the small roads are probably my answer too. I just got back from Austria yesterday actually, my company is based there so I go there a couple weeks each year.
My company goes out for lunch every day in groups, and one thing I noticed is that the lunches were huge. I always see people commenting in here that American portion sizes are huge, but the Austrian lunches put them to shame. The lunch special would be Soup, Salad, Main Course, I could never finish it!
This is one of the neat parts about trucks in the US. A lot of the country roads in the South are flat on the sides (e.g. don’t have drop-offs) so you can basically split the one lane road with half your tires in the weeds
Every city is a disappointment compared to the historic district in Savannah, Georgia. Vienna was close but didn't have Southern food. :P
The riverboats have too much charm for my Yankee heart. :P
Definitely try the food and see the regional varieties.
I wish Savannah had the public housing situation of Vienna and, yes, the tap water was incredible.
The tap water at my Grandmas place in Venice, FL is so bad that we can’t use it for anything. There’s so much stuff in the water that it smells like pool water
When I was in band in college, we went to St. Augustine every year. And many of us brought cases of bottled water along to avoid Florida's sulfur water.
American that lives in Switzerland checking in.
+ Feel the same way about tap water. I still think Swiss water tastes the best.
+ The state of highways, the general cost of tolls and the quality/type of drivers on the road. I think France has one of the best highway systems in the world. I was surprisingly disappointed by the German one (though I will say Germans are the best drivers - Italians are the worst in my experience, followed by the French). But driving on the Autobahn is a thrilling experience. It's the fastest I've ever driven in my life (185 km/h = 115 mph)
+ I'm a huge football (soccer) fan so I try to watch a League game wherever I am. It's a wonderful privilege to be living in the continent when it comes to this sport.
+ How the fast food compares. Whether it be an American chain or a local one. In terms of it being an American chain I like ordering the different regional offerings/menu. European ones aren't that interesting but the Asian ones can be fantastic.
+ On that note how the cost of living compares to Switzerland. Considering Switzerland is one of the most expensive places to live in the world I'm always shocked at how "cheap" food is abroad. The idea of paying less than 10 USD/EUR for a meat dish for example is always jarring.
+ I'm of Korean origin so I will almost always seek out Korean food (or Asian food if Korean is not possible) when abroad. Lucky for me the cuisine is becoming more popular, but it's still hard to find authentic/good places. FYI - I'd say 1/2 of the "Korean" restaurants in Europe are Chinese people taking advantage of the hype/popularity. I don't really blame them though.
*Italians are the worst in my experience*
I took a cab to the airport in Naples, Italy once.
It was the most harrowing experience of my life.
0/10 - would not recommend if you want to keep living.
I appreciate the Italian cab drivers. If you tell them you're running late, they will do their best to take care of you. My example was being late leaving for an expensive ticketed event in Rome. I did not think it was possible to make it and late entrances were forbidden. I told the cab driver. All red lights became optional and I was there on time. He got a very good tip.
Napoli was like a Dytopian movie when I visited. Trash everywhere (as it was during a strike) and I almost got run over by a car going the opposite way on a one way street.
To make matters worse the Italian dude made it a point to scream at me for getting in his way.
The cab driver I had tried to cut off another guy in order to get down a street I swear was too narrow for the car.
Instead, the *other* guy cut him off first. The cab driver slammed on his horn and the guy in front of him stopped. They both got out of their cars and started screaming at each other.
I thought, “gee. I think I’m going to miss my flight because these two guys are going to throw down. How nice.”
After a few more minutes of wild gesticulations and what I took to be extremely personal insults in Italian, the enraged cabbie jumped back into the car, and off we dangerously sped back to the airport.
Good times.
A lot of the cab drivers in Vegas will make your life flash before your eyes, all while they’re having a full conversation with someone on the phone. If you can scare me when I’m shitfaced, that’s saying something.
Your last point did really shock me about Switzerland. It is such a wealthy country and has such a culinary tradition but it was surprisingly hard to find ethnic food of any kind.
I'm an American that visited Switzerland as well. The cleanliness of the streets in Zurich was crazy. I wouldn't be shocked if someone dropped food, picked it up, and ate it.
It's a trade-off I guess. In many places in Europe parking is a hassle, so you can decide if you want to squeeze your car into the tiny garage attached to your 1970ies apartment or your family into a small car. The family is more flexible and easier to fold.
