People in the states tend to be...well...=/ A bit more shut in and hurried. People don't travel because the world is too big for them, they don't have the money (Europe is reallyyy expensive, aside from just getting the plane tickets to get over there DX ), or they're too absorbed in their work.

And, ya...the States are big..but..hmm...I guess under appreciated? Everything we have is entirely overlooked in favor of the big corporations and chain restaurants. My mom was telling me that when she went to Scotland, people were coming out of a local Cafe complaining because it didn't taste like Starbucks (which, really....tastes like total crap).

I know traveling Europe when you live in Europe isn't such a huge deal, but there's still a huge difference between traveling Europe and traveling the States. There's a lot of culture and history in Europe that we just don't have.

But...I do recommend visiting, because I think visitors get an entirely different idea. If you have the opportunity, I definitely recommend visiting DC (NOT during holiday season--you'd have to be batshit insane to want to go into the city during holidays; it's extremely busy and the tourist population is ridiculous, and anyone that isn't a tourist is likely making fun of the tourists) -- The Smithsonians are great and the Spy Museum can be really fun when the kids aren't breaking all the interactive exhibits. Yellowstone is absolutely beautiful and visiting San Antonio's Riverwalk on Cinco de Mayo can be really fun--they have parades and such.

So..it's not like there's NOTHING here. It's just...very overlooked by the people here. And the kids are nastier every year, so I'm really not liking where we're going. =/