And for the other comment about being careful not to call locals “locals”. I have yet to have a day pass where people do not point and yell “foreigner” at me, in Chinese. I don’t think either word is offensive if done in a polite manner. The way it is usually done to me is not polite by Western standards but one gets accustomed to these things.

Life is way too short to not see the world. And if you put your head to anything, then it’s really not that difficult to do what you want. I think it’s just important to strip away from the values we put on material things. What did you do after college? I am as well dreading the ‘real job’, i know that i cannot be happy in a stuffy office. I am so glad that i found your blog, and at such a good time!

I’m off to find the title of your books so I can order it from my local library!

Cheers!

I tend to buy medicines when I travel, also. When I go to the states, I buy Aleve (naproxen sodium) because it’s not available in the UK, and I buy huge bottles of aspirin, because you can only get a 32 blister pack in England, which annoys me. In the UK, I buy Nurofen with codeine for painful headaches, because in the states, I’d need to see a doctor to get codeine.

It’s never a good idea to just take whatever they sell. You must be an informed consumer and know what you’re buying and what it does. Saying that, it really is useful sometimes to stock up while you can.

I wanted to ask JJ above, who said that it’s selfish of us to call ourselves americans when canada and peru and elsewhere are also americas, what his alternative word would be for someone from the United States. United Statesian? I don’t think it’s at all a cultural ignorance; just lazy tongues faced with a long country name and shortening it to the most logical nickname. The french would say I’m americaine and the spanish would say I was norteamericana (north american) and I don’t get upset with them for being less specific as it’s really a function of language. If someone from Argentina is an american, why can’t I be as well? (Versus none of us being allowed to say it?)

As far as hiding your nationality abroad, I think it’s never a good idea. If you are polite, educated and respectful, then you should consider yourself a great ambassador for your country. Maybe some places think Americans are bad tourists because everyone has been lying for a decade and saying they’re Canadian. I had a Canadian friend tell me once that he’s always found Americans to be very polite and sweet and that he felt it was a shame our government didn’t do much to accurately represent our people. That’s a conversation that never would have happened had I said I was from Nova Scotia.