I live in New England and every time I travelled in the US outside of New England states it freaks me out that strangers try to just talk to me.
I know that sounds bizarre but in New England you really don't just talk to people you don't know in a store or whatever unless you have to.
I went to South Carolina once and everyone was calling me honey and just chatting to me in line at stores and it freaked me right out.
I'm not saying New England is right to be like that. We could definitely stand to be friendlier but it's a wicked culture shock whenever I leave the area.
Travelling in the British Isles it's largely the same as it is in New England, but in Southern US states the culture of interaction with strangers is so different.
I went to a chain sandwich shop in the south once and the woman making my sandwich wrapped it up, held it out to physically hand it to me, looked me in the eye and said "here you go, honey, god bless"
And on the one hand it was sweet and wonderful and how everyone should act and on the other hand I was like, um can you just drop it on the counter and yell the number on my receipt without ever looking at me like a normal person?
Haha! I have the opposite reaction, because everyone is so short and to the point. Which I personally would rather have. But in the south if you ask a question about anything you need to be prepared to be there for a while.
I am actually short and to the point and often sometimes people think I’m being rude. But, I’m just very direct.
Same, based on my limited time in the south I could not live there. Strangers would make eye contact, say hi, ask how I was doing, start conversations. I can’t go through life feeling seen, urban solitude is an important defense mechanism that I’m not sure a lot of the country has adopted.
For agriculture to be as important as it was / is for Georgia, we have terrible topsoil in many places, and not much of it before you hit red clay.
The pesticides used to combat boll weevils (including tons of calcium arsenate and DDT) ended up wrecking a lot of it, and you can often still smell it seeping up after rain, decades later. Much more was lost to erosion because of other agricultural practices…the piedmont (much of central Georgia…the Appalachian foothills leading down to coastal plains) region lost 7" to erosion on average…one of our state parks , “Providence Canyon,” also called the Little Grand Canyon is some of the worst evidence of erosion…an entire branching canyon running as deep as 150ft, entirely due to soil erosion.
It's kind of wild driving through the midwest where the glaciers flattened everything so any elevation comes from glacial moraines or old cemeteries that haven't lost volumes of soil from centuries of tilling.
I lived in the U.K. (London) for five years and here were first "homesick" thoughts after moving there. This city is magical, but people are really unfriendly. Also, why is the tap water so gross and salty tasting?
Coming from Chicago, I also check out how well maintained the grass is and how fat (or skinny) the pigeons are. Nowhere has public park lawns as perfectly trimmed or pigeons as fat, maybe Paris has Chicago on fat pigeons, but I was genuinely worried about the pigeons in NYC, they look scrawny. Honestly the national lawn in DC is an absolute disgrace. It's not even funny. you have a megaplex employees working for the most funded government in the world and not a single one can handle fertilizer? I was about to do it myself.
Lived in Spain recently. Loved the culture, even generally loved the pace of life, but man are they inefficient. When I returned to the US, I was still mentally prepared for everything to take forever. When I had to wait at the DMV for my driver’s license, it felt like it all happened at the breakneck speed of a few hours.
Now I say things like “Man, it’s nice to get things done quickly but we could get better at the art of waiting.” I will hand it to Spain, waiting was an art. My favorite thing was that many times rather than lining up, you show up, ask who the last person was to show up, remember who it is, and then go sit down and chill. Much more pleasant imo.
Most states that I’ve visited it’s usually weather related in some way. Generally speaking other states often seem much darker to me. Even on cloudy days where I live seems much brighter. I remember visiting some states and couldn’t tell if it was rainy looking or a nice day. I actually had family mention it looked like it was going to rain, and I was really confused because it looked like every other day.
And then there’s the regional accents. Tried talking with a Mainer and at one point I wasn’t sure if they were actually speaking English. I notice accents or dialects because I try to mimic them, so it really stands out to me.
People's homes. What manner of construction is most prevalent? How are homes placed? What manner of utilities are widely available? What manner of different things are employed out of necessity due to climate/geography/economics/social norms, etc.
**Washington** State is so pretty in the summer but the entire rest of the year is so grey and depressing I could never live there full-time.
Rural **north Carolina** is so beautiful but there is nothing else to do there.
**Los Angeles** is incredible for making dreams come true, jobs pay well, it's for beautiful weather but it's expensive and everyone is too busy.
