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7 Conversations That Changed How I See America From People Who’ve Never Been There
What locals abroad told me about the US, from guns and healthcare to why Americans smile so much
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The Outside-In Wake-Up Call
“America is like the moon,” a Romanian cab driver once told me. “Beautiful from far away, but I wouldn’t want to live there.”
I laughed.
Then I realized he wasn’t kidding.
After over 25 years of traveling, living and working outside the US.
In places like Ukraine, Georgia, France, Albania, and a handful of countries where the wine is cheap and the opinions are even cheaper, I’ve heard a lot about “America”.
Most of it from people who’ve never been there.
These weren’t embassy expats or internet influencers on TikTok.
These were market stall vendors in Bulgaria, bartenders in Spain and bakers in France.
Ordinary people with wildly unfiltered views on the United States, and some of their questions hit harder than any headline.
Turns out, when your country…
