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To many of us spend all our time in the same world. Same 10 square mile circle of grocery store, employer, circle of friends and neighbors. We see America in our own little world. Most Americans according to surveys still live within a 100 miles of where they were born.
Have you relocated or taken a trip where you experienced a different America than what you are familiar with and seen the light that this is a quite diverse country economically, culturally and ethnically?
What new observations about America did you have after relocated to a completely new area or spending time traveling beyond the airports or interstate highways?
I moved from Nashville, TN to Los Angeles when I was in my early 30s. I had traveled a bit - spent 6 months in San Francisco, been to NYC a few times, done a cross-country whirlwind tour, so it wasn't like I'd never left TN. But the difference is huge - in more ways than one. The diversity bothered me at first, I'll admit. I had a real problem with people who couldn't read English. I remember being very upset when a Spanish speaking fellow who couldn't read the parking signs asked if it was okay to park on that street. Over time I got used to it. I do think people should learn English though, if for no other reason than it makes life easier. I'd hate to live somewhere and not know the language - it would drive me nuts.
Before moving I'd never worked with anyone who wasn't white (as I am) or black. Suddenly I was in a mini-UN of diversity - at work and with neighbors. But that was fine too - basically people are people. I've learned a lot from them and enjoy knowing them.
In the past few years I've heard a lot from people in Nashville about immigrants taking over - especially people from Latin America. One area of town in particular seemed to be "turning into Little Mexico" they said. All the signs were in Spanish, they said. Then I moved back and lived there for all of 2012 and lived very near this area. Yes, there are Mexican/Latin American immigrants. But 98% of the business signs are still in English. And the population is over 75% white. It made me realize that it's all relative. If that freaked them out, they'd die in LA. We have Chinatown with signs in Mandarin, Little Tokyo with sings in Japanese, Koreatown, Little Armenia, etc....(you get my point). It also made me appreciate the fact that I've had to opportunity to live in a diverse area.
I've been to almost every state in the nation and have lived in many over 100 miles places from where I grew up. Some of the places have changed my outlook about certain things. I think it's important to get a lot of perspectives in life.
Traveling internationally did it more for me though.
travel internationally mostly... outside of america got a better perspective of america. our culture and values are really subjective. what we value as success is really subjective, other countries have much different interpretations of what life is all about.
Have you relocated or taken a trip where you experienced a different America than what you are familiar with and seen the light that this is a quite diverse country economically, culturally and ethnically?
YES!...at different times in my life.
Chicago to Arkansas and back
This was a cultural shock to say the least. To Hot Springs via Springfield, Branson (in 1969..not todays Branson), Harrison, Jasper (overnight), Russelville, and Hot Springs.
Return via Little Rock and somehow back up to Chicago
...in a VW beetle with homemade luggage rack.
First true experience of THe SOuth...the heat...the humidity...the scent of honesuckle and the cicadias of summer...the dry counties...the accents....such a different world
Kenutcky to California by car.
Mid 1980s. Leaving the rustbelt of the golden West. Wow....the wide open spaces of the West! The drynesa and lack of trees. The Rockies, Wyoming...were the sun never seemed to set over the Red Desert...the Loooong twighlight and Looong views...wide wide open country. The endless mountain washboard of Nevada. Towns with their name laid out in rocks or something up on a foothill over looksing that town.
And California, with its dry climate, palms, eucalyptus and manzantia and cedars and pine and those shiny live oak tree leaves. And the dry golden grassy hills. Such a different place
Ohio to/from New England via PA and Upstate NY.
This was a shocker too. New England...all forest and mountain and city/town...so little farmland....seemed like all forest btw Providence and Hartford. That big 'Smokey Mountains" style ridge down the center of Connecticut almost into New Haven! Who Knew! Following the Mohawk Trail over the Berskshires to North Adams and Bennington Vt. So different. And Boston, And Maine. Maine being so backwoods. And Portland being so cool and bohemian.
And the trip to NYC as part of this, which is another story.
