We traveled a lot as children. I know we saw Germany but...not sure where. I remember Holland, that has/had a place called Maduradam I think and that was cool shit as a kid. We also saw more somber stuff. We also went specially to Wales and the Welsh were baffled at this decision. It was lovely.
this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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Sounds really nice, glad you got to see so many places. I wish to visit Wales as well someday.
When I went this last winter we hit up Sweden, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Estonia. Half the people we talked to when we got back didn't know what Latvia and Estonia were. Several people thought the Netherlands and Sweden share a border. Unrelated but the Hague during new years is possibly the wildest thing I've seen in my life
the Netherlands turns into a war zone during new years
You're not wrong I was playing dodge the mortar in the streets 😅 I want to go back again next new years but I'll be bringing a lot more ppe than just earplugs
Thats a really nice list of visited countries! Hope you enjoyed some Saku in estonia!
Missing in that picture is the single dot labeled "Amsterdam".
Amsterdam was boring, my favorite city in the Netherlands was Groningen.
Okay, Jan Maas.
I was excited when they revealed that he was from Groningen. My brother met his wife when he was studying in Germany, she’s Dutch and they got married in Groningen. Beautiful city. That and Ghent were my favorite places we visited on that trip.
I'm Canadian but I went to Europe twice and I must admit that I passed by Amsterdam, because my first trip was landing there and departing from there, but I only spent a few minutes visiting the city. My main goal was Germany. I spent a few days in Hamburg and Berlin.
The second trip was also in Germany, along the Rhine, and ended in Belgium. Wallonia has nice bike trails, and I must go back to visit more of the Eifel region.
Why am I "avoiding" France? Because I speak French natively, and never considered France exotic enough. I did go to Martinique and Guadeloupe though, it's closer than France, and much warmer. But I also met French people there and they suggested some places to visit in France. So now I'm planning a trip around the Bordeaux region.
However my mother thinks Europe is a country. She is always confused when I say I went to Europe and visited Germany and Belgium.
Sounds like you've had some nice trips!! I can also highly recommend Strasbourg if you visit France and go around alot - such a pretty town (a lot of those around and that's just my personal recommendation).
On the other hand, “going to more places” doesn’t exactly equal more enrichment and exposure. One might be better off spending more time in fewer places and having deeper experiences there.
Doing the UK, France and Italy in one vacation is already interesting to me
Yeah there’s no one right way to vacation - if someone just has a week or two or three and they want to hop around more power to them.
100% agree.
But seriously: I don't want to gatekeep anyone here either, just found this meme funny and related to cartographyanarchy community so wanted to crosspost. I know a lot of people say "ha you visited Paris? You've seen nothing", but travelling is a privilege and no one can take away your nice experiences.
Take this post as a joke, not a statement :)
But also, like you said: can't say you know a place and culture very well if you only visited a few cities and stayed a week on a continent.
If you go to more than one country there, it's traveling Europe. But why these countries specifically? Do Americans go to them way more than others?
They are romanticized and have lots of history for many Americans. The French helped us break away from Britain all those years ago and many of us never forgot that. They even gifted us the Statue of Liberty which has become a National Treasure many aspire to see that live here. Not to mention the Eiffel Tower which has been a strong symbol of romance here for a long time. Notre Dame as well is something that invokes images of something awe inspiring.
Britain meanwhile become close ally over WW2 and English speaking Americans are curious of life across the pond where people speak the same as we do but sound quite different. I think there’s a bit of fantasy at play with the mystique of Britain, but the welcoming and lively people living there add to the fun.
Italy is well known for its beauty and delicious food, as well as its Roman history and art. Given the American government is modeled on certain parts of the English and Roman model, I believe there is a sense of connection to these pillars that led to our own society. Not to mention many Italian Americans are some that hold on the most to their Italian heritage, it makes you a little curious to how nice Italy is. Many American tourists speak highly of visiting Italy, often more so than France or even Britain for some.
