27 years of living and working and traveling across the USA convinced me that the culture kills people from the inside. Everyone is so afraid, so cut off from life, and everyone seeks satisfaction by means of acquiring ever-more material objects. Even though I isolated myself inside an “Allan bubble” and returned to Europe several times per year I could never feel relaxed in the USA, even in that supposedly bohemian city San Francisco. But after a few months in Lausanne I felt fully detoxified and I’ve been happy ever since. Kudos for you for trying to be a little détendue.