re: If you are reading this board, you owe it yourself to travel internationally

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I think the coast is ugly

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This is my two cents for what it is worth....
I have had the privilege of traveling.
I worked medical missions in Central America. Very nice people. Dysfunctional government, Infrastructure practically non-existent. Nice place to visit, but would not want to live there.
I have traveled all of the UK. The Scots and English were really nice people. Lovely attitudes and good sense of humor. They have been cucked by government and in reality do not really know alot about taking care of themselves. I think the Scottish are better at it, primarily because of their distain for British monarchy. The Irish were not as friendly, but still good people. Never felt unsafe in any of those countries. Great infrastructure, clean, decent food. Loved the old historical sites. Worth a visit.

I have been to much of Europe, Italy, France, Spain, and Hungary. Of all those places, the Hungarians, after the fall of communism, were the most pleasant and welcoming. They are behind the others in infrastructure, but it is still easy to get around and always felt safe. Of all the places, my favorite is the Amalfi Coast in south Italy. It was gorgeous.
As for the US and Canada....I have been to almost all of the states. California is a beautiful place outside the big cities. I agree the weather is usually good and northern Cali is beautiful, but in the cities the majority of the people you deal with have a bad attitude and not very welcoming. I felt safer in Honduras than in LA. We don't realize how good we have it in the Southeastern US. There truly is no place like home. The people are good from the swamps of Louisiana to the pine thickets of Georgia. The weather is relatively good, the food is amazing and the prices are acceptable.
God is good and we should be thankful he gave us such a great place to enjoy this life.

You were making a good case until you mentioned California.

I criticize California often because I lived there for over 30 years. When I moved there back in the mid 80s, it was wonderful! I wish my kids could have seen it. It was clean and lots of job opportunities. I didn't feel unsafe, even in San Francisco.

When I left in 2020, it was awful. It was not safe. It was outrageously expensive. Homeless were all over. It was dirty.

Maybe some of us criticize places and policies because we actually know about them. We've lived longer and seen the impacts of the policies.

California is a wonderful place to travel to. It's not so wonderful to live in. It used to be tolerable, but now it's not.

Even the small towns can't escape the crazy politics. Look into Paradise, California. It's no longer a paradise.

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Doing so can give you some perspective on the US and help you more easily see the good and the bad in this country. And prove or disprove your assumptions.

I even encourage you to visit somewhere abroad that you think you might not like just to see if what you been told about that place is true.

Domestically, many of you criticize California (and often with good reason). But how many of you criticizing that place have actually been there to see it yourself? You might be right, you might be wrong about your impressions.

Back from the drift above, seeing other places and staying outside of the US for a while makes it harder for the Left & Right power brokers to manipulate you. IMO

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Eh, traveling to a bunch of tourist spots gives people false perspective. You think a 23 year old with her instagram hitting up a bunch of beaches in different countries is getting "perspective?"

And less than 1% of people will actually see the day to day going ons of another place with living there daily for a significant length of time.

At the end of the day, the US is by far the best place to live on this planet and that is very clear, whether or not you have traveled.

I’ve been all over Europe, Western Canada and most of the US except extreme North East.

I’ve never seen anything like what happened at LSU this past Saturday.

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What a fricking idiot. Do you think people live in State or National Parks?

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His brain is infected with TDS.

frick off. I can count the number of times I have left the great state of Louisiana on my hands, and that’s more than enough for me. Those of us in Hammond especially love where we live and don’t need you commie fricks interfering with our lives.

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When I got back home I wanted to lay down and kiss I85 and to feel how smooth it was. Even the things we hate are the envy of 99% of the world.

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While most of us fully realize this, it is still important to bring attention to problems here or we will eventually end up like those other countries. If we just simply say, well, its better than the rest of the world, love it or leave it loser, you can move on at any time, then we will be screwed. You can see it coming already in a lot of places here.

Recognize what we have but don't be afraid to criticize the hell out of it and expect better. Our roads have become worse and worse. I have 19" low profile tires and it is like running the gauntlet sometimes trying to not end up with a blowout. I went to the DR two years ago and their major roads were just as good as our major roads and that country is poor as hell. Their airport was nicer and ran smoother than most airports in the US.

We can't rest on our laurels.