Do you know your own country?
Aug 25th, 2004, 08:21 AM
#21
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Pnestor Probably not as it's a completely different area from where I live now and densely populated...also I have not lived there for 9 years.
I grew up in a Suburb of NYC but my knowledge of NYC is limited to areas I worked in (Near the WTC) and many do not exist anymore or have moved on.
I still have 1-2 places that never change like Mamoouns Falefels in the village or Century 21 for shopping but they are few and far between. There is just too much going on to keep up!
I am always on the lookout for restaurants in Dublin and share most but keep 1-2 to myself
. Ever notice though on a weekend night is the high season you never bump into a tourist in a pub? They would not be interested in going to Ron Blacks or a cafe bar, they want the old style pubs while the younger generation are going to the newer places.
I grew up in a Suburb of NYC but my knowledge of NYC is limited to areas I worked in (Near the WTC) and many do not exist anymore or have moved on.
I still have 1-2 places that never change like Mamoouns Falefels in the village or Century 21 for shopping but they are few and far between. There is just too much going on to keep up!
I am always on the lookout for restaurants in Dublin and share most but keep 1-2 to myself
. Ever notice though on a weekend night is the high season you never bump into a tourist in a pub? They would not be interested in going to Ron Blacks or a cafe bar, they want the old style pubs while the younger generation are going to the newer places.
Aug 25th, 2004, 08:22 AM
#22
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So true!
Before I left Ireland, I had hardly set foot outside of Dublin, always preferring to holiday in Europe, North America or the Caribbean. I only started to explore Ireland after I left and have spent a couple of weeks each year in the West (Kerry and Connemara).
I am now living in Canada and have never taken a vacation here, but have traveled all over Europe.
regards Ger
Before I left Ireland, I had hardly set foot outside of Dublin, always preferring to holiday in Europe, North America or the Caribbean. I only started to explore Ireland after I left and have spent a couple of weeks each year in the West (Kerry and Connemara).
I am now living in Canada and have never taken a vacation here, but have traveled all over Europe.
regards Ger
Aug 25th, 2004, 08:38 AM
#23
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Ger/Pnestor you probably have heard of this but I still am amazed to have heard of an elderly person who has never been to Dublin in the countryside. Usually they are from a rurual area in the west. It's really strange. Also few people I know have been up North that live in the South unless they have relations. Belfast is a quick train ride but no one I ask to come with me other than my German friend has the slightest interest. I find it very bizzarre. Old habits and feelings die hard I guess.
Aug 25th, 2004, 08:49 AM
#24
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I am in awe of the knowledge that some posters here have about my own country (UK) - Janis, you should have been my geography teacher at school!
I can easily give detailed information on restaurants, bars, what people where etc. But ask me where's the best place for tea or which London Walk is the best and I wouldn't have a clue. And as for how I'd get from Evesham to Preston (see recent post) - well, I think I'd be tempted to post here!
I haven't been to Madam Tussaud's since I was twelve, I take virtually all my trips overseas - after all, it's as quick to go to Paris as it is Manchester, so wouldn't you?
But I am forced to do touristy things when friends visit, so after about 8 visits I can now describe every detail of the London skyline as seen from the London Eye, and can tell anyone who wants to know just how many minutes you'll have to queue to get on it at any specific time of day.
I can easily give detailed information on restaurants, bars, what people where etc. But ask me where's the best place for tea or which London Walk is the best and I wouldn't have a clue. And as for how I'd get from Evesham to Preston (see recent post) - well, I think I'd be tempted to post here!
I haven't been to Madam Tussaud's since I was twelve, I take virtually all my trips overseas - after all, it's as quick to go to Paris as it is Manchester, so wouldn't you?
But I am forced to do touristy things when friends visit, so after about 8 visits I can now describe every detail of the London skyline as seen from the London Eye, and can tell anyone who wants to know just how many minutes you'll have to queue to get on it at any specific time of day.
