The majority of the people reading this title might think that I am crazy.
Well I am not crazy I am just telling you the story about Denmark a country that is top 3 in the world in the categories happiness and quality of life. Some surveys has Denmark as number 1 in each category while others as second which is the reason why I just stick to the top 3.
I will spare you for too many statistics and data since I will give you an answer to why I believe that the happiness level is so high in Denmark in comparison to the sunny holiday destination Greece based on my personal experience in both countries.
But before we jump to my perception and personal experiences let me then first document the high position of Denmark with numbers from Numbeo and OECD.
Numbeo ranking:
OECD ranking:
Denmark simply is a country where the basic needs never will be in danger, this means that housing and food always will be covered even if you are unemployed because you in case of unemployment will receive social benefits. Now not many people are receiving social benefits because they are having a job, but it is crucial to know that you are covered whenever it is needed.
Now if you look at this from the perspective of the Maslow pyramid this means that the basic needs are covered from the day you are born, and during all your life you "only" have to be concerned about your self-fulfillment.
Now that is what I call quality of life!
What about free education where you get paid to study by the government? Well you also have that in Denmark, which means that even if your parents aren't the most wealthy you still have access to decent education, and will receive a small salary every month while you study.
By the way same goes for health which also is covered by the state for every citizen.
When you have all these needs covered, and you stop being concerned about the basic needs and start to realize your dreams then you can survive rain and snow.
But in case you get enough of the rain, then why not just go for a holiday somewhere during the long summer holiday, or maybe a week to Thailand or Bali during the winter?
In other words you have all you need to be happy in your everyday life, and you can travel to the sun whenever you need to.
Finally I would like to underline the importance of equality, which is to be found between the genders and at work. There is in the majority of the cases not a big gab between the different positions and you will therefore always see that people are happy with their job. You can do what you like and know that you will get a decent salary, so no need to exclude any kind of job because you will get along quite well no matter what you chose.
Furthermore everyone at a workplace is equally respected, the director is not the king and the employees the slaves, this mentality was buried several decades ago in Denmark.
Now how are things in the postcard-country Greece?
All the above mentioned positive things are not to be found in Greece, where you despite that are having great weather and beautiful places to visit. If you like going to the beach that is possible for around 5 months a year.
But if you need doctors, you would need to pay at a private hospital or bribe your way through at a public hospital, in a country where the average salary is below 800 euros a month.
I have a personal experience that I would like to share with you guys.
The last two years I have waited for a tax return of 2000 euros, in that time I took two days of from work where I went to the tax office signing papers where I brought document after document, then I hired an accountant that went four times to the tax office. In the meanwhile I went to another public office where I got documents for my accountant, and this week I will send him some other documents by regular mail. In Greece the public sector can't receive documents through e-mail, it has to be either fax or mail.
The most funny part is that I still haven't got my money yet. To get 2000 euros you need to spend 500 on days of and accountants.
Is this experience not tragicomic?
So in Denmark you use your spare time enjoying life and realizing your dreams and in Greece you use it living in denial of the reality, or running around trying to make the most simple things work.
My experience living in these two countries could easily have the title "Living in a great country and living in a great destination".