park eliminated horse stables in 2007, horseback riding is popular in Prague's metropolitan area.
In NYC, kayaking is rare and intermittent on polluted waterways, but it occurs year-round in Prague's clean river and lakes.
In Czechia, parents teach their children to behave. They trust them. Sex is not taboo. Acceptance is essential. Dads are affectionate. Unsupervised playtime is normal... even if it is kilometers away from home. Children are empowered with equal amounts of freedom and responsibility. An active life is encouraged, especially bicycling by themselves (which is better than having vehicle inundation). Happy upbringing = happy society, and they are instilled with sturdy values.
Instead of duplicating the public bus system with a "yellow school bus" system for kids (which wastes taxes), children use public transportation. Kids are empowered, safe, and trusted.
America is one of the few nations that uses separate school buses... and burdens its citizens with extra costs/taxes.
On the topic of responsibility, Czechs believe in Personal Accountability. In the USA, if somebody trips on a sidewalk, they try to sue whoever is available to get money. That won't happen in Czechia; Czechs would say that the person shouldn't be allowed to walk outside unaccompanied.
Lewis and I look forward to a culture that is not pressured to buy every brand's latest product.
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Another gimmick exists because sales tax is hidden from prices, so you don't know the full cost until you try to pay. Czechia has a sensible society, so sales tax is already included in every price.
In addition to exploring the regions of our new homeland, Czechia is situated perfectly as the "Heart of Europe". Thanks to Europe's affordable trains and planes, we can travel easier, and long distances are manageable. That's impossible in America because of price-gouging, a dilapidated national train network, and greedy airlines. The USA is vast, yet it refuses to invest in truly high-speed trains, and its unreliable airports are bottlenecked with delays from overpaid Security staff and Luggage handlers.
Czechia has the world's densest rail network, facilitating travel around the nation. For the of benefit of its residents, Czechia's national railroad company offers Interrail Tickets that provide all-year travel with a 20% discount. Its fleet of trains outclasses anything in the USA, the the cost is half.
Each summer, it offers Fun Trains that carry passengers (and cyclists) to far-flung Czech communities.
Affordable tickets allow people to explore storybook villages, castles, national parks, Europe's largest lavender fields, mountain trails, and spa towns.
Those colorfully-painted trains are equipped with cafés, children's compartments (with ball pits, coloring books, and child-size furniture), bike racks, and cheery employees.
For overnight travel (to save on hotel fees), Czechia's railway operates Night Trains (with sleeper compartments) to nearby nations. They affordably accommodate two or four passengers per compartment, and they have showers, berths that fold out from the wall, and Dining Cars.
Prague is equidistant to Vienna and Berlin. With quick travel time, we can visit The Hague, Paris, Budapest, Zurich, Warsaw, London, or château hotels in Limburg.
In addition to more vacation time and an abundance of affordable flights (because they don't originate in America), Lewis and I giddily anticipate Rhine River Cruises that operate in six gorgeous countries...
...with access to famous wine-growing regions!
We greatly anticipate wholesome foods and products from European nations. In the USA, many are blocked by corporate lobbyists at government agencies because those items are superior to the low-quality stuff made in the USA. Ranging from cheese to clothes, too many things online are not delivered to America, due to its restrictions...
America's FDA prevents artisanal foods from Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. Yet, it happily allows American milk to contain recombinant somatotropin RBST, used as a bovine growth hormone but banned by the European Union and United Kingdom for health reasons. It allows Mountain Dew soda to be sold in America with ingredients found in brominated flame retardant. (That was banned by the EU and Japan, so the soda manufacturer makes a different recipe for them). The FDA permits America's chickens to be doused with chlorine because the maturation and slaughter of chickens is sickening. Therefore, American chickens were banned from European nations. The FDA condones America's pork industry to put raktopamine in pigs, despite it being a chemical initially used to treat people with asthma. It allows bread to contain potassium bromate, regardless of it being linked to cancer. (That is banned in the EU and UK). America's bread is also allowed to include a zodiac carbonamide: a chemical compound linked to respiratory problems. American cereals are permitted to contain butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), regardless of its side-effects that disrupt endocrine and diminish testosterone. (Cereals manufactured by America's largest corporations must have alternate ingredients to be sold overseas). America's government merely thinks that the solution to health illnesses is petroleum-derived pharmaceuticals from another Big Industry. Those decisions are not indicative of a first-world nation; that is being a whore to uncaring industrialists.
