did the tiajuana (sp) when we lived in san diego and when I was an itty bitty we lived in a motel in El Paso while my dad was installing elevators in a va hosp...1948? omg! we'd go for dinner in Juarez...revisited in the 60's...again just for dinner...

but my fave trip was to Vancouver...the first was on vacation and went to the island, via ferry. we lived in seattle for 2 year and drove up again...like going to Europe...

I lived and worked for just under 3 years in Western Europe, on assignment for my US company. We'd been to Europe a few times before moving there and have been back many, many times since, for both work and vacation. Living there provided a completely different experience from visiting and those years were perhaps the best of our lives.

How do you pick a story to tell from 3 exciting years of life? I wouldn't even try.

While Canada is a "different" country from the US with a different history, different traditions, and different views, I don't consider it to be very "foreign". I've been to both Seattle and Vancouver many times and I find them to be much more similar than different. I don't see much that resembles Europe in Vancouver or anywhere in Canada for that matter. On the same thought, Quebec is perhaps a bit different for language reasons but most of what's there to see and enjoy is familiar and "North American" in most respects. And not very old.

My daughter went on a summer tour of Europe with her VERY strict school and would call me and tell me that nightly she was sneaking out of the hotels with her friends and going to parties on boats in Paris. Talk about giving me stress... I am so glad that she had such a wonderful experience. They also snuck out in Prague and saw her teacher out at 2am. They also went to the Lourve and stood next to the statues in the same poses hahaha.

My father and husband were both career military. As a child we lived in Alaska, Hawaii, and Okinawa. With my husband I lived in Thailand and Germany. All of the places that I can remember were fascinating but living in an American household and having access to American facilities most certainly provided a different experience. However, I wouldn't trade anything for all these opportunities. If given the choice, I would move to England. i have visited there at least five time over the years and would love to actually live there for an extended time.

I have spent several vacations north of Kenora, Ontario. My parents-in-law had a log cabin on an island in the Winnipeg flowage above the White Dog power dam. That was a beautiful location with pleasant residents , however, I decided that I would not want to live there during winter. (I remember the haunting call of loons, northern pike and walleye, blue berries, sunsets, and ospreys smashing into the water to take a fish.)

I spent one week in Bedford, England on business for my employer. I had developed accelerated procedures to qualify several of our products for use in nuclear power plants, and was transferring some of that information to our subsidiary in Bedford. I was a busy week and most of what I saw of the country was a few hours when my host drove me to a number of locations.

Other than this, I have not been out of the contiguous States, not even to Alaska. I do have a couple of distant relatives living in Alaska.

As a child.....Germany, Italy, France

As an adult....Germany, Italy, France, Hawaii

Have visited a lot more....but lived in these places.

I grew up in Germany, and came to Oklahoma. Had a short stint of living in Florida too.

I do have relatives all over the world however.

Moni

The US Navy had me stationed in the mountains of the Philippines many years ago. It was hot. I don't need hot like that all the time.

My husband was an exploration geophysicist for 30 years for Exxon (formerly Humble Oil & Refining.) We were transferred to Tripoli, Libya, in 1969. Ken went early to start work there and find a home for us. I flew from Houston to Tripoli with my then 6 year old daughter and 1 year old son. What an adventure that alone was! We lived in a beautiful villa a block away and across the street from the Mediterranean Sea for one year. We were there on Sept. 1, 1969, when a 27 year old Army captain, Muammar Gaddafi, headed a coup to overthrow King Idris. We had been there only 2 weeks. We felt pretty safe because Whellus Air Force Base was there at the time, plus Exxon (Humble at the time) took good care of the employees also. Made plans to go to Tunisia if we had to evacuate. Schools were closed and businesses and offices downtown were shut down for a week or so. It was pretty exciting at the time, but I thought, "If we have to evacuate, Lord, please let it be while I have clean diapers for my baby." After all the political stuff settled down, it was very nice living there. I spent lots of time at the beach, and the family spent most weekends exploring the old Italian ruins around the Sahara Desert. One weekend we went to Malta with friends. Then we had a month in Europe on our way back home. Then in 1972 Ken and I spent two months in Singapore. My windowed mother-in-law stayed with the children at our house in Houston. That was my all-time favorite place to live or stay. Beautiful and year-long summer. I think living overseas really makes an American appreciate all we have in the U.S.

