After my recent trip abroad, I’ve been carrying around a persistent feeling. Our world in 2025 feels smaller and more connected than ever, much easier to navigate, a place where cultures mix freely and borders seem less rigid. This blending offers exciting chances for greater understanding —and it also brings moments that can be uncomfortable or challenging.
How often do US citizens hear the label “Ugly Americans”? Our culture can sometimes clash with others, whether it’s our insistence on comforts like air conditioning and ice cubes, our assertiveness, or simply our limited foreign language skills. When we travel, we carry all of this with us, whether we like it or not.
And how do we feel when we’re abroad, suddenly the “other”? Less cultured. Less worldly. Less savvy. Maybe these feelings are just shadows cast by our own insecurities. And even if they’re real, well—what’s the harm, as long as we’re not hurting anyone? Still, I wish I could have shrugged it off that easily.
Walking through the streets of Paris, interacting with servers, museum staff, and transit workers, I couldn’t help sensing an invisible weight of judgment. I strive to be pleasant, informed, and low-maintenance—yet there, I felt anything but.
Flipping the script, how do we treat travelers visiting the U.S. who don’t speak English fluently? Honestly, I’m not sure I always meet my own hopes and expectations for patience and kindness.
What I do know is this: I’ll carry with me a sharper awareness of how it feels to be a stranger in a strange land. And when paths cross with foreign visitors here at home, I’ll remember that feeling—and try to be a little more understanding. To me, that’s a win.
