Most of my work at Frequent Miler is behind-the-scenes work, editing the podcasts, managing the social media, and keeping our web design up-to-date. But having spent nearly a decade as a digital nomad, living out of hotels around the world thanks to miles and points, there are thoughts about the 70 countries I’ve visited, my life as a nomad, or my experience as a well-immersed player 2 that I occasionally think might resonate with some of you. This series gives me a place to put those thoughts, just for anyone up for a little Carrie commentary!
On a recent Ask Us Anything, one viewer asked if there were daily habits or routines we picked up in travel that followed us home. Here’s how they posed the question:
Given the amount of travel and exposure to different cultures that the whole Frequent Miler team has had over the years, what experiences have changed how you live day to day back home? For example, after a trip to Italy, I became very interested in espresso to the point where I bought myself an espresso machine that I now use every morning. Has something similar happened for you all?
First of all, I love questions like this because I love digging a little deeper into the why of travel – the layer underneath the suite upgrades and in-flight showers. And for each of us on the team, curiosity is a huge driving force for why we do all the rest of this points-and-miles stuff. We’re deeply curious about how others live their lives around the world. For me, this question tapped into that feeling perfectly, and it made me think of more answers long after the Ask Us Anything, Live was over. Here are a few of the things that came up for me.
9 weird little habits I picked up from travels abroad
I became way more of a food snob (particularly with Asian cuisine).
Pretentious as it may be, when I order a dish that I love from Southeast Asia and it shows up with inauthentic, westernized ingredients (like bell peppers instead of Thai chili peppers or peanut butter instead of tamarind) I remember how the dish is supposed to taste with the authentic ingredients, and I have a hard time really enjoying it. In many cases these not-quite-right dishes would have suited me just fine before I knew what the real thing was supposed to be like. As they say, ignorance is bliss.
I buy Italian canned tomatoes.
I’ve heard others say this, so I know it’s not just in my head: the tomatoes in Europe genuinely taste better. I’ve read different reasons for why this might be, but whatever the reason, it’s unmistakable. I noticed that even when I make my own tomato sauce from scratch, it still doesn’t taste as good as the canned tomato sauce from Italy. I buy Cento, personally. I know some of my more beer-loving friends feel this way about international beers, too, recognizing a better flavor with German beers for example.
I keep club soda around to make my own carbonated juices.
While traveling in Europe, I loved how ubiquitous carbonated lemonade was. Then in Malta, I really enjoyed the bitter-orange soda “Kinnie“, or the “Apfelschorle” in Germany. At home, mixing club soda with juice is now a staple, especially in the summer. (I find it a little funny that I used to drink carbonated juice to pretend to be a grown-up drinking wine, but childhood-me didn’t realize that the carbonated juice would actually be a more accurate representation of adult-me than the wine it was pretending to be.)
I put a dash through my handwritten “7’s”.
I can’t remember which European country I picked this up from, but it just makes sense. A handwritten 7 can look dangerously close to a two or a 1, so a little line through the stem clears it all up.
I don’t assume “level 1” is the ground floor.
Whether “level 1” refers to the ground floor or the floor above ground floor varies by country, so I’ve found that I’ve gradually lost the base assumption that “level 1” is the ground floor. (And in fact, I have a hard time remembering which version is more prevalent here in the States.)
I pay more attention to Global news.
Even unintentionally, I find myself perking up attention if I hear something on the news that references a place I’ve been. And the more places I go, the more that happens.
I don’t gripe much about the price of gasoline.
My brief time living in Northern Ireland gave me an appreciation for how cheap fuel is in the States compared to much of Europe. It stings when gas prices go up, but the sting is lessened a bit by the memory of prices elsewhere.
I ask people, “What part?” when they tell me where they’re from.
I love it when a person starts speaking about their home country, and I find out I’ve not only been there, but sometimes I’ve been to the specific town or region where they grew up. That’s almost always a fun conversation for both of us.
I think of myself in a global context.
Life here isn’t perfect, of course, but I now recognize some standard elements of life in the United States as the luxuries they are. Hot water on demand, refrigerators in every household, power outages only once or twice a year, waste management systems, free public restrooms, yards… so many things in my daily life would represent a lot of wealth if obtained somewhere else. In fact, there is a calculator that shows you how your income compares to the rest of the world, and it’s quite shocking, actually. As a single individual living in the United States, it would only take an annual, post-tax income of $68,000 to be included in the 1%, globally.
These are the 9 weird little daily habit changes I thought of, but I’m curious how you all might answer this same question: what are the things you’ve adopted as daily habits which you picked up in travel abroad?