I stayed in Scotland/England and Hong Kong for extended stays (months) while my husband was there on business. We stayed in hotels and ate every meal out or room service, so not like really living there. I played tourist and did lots of sightseeing, but I must admit I got bored and missed all the familiar things from home.

I've never lived abroad. We do live Maui for part of the winter -- yes, it's a State, but still 'different'. The TV weatherman spends lots of time on the surf report. News is largely about Honolulu and State Government. Many of the news readers are smiling wahine, quick to move on from any 'unpleasant' topics.

My aunt and uncle lived in a company cottage in a mill town near Leeds, England for two years immediately after WWII. We heard lots of tales of post-war life there -- aunt shopping with a wicker basket, going from greengrocer to bakery, to butcher -- separate shop for everything. Rationing lingered a *long time* in England. My DM sent them her version of care packages and once some (recently invented) electric blankets. My aunt reported that the beds 'steamed for a week'. She had sent for her saddle shoes, discovering that 'a stroll after dinner' at someone's home meant miles of walking over hill and dale regardless of the weather.

When I was 14, my DM and I visited England and took a train from London to this small town. The firm's directors treated us like royalty, sending the company Rolls to meet us. Our train was just as depicted in period films, with the little doors opening into individual compartments and the windows let down on straps.

The only other country I've lived in is Mexico, but it was down by Zacatacus on an old ranch in the middle of no where. Mud houses, no electricity or running water. I cooked on a clay fire pit, washed our clothes in a river and traveled by horse. I was 17 and won't say why or how I got there, but coming from a beautiful canopy bedroom, it was a life altering experience.

The funniest story I have to share is from my first night there. After traveling over 100 miles in an old school bus (on the most God awful rocky roads), I was exhausted. I bathed in a small wash bin and ended up sleeping on a floor mat with my head by a dutch styled door. The weather was very warm, so the top part was open through the night. At sun rise I woke up to a cow staring straight down at me. We locked eyes and she moo'd very loudly as if to say hello! I was there for about 8 months, then I stayed in Monterey for a while before coming back to the States.

As an adult, I lived in the Philippine Islands, in Japan, and in Germany. Enjoyed all of them. Have been in and lived in many of the states in the USA and visited different countries.

Lived in Germany while stationed in the Air Force for 4 1/2 years. I loved it there and would move back in a heartbeat.

I have lived abroad twice, 1st in high school in a SE Asian country as part of a summer exchange program, then again for a year of college in Japan. I did go back to the 1st country (unnamed to protect my identity) and plan on visiting Japan again this year.

I've lived in Rome and Vienna. Both gave me ample opportunity to travel throughout Europe. I vacation in Salzburg or Vienna whenever I can.

As a child we moved and lived in a Aruba for a year, so hot there and rented house was something else, all glass everywhere. NO english tv, in spanish it was. Had to go to other side of Aruba to get to school in a station wagon which was our school bus. We bought this tiny audi car which ended up having problems, couldn't tell how much gas in tank at any time and my mother filled up one time to a penny. The house like stove, you had to shove the portable dishwasher up to it with a broom to keep door from popping open.

My bike got stolen when went in for supper one night.

We kept getting animals dumped on us as told we were rich people and had kittens and puppy and they were taken in unfortunately. But we did end up falling in love with this orange kitten and brought it back to Canada and only cost five dollars and this wicker basket wired with him in it to fly to four destinations but the cost was the vet stay in for a month.

We got to travel in south america for a whole month and that was great to having all those experiences and seeing things never would have gotten to see.

Loved the white sand on the beaches down in Aruba, beautiful and so not touched.

You could drive from one end to the other end of island in one day.

We loved going to the saturday market, we would buy raw peanuts which you have to cook up but we would end up forgetting they were in the oven and burn them.

Telephone was ten cents even with wrong numbers.

Water was precious and my mother kept leaving the hose on the stuff outside and cost a fortune.

I loved the fields of cactus all over and the painted up houses where the natives lived.

They had an air conditioning store where they sold different chocolates from places like switzerland,etc. we so enjoyed going there for a treat every week.

