Not a Coffee Perk

One of the perks of being an expat is the chance to travel to places you may not visit otherwise.  Traveling is taking advantage of an opportunity.  While traveling is a nice perk it often comes after paying dues.  The greatest reward of traveling are the experiences you have, be it people, places or things you read about or watched on TV, or the adventures you have as an individual or family.

Living in Europe most of our journeys have been within our host continent.  Flights in Europe can be very affordable.  Distances are close.  Allow me to provide an example.  A flight from Houston to Chicago is roughly two and a half hours.  In the same amount of time or less flying from Paris you can visit Oslo, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Barcelona, Rome, London, Athens, and Lisbon.

When I step back I see similarities between North American and European travelers.  In Europe countries differ while in America regions/states differ.  Regardless of where you are in the US there is Americana, similarly many Europeans have a sense of "Europeaness" particularly those in EU countries.  Americans dream of vacations to London, Paris, Rome, etc. while Europeans consider New York, Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, etc. as dream vacations.  In American drive 10 hours crossing up to five states while Europeans cross up to five countries.

Traveling has become one of my/our favorite activities.  Experiences are something that can not be replicated by anything else.  Take advantage of opportunities while they are there.