HGTV star Erin Napier lists all the things the UK does better than the US, sparking intense debate

What started as a lighthearted travel post by HGTV’s Erin Napier quickly turned into a national conversation about what the UK does better than America, and people have mixed opinions. Napier, best known for co-hosting "Home Town" with her husband Ben, recently returned from a family vacation to the United Kingdom. In a series of photos shared on her Instagram account @erinapier, she included a list titled "thoughts after international travel," offering followers a mix of observations, preferences, and humorous takes from the trip. Her post gained over 58,000 likes in two days.

"Can you die from jet lag?" she began, before diving into specifics. "Is there a reason they don’t have ranch in the UK? I mean, have they tasted it?" she asked. She continued by praising small conveniences like drink bottles with flip tops and lamenting the absence of artificial dyes in British food. "I wish their laundry soap worked better," she wrote, adding, "I didn’t see her, but I still think Nessie is real." He said she liked their midges more than American mosquitoes, appreciated that "Gleneagles thought of EVERYTHING," and called House of Bruar "a fever dream. IYKYK."

Though her tone was personal and mostly playful, Napier’s comments drew hundreds of replies that shifted the conversation from cultural quirks to national systems. Many followers used the post as an opening to share what they felt the US could learn from the UK, especially in terms of public policy. @jingerdw wrote, "I wish we had universal healthcare, paid family leave, free period products, strong unions, abortion rights, anti-fascist leaders, and so much more that Scotland has, that we don’t. It’s almost as if their government cares about its people there." @malraz added, "You forgot something. Why does no one talk about how it never gets dark over there?"

@al.wont chimed in, "Food dyes are much less of an issue than food insecurity that many American children and elders face every single day. Fund school and summer lunch programs, Meals on Wheels, and elder food programs." Others pushed back against her preferences. @andereb.01 commented, "You liked the flip caps on bottles? Ugh. They were so hard to break off." @stuartclark21 wrote, "I moved to Arkansas from the UK over 8 years ago and love everything about the US... except the ranch. Salad Cream all day long for me." @erolfewalker shared, "As a Brit who has lived in the US for 16 years now, I still can not stand ranch. Maybe it’s just not our thing. AC is a luxury that I truly appreciate during Virginia’s humid summers. My parents' toilets flush really well, and I love their washing detergent. It smells like home. I also love no single-use plastic. Human-size portions."

Although people had divided opinions on many of her points, one line at the end of her post stood out. It drew near-universal agreement: "Travel makes your kids flexible and indestructible." That claim is backed by research. A study titled Travel Broadens the Mind, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that self-directed international travel fosters adaptability, emotional resilience, and broader social understanding, particularly in children.

You can follow Erin Napier (@erinapier) on Instagram for more daily-life content.