Aug 25th, 2004, 08:57 AM
#25
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This is an important question that I think comes down to that it is human nature to take for granted what is familiar. My French great-grandfather immigrated to the USA and married my first generation Irish-American great-grandmother. She asked him to show her Paris. But, he insisted that they first travel extensively through the USA. He felt it was important to understand your own country first (and they did see Paris too!) That lesson has stayed with me.
Yes, the USA is incredibly huge and diverse, so it would be near impossible to get to know it all intimately. But, as I've traveled to other much smaller countries, I've found that even they have significant differences in their distinct regions regarding cultural habits, natural landscapes, food, architecture, etc. I think it's important to try to at least get a taste of these differences in your own country.
My husband and I deal with the pull of seeing our country versus others by alternating. We take as many trips as we can within the states over the course of a year - anywhere from quickie weekend road trips to 1-2 weeks in a new area. Then, once a year we'll take a trip to another country.
Yes, the USA is incredibly huge and diverse, so it would be near impossible to get to know it all intimately. But, as I've traveled to other much smaller countries, I've found that even they have significant differences in their distinct regions regarding cultural habits, natural landscapes, food, architecture, etc. I think it's important to try to at least get a taste of these differences in your own country.
My husband and I deal with the pull of seeing our country versus others by alternating. We take as many trips as we can within the states over the course of a year - anywhere from quickie weekend road trips to 1-2 weeks in a new area. Then, once a year we'll take a trip to another country.
Aug 25th, 2004, 09:38 AM
#26
I can certainly answer questions about my own area and those where I travel frequently, but as many have pointed out, the US is a very big country.
I tend to travel in the US for visits and specific events, rather than purely for tourism. I have been to many parts of the US in this fashion that I would not have sought out for vacations without the impetus of a reunion or a wedding or a friend to visit. These have frequently been great trips, but they are different from the kind of trips most people are planning on this message board.
The places in this country about which I can give the best advice are those to which I have traveled as a tourist, those in which I have vacationed myself. Few of us have detailed knowledge about hotels in our own area, for instance, since we don't use them.
I tend to travel in the US for visits and specific events, rather than purely for tourism. I have been to many parts of the US in this fashion that I would not have sought out for vacations without the impetus of a reunion or a wedding or a friend to visit. These have frequently been great trips, but they are different from the kind of trips most people are planning on this message board.
The places in this country about which I can give the best advice are those to which I have traveled as a tourist, those in which I have vacationed myself. Few of us have detailed knowledge about hotels in our own area, for instance, since we don't use them.
Aug 25th, 2004, 10:08 AM
#28
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<i>So question, do you really know your own country?? Do those that spend two weeks there a year know it better then those that live there 12 months of the year?</i>
Well, unless your country is very small, like Malta or Andorra, it's difficult to know every place in it. Having been there five times, I'm sure I know Nice far better than a person from Normandy who's never been there. I've yet to visit Charleston or Savannah in the U.S. so any European who has been to one of those cities undoubtedly knows them better than I do.
Well, unless your country is very small, like Malta or Andorra, it's difficult to know every place in it. Having been there five times, I'm sure I know Nice far better than a person from Normandy who's never been there. I've yet to visit Charleston or Savannah in the U.S. so any European who has been to one of those cities undoubtedly knows them better than I do.
Aug 25th, 2004, 10:26 AM
#29
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This is so incredible. I have been debating posting a similar question on the US board. I am planning a trip to New Orleans. My close friend who I'll be visiting (and is a life long resident there) suggested a hotel that gets awful reviews on tripadvisor. What to do? Go with tripadvisor IMO. A native usually doesn't stay in hotels. As for sightseeing, unless you're showing visitors around, it's possible not to know the best sights. For dining, it depends on how often you yourself go out. Same with shopping.
There was a thread a while back on the US board asking what this message board has taught you about your own city. Plenty of reposnses.
There was a thread a while back on the US board asking what this message board has taught you about your own city. Plenty of reposnses.
Aug 25th, 2004, 12:51 PM
#31
I think we need to remember that message boards like this one are always cases of preaching to the choir. If you weren't interested in places other than your own, you wouldn't come to Fodors. If you didn't know something about your own turf, you wouldn't be able to make the comparisons that are at the heart of heads-up travel. Bear in mind, though, that the world of travel and tourism is enormous, and the huge majority of travelers and tourists never bother to record their thoughts on the public record.