Almost every state in the USA suffers from having Food Deserts: areas where residents lack access to affordable nutritious food. Fast Food and Junk Food permeates the nation. Corporate chain-restaurants (selling cheaply-made meat and dairy) and stores (full of GMO or chemicalized ingredients with unnatural "shelf life") are prevalent, but good grocery stores are not within a convenient traveling distance. Usually, American communities are like Food Swamps: inundated with an abundance of innutritious food and unhealthy ingredients. Unlike other nations, America makes people pay extra for wholesome nutrients, as if that is a luxury! Those actions are not indicative of a first-world nation; that is being a whore to greedy/cheap conglomerates.
*Please use this link to learn more about that:
On the topic of food, we'll relish the access to authentic foods from other nations/cultures. Despite its farcical propaganda, NYC marginalizes ethnic foods of its international populous. Often, you cannot find authentic cuisines from other nationalities. Please watch these short videos...
While we lived in NYC, we often heard from chefs and restauranteurs that it was a cesspool to operate in. Most closed their businesses and relocated for success. Please watch this brief video...
We'll also be overjoyed to have access to healthy recipes... which are considered a luxury in the USA because most people pay to eat "junk food".
We anticipate lovely perks, such as Open Castle Day: free access to manors and castles across the country.
With some overlap, Open Monument Day gives people a free peek inside all types of monuments.
Open Tower Day freely admits people to otherwise restricted office towers, parapets, church spires, clocktowers, and carillon bell-towers!
Czech culture takes care of its things and keeps them pristine.
Prague's Sanitation Department is remarkable. It has a web-based app that shows operation hours of collection-points, indicates how to recycle certain items and has a map for locations of trash and recycling containers. Its social media webpages include whimsical yet educational videos. The population is proud of its fleet of Mercedes trucks, and the dedicated team who keep things clean.
Not only are the roads and waterways kept clean, they are promptly repaired and updated swiftly to be excellent.
One habit that greatly impressed us is the removal of shoes. Czechs are smart, so they take off their shoes before entering a home. That is similar to Asian societies, and it preserves a sanitary household. Big or small homes have foyers where footwear is stored, and slippers exist for people (and guests). Some workplaces use "office slippers", and employees keep their shoes (from outside) in lockers. It's brilliant. We already take our shoes off at home, so we'll fit into their society easily.
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Every day that Lewis and I use Prague's Metro System, it will be heavenly, as compared to NYC's subway hellhole.
The most impressive aspect of Prague is its public transportation. It won second-place in a global ranking. Prague kept its tram network... and keeps it modern. It has a dense network that serves outer boroughs. The newest fleet of trams was installed in 2020.
NYC had a vast streetcar system--that was profitable during the Great Depression--but it dismantled it to promote car-buying. (That is not being a first-world nation; that is being a lackey to Big Business). In Prague, the trams remain as smart infrastructure.
New trams are continually added, and the cherished vintage trams are modernized. Praguers preserve the beloved historic styling, but electronics and engines are new.
Prague's public transportation is safe, hugely convenient, reliable, and usually on-time. NYC cannot claim any of those attributes for its public transit, which costs 3-times the price! This year, the Prague Public Transit Company bought 140 new hybrid-powered double-length (articulated) buses, manufactured splendidly by Iveco in Italy. At 18-meters long, they have low-floor access for wheelchairs and baby carriages. They feature HI-SCR--an Iveco exclusive technology: the only emission control system which does not alter the combustion process or use exhaust gas recirculation. It ensures lower fuel consumption and gets closer to zero emissions.
To accommodate narrow medieval streets and areas with smaller populations, Mercedes Sprinter vans are used as buses. That's a plush way to travel!
Hundreds of new Streetway and Urbanway buses were delivered to Czech cities, made by multiple manufacturers.