Fresh milk, no guarantee on it at all, usually soured.

So had to have powered milk, ugh that was to drink.

kathy

" I think living overseas really makes an American appreciate all we have in the U.S."

I've lived overseas, and I disagree with you completely. Returning to the States to live was a huge culture shock. I miss everything about living in Europe, and we are making plans to return there permanently.

Imstillchloecat, it depends on where a person has lived outside of the country. I spent two years in one of the poorest countries in the world (Niger). Believe me, that experience deepened my appreciation for life in America.

Oh, and when! Imagine being an American teenager without a phone in the 70's! I still made friends. How do students do that now, mixing their worlds on social media? Mixed feelings on other things, I prefer squat toilets, lack of contact. Some foods I loved, I missed, here or there.

I've travelled extensively but never lived abroad. I would have loved to when I was younger but don't think I'd like to do it now. Too set in my ways.

Let's put down the flags for a moment.

I think the core nations of continental Western Europe - the Nordic countries down to a line formed by France, Switzerland, Austria, and very intentionally excluding the UK- set a standard the US may never attain. In what ways? The people are better educated, there's less poverty, the streets are much safer and there's less crime, public health care is at a higher and broader standard, government services and infrastructure are better and more comprehensive, and on and on. If you don't think so, that's fine. If you haven't experienced it yourself by living there, I'd say you don't know enough to comment.

The US is a pretty good country but I think for quality of life measurements, we're not a leader. International surveys and assessments taken and published from time to time confirm that. I agree with chloecat, we also hope to spend increasingly more time there. My wife and I have spoken about moving back now that we're retired but it's impractical at the moment given the location of family members.

Comparing an impoverished African nation or any other Third World place to any industrialized country will always lead to the same conclusion, whether it's the US or another one.

I have never lived abroad, but have been to Europe (several countries) and Kyrgzstan. I always misspell that one. But my DS has been in Berlin for 4 years now, and DD in K-Stan. Next year she will start a 3 year assignment in Zagreb, Croatia. I am so excited! We visited there last summer and I fell in love. I wanted to buy an apartment and retire there. Both of my kids said they will not return stateside while Trump is president. I know that DD was to leave Bishkek because of the poverty. Even her salary as a teacher is huge compared to the average wage earned there.

I think Socks has a very valid point. Where I was in Mexico was extremely poor and a kin to living in the 18th century. I very much appreciated American life when I returned and have always been keenly aware of how fortunate I am.

On the flip side however, when my husband relocated here from Stockholm, it was a huge culture shock for him. Not only because of our long work hours and the way companies devalue their employees, but because he says most people here live to work, where as in Sweden, you work to live. No one cares what the guy next door has and life is much more simple. He had never heard of being afraid to walk in a diverse neighborhood simply because of his color or even locking your door when you're inside. Lastly as a career student who enjoyed a free education at the University of Stockholm, he was shocked to see the cost of going to school here.

The other side of the issues that affect locals much more than foreigners in the areas I mentioned is that the homogeneity fosters social and cultural attitudes that are rigid, traditional and old fashioned in ways that can be stifling. That's changing but it's a contrast to what goes on in much (but not all) of the US. Many foreign-born people I've known here have observed that being away from their own home countries has been liberating in that way.

I live outside the US. :) I've been from Victoria BC, to Winnipeg Manitoba in Canada. In the US, I've been to: Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, Idaho and Montana. I've been to The Netherlands, and spent maybe 1/2 an hour in each of Germany and Belgium. Oh, and I've been to Tijuana Mexico.

Elmer J Fudd (formerly S Whiplash), you need to go to Old Montreal and Quebec City if you want to see Europe in Canada. And I see a lot of it in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The rest of Canada is more modern in that we tear down buildings that are older than 50 years old and build new skyscrapers. But if you want a feel of old Europe, you haven't been to the right places in Canada.

Debby, I've been to Montreal half a dozen times and several times to QC. I also spent a two week vacation mostly in the areas outlying both cities including the Laurentian mtns and in the lake district s near the US border. I speak French very well.

I like the region a lot but it's North America to me, unmistakably. A few old buildings and the walls in the old city (which are very young by comparison to what's in Europe) don't change anything for me.