A couple of years ago, our late friend Wes Fowler raised a provocative question on the board. Are we tourists, travelers, or strangers in strange lands? (Here's the reference: http://fodors.com/forums/pgMessages....p;tid=34376164 )
It strikes me that a level of knowledge about one's own surroundings, combined with abiding curiosity and the willingness to share both knowledge and ignorance, is the key to being a traveler instead of a tourist. Don't most of us go to a new place and mentally ask ourselves, "How would I like living here?" Automatically you are drawing upon your data base of your own circumstances, or those familiar to you. Over time, this data base becomes enormous, and you find yourself "seeing" home or other familiar places with the same eyes, trained in perception of differences, that you use to navigate in unfamiliar settings. Sharing both the familiar and the new is a means of organizing your comparisons, of compiling the data base, as it were.
In my opinion that's why it's so important to post about what you know, enquire about what you don't know, and, most importantly, record what you've learned. In the ranking of things, I place trip reports at the top of the pile for this reason.
A couple of years ago, our late friend Wes Fowler raised a provocative question on the board. Are we tourists, travelers, or strangers in strange lands? (Here's the reference: http://fodors.com/forums/pgMessages....p;tid=34376164 )
It strikes me that a level of knowledge about one's own surroundings, combined with abiding curiosity and the willingness to share both knowledge and ignorance, is the key to being a traveler instead of a tourist. Don't most of us go to a new place and mentally ask ourselves, "How would I like living here?" Automatically you are drawing upon your data base of your own circumstances, or those familiar to you. Over time, this data base becomes enormous, and you find yourself "seeing" home or other familiar places with the same eyes, trained in perception of differences, that you use to navigate in unfamiliar settings. Sharing both the familiar and the new is a means of organizing your comparisons, of compiling the data base, as it were.
In my opinion that's why it's so important to post about what you know, enquire about what you don't know, and, most importantly, record what you've learned. In the ranking of things, I place trip reports at the top of the pile for this reason.
Aug 25th, 2004, 01:04 PM
#32
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I have visited all but 4 states (Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota and Montana) but certainly do not know many parts of the US as well as I would like. On the other hand, most years we spend more time traveling to spots in the US than we do traveling to Europe. It is just that there is so much more to see and do in this country than in all of Western Europe. That said, I think I would be more at home providing travel advice on Italy or France than I would on Florida or Texas. But as for my own "territory" - I can easily give travel advice on Washington, DC and the mid-Adlantic and New England states. So, yes, I know my own country but not as well as I should!
Aug 25th, 2004, 01:59 PM
#33
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We spent 10 years traveling the US every summer, four or five weeks at a time. Our youngest was two when we started and we took our last family trip when our oldest was seventeen. We did something of a vacation nature in each State and managed to see some of all 50 States. Our girls are now World travelers on their own, although we still do the occaisional family trip out of the US.
When it comes to "knowing" this vast Country, I can comment on those locations I visited in each State and offer pretty detailed information on California, my home State. Because we have visited Oregon and Washington so frequently, I can probably do a pretty creditable job offering information about those two States. Beyond that, I would be no match for the expertise of someone, for instance, that spent a solid two weeks in, e.g., Maryland.
The natural wonders of the US can compare very favorably with the best that can be seen any where in the World.
When it comes to "knowing" this vast Country, I can comment on those locations I visited in each State and offer pretty detailed information on California, my home State. Because we have visited Oregon and Washington so frequently, I can probably do a pretty creditable job offering information about those two States. Beyond that, I would be no match for the expertise of someone, for instance, that spent a solid two weeks in, e.g., Maryland.
The natural wonders of the US can compare very favorably with the best that can be seen any where in the World.