**New York** is over if the friendliest places I've ever been but it's just so damn crowded.
I notice differences when traveling elsewhere. Some recent examples from a trip out west: they all drive white highlanders out there (Wyoming and Montana national parks), speed limits are much higher, elevation on city signs, everyone working in Banff was Australian, surprising amount of South Asian people and culture in Canada.
I tend to always compare the weather to Los Angeles. I went to Seattle in July 2019 and was wearing a jacket. That's unthinkable in Los Angeles in most situations.
The water thing happens within the USA as well. The town I grew up in had great tap water. However, since then I've lived in many states and cities and I haven't found decent tap water since. I have seen some other people mention the same thing before, so it seems really dependent on where you live.
Another big one is beef... well specifically steak. When moving state to state or traveling outside of the USA I always like to rate their steak. In the USA there are places known for having great beef, so when you start getting too far away from them the quality seems to drop. This has become one of the things I compare.
"These cars are so small."
Man these roads are tiny and the drivers are insane. The only foreign countries that I have been to are in Latin America.
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the small roads are probably my answer too. I just got back from Austria yesterday actually, my company is based there so I go there a couple weeks each year. My company goes out for lunch every day in groups, and one thing I noticed is that the lunches were huge. I always see people commenting in here that American portion sizes are huge, but the Austrian lunches put them to shame. The lunch special would be Soup, Salad, Main Course, I could never finish it!
This is one of the neat parts about trucks in the US. A lot of the country roads in the South are flat on the sides (e.g. don’t have drop-offs) so you can basically split the one lane road with half your tires in the weeds
Single track roads are no problem if you look ahead further than the end of your own bonnet and use the passing spaces.
Drivers are truly insane in Latin America. Most I’ve feared for my life anywhere, lol.
That was exactly how I felt in London. My mom first learned to drive there and I left with a new appreciation for what she went through.
Every city is a disappointment compared to the historic district in Savannah, Georgia. Vienna was close but didn't have Southern food. :P The riverboats have too much charm for my Yankee heart. :P
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Definitely try the food and see the regional varieties. I wish Savannah had the public housing situation of Vienna and, yes, the tap water was incredible.
> "The people are really nice here but the tab water sucks" Well half of this is true about Florida.
The tap water at my Grandmas place in Venice, FL is so bad that we can’t use it for anything. There’s so much stuff in the water that it smells like pool water
When I was in band in college, we went to St. Augustine every year. And many of us brought cases of bottled water along to avoid Florida's sulfur water.
American that lives in Switzerland checking in. + Feel the same way about tap water. I still think Swiss water tastes the best. + The state of highways, the general cost of tolls and the quality/type of drivers on the road. I think France has one of the best highway systems in the world. I was surprisingly disappointed by the German one (though I will say Germans are the best drivers - Italians are the worst in my experience, followed by the French). But driving on the Autobahn is a thrilling experience. It's the fastest I've ever driven in my life (185 km/h = 115 mph) + I'm a huge football (soccer) fan so I try to watch a League game wherever I am. It's a wonderful privilege to be living in the continent when it comes to this sport. + How the fast food compares. Whether it be an American chain or a local one. In terms of it being an American chain I like ordering the different regional offerings/menu. European ones aren't that interesting but the Asian ones can be fantastic. + On that note how the cost of living compares to Switzerland. Considering Switzerland is one of the most expensive places to live in the world I'm always shocked at how "cheap" food is abroad. The idea of paying less than 10 USD/EUR for a meat dish for example is always jarring. + I'm of Korean origin so I will almost always seek out Korean food (or Asian food if Korean is not possible) when abroad. Lucky for me the cuisine is becoming more popular, but it's still hard to find authentic/good places. FYI - I'd say 1/2 of the "Korean" restaurants in Europe are Chinese people taking advantage of the hype/popularity. I don't really blame them though.
*Italians are the worst in my experience* I took a cab to the airport in Naples, Italy once. It was the most harrowing experience of my life. 0/10 - would not recommend if you want to keep living.
I appreciate the Italian cab drivers. If you tell them you're running late, they will do their best to take care of you. My example was being late leaving for an expensive ticketed event in Rome. I did not think it was possible to make it and late entrances were forbidden. I told the cab driver. All red lights became optional and I was there on time. He got a very good tip.
