1) the food! The food is amazing. Fresh and healthy for the most part. Focused on seasonal production and locally produced food goods. Utilisation of everything (which is always interesting when it comes to meat products).
2) the wine and beer. Yummy yummy all around. So many options, so open about open container, so much younger drinking age and acceptability in family life. So many things about drinking are handled in a personal choice manner. And it seems to me that there are less issues with alcohol abuse and drunk driving, which leads to my next love...
3) public transportation! Trains, buses, affordable flights. It's so easy to connect and travel locally or between countries.
4) markets... Everything from food to street to clothes to jewelry. I think I've been to amazing markets in every country that I've visited. They have all been different and wonderful in their own way.
5) little things that you notice every day, windows in Germany, innovative kitchen tools, tea in England and coffee in Rome, they way you pay for a meal at the table and you don't worry about your credit card being stolen, built in gratuity
6) People. Everywhere I have traveled you meet amazing people. People who are kind, who help, who want to talk to you. People who mention Michael Jordan at the first word about Chicago. People that offer you to taste their wine or their meal. People who offer to carry your bag down the stairs in the tube or open the door for you. Beautiful, wonderful humanity
The most amazing thing about travel is being open to differences. Accepting them and realising that you might miss your US washer and dryer but the amazing benefits of new experiences far outweighs anything else....
