The phrase ‘there’s no place like home’ was probably made up by someone who wanted to feel better about where they came from. It’s not a secret that every country has its advantages and disadvantages, but since you can’t actually pick the place you’re born in, embracing everything about it is just a part of the process.
People from different places around the world joined this online thread to share the pros and cons of their homeland. From culture and food to politics, economy, and the quality of life, true experts share what makes their home so easy yet so incredibly difficult to love. And it’s a perfect opportunity to learn things about countries you would never find in tourist brochures.
Scroll down to find out the good, the bad, and the ugly about these countries in a list that could serve as a blatant guide to check before choosing a travel destination or a new place to live. And don’t forget to praise and expose your country in the comments!
#1
Switzerland.
Con: high cost of living.
Pro: the flag is a big plus.
#2
United Kingdom.
Pro: Beautiful countryside that generally has public access.
Con: Run by a bunch of corrupt and useless tw*ts.
#3
Australia.
Pro: No guns and free healthcare.
Cons: everything wants to kill you and the sun gives you cancer.
#4
Ukraine.
Pro: great food.
Con: located close to Russia.
#5
Norway.
Pro: incredibly beautiful and clean nature.
Con: the weather is often so bad you need to stay indoors.
#6
Finland.
Pro: people avoid you.
Con: that’s kinda lonely.
#7
Canada.
Pro: free healthcare.
Con: it takes so long to get that you might die waiting for it.
#8
Scotland.
Pro – it’s pretty stunning.
Con – The weather is s**t.
#9
UK Pro: We’re like a USA lite. Some of the good parts of the US without the guns and religion.
Con: We’re like a USA lite.
#10
México. Tacos and narcos.
#11
I’m Venezuelan.
A pro is that our food is delicious, a con is that for like five years we had none of it.
#12
Armenia.
Pro: We still exist.
Con: Unsure for how much longer though since 3 neighbors repeatedly genocide/ethnicically cleanse/invade us.
#13
Pro: if you’re rich it’s one of the best places in the world.
Con: you can’t get rich here.
Italy
#14
USA.
Pro: I have the freedom to choose the profession I love.
Con: I have to practice active shooter drills with my sweet kindergarten students.
Bonus!! Pro: my pay is funded by the government.
Con: My pay has me constantly worried about having enough money for my bills.
#15
Egypt.
Pros: it has an airport.
Cons: I don’t have money to get on a plane in that airport to get the hell out.
#16
South Africa.
Pros: Amazing climate, amazing food, amazing people, incredible landscapes and natural beauty, affordable cost of living compared to the rest of the world, robust private sector.
Cons: Horrific corruption, poverty is rife, horrendous public service delivery, rolling blackouts, inflation, stagnant economic growth.
#17
Brazil.
Pro: it’s a beautiful country.
CON: we have 9000 bank robberies or street-armed robberies every day.
#18
The Netherlands Too many pros so ill name a rather unknown one Pro: we have specialized tools for everything. Need a tool to cut out the seeds of an appel, here you go appelseedscutter. Want to get every little piece out of ketchup or appel sauce put of your bottle, here a flessenlikker. Con: house crisis, cost of living.
#19
India.
Pro: amazing food & festivals.
Con: religious tension, overpopulation & corrupt government.
#20
Germany.
con: we had one of, if not THE world’s most infamous leader in history represent our country and it still haunts us to this day. Our education system is on par with American dumpsterfire and our current military would get soloed by our local gym.
pro: we got some hella good non-alcoholic drinks here, tho.
#21
Pros: Beautiful beaches and views, great weather, hospitable people.
Cons: Corruption, exploitation of the marginalized members of the society, nepotism, bad infrastructure, low pay, and the culture of placing celebrities and politicians at the pedestal of our society.
Welcome to the Philippines.
#22
Spain.
Pros: almost everything: weather, food, open minded society, relatively affordable, free healthcare…
Cons: Our people always thinking that life is better anywhere else.
#23
Greece: Pros: * The weather is nice, except in the summer when the sun just hates your very existence and you roast alive even with the AC on full blast. * Nice beaches, in the right weather. * Kick*ss cuisine.
Cons: * Greeks have a reputation of hospitality but honestly, we are not a very nice people. Sexist, closed-minded, always out to exploit others for gain. * Greeks naturally just hate each other over the shi*tiest things. We’re talking actively, maliciously wishing misery upon one another, especially the ones we view as in any way successful or ‘different’. * Anyone in the tourism industry is an exploitative shark, the islands are no longer places where people actually live, they are just glorified resorts for the rich.
#24
China.
Pro: culinary peak of the world, I’m very objective.
