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This is not only about how many hours you sit on a plane because for example
when you fly from New York to Stockholm/Frankfurt (8 hours) you will feel less foreign than when you fly to Port-au-Prince/Kingston (3 hours).
For me it did have something to do with travel time, especially when I traveled to Northern Thailand/Myanmar. I was living in Kansas when I left. So it was a flight down to Texas, then 13 hours over to Tokyo, down to Bangkok and then a 13 hour train ride into the north. I've never felt so far from home physically and culturally. I was literally on the opposite side of the world. If it was 8 in the morning in Thailand, it was 8 at night for my family back home.
I think the time difference is what makes me feel the distance. Because right now I live in Illinois, but I'm still in the same time zone as my family which makes me feel like I'm in their general area. I like that. Helps me feel closer to home.
Out of the countries I've been to, definitely China. Totally different.
Yes, I should have put China on my list, I was there in 1996 when it was still the old China, with my buses going over a lot of unpaved roads, and almost no private cars anywhere. In three weeks, I did not see a single "white" traveler, and the only "tourist" I encountered was from Japan. (Except for my "orientation day" in Yangshuo, which was already a backpacker hangout with banana pancakes served across the street from the hostel with "Hey Jude" on the boombox.)
Yes, I should have put China on my list, I was there in 1996 when it was still the old China, with my buses going over a lot of unpaved roads, and almost no private cars anywhere. In three weeks, I did not see a single "white" traveler, and the only "tourist" I encountered was from Japan. (Except for my "orientation day" in Yangshuo, which was already a backpacker hangout with banana pancakes served across the street from the hostel with "Hey Jude" on the boombox.)
That sounds awesome! I wish I could have visited China back in the 90s. It would have been a much better and more authentic experience I think.
Definitely Iraq, Saudi, Thailand, China all felt very different from the USA.
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