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Bagram valley especially, is shockingly beautiful when it snows in the Hindu Kush. In the early spring, you get sunshine and lush greens against snowy peaks. In the south, the mud flooding is so strong in the winter, you can ride it like an amusement park, and it all turns into this deep silt moon dust in the summer. Khandahar had a septic pit that the base ended up expanding all around, and there’s a very slight drift in one direction that goes down one road. In August, you can smell it a little bit everywhere, but if you turn a corner onto that road, it will immediately knock you back. Sorry; unrelated, but funny.

After having traveled to the Middle East and Pakistan, I’d consider living in some of those places. I haven’t made it to Afghanistan yet. The people are super friendly. Pakistan’s hospitality culture is an order of magnitude more than anything I’ve experienced in the USA. I would probably want an air conditioner though!

People rarely like or dislike a place for its nature, buildings, food, etc. That's all BS we tell ourselves. People connect with people. I can see how a military base is conducive to forming the kinds of personal bonds that are so rare in today's developed nations.