I think what we’re familiar with is often what we are interested in. If there’s not a compelling reason or story to bring me to some place it would likely take more to sway me to go to that place. I personally haven’t visited Britain, France, or Italy but they are higher on my travel list than many places.
That makes sense. My perspective is skewed as an American who lived in Germany for 10 years (and I was fortunate enough to visit these 3 countries among others as well). It's true that you don't hear many Americans mention, say, Germany as a place they want to visit as much as the places in the meme.
Kinda interestingly that would not have been true had WW2 and Hitler rising to power never happened. German was one of the more spoken second languages in America even. I believe it would have been equally as mentioned today had those things not happened. I feel Germany has steadily grown back over many decades to be an interesting place, but the main points of interest I feel comes from things like Oktoberfest, their engineering plants, and seeing the Autobahns over there. I’m personally clueless of a lot of the other cool things about Germany, I feel more mystique and cultural sites would pull someone like me to plan a trip out.
I lived there way back in the mid 80s to mid 90s, and even then WWII was 40-50 years in the past, ancient history. To me, at least. I'm thinking Neuschwanstein Castle might be the most recognizable German location to Americans, even if they don't know where it's actually located.
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I think it is ancient history at this point, but I don’t think the new face of Germany has really reached the ears of many Americans. Although the same can be said of many countries. The only tales I hear of Germany are of elections and Oktoberfest for the most part, even though I know there’s more out there that is interesting rather than just the annual seasonal festival. I’ve definitely seen photos of the Neuschwanstein Castle before, but I personally would not have recognized it as a German castle. It does look very beautiful there though.
All this to say, I think more countries should be putting their culture out there on display and show why they are worth checking out to a degree. A trip to Europe could be a one in a lifetime trip for many Americans for instance. You really have to have a fulfilling promise for people to take the risk of going to a certain country; making friends, unique sights, feeling welcome, and having food and beverages worth writing home about. Lots of little things have to come together to make it worth pursuing the adventure of the not-so-beaten path.
Side note: I recall seeing a video recently where someone sounded judgmental about Westerners not traveling to their country which has a unique history and culture and instead going so other more well known countries. The thing is though that those other countries have sold many Westerners on their culture through all the forms of media and art. Rather than being judgmental, I think their message would have gone farther showing me why I should invest myself in their culture and should want to be a part of it. I bring this up because I feel more countries could take on an active role in sharing their stories, music, and culture across more mediums and even new mediums.
Tourism in general from outside of Europe targets these countries the most I believe. Don't quote me on that one though, I don't have a source at hand.
Found it funny but to be fair same goes for many europeans who have been to North America. Probably max two states in US, rarely someone who has visited Canada, etc.
You could totally make an American version of that meme (I assume it would probably consist of California, Florida, and New York).
Maybe add Vegas. Not Nevada, just the one city.
Well I mean, Nevada is Vegas, Reno and nuclear test craters.
I used to live nearby, and I had to look up what's in Nevada besides Vegas and Reno. Is there something happening in... uh... Winnemucca that I never heard about?
Also, an American version of this meme would include DC.
I stayed in Elko Nevada for a while once. The transmission blew on my Lincoln while I was driving cross country. They didn't have someone who could rebuild it, so we had to wait for a new transmission to be shipped to the dealer. Iirc, its claim to fame is that it's the largest city in Nevada with a brothel. So, there's that...
Oh yeah... I had a friend who worked in Elko for a while... they only stayed a year. Didn't speak bad of it, but didn't have much to say about it either.
That about sums up my experience too.
We go to Florida only to see if the "Florida man" from the news is real.
Hope you bought insurance.
Pretty much!
Because you haven't seen the US until you visit Goshen Hole
I know, my friends won't stop taking about Corsica and Northern Ireland.
That is pretty funny, but I feel like most Americans can name more EU countries than that.
Because you haven't seen europe properly until you visit Glod.
For Brits it's just Kraków.