Con: we kinda live under the facade of a monarchy in the name of socialism.
#25
France.
Pro: THE food, landscape.
Cons: Strikes, and for foreigners, poor level of English (and others languages)
#26
United Kingdom.
Pro: Universal healthcare, beautiful countryside, nothing that can kill you, good infrastructure, more cheeses than France, more beers than Germany, lush, no cockroaches, no snakes, almost no mosquitos, good education, religion in deep decline.
Cons: Cost of living, Pay rates, Non-income taxation (hidden taxation), Brexit, Conservatism, urban decline.
#27
Bosnia.
Pros:
probably one of the best and most delicious food in Europe – ćevapi and burek unimaginable for anyone who didn’t try them, even vegetables is for some reason much more appetising than in Great Brittain and Germany.
Cheap restaurants – for 15 -20 euros you can eat whatever and whereever you want
Coffe culture – everyday, even at work, there is bare minimum of one paid, sometimes two half-hour long pauses when people stop with everything and socialize in cafe.
Crime rate – although there is a lot of crime like corruption there is not much robbery and things like that and is safe in almost every city to walk alone in any time of day.
Hospitality – it is part of culture that everybody greet guests in their house with table full of food, some rakija – homemade brandy made from plum, pear, quince – we’re experts in that, they teach you how to make rakija and show hospitality from childhood basicaly.
Free education and healt care – I can’t stress this enough. There is no student loans, most universities are state owned universities and healt care is also free, even most medicament are free!
Cons:
Corruption: everything, and I mean everything is ruled by political connections, and because Bosnia is country of Bosnian muslims, Croatian catholtick and Serbian Orthodox christians (plenty of citizens don’t consider Bosnia as their country, rather Serbia and Croatia) there is plenty of corruption and stealing of money.
National tensions: war from 90s is almost everyday topic, we are living in the past
Standard of living: salaries are pretty basic, if you have salary cca 2000-3000 euros you will literary live like an milionaire in USA, but if you are without political connections or expert in you area of work, you will find it extremly hard to find a job and unfortunately plenty of people are emigrating.
#28
Ireland
Pros: No guns, so a very safe place to live.
Cons: Totally unaffordable rent and near impossible to buy a house.
#29
Pro : Anything, anywhere, any time. Food, alcohol, whatever.
Con : Way too much politics, casteism, division, racism, unsafe environment for girls, road rage.
Country : India
#30
Portugal.
Major pros: Great food and nice weather.
Major cons: Incompetent government and c**p economy.
#31
Myanmar.
Cons: One of the poorest countries in the world ruled by a malicious military dictator who kills everyone who opposes him. Unending civil war (Edit: World’s longest actually). Economy in the sh**ter. Basically, everything is much worse than almost every other country on earth.
Pros: We don’t tend to live that long
#32
Colombia.
Pro: Great weather, biodiversity.
Con: violence, corruption.
#33
For Canada, I would say this
A pro : Peace of mind. I don’t have to worry if I will be able to afford college for my kids, I did not worry about money when my kids need healthcare, I don’t have to worry about health insurance if I’m unemployed, I don’t have to worry about being financially ruined if I get injured in an accident and the OTHER driver was at fault and not insured, I can just enjoy life and even if I have minimum savings and both my kids want to be doctors, money will never get in the way of that.
A con : Winter can be rough. It’s cold, everything gets dirty because snow is only nice and white for some time before cars turn it to that brown slush, and taxes are steep. Almost 40% of my income goes right back in taxes and on top of that, we can easily pay 12-15% in sales taxes which is a lot.
#34
Kazakhstan.
Pro: Best economy and tourism in Central Asia.
Con: Economy, tourism still s****y.
#35
Netherlands – Pro: bureaucracy gets s**t done – Con: bureaucracy doesn’t get s**t done It works really well when it works, it is really s**t when it doesn’t work basically.
#36
Malaysia.
Pros: Natural disasters doesn’t occur frequently. Abundant natural resources.
Cons: Religious bigots ruining the country for everyone. Affirmative action for the majority.
#37
Belgium:
Pro: culture and food.
Con: the “goverment”.
#38
Pro : Beautiful landscape
Con : No other pros
(Slovakia)
EDIT: to be fair, in landscape we can count some cities and castles too, so more like, geography, and there is also low crime rate as far as i noticed
#39
Singapore.
Pros: Healthcare system where you pay based on your ability to pay with government subsidies, yet is very high quality, accessible and efficient. Very low crime rate. A lot of nice green architecture and increasing amounts of renewable energy. Very high home ownership rate of good quality public and private housing 80-90%. One of the worlds highest GDP per capita. Poor are allowed to rent apartments from the government for dirt cheap. Very good food. Cons: Very high cost of living that’s continuing to rise, increasing wealth inequality, increasingly harder to buy a home. The government keeps banning all the fun TV shows and movies.
