“I Want the Luxury”: Western Cape Woman in the USA Shares the Most Difficult Part of Living Abroad

• A South African woman living in Virginia, USA, shared a video venting about not having a luxury lifestyle while struggling in a snowstorm
• She went on to say that many people back home in South Africa take everything for granted until they leave the country
• The comment section filled up fast, with South Africans abroad sharing their own experiences and those back home suddenly feeling a little more grateful

A Western Cape woman now living in Virginia in the United States, @yin_yang001, shared a struggle she faced on 25 February 2026. Caught in a snowstorm, she found herself standing outside a petrol station in a bonnet and a woollen jacket, filling up her own tank in cold weather. She had come straight from a friend's house when the snow started and had no choice but to stop and sort out the car herself.

She vented, saying that pumping your own fuel was probably the worst thing about living in the US, made even worse by a blizzard. Once she finished at the pump, she then had to sweep thick snow off the car windows using a brush before she could even think about getting back inside. When she finally got into the car, she sat trying to warm her fingers before the heater started. She said that this was not the luxury life she had signed up for and joked that she was ready to recruit a South African petrol attendant to come work for her in Virginia.

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It is something many South Africans only realise once they leave: the small, everyday comforts that are not standard everywhere else in the world. In most parts of the US, drivers pump their own fuel regardless of the weather. In winter, this can mean standing in rain, wind or snow to get it done.

Watch the TikTok video below:

Netizens relate to the woman's experience living abroad

Social media users shared their experiences and thoughts on the TikTok @yin_yang001's clip:

@Nicole🇿🇦✊🏾🇧🇫🇵🇸 agreed:

"Pumping your own petrol is so ghetto. I experienced it. I don't recommend."

@bevkolbe66 shared:

"This is the number one reason I came home to SA after living in Toronto for 40 years!!! I hated the winters soooo much!"

@beardgang🇦🇪 said:

"As a former US resident and Cape Flats baby, it's still petrol we put in, petrol not gas, lol. But congrats on your success, YOU GO GIRL!"

@user7458411254084 noted:

"The grass is never greener on the other side."

@T_Madlamba laughed:

"3 accents at once 😂🤣😂"

@john deparare🇨🇦🇰🇪 added:

"I was stuck in a SA blizzard in September 2024 between Joburg and Durban. I'm from Canada 🤣🤣🤣"

@Paddypushpash said:

"Not in my name 🫣 I'm born in the Highlands of Lesotho, I know snow like no one in Africa 🤣🤣 ek sal nooit daar keur nie."

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More on Africans' experiences living abroad

• Briefly News recently reported on a Nigerian woman in the UK who broke down her monthly expenses on a minimum wage.
• A South African woman explained why she chose Canada over the US for her move abroad.
• An Afrikaner woman living in the US shared her latest grocery haul and the prices she paid for meat and pastries.

Source: Briefly News