I could go on about Upstate NY(Albany/Troy, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo + the Southern Tier) and PA mountain cities I visited (Scranton, Bethlehem, Johnstown & Altoona) but this is enough.
I really began to appreciate the diversity of the US on these trips. Ive been to a number of other places, but these trips stick in my mind as truely revelatory, that took me out of my space/place into what seemed like "a different country".
We relocated from IN to NY in the 80's. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know anything about NY other than NYC. I was amazed at the mountains, the Hudson River and the natural beauty 50 miles north of the city and then the entire upstate area. In the Midwest I was used to seeing storms coming on the flat landscape, where as in NY a storm would pop up over the mountain in minutes. There is a difference in the light quality between a wide open area and mountains, one isn't better than the other, just different.
NY (downstate) is more diverse than IN and I felt like a Heinz 57 when asked about my family line. Many people in this area of NY are just one to a few generations away from the country they came from. I heard/hear many superlatives used in downstate NY: everything seems to be the best and the greatest, the city influence probably.
We are now six and sixers, traveling from NY to the Gulf side of FL for six months of the year. People here are more similar to people I knew in the Midwest, probably because a lot of them are from the Midwest on this side of the state from I75. They are more open, less guarded and friendlier as in IN. I knew FL was warm in the winter, but living in place where boots/coats/gloves/shovels aren't needed at all took some time to sink in. The stars are different and the crescent moon is a smile down here.
In FL and NY the divide between the rich and poor seems to be more obvious than in IN to me, with extremely rich areas right next to extremely poor ones.
A cross country trip by car on only two lane highways and lots of interaction with locals told me that the people in the dog eat dog Washington DC to Boston strip were far from the typical Americans. It is amazing at the number of smiles and chit chat I got from the nice folks in the South, Midwest and Rocky Mount States.
Traveling has broadened my view about a lot of places in the world that are nice to visit and perhaps consider for retirement. I've been to Florida, California, Canada, Puerto Rico, England, France, Italy, India and many other places.
At the same time, traveling has made me feel much better about my home in the region I've chosen to live - in the Washington, D.C. area and on the east coast generally. This is where the money and good economic opportunities are overall. Everything comes back to this region, eventually. It is home base and it's the most important thing for me and my family.
Other than making a lot of money and enjoying a high standard of living, why would I live in the U.S.? It is the reason I will stay here for the duration of my working life.
Make money. Will travel. :-)
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 03-01-2013 at 05:21 PM..
I am started traveling internationally at a young age. Traveling did two things for me. It taught me how to save my pennies and not blow my money on worthless designer stuff, whether it be coffee or a handbag. I worked for 2 years to save up for my first international trip. We did a two week, five country whirlwind, backing trip across Europe. Before we left for our trip I was 25 years old and ready to commit myself to a life of hard work. My dad for the lack of a better word is a "company man." His mental and physical well-being suffers so his company will thrive. I know I would be the exact same way if it were not for travel. I learned a life lived is not the same as living. I don't want to work my life away. I want to make money to live comfortably and TRAVEL.
Around 11 or 12 years ago, I had never been to the South -- I'd grown up in the New York area, went to college in Chicago, had been to South Florida many times but had never been to, you know, the South. I thought of it as banjo music and lemonade on the front porch and televangelists with big hair -- I knew it was a growing part of the country, I knew there were big cities, but I thought it was, for lack of a better phrase, behind the times. Then a friend of mine who had been commuting from Chicago to Nashville as a consultant every week accepted a full-time job there and offered to fly me out (using his many, many frequent-flyer miles) to help him look for an apartment.
The whole trip was eye opening, but there was one moment that was a game changer for me, and I still remember it even though it was more than a decade ago: We had just checked into the hotel and my friend suggested going across the street for dinner. We walked into this sophisticated-looking pan-Asian restaurant, lots of glass and dark paint, trance music playing, creative sushi menu, smartly dressed hipster types at the bar and sitting at the tables. And I was just floored: "Wait, this exists in Nashville?"
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