#40
Poland
Pro: not much going on
Con: not much going on
On the one hand you get low crime rate, low homelessness, stable employment rate, stable growth, not nearly as bad of a housing crisis compared to the west, cheap, fast and robust city and intercity public transport, decent public healthcare and education, conveniently placed żabkas on every street, nearly all housing is decent quality, extremely high chances you won’t go cold, you won’t be hungry, you won’t be stuck in a bureaucratic nightmare, you won’t be sick, you won’t be bankrupt
On the other hand we still power everything with coal and gasoline, we refuse to grant lgbt people marriage or anything like that, the church is strong, abortion isn’t that accessible, generally no progress on social issues, and while your basic needs are nicely met, your polish wage will probably not grant you much else – gonna ride a 20yo car to your job in front of a 10yo computer so that you can go home and watch your newly bought 8yo TV.
So, not much going on. You’re gonna have a stable but quiet life here. You’re gonna be tired but eh, could’ve been worse, at least your landlord does not give you any headaches so long as you pay up, and you always do. The flat is small, but there’s no mould like in Birmingham and it’s not legit cramped like in amsterdam. If you’re queer you’re gonna be queer exclusively at home. The air smells funny and your kid developed allergies. Allergy medication is cheap, thankfully. That’s about it. Spice it up with a little vodka on the weekend, it’s way cheaper than actual hobbies. Generally, a little money solves all problems but a little-little money is all you have.
#41
New Zealand.
Pros; safe, free healthcare.
Cons; tax, cost of living.
#42
The Netherlands.
Pro: the weather, generally nice. Neither hot nor warm.
Con: the food is unbelievably boring.
#43
Singapore.
Pro: Decent healthcare, education, public transport, public housing, no gun violence, no major drug problem.
Con: something something Disneyland with the death penalty something something.
#44
Sweden.
Con: Swedish justice system is really s****y imo.
Pro: sun never goes down in the summer.
#45
Romania.
Pro: if you have euros and convert them in my currency you’re rich.
Con: gang sword fights between roms.
#46
Russia.
PROs: amazing nature, beautiful women, generally friendly people, accessible and convinient online services.
CONs: delusional warmongering leadership, many of these beautiful women and friendly people supporting abovementioned leadership, also you can get conscripted via accessible and convinient online services.
#47
Scotland.
Pro • Beautiful scenery • We have Bens, Glens and Lochs • Deep Fried Mars Bar • NHS • Still Game Con • Politics dividing a country • Religion dividing a country • Football teams dividing a country • High cost of living • Expensive public transport
#48
Austria:
Pro: very good Healthcare.
Con: Racism, sexism homophobia, you name it, is out of control.
#49
Italy. Pro: we have really nice views with ancient stuff everywhere, have nice clothes and good food. Con: low pays for very high home rent/selling prices, a bit of intolerance here and there, cities are really cr*ppy-managed, expecially about trash and pollution. People have no respect of public places.
#50
Pro: Universal healthcare
Con: stagnant wage growth/s**t government.
Australia.
#51
Argentina.
Pros: Lots of memes. About anything and everything, specially the negative aspects. The term “there’s always a silver lining” doesn’t even come close.
Cons: +50% poverty, most corrupt politicians ever, the average income is between 200 and 300 USD and getting lower every minute, and there’s literally nothing you can do about it.
#52
Nigeria
Pro: pretty lawless if you have money, you can get away with most (any) things
Cons: Same point as above, absolute s**t value of life.
#53
Ireland Pros: Friendly people, lots of greenery, high level of eduction (particularly at college level) Cons: Our housing market is an utter joke – so much demand and null supply, weather is pretty meh from September to March.
#54
USA.
Pros: We have a military budget big enough to fight god.
Cons: We use it on dumb stuff.
#55
Kuwait.
Pros: Easy life, good money, very safe.
Cons: Boring, expensive, extremely hot summer.
#56
USA.
Pro: guns are easy to get.
Con: guns are easy to get.
“It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it” – Dr. Seuss Being a responsible gun owner is not all that difficult. Education and communication is key.
#57
TURKEY
Pros:
* Naturally really beautiful. All those archeologic sites, natural beaches, Cappadocia etc.
* Delicious food.
* Friendly people.
* Good weather. Can swim and also can go skiing.
Cons:
* Erdoğan
* S****y government and economy
* All those immigrant Syrians, Pakis etc. who do nothing but use our resources, breed like crazy and look at our women as if they want to eat them.