re: Foreign travel and local sentiment.

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So that's a no you're not gonna tell us about the local sentiment in the countries you went to?

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Sure I will. I made a post asking others experiences, if any. You have one, please share.

There are more referendums going on across where I traveled than is reported here at home. That’s just my experience.

And the War in a Ukraine. They were initially worried. But soon realized maybe there was a reason for it. Whatever that means.

We are throwing weapons to prolong a war against a current country. Not all of it just half. So why are we making the rest( Germany) mainly oppose Russia. That’s what they said.

They don’t care. They want their electricity on, cars full. When it’s cold heat in their homes. They don’t care about Ukraine.

Not a political opinion. What I was told by numerous people over 9 days.

I was in the military in the 80s. Reagan was treated like a warmongering dunce by the media but there wasn't a place in Europe I visited where people, when discovering I was American, didn't talk about how much they liked Reagan.

I'm sitting in the Frankfurt Airport right now waiting to board my flight back to the states. I was here visiting my wife's family for 10~ days in Heidelberg.

Politics only got brought up twice. My MILs boyfriend from rural Baden Württemberg brought it up while we had a BBQ one night (Would vote for Trump if he was a citizen) and my BILs girlfriend from Hannover but now living in Berlin (Votes Green Party which is hard, hard left) brought it up after a wedding and night out.

The conversation with the BILs girlfriend got a little heated after a long night of drinking but nothing too crazy. We ended it respectfully and woke up the next day and acted like it never happened. We were still friendly despite disagreeing on most topics.

The MILs boyfriend felt the same way that I did on most issues. It was refreshing.

The energy crisis as you mentioned is on the forefront of everyones mind. Almost above all else from what I gathered. We went out to dinner almost every night with different family and friends and it was constantly brought up. There was palpable anxiety over what's happening and what the plan is if Putin doesn't turn the pipeline back on after the "maintenance" is complete. Most that I spoke with don't believe this is a maintenance situation and that the pipeline won't be turned back on which is obviously a huge concern. A lot of discussions about fireplaces and wooden stoves if the gas gets cut off this winter as a worst case scenario.

The Dollar catching up to and then passing up the Euro while I was out here was another common topic. Most were very surprised as it's been 20 years since USD > Euro. They're closely following it and almost seemed to be shocked watching it play out.

Overall it seems like there's significant uncertainty around gas/energy, The EU economy/Inflation and the larger impact of the war on Ukraine and how it will change the European landscape both geopolitical and financially. Lots of fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Live in Germany and their media is worse than ours when it comes to not even fake news ,but just outright lying. He thought that overturning of Roe vs Wade meant end of abortion all together. I told him no that is not the case and it would go back to individual states to determine the laws regarding abortion. He was mortified and did not believe me when I told him what partial birth abortions were and would be allowed in a state like California. Alot of the citizens here do not have a good understanding of our system and they way the media describes it here it mostly false.

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several countries across Europe including Israel

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Israel isn't in Europe.

I went to Peru last fall. They just elected a socialist president. Multiple protests happening in every city I visited. Every guide and service worker I talked to said their election was stolen. Eerily similar to what people say here. Makes you wonder