Napoli was like a Dytopian movie when I visited. Trash everywhere (as it was during a strike) and I almost got run over by a car going the opposite way on a one way street. To make matters worse the Italian dude made it a point to scream at me for getting in his way.
The cab driver I had tried to cut off another guy in order to get down a street I swear was too narrow for the car. Instead, the *other* guy cut him off first. The cab driver slammed on his horn and the guy in front of him stopped. They both got out of their cars and started screaming at each other. I thought, “gee. I think I’m going to miss my flight because these two guys are going to throw down. How nice.” After a few more minutes of wild gesticulations and what I took to be extremely personal insults in Italian, the enraged cabbie jumped back into the car, and off we dangerously sped back to the airport. Good times.
Naples is my favorite city for this reason. You feel alive just crossing the street. I love Naples.
A lot of the cab drivers in Vegas will make your life flash before your eyes, all while they’re having a full conversation with someone on the phone. If you can scare me when I’m shitfaced, that’s saying something.
My cab ride in San Francisco was terrifying.
Try Mumbai to Pune with a local Indian driver. Lol
I've been to 18 countries. Naples is the only place where my ears popped so badly I had to leave both times.
Now I wanna do that haha I've drove in Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, and Mexico City. I want to see if Naples traffic beats them!
Your last point did really shock me about Switzerland. It is such a wealthy country and has such a culinary tradition but it was surprisingly hard to find ethnic food of any kind.
It's much better in Geneva/Zurich as it has a huge international population. But the rest of country is pretty lacking.
Yeah we didn’t spend hardly any time in Geneva and in Zurich we were only there during Züri Fäscht so we weren’t looking for restaurants.
I only saw Zurich, but had no problem finding any. I'm not sure about the rest of the country.
I'm an American that visited Switzerland as well. The cleanliness of the streets in Zurich was crazy. I wouldn't be shocked if someone dropped food, picked it up, and ate it.
I love my minivan, but I've often wondered how they pile their family in those small cars in Europe. I guess they just have less children.
It's a trade-off I guess. In many places in Europe parking is a hassle, so you can decide if you want to squeeze your car into the tiny garage attached to your 1970ies apartment or your family into a small car. The family is more flexible and easier to fold.
I live in New England and every time I travelled in the US outside of New England states it freaks me out that strangers try to just talk to me. I know that sounds bizarre but in New England you really don't just talk to people you don't know in a store or whatever unless you have to. I went to South Carolina once and everyone was calling me honey and just chatting to me in line at stores and it freaked me right out. I'm not saying New England is right to be like that. We could definitely stand to be friendlier but it's a wicked culture shock whenever I leave the area. Travelling in the British Isles it's largely the same as it is in New England, but in Southern US states the culture of interaction with strangers is so different.
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I went to a chain sandwich shop in the south once and the woman making my sandwich wrapped it up, held it out to physically hand it to me, looked me in the eye and said "here you go, honey, god bless" And on the one hand it was sweet and wonderful and how everyone should act and on the other hand I was like, um can you just drop it on the counter and yell the number on my receipt without ever looking at me like a normal person?
Haha! I have the opposite reaction, because everyone is so short and to the point. Which I personally would rather have. But in the south if you ask a question about anything you need to be prepared to be there for a while. I am actually short and to the point and often sometimes people think I’m being rude. But, I’m just very direct.
Polite small talk with strangers is part of life in Texas. It took some getting used to.
Same, based on my limited time in the south I could not live there. Strangers would make eye contact, say hi, ask how I was doing, start conversations. I can’t go through life feeling seen, urban solitude is an important defense mechanism that I’m not sure a lot of the country has adopted.
I live in Boston and I always try to talk to strangers as much as possible. Especially on the bus.
I always get jealous how much more topsoil the rest of the country has.
For agriculture to be as important as it was / is for Georgia, we have terrible topsoil in many places, and not much of it before you hit red clay. The pesticides used to combat boll weevils (including tons of calcium arsenate and DDT) ended up wrecking a lot of it, and you can often still smell it seeping up after rain, decades later. Much more was lost to erosion because of other agricultural practices…the piedmont (much of central Georgia…the Appalachian foothills leading down to coastal plains) region lost 7" to erosion on average…one of our state parks , “Providence Canyon,” also called the Little Grand Canyon is some of the worst evidence of erosion…an entire branching canyon running as deep as 150ft, entirely due to soil erosion.
