I love to travel and I’ve been very fortunate to visit many countries outside the US. I just spent 3 weeks in Iceland.

I think it’s a shame that more people don’t have the interest or means to travel outside the country more frequently because I think it provides a lot of perspective about the reality of other countries and America vs the image that America portrays of itself and other countries.

I've visited Switzerland and was very impressed by their infrastructure, not just their public transit but what they built way up in the mountains. Lots of little things like dams, waterwheels, gondolas, little railways to small towns. Amazing stuff you'd never see in the United States

I've been to Korea multiple times and every time I come back I dislike the US a bit more. From what I could see, the quality of everything, from food products to infrastructure to safety to interpersonal interactions with strangers, was better in Korea. Oh did I mention healthcare, dental, and vision? I don't have insurance there but all are super affordable and very fast.

The US is inferior in nearly every way and I don't understand why Americans are okay with that. Even our food is largely bad for consumption, like what the hell is wrong with us?

Yeah, I’ve traveled to Europe and loved every second of it. I would say the most dangerous place I have been to was within two hours of the Ukraine border. It only felt dangerous at the time because this was right when the war started and I wasn’t sure how it was going to unfold. I made a plan to bug out quickly if I had to. The biggest problem in parts of Europe is trying not to get scammed as a tourist and there are a lot of tourists scams. It never felt unsafe to walk around at night or anything like that. 10/10 experience and would recommend.

Several times. I've been to Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Egypt once. It's easy to travel in Europe if you live there.

If you don't know less than 50% of Americans have a passport. The ones who don't, I really see the limitation in their thinking.

why do you think it's a thinking problem? applying for a passport costs money. travelling to another country costs even more money. not everyone has had access to the same opportunities.

anyways. i haven't gotten to travel out of the US, but it certainly ain't because i wouldn't like to. it just isn't financially feasible for a lot of people here.

@lunatique@lemmy.ml

While I agree with most of what you said, the stories about Arab countries have some truth to them. I guess those who say that those placrs are safe for women come from an upper-middle class background who go there as professionals or tourists. But for women who come from poorer countries and go to work there as maids, they know the risks of being abused or killed.

I do wholeheartedly agree that more Americans should explore the world (or their own states) to expose themselves to different perspectives and norms.

https://www.deccanherald.com/world/why-maids-keep-dying-in-saudi-arabia-4-3450497

https://apnews.com/article/kuwait-city-manila-business-crime-0729fbac5fd4ab0169cc7d018b46317d

American here, currently sitting in the AFT cafeteria of a Norwegian cruise ship just off the coast of France. Saved for years to go on this once in a lifetime cruise.

I grew up on the edge of poor. Had basics and never went hungry, but our summer vacations were camping because it was cheap. Never went to Disneyland until I was in the Army and could afford it myself.

While I agree that going abroad is definitely eye opening, even traveling to other states increases your open-mindedness. I joined the Army and was stationed in Alabama, Georgia, Alaska and Washington. Going back home and reuniting with friends who never left the state or even left the general area was kind of shocking. Never being exposed to an even slightly different environment really showed in their attitude.

While I was in the Army, I was sent to Missouri and a couple of other states I can't remember right now for a month or so for training or field problems, and short trips show how even though I was still in the same country, there were definitely societal, geographical and political differences in each place.

Expanding that to traveling other countries was also eye opening. The Army sent me to Thailand for a month. My current job sent me to Australia and S. Korea and a couple of other states for 2-3 weeks at a time. I liked hitting the tourist spots, but I really enjoyed just watching people wherever I am. Once you see that (for the most part) people are people, you start to get that just because someone's idea is different than yours, doesn't mean it's wrong, it's just different.

No, sadly.

I used to have an online friend from the US and after some time, we both liked each other and he told me that he wanted me to move to his place (I live in SEA). After a few months of chatting, I noticed something weird about him. I don't really like to talk about politics but he keep praising Trump and Maga and saying he hate how people misunderstand and insults the president.

He also said that he "feels sorry for me and can't imagine how it's like for a gay and femboy living in a country other than the US and Europe. Even in the US, people view twinks and femboys as a joke and they often made fun of so it must be a lot worse in your country". I then told him that as a twink and femboy, I don't feel like that all. All of my IRL straight friends respect me and never made fun of me. He then said my friends were just being polite to me ..

He also insulted my culture and my country. I apologized and asked him to be more considerate and polite because I feel offended and then he told me that facts does not care about your feelings and he's an American so its his culture to be more upfront and not being fake like asians.

I was so confused what is going on and felt like it was my fault and consulted my friends. They told me to ghosted him and I did.

I used to work in the hospitality industry and the Americans I met were so polite and super friendly. I'd say American tourists are the most friendliest compared to Europeans and other Asian tourists. That's why I'm confused why my online "friend" behave like that. I can't help but wondering if this a normal behaviour in the US? Were the thing he said about American cultures true?

I have several times.

I have been to Britain three times.

I was stationed in Europe for three years when I was in the Army. While there I traveled to many cities in Germany and took a trip to Paris.

I don't have much to say about geopolitics off the top of my head, but I used to scoff at pedestrian-friendly designs and subscribe to the idea that car ownership is freedom and roads are for cars only. Living in Germany for a few months and enjoying public transit made me perish those old thoughts.

Among developed nations, the US should not get any awards for safety, but I would argue that there's certainly worse out there without venturing into warzones.

Is it okay for non-Americans to answer this?

American centrism aah post

What does seem to be a point of agreement for Europeans that live in the States for years is that the US is so huge that for most people, there's no reason to leave. Whatever landscape you want can be had, from the tropics to the Arctic Circle. Geography makes it easy to never have a passport and experience 20 lifetimes of places. It actually is an amazing and diverse place.

That being said, getting an outside perspective of the world is an entirely different thing. Until an American gets their exceptionalism challenged by someone, it's an internal emotional paper tiger. It typically benefits Americans to leave the country.

I won't touch your point about most dangerous. I don't agree, but won't engage because I don't want to end up in a Palintir database. Delete this post unless you want CBP searching your phone next time you re-enter the country.

Who is going to pay for such a luxury? Im not even sure if i would go if given money. Id probably just pay for a better car.

What's the point in going somewhere else? Its just desperate working class people scrounging what they can to pay for living expenses in a different location.

Traveling is depressing as fuck.

Not American, so main question doesn't apply. Have been to a couple other countries, have family in a lot more.

I’m currently in a country where over 90% of items are made in that country.

China? It's got to be China, everywhere else has to import something other than raw resources. Hmm, maybe Cuba's another candidate, I guess.

I travel and I’ll tell you America is the MOST dangerous country outside of warzones

That's just straight up not true. The US is worst in class for the first world, but even parts of Mexico have a pretty high rate of violence.

Yes, quite a lot. I've never actually been to America though.

nope. im not part of that economic class.

This post is a bit American-centric.

A better wording would've been, "Have you ever travelled outside your own country?"

Or, one could say, outside of a 1,000 km radius to an area with a different culture and language.

No. I grew up poor. I was a poor young adult. Now I'm okay, but now I'm concerned with possibly ending up poor again. It's like a stone around my neck.

Got a passport though. I'd love to be able to just move to another country (I swear I will learn whatever language I gotta, do my best to integrate, and not be too "outspoken American" if that is heavily frowned upon).

37 countries 42 states Bachelors degree in international relations and international political economy

Every place is normal. People live there. Every place has dangers 🤷🏻‍♀️