Aug 25th, 2004, 02:36 PM
#34
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Wonderful question! On the one hand, I've been fortunate to have lived in 5 disparate parts of the US (WI/IL/IA; CO; FL; NY; CA) and have traveled across most (but by no means not all) of the country. But on the other hand, as others have said, this is one BIG mother country. I could point visitors to specific places in many states across the country...but that would only be the tip of the iceberg. I'm constantly amazed at the new things I see/experience every time I go somewhere. There are still a bunch of things I haven't seen here in Calif., and I've been here 35 years.
Aug 25th, 2004, 02:59 PM
#35
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Interesting question..and the answer is: Not Too Well..
Although,that in these past years, I try to visit new places and cities..and what an exilarating experience is to discover the beauty that my country has to offer..
The reason is, that I left Italy when I was 20 and followed my American Husband around the world..He was in the AF..
Since that time, we never had the fortune to live in Europe, we were stationed in the Pacific and Asian countries.
But now I am making up for all that lost time..last year I discovered the marvel and beauty of Cinque Terre and next June is going to be the Gorgeous Amalfi Coast.
I know Rome pretty well because is my city.
BTW, I am still married .....
Although,that in these past years, I try to visit new places and cities..and what an exilarating experience is to discover the beauty that my country has to offer..
The reason is, that I left Italy when I was 20 and followed my American Husband around the world..He was in the AF..
Since that time, we never had the fortune to live in Europe, we were stationed in the Pacific and Asian countries.
But now I am making up for all that lost time..last year I discovered the marvel and beauty of Cinque Terre and next June is going to be the Gorgeous Amalfi Coast.
I know Rome pretty well because is my city.
BTW, I am still married .....
Aug 25th, 2004, 03:56 PM
#36
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When I was a kid, we used to go off on these road trips that covered a lot of ground and there were a lot of them. I've been to every state but Hawaii and Alaska. Returned again over the years to many places on business and as an evening tourist. But there's no way I know "a lot" about the US. I feel I know my own home state, Missouri, pretty well but that's not an area anyone considers a tourist destination. Still, if someone wants to know, I can try to tell them about the beauty of the Ozarks and about the historic sites of Mark Twain, Jesse James, Lewis and Clark, the Pony Express and the Civil War.
It's funny though - foriegn travel has a hold on me now. And my wife hasn't even seen these places since she's moved to the US. Strange too how you ask about this as relates to this forum. We've focused on just a few places (like Ireland and Australia). But I've been finding myself not replying to as many threads on those topics lately as I've seen more and more locals replying, as I've just thought of a local as best able to supply a more definitive answer.
Aug 25th, 2004, 04:59 PM
#37
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It's a good question, but it depends what you mean by "know".
Fodors is full of trip reports by visitors who've seen parts of my country I've never been to and may never get to. But whether a 3-week spin past the obvious tourist attractions will teach you much about the people and country that surrounds them is questionable.
In my experience the most knowledge a short time in a foreign country can give you is a chance to dispose of some of the stereotypes you've accumulated over the years and see aspects of life there - some pleasant, some not - that so far you've appreciated only in an academic way.
If you're ignorant but moderately smart you'll come back knowing a little more, if you're ignorant and dumb you'll come back in pretty much the same condition.
The thread that Gardyloo mentioned started out in a promising way but soon shrunk to the usual defensive attempts to separate "travellers" from "tourists", ignoring the fact that the "grand tour" undertaken by moneyed English tourists in past centuries was conceived as an educational exercise (when time could be spared from the local wine and healthy peasant girls, that is).
Fodors is full of trip reports by visitors who've seen parts of my country I've never been to and may never get to. But whether a 3-week spin past the obvious tourist attractions will teach you much about the people and country that surrounds them is questionable.
In my experience the most knowledge a short time in a foreign country can give you is a chance to dispose of some of the stereotypes you've accumulated over the years and see aspects of life there - some pleasant, some not - that so far you've appreciated only in an academic way.
If you're ignorant but moderately smart you'll come back knowing a little more, if you're ignorant and dumb you'll come back in pretty much the same condition.
The thread that Gardyloo mentioned started out in a promising way but soon shrunk to the usual defensive attempts to separate "travellers" from "tourists", ignoring the fact that the "grand tour" undertaken by moneyed English tourists in past centuries was conceived as an educational exercise (when time could be spared from the local wine and healthy peasant girls, that is).