During my 14 years living in NYC, I saw people running to catch subway trains and buses EVERY DAY. That unsafe phenomenon occurred because the transit system is unreliable and full of delays, so passengers never know when the next one might arrive. As our time in NYC ended, Lewis and I refused to run for trains.
Historically, Czechs are enthusiastic about groundbreaking infrastructure--literally. Unlike how America remains unprepared/unmotivated after Hurricane Gloria (1985), Hurricane Katrina (2005 - $125 billion in damage), and Hurricane Sandy (2012 - $70 billion in damage), the people of Prague began life-saving efforts after their a horrendous flood in 1845. While NYC does nothing, Prague invested to install flood barriers, deploy mobile barriers, and use protective safety valves into canals. It restored floodplains to do their natural purposes, instead of being overdeveloped with homes that don't belong there (as happens repeatedly in the USA). Prague uses a "green method" to enhance the permeability of the landscape and installed reservoirs.
Relatedly, Czechs are concerned about climate change and global warming, and large-and-small things in their everyday lives contributes to Mother Nature. Meanwhile, America's previous president claimed that the USA used "clean coal" and criticized wind turbines as cancerous.
In Czechia, heritage is well-preserved, and communities take pride in restorations and craftsmanship. Skills and trades that are neglected in the USA (Americans expect Hispanic immigrants and Home Depot to fix everything) are upheld: real carpentry, furniture-makers, metalsmiths, shoe cobblers, glaziers, plaster restorers, and true gardeners.
That is why their communities look like this...
...while American ones usually look like this...
The Czech populous contributes efforts as teamwork to keep things looking nice. A typical New Yorker centers on themselves and expects others to do things for them. A typical Praguer expects to donate their time to bettering society and being a good citizen.
We will also look forward to watching television/online programs that are not inundated with commercials and mind-numbing advertisements. Regardless of whichever of the 300+ TV channels you watch in America--at any time of day or night--you cannot avoid seeing ads for corporate-run fast food, corporate-run junk food, automobiles, automobile insurance, pharmaceuticals, and lawyers. I remarked about that since 2015, and it only gets worse.
In that way, America is more "Soviet" than a nation from the former Soviet Bloc!
The sole channel in the USA that is commercial-free is the Public Broadcasting Service (founded in 1969 in Boston). It offers cultural events, concerts, dance performances, educational children' programs, educational shows for grownups, foreign-made shows, documentaries, fact-finding shows (for cultural awareness), foreign news, travel episodes, and classic films. Please watch this snippet...
We are delighted that most apartments in Prague are vastly better than 90% of the ones in NYC. In NYC, residents must pay 4 or 5-times the normal price to achieve decency. Despite that, "luxury homes" suffer from low-quality materials, faulty craftsmanship, sloppy installation, and furnishings unhealthily made from petroleum (because its cheaper). Even in Prague's Soviet-era apartment houses, the construction is sturdy, and they are still beloved (now with colorful paint) as cozily handsome homes.
Undeniably, they certainly look better than the Public Housing built in America--especially in America's richest city!
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In that way, America is more "Soviet" than a nation from the former Soviet Bloc!
In Czechia, homes in the suburbs look like this.
In America, most look like this.
After researching online and via video-appointments, Lewis and I noticed that apartments in Prague are designed smartly with sunny air space between structures, and generous-sized balconies (non existent in most of NYC). Unlike 95% of New York's apartment buildings, the ground-floors of Prague's often includes (clean) shops with services, surrounded by pedestrian zones. Builders often include space for playgrounds and parkland... instead of only parking lots.
In contrast, this is what NYC cheaply considers to be parks and greenspaces (and greedy landlords increase rent to be near them)...
Trash containment is mandatory in Prague. That's smart. Prague's infrastructure is truly first-world, and that is something impossible to see in New York City.
Access to public transportation is much better than in most of America (which prefers citizens to spend money with its automotive industry). In fact, transit connections are absolutely unrivalled. Praguers can get to the city-center from anywhere in less than 20 minutes.
That's joyful for us because a 15-minute distance in NYC demands 45-60 minutes due to constant delays, unfixed problems, crumbling infrastructure, and drivers who are late for work.
