International Travel Makes You Humble and Appreciative

I cannot believe that I really didn't start traveling to far off countries until my 30's.......The thing that spurned me to wake up and see the world was reading about a guy who was already retired and in a wheelchair. He said - travel when you can still walk and your stomach is still strong.
Don't make the mistake about saying you will travel when you retire. Do it now.

I woke up and threw a dart at a map. It hit Thailand. What a great country. The people are really friendly and the food is really awesome. I felt really comfortable and safe when traveling in this remarkable country.

But there were a certain things that made me humble and appreciative of my home country - USA. First of all, people in America gripe all the time about the government, economy, jobs, imports, exports etc.....and we all have the right to complain if we want....that is what makes America special.....freedom of speech allows us to say anything we want. In other countries, you felt constrained and you felt the people and media was restrained from speaking their mind.

The other thing that really made me appreciative about my Western ways - toilets. A lot of restrooms in Thailand have squat toilets. Basically these are holes in the floor. If you are doing #1 thats ok.....however, if you are going to do #2 - gets a little tricky. There are no charts in the bathroom for step by step use of these holes. Besides that, there is no paper. There are usually 2 cisterns with water in them and a bowl - I guess the bowl is to contain the water....then what next....how do you get the water to splash up?

Anyways, that was an awakening for me. Ever since, I try to be aware about the whereabouts of the nearest luxury hotel. These hotels usually have western toilets with paper.....and is air conditioned.

And another thing....using the squat toilets in the middle of a humid summer day will bring down the most strongest willed steel man....I guarantee it.......there is nothing like being in a humid stall with torrents of sweat pouring down your face and body parts.

My tip to travelers.......bring a backpack that contains a roll of tissue paper, bottled water to wash up, hand sanitizer...bathrooms that do have paper usually require purchase from a vending machine. And when you do purchase the paper, it looks like the kind of paper that people use to roll cigarettes. thin and squarish in size......