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About 30 years ago I grew weary of having to relearn the 24 hour clock (aka, “military time”) every time I leave the States. Because all my digital clocks (iPhone, smart watch, the car, my computer, etc.) are for primarily my use, I changed them all to the 24 hour format. Occasionally people make comments about it, but I just explain it’s how the traveling world tells time. It just takes one trip out of the United States with me for friends or family to realize how helpful it is when planning flights, catching trains, buying tickets, etc. It’s just second nature. It’s such a small thing, but it still delights me how I no longer have to do the math.
I always thank servers when leaving a restaurant. I try to remember to hand credit cards or my business card to others using both hands.
I have to ask why the “need” to call these “weird”? They aren’t weird, just differ than you had while living in the states. All these are very normal in other places, not weird. To be honest, life in the USA is more weird.
I chuckled reading your article because it is oh.so.true! I check all your points as well (and some more!), but the dash crossing your 7s is funny…As a Spaniard living in the USA for the last 30 years, that’s one of the first things I changed since it bewildered so many Americans. Now I use both depending of where I am.
A visit to New Zealand showed me how crappy most food is in the US. I kept asking them why their food was so good and they’d always say “it’s real food.”
two things: 1) I learned to love cheese after visiting France. 2) I had sushi in Japan (this will get me in trouble) and I didn’t like it. Japanese sushi is really sashimi. I like some raw fish (tuna), but after a 15 course meal of raw everything (raw shrimp with it’s brains smeared on it) I can honestly say that I prefer American sushi,
Living for 2 months abroad without a refrigerator was eye opening for me. I love having one, but I learned a lot in that time about making simple, fresh food with a handful of pantry staples.
Using good soaps and shampoo. Beginning with being lured into a Lush store in Vienna in 2006 and being exposed to high quality amenities when we started staying at nice hotels, good soaps and shampoo are a quality of life enhancement for us at a cost of maybe $150 a year.
Also a good mattress. After a stay at a Sheraton around the same time I found and bought the equivalent of the I think it was called Sweet Sleeper Bed mattress, on our second one now, at an annual upgrade cost of about $100 a year.
Finally, another vote here for Carrie sharing experiences from Travel is Free days.
Love these Carrie! My husband and I have lived in Japan for over a year and a half all told and I’d like to think it has made us more kind and respectful of others. With their “you first” culture it sometimes feels shocking to return to the US with its “me first” mentality. I hope we’re maintaining a little more other centeredness even as we live here.
“I pay more attention to Global news.” Healthy perspective, whether you travel or not. Excellent list, Carrie, and thank you for what you do, behind the scenes.
Ladies politely and genuinely asking us in China a few times if they could take photos of my niece and son. Also in Disneyland Shanghai people staring as us out of curiosity. That was strange, not in a rude way but totally understandable. The education that my child has had from travelling there is no curriculum that could have given him that for any price.
Food wise, falling in love with Greek yogurt with honey in Greece made from sheep’s milk and the countless others that off the top of my mind I cannot think of right now.
There are other brands than Cento, that import San Marzano tomatoes. Try Costco! Food is much better in Europe because they use less chemicals. But I think the magic of being in a place where something comes from, is the special sauce. One thing, I enjoy are foreign markets and super-markets. The whole aisle of soy sauce in Japan was amazing.
With languages, I realize how lucky I am as a native English speaker, which has become the global reserve currency of languages. I can never forget shopping in a tourist area in Seoul, and watching Chinese tourists speak to Korean locals as best they could in English.
In addition, trying to navigate myself around, for example, Vietnam, speaking none of the local language, helps me appreciate how hard it must be for an immigrant here.
Do you miss the travel lifestyle or are you happy to settle back down? Surprised you bother trying to eat Thai food back home (Americans like it sweet!), I thought you’d be cooking your own! Thx for the fun post.
In Austin, I would cook my own Thai food, but it can be hard to get the right fresh ingredients in the small town I live in now. If I can get my own Thai basil growing again this season, I’ll give it another go!
And I certainly appreciate everything I gained from the full-time travel lifestyle, and do still crave travel adventures, but now that I have my two dogs, it’s hard to imagine doing that long-term style of travel again. And I do love the lifestyle I’ve been able to create here in the mountains, spending most weekends hiking or camping with the doggos. Like many things, I think a blended approach makes the most sense for me, maybe, with travel adventures woven throughout an otherwise stationary home base.
Life is all about balance. You guys had quite a run of travel and I’m glad you found your place in the end. If ya manage a trip to Bali look me up!
I used to live in Europe when i was younger, and still have the habits of line-drying clothes, and still drive a stick-shift car, similar to another commenter below. A food liking i picked up specifically from travel is related to spicy chocolate: in solid form from Torino, Italy; and in drink form form Barcelona and Latin America.