20 Random Notes on U.S. Reverse Culture Shock After Living Abroad

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Kevin and I have surpassed two full years of living abroad! January 1, 2025, was our two-year anniversary, and during the past two years, we spent a combined total of less than 70 days (out of 730 days) in the U.S. – less than 10% of the time. As such, we experience reverse culture shock after living abroad every time we visit the United States.

Note that we were somewhere in Latin America when we weren’t in the U.S. I believe that being in one culture for an extended time – Latin culture as opposed to traveling the world – intensifies reverse culture shock after living abroad. This is because you get ingrained in a different culture, and that culture becomes second nature after a while. If you visit several cultures successively, none of those cultures are embedded inside you. Thus, while you have been outside of the U.S. for an extended period of time, no other culture has necessarily supplanted the U.S. as the culture you know better.

We just spent a week in Miami, and I took 20 notes regarding reverse culture shock. Let me know in the comments your thoughts – enjoy!

1. When I was younger, I would never consider jaywalking. Way too dangerous and against the law. But now, I constantly had the urge to jaywalk. Far more efficient to cross the street when no cars are coming than to wait for the signal to change in your favor. Also, Kevin and I are soooo good at dodging cars now!
2. Why do no prices in the U.S. include sales tax? As an American living in the United States, I never even thought of the sales tax being added at the cash register instead of displayed on the labeled price. But now, I find it very frustrating. Reverse culture shock means sticker shock at the register when I didn’t factor in sales tax!
3. Don’t even get me started on tipping culture in the United States. The worst part about it is that I now see a similar tipping culture in more touristy parts of Latin America, namely the Yucután Peninsula. Ugh!
4. Speaking of prices, I can definitely feel the shock of restaurant bills when eating out in the U.S. I am so amazed at how expensive it is. But honestly, most of that “expensive-ness” comes from adding the sales tax and tip to the bill. For example, if you have 7% sales tax and an 18% tip, that is 25%. For the two of us, if the total cost was $60 for a meal and we back out the 25% in tip and tax, then the actual “cost” was $48. Still relatively high compared to what we are used to in Latin America, but it feels more manageable. In fact, when we ate out in Panamá City and parts of México, I was used to paying around $40 for the two of us. Thus, $48 doesn’t seem like so much of a stretch, but $60, yes.

5. Kevin and I eat gluten-free, and no other Latin American country beats the U.S. in terms of gluten-free food options. Being able to eat is one of the highlights of our trips to the U.S. Ecuador, and perhaps Mexico, are the closest Latin cultures to the U.S. in supporting our gluten-free lifestyle. But returning to the U.S. and seeing so many gluten-free options in the supermarket is like that feeling of comfort when jumping into a hot tub on a cold night.

6. It is so weird not saying Good Morning or Good Afternoon to random people as a greeting, and instead just saying hi or hey.
7. So. Many. Teslas. (And what’s with the Tesla Cybertruck? Did anyone look at the renderings before manufacturing a garbage dumpster on wheels?)

8. If you travel outside of the U.S. more than once per year and you do not have Global Entry, then you haven’t lived yet. There is no immigration procedure faster in the world than Global Entry if you are a U.S. Citizen. Absolutely none, and that includes e-gates in Uruguay and México. (Also, if you opt only for TSA Precheck because it is $25 cheaper, then you are costing yourself way more than $25 the first time you return from an international trip. Get Global Entry!)
9. It feels a bit freeing to call an Uber ride without worrying about who is watching you. Even if Uber is legal in many Latin American countries, it can still be shunned by local taxi unions and police. Compared to some of our close calls in Chile and Ecuador, it is so refreshing to just call for an Uber when we need to go somewhere. But what is weird is that even where Uber is shunned as a taxi service, Uber Eats is widely available, along with its Latin counterparts, Rappi and PedidosYa.

