Who the hell is assuming “anyone” can just waltz in to a hospital in an EU country and “get treated”? You get a doctors appointment, diagnosis and referral for further treatment, unless you’re in an emergency, then you go to the emergency hospital. The whole premise of your post is odd.

1. Americans cannot just “choose” to move to an EU country “for healthcare”. They need to qualify for a work visa. This family in your article are citizens/family of a citizen of an EU country, most Americans are not. To qualify for a work visa you have an education and work experience that would get you pretty decent health insurance in the USA too.

2. Digital nomads, “retirees” and similar pay their own health insurance. Most EU countries do not even have retirement visas; they really do not want to add on elderly people to take care of.

3. Many Americans find European healthcare lacking when it’s not about serious conditions but more at the discretion of the doctor. From a European point of view many find Americans over medicated and over diagnosed. When healthcare isn’t a for profit business, but considered a basic right, they tend to draw different lines. Pain medication (and its consequences) is an obvious difference between the two, so are ADHD Asia gnoses and their treatment to pick a popular example.

4. “Universal Healthcare “ is just a universal shortcut most useful in American political discourse to describe a variety of healthcare and health insurance systems. Most European countries operate a mixed private/public system. For example in my country, employers have to offer access to employee healthcare, that can be either in the municipal health center, or through a private company. This is subsidised and a freelancing citizen here might wonder why it’s alright that these companies do not pay taxes in the country. Things like this draw public resources (it’s hard to find doctors to the public sector) and the system has been in crisis as long as I can remember.

5. If Americans wanted to change the healthcare system for everyone, they should organise politically, rather than seek “escape” to an EU country, where people did that decades ago (public healthcare wasn’t handed down for the peasants out of kindness of our overlords, but because of fear of revolt, and the need to produce healthy workers who can work for a long time). That however would require something called solidarity.

6. If you plan to move continents, do not rely on online articles, Tiktok, and viral posts about “universal healthcare”, labour rights or anything. You must read what the country and the European Union actually say on their official resources, readily available in English online. Just yesterday someone posted they had sold all their belongings to move to France en famille not quite understanding what “probation time” means. Unfortunately the host countries have no obligations to take care of an American expat family right after arrival (not even a family from another EU country, there are regulations to prevent “benefit shopping”)

7. Sometimes one sees US educated nurses and even doctors wanting to work in EU countries health care. Setting aside the language requirements (c1-c2 level with medical vocabulary prioritised), nurses and doctors in a publicly funded system are paid less for equally hard work. If the countries can bargain cheaper prices for medication than the USA seems to be able, they won’t pay anything like what a registered nurse might make in a high cost of living area in the USA. Whether anyone should make the kind of money high paid Americans can, is another can of worms.

As an EU citizen you’re free to move to any EU country plus a couple of others tomorrow. If you want to work as a physiotherapist however, you need to see whether you pass the country’s legislation and whether you can practice there with only English or French. “Willingness to learn a language” is not an accomplishment, it’s expected of every immigrant in EU countries, if they plan to stay indefinitely.

Spain recognises unmarried couples according to certain parameters. If you qualify as partners according to Spain’s regulations, you simply move in an register your stay, again according to Spanish legislation, and stay as long as you can support yourselves. This obviously requires local employment, but you can get started with savings to find an apartment etc. If you want to keep your current UK employment, work as freelancers or private contractors, or stats a company, you must do it according to Spanish laws. As an EU citizen and their partner, you won’t be “digital nomads”.

Relevant EU website to start your research at https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/family-residence-rights/non-eu-wife-husband-children/index_en.htm

“The EU” is 27 different countries. Fortunately for you, they all publish their individual immigration requirements on their official web pages, in the English language.

Why would anyone “share a sense of pride” being from a certain country?

It sounds like you are trying to convince someone about a decision you’ve already made. You’re an adult, you don’t need permission to move back to your home country from anyone. Why do you care about what others think, and why do you think having tried something that you later find out you don’t like would be a sign of “failure”? You have valuable life and work experience, not to mention language skills, that you can take with you back home or try finding your place in another country. Nothing is lost, and other people are too busy worrying about their own life to judge you. None of us is a main character in a movie, other people don’t revolve around us.

Not to get into a pissing contest about which country is faster “descending into xenophobic fascism”, I would still question why you can’t just say “it’s not for me” but have to exaggerate how horrible France is to excuse leaving it.

Why does the sight of homeless people make you feel “unsafe” instead of, I don’t know angry at the powers that be that created the situation?

“Only boring people are bored.”

Don’t Americans expats have any interests outside their “ambitious” careers and families? Get into arts and culture scenes in any country, find a lot of interesting creative people. The only downside is they may not appreciate your expectations and attitude quite as much as you’d like to.

Do you speak any other languages than English at a professional level? If not, it will limit your options quite a bit.

For a Eurocentric view: Continental European countries with strong film industries like Italy and France mostly recruit from within the Union’s citizens, both because the legal mandates and because it’s easier than going through the hassle of proving an English speaker who needs a visa to work is more qualified than said EU citizen. Elsewhere in the union, people are recruited production by production, one gig is a very shaky ground to move your family to a foreign country. Unless you’re a huge name in your industry, the chances are very slim there.

Famously Germany is (supposed to be) easier for US citizens to find employment in, language requirements might still apply.

Obviously, check if your profession is listed on the UK and Ireland’s skilled occupations list, that would enable you to look for offers in those countries.

All European countries have film schools, and most of the graduates struggle to find work. Like the other commenter mentioned, pivoting to video game industry is often the solution. Those companies tend to run in English and the workforce is very international, albeit mostly from different EU nationalities.

Assuming your husband is also monolingual, finding work outside the anglosphere is not necessarily that easy.

Well, Nordic countries like Denmark are quite big believers in letting kids be kids. If you look at the results of the school systems in those countries, they tend to be quite positive. In addition, your child will learn social skills, the local language and make friends with kids across various social classes - but maybe that’s what you’re afraid of.