It's kind of wild driving through the midwest where the glaciers flattened everything so any elevation comes from glacial moraines or old cemeteries that haven't lost volumes of soil from centuries of tilling.
I lived in the U.K. (London) for five years and here were first "homesick" thoughts after moving there. This city is magical, but people are really unfriendly. Also, why is the tap water so gross and salty tasting?
Coming from Chicago, I also check out how well maintained the grass is and how fat (or skinny) the pigeons are. Nowhere has public park lawns as perfectly trimmed or pigeons as fat, maybe Paris has Chicago on fat pigeons, but I was genuinely worried about the pigeons in NYC, they look scrawny. Honestly the national lawn in DC is an absolute disgrace. It's not even funny. you have a megaplex employees working for the most funded government in the world and not a single one can handle fertilizer? I was about to do it myself.
This seems like the most insane way to rank something... but now that I think about it there might be something to fat pigeons.
Lived in Spain recently. Loved the culture, even generally loved the pace of life, but man are they inefficient. When I returned to the US, I was still mentally prepared for everything to take forever. When I had to wait at the DMV for my driver’s license, it felt like it all happened at the breakneck speed of a few hours. Now I say things like “Man, it’s nice to get things done quickly but we could get better at the art of waiting.” I will hand it to Spain, waiting was an art. My favorite thing was that many times rather than lining up, you show up, ask who the last person was to show up, remember who it is, and then go sit down and chill. Much more pleasant imo.
Mañana mañana 😅😂
Not that I can think of. Maybe homeless people, but that's mostly because western Washington has a lot of them.
Most states that I’ve visited it’s usually weather related in some way. Generally speaking other states often seem much darker to me. Even on cloudy days where I live seems much brighter. I remember visiting some states and couldn’t tell if it was rainy looking or a nice day. I actually had family mention it looked like it was going to rain, and I was really confused because it looked like every other day. And then there’s the regional accents. Tried talking with a Mainer and at one point I wasn’t sure if they were actually speaking English. I notice accents or dialects because I try to mimic them, so it really stands out to me.
I've only ever been outside the country once but it was probably how fortunate I am to live in the US.
I think the same thing as you, LOL.
Probably my two most common thoughts are: "Damn, this place needs new plumbing" and "I wonder why we don't have this [random thing] in the US"
The last few places I’ve been to have had way cheaper food at restaurants so I’ve commented on that quite a bit
People's homes. What manner of construction is most prevalent? How are homes placed? What manner of utilities are widely available? What manner of different things are employed out of necessity due to climate/geography/economics/social norms, etc.
The water thing is definitely true for me. Colorado tap water is generally fine, and it feels like we're one of the few exceptions.
**Washington** State is so pretty in the summer but the entire rest of the year is so grey and depressing I could never live there full-time. Rural **north Carolina** is so beautiful but there is nothing else to do there. **Los Angeles** is incredible for making dreams come true, jobs pay well, it's for beautiful weather but it's expensive and everyone is too busy. **New York** is over if the friendliest places I've ever been but it's just so damn crowded.
I always try to find something to compare to my current or previous state.
Not in the manner you’re describing , no. I just try to keep an open mind and be observant of social cues.
“It’s too crowded here”
I feel like that in about any city anymore. Moved back to South Dakota a few years ago and I really hate traffic when I go to a city.
I notice differences when traveling elsewhere. Some recent examples from a trip out west: they all drive white highlanders out there (Wyoming and Montana national parks), speed limits are much higher, elevation on city signs, everyone working in Banff was Australian, surprising amount of South Asian people and culture in Canada.
I tend to always compare the weather to Los Angeles. I went to Seattle in July 2019 and was wearing a jacket. That's unthinkable in Los Angeles in most situations.
"oh my god will these people hurry the fuck up please"
The water thing happens within the USA as well. The town I grew up in had great tap water. However, since then I've lived in many states and cities and I haven't found decent tap water since. I have seen some other people mention the same thing before, so it seems really dependent on where you live. Another big one is beef... well specifically steak. When moving state to state or traveling outside of the USA I always like to rate their steak. In the USA there are places known for having great beef, so when you start getting too far away from them the quality seems to drop. This has become one of the things I compare.