Going to Italy was the first time I had officially been out of the United States, and let me tell you it was weird. On the internet and over books I've read, I never really understood that life could be much different than the Great Plains I'd spent most of my life in. Going from there to Italy shattered that thought re-aligned my perspective on life in a manner I hadn't even known possible.
From the United States, one of the most striking differences was how much you could do without a car. Want to go to a restaurant? There's multiple within walking distance. Want to go on a hike? Well, walk 20 minutes in any direction and you've got mountains, ruins and unkempt trails in every direction. Want to go on a mini-daycation? Well, hop on a train and let it take you to a random stop. From there you'll have another beautiful town to look around.
The history was another massive difference. Being able to travel throughthe Roman Forum from 2000 years ago, walking through castles from the Napoleanic era, and finding random historyical objects that no one cared about scattered around everywhere was surreal. Even those who are from the United States East Coast would be surprised at what they could see.
The food quality was on another level as well, albiet it did get monotonous having variation #918424 of noodles for each meal. The McDonalds there felt a bit cleaner, less oily. The water was also exquisite. No one talks about good water, but drinking from the outdoor faucets they have set up in their cities not only tasted great, but was also convenient. The bottled water was also smooth. Typically you will drink water and it's alright. The Italian water felt like it was straight out of the Fountain of Youth.
I'll write more on this later (and for many other sections). Looking through photos to upload brought up some painful memories.
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I'll be honest, when I visited Colorado I was super young, and the whole purpose was to go snow-skiing with my family. All I really remember was being scared of the heights and my dad frustrating me since he could ski backwards while I was falling flat on my back.
Florida is a beautiful state in spite of it being flat. The Swamps, beaches, lagoons and more. I got to visit Florida multiple times over one Summer because of an internship, as well as a special deal that my dad has with his work. For my internship, we walked around Jacksonville which was nice and got to see Dolphins swimming in its brackish waterway.
Later when I went with my brother and father, we got to do a whole ton of interesting things. The first was visiting the Kennedy Space Center Vistor Complex and that place was surreal. It's very easy to get sidetracked on noteable cultural aspects, but I'll leave that for a future writeup. In the entrance of the park, it had the rocket garden displaying rockets from the Saturn 1B to the Mercury-Redstone rockets. Further down was the official museum containing a used Atlantis space shuttle, model of the Saturn V rocket, and a memorial to the Columbia and Challenger. The park also included a small bus ride which took you through Cape Canaveral, VAB and a viewport to look further out across the bay, including the launchpad. The entrance to the Visitor Complex also had the Space-X facilities and (seemingly abandoned) Blue Origins facilities.
Outside of the Visitor Complex, we spent a bit of time around the beaches, lagoons and swamps. The beach-time was... interesting. It was right before a hurricane was going to hit nearby, so the waves were gnarly. The lagoons were nice, and they had that famous "luminescent plankton". We kayaked down one durnig the night and you could see the kayak and paddles glow as you moved. The swamps were also pretty, but we weren't able to see any gators.
Finally, my brother ended up leaving and I had a day with my dad on the ocean fishing. We caught a bit, had them filleted in the same day and that was our dinner. Overall a 10/10 trip, would recommend.
Went on a submarine. It was sick.
Briefly stopped by here as a small part of the Ohio Cedar Point trip.
Nothing really of not here, tbh.
Lots of trash. At least in the city...
Was young when I went here. All I remember is going fishing on Lake Erie and visiting the Cedar Point amusement park.
Red dirt. Beautiful skies.
Anything you hear about Portland in the media is by no means indicative of the Eastern part of the state. It has the most beautiful scenery I have seen in my entire life. The entire place can be described as "America as advertised"... outside of the wildfires and blood red sun.
I went on multiple long hiking trips with my family. In one trip, we hiked 13 miles through the mountains, following a river upstream. It was gorgeous, since the water was literally blue. It was like water drawn on cartoons, rather than the muck of ponds. There were multiple waterfalls we ran by on that trail, and we ended it by boiling water from the river and using it to cook food before turning back. On another trail, it began raining as soon as we started, so we had to hide out beneath some trees to wait it out. Oh and the trees were straight. I mean really straight. Things grew a perfect 90 degrees from the ground.
I was also able to go and camp out on the top of a mountain with a lake on top. Never in my life had I heard a place so quiet. No cars, no planes, no bugs. If you listened closely, you could subtley hear people whispering from across the lake. Any splash on the water like someone jumping in, or a fish leaping out made a loud raucous. What was remarkable about everything in this state, were all the fresh berries. Anywhere you were outside, you could snatch up Strawberries, Salmonberries, Huckleberries and snack on them without interrupting your walk. It would be worth it to go again.
Went on a big trip here with my extended family. Got to see the Liberty Bell & ate an authentic Chili Cheese steak.
Frequently go here for family reunions. The entire state is an incredible stargazing location.
Have only been to Dallas and Galveston, though the Dallas aquarium is cool.
My favourite state I've gotten to live in. Lots of history with the Civil & Revolutionary war, fun hurricanes, and weird little crab-apples you can throw at people.
Last edit on Jan-31-2026