Aug 25th, 2004, 09:09 PM
#38
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Consider, too, how the American primary and secondary schools prepare their students for life as adults. Now 77, I amazed how the study of geography has been pushed aside to make room for things that never were concerns when I was in school. Recently, I read a sad but true phrase: War is God's way of teaching Americans geography. Rather a crude and brutal truth, but a truth nevertheless.
I live in the American Southwest. We get a lot of wintertime visitors, especially from the East Coast and from Europe. Without fail, the Germans, the Dutch, and the British know more about our area's history, geology, natural wonders than do the Americans. Part of this, of course, is that for the Europeans this may be a rare visit for which they have had months to prepare. But I nevertheless come away with the impression that study of America has been neglected by...the Americans and our failing schools system. I think it's rather sad, but I have no suggestions for remedial action. We are too tied to the cult of celebrity worship (just look at the press, TV, and other media) to invest in our own enlightenment of what lies close at hand. Acres of diamonds lie at our feet -- but we are too lazy to pick them up.
I live in the American Southwest. We get a lot of wintertime visitors, especially from the East Coast and from Europe. Without fail, the Germans, the Dutch, and the British know more about our area's history, geology, natural wonders than do the Americans. Part of this, of course, is that for the Europeans this may be a rare visit for which they have had months to prepare. But I nevertheless come away with the impression that study of America has been neglected by...the Americans and our failing schools system. I think it's rather sad, but I have no suggestions for remedial action. We are too tied to the cult of celebrity worship (just look at the press, TV, and other media) to invest in our own enlightenment of what lies close at hand. Acres of diamonds lie at our feet -- but we are too lazy to pick them up.
Aug 26th, 2004, 02:37 AM
#39
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Some interesting questions and answers here. Yes, I know my own country (NZ) because it's small, and because I got the travel bug long before I could ever afford to go abroad for holidays. (Who am I kidding? I still can't afford it, but I go anyway - the "bug" is too strong!)
I also know my present country of residence (Australia) pretty well because, although huge, the travel bug did it for me again! I guess that's the secret - growing up in NZ we were subjected to what seems in retrospect like a decade of TV advertising for the local economy that urged us to "See your own country first." I guess it stuck, which just goes to show how effective government propaganda can be!
adopted But what I couldn't tell you about my own country
I also know my present country of residence (Australia) pretty well because, although huge, the travel bug did it for me again! I guess that's the secret - growing up in NZ we were subjected to what seems in retrospect like a decade of TV advertising for the local economy that urged us to "See your own country first." I guess it stuck, which just goes to show how effective government propaganda can be!
adopted But what I couldn't tell you about my own country
Aug 26th, 2004, 05:21 AM
#40
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What wonderful responses! I, too, frequent the travel forum and offer advice on European countries I have visited.
I can help out on the US board with New England, New York, and most of the mid-Atlantic (including my current residence of Washington, DC), except for the hotel part.
But I agree with Patrick and elina - I have not seen enough of the US. Whenever I am thinking about a "big" trip, my mind first goes to Europe, although lately I have been thinking more and more about South America.
I do feel the need to see more of my own country, so I have been working on that. Spurred on by a work conference and a racquetball tournament, I will be, for the first time, visiting San Francisco and Arizona (Grand Canyon, Sedona, Phoenix, Tempe) this fall. I also went to Colorado last fall.
Karen
I can help out on the US board with New England, New York, and most of the mid-Atlantic (including my current residence of Washington, DC), except for the hotel part.
But I agree with Patrick and elina - I have not seen enough of the US. Whenever I am thinking about a "big" trip, my mind first goes to Europe, although lately I have been thinking more and more about South America.
I do feel the need to see more of my own country, so I have been working on that. Spurred on by a work conference and a racquetball tournament, I will be, for the first time, visiting San Francisco and Arizona (Grand Canyon, Sedona, Phoenix, Tempe) this fall. I also went to Colorado last fall.
Karen
