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Comment by joshmoz | Hacker News Reader

You guys (parent & parent) should realize you don't have nearly enough information to support your conclusions. You need to travel a lot more to generalize like that. You come off as jaded know-it-alls who think romantic viewpoints and optimism are for children and idiots.

I started un-jaded then I came to the same conclusion as you two. I kept going though and I'm changing my mind again - the world is not all the same, and there is plenty of opportunity for adventure. Maybe I'll change my mind again, I don't know everything either, but I hope I don't.

I don't know exactly what you guys did or didn't do, but my advice would be to adjust your strategy for where you spend time, and push yourself to pay closer attention. Maybe learn another language if you haven't already so you can really dive in.

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That comment probably came off much more negative than I intended it to, so I'll elaborate. I think the grass is basically the same shade of green everywhere, plus or minus some superficial pros and cons, and excepting a few places that really do have serious social and economic problems. I'm still mobile, and I love it, but I no longer believe that changing location will do anything more than provide 6 months or so of new and unusual experiences--which is a great thing, don't get me wrong! However, I think people tend to conflate the place with the experience of being on vacation there, which leaves you with a totally unrealistic impression of a location and its culture. Once you stick around long enough to get into a grind, you quickly realize that you can't escape the mundane. I think it's important to embrace that, enjoy your holidays, and don't spend your working days thinking that everything would be better if you could just get away. It's a recipe for permanent misery and leads to some seriously irrational decision making. I now believe that the best place in the world is wherever is most conducive to doing whatever it is you love doing without being a burden on someone else/society.

This is why I will not travel with friends who just want to party-vacation in whatever country they visit. Bars, clubs, and people are bars, clubs, and people no matter where you go. Not a world traveler by any means, but it didn't take me long to realize this.

What keeps it fresh is the unique aspects of the country/state... language, culture/history, sightseeing, etc. I spent time in Japan recently and was far more influenced by experiencing the rural way of life than Tokyo. I like to take the best parts of a country and integrate those habits/attitudes into my own life.

Traveling around also makes you realize how (generally) blessed we are in the US, at least compared to all the complaining people do.

"Wherever you go, there you are."

I thought this nothing more than a trite saying, for the longest time. But over time I've come to realize how universal and potently applicable this maxim really is.

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