> When exactly are those passions supposed to be pursued? When retiring? I'm pursuing that now. I have had 6-8weeks off in summer the last 10 years. I like to t

> When exactly are those passions supposed to be pursued? When retiring? I'm pursuing that now. I have had 6-8weeks off in summer the last 10 years. I like to travel, etc. This! I'm not familiar with all European countries, and not extremely so with the US, but I think this is an important difference: Free time. 5-6 weeks paid vacation is common, and employers expect it to be used. It's often easy to get unpaid leave for whatever reason, such as studying or starting a business. Parental leave is paid and the expectation is that it will be used. Employers demanding overtime or "crunching" or whatever is generally frowned upon. Etc. etc. My strong impression is that those "low-paid" European jobs are often a lot more balanced, with more room for life than their American counterparts. (I do live in Scandinavia, maybe we're on the extreme end of this, but still )