10. Speaking of Uber, in some countries, when we use Uber, I specifically ask for Uber XL, knowing that a regular Uber car will be too small for Kevin and me. In the U.S., I don’t have that worry.
11. Our first trip back to the U.S. during our nomadic journey was after spending six weeks in Ecuador in early 2023. Followed by another trip back six weeks later after visiting Uruguay and Chile. I remember it being such a relief to speak English freely to express my desires. However, now returning to the U.S., I no longer feel that relief. This is more a statement on how accustomed I am to speaking Spanish and adapting to the Latin American culture than any statement about the U.S.

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12. The one exception to this is emergency services. I got sick the morning after we arrived in Miami. Like really sick. While in bed thinking about how awful I felt, it gave me relief that I knew the U.S. medical system and how to call for help. That is not the case in other parts of Latin America, where it is unknown who would rescue you if you needed help.
13. “American” culture feels more in-my-face when I am back in the U.S. Living in the U.S., you overlook your own culture because you are part of that culture. When you visit abroad, you realize how different other countries’ cultures are compared to the U.S., but then you return home. Yet, now, when I visit the U.S., I immediately see “American” culture.
14. Having said that, I wouldn’t consider Miami – where we visited – a true reflection of “American” culture. Miami is way more Latin American than I ever expected it to be. It is a Latin-American – note the dash – fusion of cultures where neither culture is truly dominant. I actually really love Miami and perhaps it is this culture blend that makes Miami endearing to me – blending of my old life and new life.

15. It is easy to forget how much oxygen American politics consume inside the United States. I follow U.S. politics very casually while abroad. I have an interest in it, but I don’t follow it closely at all because it doesn’t affect me much, and I don’t want to get sucked into it. Yet, returning to the U.S., politics are a hot-button issue, especially with the recent handover of power to Trump. Either way, after having been away from this constant 24-hour political news cycle, it is amazing how intense it truly is.
16. Latin countries outside of the U.S. don’t really pay attention to U.S. politics except for matters that directly affect the country. Kevin and I were in Panama when Trump started talking about taking back over the Panama Canal. And yes, it was big news in Panama. There were many banners and advertisements, not the least because it coincided with the 25th anniversary of Panamanian control of the Canal. And talk about reverse reverse culture shock! It was so weird being an American in Panama while the country was under “attack” from the United States. I can’t describe the feeling of being on the other side of American foreign policy, except if you haven’t experienced it, you can’t really understand the impact of American foreign policy – for good or bad.

17. Large apartment buildings seem to be a chiefly American concept. There are large condo buildings in other countries – we own a condo in Ecuador in one of them. And many of those condo buildings are newer, new, or even under construction. But almost always the units are for sale, and then if a new owner wants to rent it out, that is on the new owner. The developer of these buildings will rarely lease out the entire building, like in the United States. Apartment buildings generally don’t exist in Latin countries, while condo buildings are everywhere. And that goes for professional property management companies like Graystar or Equity Residential in the U.S. They have condo property manager equivalents in Latin American countries but not apartment property managers.

18. Football replaces fútbol in the United States. It is so common to have soccer on TVs in restaurants in Latin America, no matter what time of the day. In the U.S., it is all about American football, with basketball filling up the rest of the time. I have learned more about soccer in the past two years in Latin America than the previous 35 years I was alive in the United States.

19. Food trucks in high-end neighborhoods in the U.S. are bougie, upscale, and cater to the nouveau riche. In Latin America – and Latin neighborhoods in the U.S. – food trucks are cheap and cater to all sorts of people.

20. Overall, perhaps reverse culture “shock” is too strong of a word. Yes, some differences take some time to remember and get used to. But U.S. and Latin cultures aren’t that far apart. It would be interesting to spend a lot of time in Asia or Africa and then return to the U.S. That could be a far more significant “shock.”
21. Bonus note: I am starting to forget U.S.-style measurements in favor of metric ones. A 16oz drink has less meaning to me than a 500mL drink. I have a better sense of a half-kilo of meat than one pound of meat (although they are roughly the same amount). And yes, Kevin and I keep track of our weights in kilograms now, not pounds. We also have our heights memorized in centimeters.