Streets around apartment buildings are lined with trees. Whenever a new development is erected, sewage, water pipes, and electricity generation are upgraded. That rarely happens in NYC (despite triple the cost)... until something gets too old and explodes. Prague's buildings are designed to be in harmony with their surroundings, whilst providing residents with a standard of living that is adequate for the 21st-century. That is vastly better than America's richest city.
Unlike most American cities (especially NYC), Prague sustains 12 public swimming areas (with indoor and outdoor pools), and its river is clean enough to swim in! They enhance neighborhoods.
Lewis and I are enamored with the possibilities of buying things at Outdoor Markets. Unlike most in NYC, they operate throughout the entire year. The biggest one in America's richest city is perpetually infested with drug addicts, homeless people, beggars, and scammers. Despite volunteerism by citizens, the famously-corrupt City Hall allows Union Square to remain unfixed since 1970.
Years ago, both Farmers Markets in Astoria had their licenses revoked by the city... despite public outcry (because that area never had supermarkets). But a gourmet grocer opened in that vicinity and overcharged citizens for food because they were the sole provider. Everyone suspected that the wealthy grocer bribed the city to get rid of the affordable greenmarkets. Overpriced food and an absence of farmers markets in an area with 150,000 residents is bad.
Coming from that filth and austerity in America's richest city, we'll be delighted to use the indoor and outdoor markets in Czechia's richest city. We love markets. They are where communities come together. You meet people and learn things, and it's entertaining. The interactions usually exude good vibes.
While too many Americans succumb to online shopping...
... for "next-day delivery" (which causes pollution that harms the planet)...
...Lewis and I will adore the type of markets that every community should have.
Coming from America, affordability is also impressive in Prague. We are moving from the worst nation in the world for "cost & affordability" to one of the best in the world.
America's culture is chaotic, its cities are deteriorating (again), and its elections stretch for hundreds of days but accomplish nothing. The USA is plagued with financial panics, economical issues, crime sprees, mass shootings (that are never thwarted by an uncaring government), and industrialized food that suffers from many Recalls (because greedy conglomerates are too cheap to avoid contamination).
Compared to that mess, Czechia's culture is easygoing. We finally anticipate a stable life for ourselves with peace of mind. Cleanliness, affordability, and cohesiveness are pipedreams in the USA; we look forward to savoring them in Czechia as realities.
As compared to NYC, life will be much better in Prague... like night and day. The few similarities will be that everyone breathes oxygen and drinks water... although local beer costs less than water. Another plus!
We are aware that behavior in the USA causes a stigma of Americans being viewed as fake, "shallow hypocrites", uneducated, childish with reactions, and insincere (e.g.: "I'll call you" and "How are you?"). Americans emulate TV stars with "plastic smiles" and phony happiness that is "always on". Too many Americans think that America is the best at everything... despite lagging behind most first-world nations in every category. Being cognizant of that, Lewis and I will patiently let our good qualities outshine any misconceptions.
He and I will arrive in the cosmopolitan capital with our plucky "Can Do" attitudes and our American charm. We embody the likability of Bugs Bunny, tempo of John Philip Sousa, stamina of Lewis & Clark, gumption of Huckleberry Finn, decency of Mayberry's Sheriff Andy Taylor, ideals of Mayor LaGuardia, showmanship of Ella Fitzgerald in Harlem, urbanity of William Powell, charisma of Ellen Degeneres, pizazz of Queen Latifah, perseverance of Constance Wu, and the élan of George Clooney.
We look forward to making new friends, and we will stay in-touch with our current ones. My coworkers from Colombia, Nepal, France, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Pakistan, and Bosnia tell me that I'm "unlike most Americans" and "too nice to be from New York". They will miss me dearly, and they wish me well.
Lewis and I will relish living in an orderly and safe society, knowing that it was a smart decision for our future.
Czechia has (truly) high standards of living, affordability, free and fair-priced education, Universal Healthcare, cultural diversity, community vitality, sustainability, superior infrastructure, good governance, and psychological wellbeing. That sounds nothing like the USA.
Ironically, we'll still salute a flag of Red, White and Blue!
We look forward to inspiring you with our tales and adventures.
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