30-year-old teacher who left Texas for Denmark: 'It gives me such peace of mind'

In 2018, I left Dallas, Texas and moved to Copenhagen, Denmark to live with my Danish husband.

Now, at 30 years old, I'm a mother and teacher with a permanent residence in Denmark. We have no plans to move back to the U.S., and there's nowhere else I'd rather be.

I do occasionally feel the absence of American conveniences, though, like access to Amazon Prime or not having to do price conversions in my head all the time. It's also tough to be away from my friends and family.

But there are some aspects of life in the U.S. that I definitely don't miss:

When I was an elementary school teacher in Texas, I was easily working close to 55 or 60 hours a week, even though I was contracted for 45 hours. There just weren't enough hours during the paid workday to get my lesson planning done.

But in Denmark, the standard workweek is 37 hours. Teachers do work a few more hours a week to make up for the abundant time off during the summer and school holidays, but most Danish people strictly work the hours for which they get paid.

There is a mentality that you work to live, you don't live to work. Employees here are encouraged to have strong boundaries so they can enjoy their personal time.

Labor unions are strong and respected, and they have done a lot to assure fair working conditions across the country.

When I moved to Denmark at 25, I was still on my parents' health insurance plan and had always received excellent medical care. At first, I wasn't sure what to expect from a public health care system, but I have been very satisfied with my experience.

I went through a pregnancy and birth here, and have had a few health concerns over the years. But since the health system here is mostly paid for with everyone's income taxes, I've never had to worry about the cost of care.

All my prenatal appointments, for example, including two ultrasounds and a one-night hospital stay, plus a home nurse who visited me after I gave birth, were covered.

It gives me such peace of mind to be able to walk out of the hospital or a doctor's office without filling out a single piece of paperwork or having to worry about random fees.

When I lived in the U.S., I often worried about gun violence, especially as a teacher.

I will never forget lockdown drills, where I'd assure my kindergarten students that it was just for practice and we were actually safe at school, while doubting it myself.

I also worried about my safety as a woman, always having my keys out and my phone ready to call 9-1-1 if I was walking alone at night.

In Denmark, my fear has more or less disappeared. Gun violence is essentially a non-issue, and I feel much safer as a woman here.

In Texas, there is no state income tax, so I only paid about 20% of my income in federal taxes.

Here, I pay about 36% of my paycheck in taxes. While I pay higher taxes now, the "extra" money I had in my bank account after taxes in America didn't go as far.

Instead, I receive all kinds of benefits: high-quality public health care, well-maintained neighborhoods and infrastructure, subsidized day care for my child, and functional, efficient bureaucracy.

To get the same quality of life in Texas, I would be paying much more out of pocket. I will happily pay higher taxes knowing what I get in return.

Ilana Buhl is an elementary school teacher. She studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark and quickly fell in love with the city. She now lives in Copenhagen with her husband and son, and shares snippets of her life on social media. Follow her on TikTok and Instagram.

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