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. The level of shock this country put on me shattered that thought and re-aligned my perspective on life in a manner I hadn't 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 fifteen just down the street. 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. Now you've got yourself another town to explore.
The history was another massive difference. Being able to travel through the Roman Forum from 2000 years ago, walking through castles from the Napoleanic era, and finding random historical objects 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.
Beautiful U.S.A. What more is there to say?
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 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. Suck it now dad, I don't have back problems yet.
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 the local lagoon.
Later when I went with my brother and father, we got to do a whole plethora of activities. 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 everything 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 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 hit, so the waves were gnarly. The lagoons were nice, and they had that famous "luminescent plankton". We kayaked down one during 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 state, would recommend.
Went on a submarine. It was sick. I also remember being a spoiled little brat on this trip (same with most trips when I was younger to be honest), so I hadn't really experienced the state to its fullest. I would love to go back again with my family to re-experience what it has to offer.
Briefly stopped by here as a small part of the Ohio Cedar Point trip. Got a boat on Lake Erie and went fishing.
I lived here for some time, and I can't really say that it was a pleasant experience. Though a good chunk of that wasn't necessarily the fault of the state, but instead the situation I found myself in. I have fond memories with many while I grew up there throughout Elementary school.
Lots of trash. At least in the city...
Was young when I went here. All I remember is visiting the Cedar Point amusement park and being too small to ride all of the fun rides.
In all honesty people like to complain about Oklahoma for a variety of reasons, but to be honest
I find most of their rationale to be unjust. Also keep in mind that my perspective is from my experience living around the OKC metro area.
This state does have problems, don't get me wrong, especially
with its education system. But if we compare the education system here with respect to the rest of the country
in its current state, then really it's not much different. Plus in the surrounding metro area, there are some
OKC itself is quite nice, but small. It is also far more functional than many of the larger cities within the country, like Chicago or San Antonio. Oklahoma in general also has a nice charming social aspect to it, wherein it threads a needle where it's just big enough that if you travel or engage with some new activity, then everyone there will likely be new to you. However it's also just small enough where if you live here long enough, then you are always at least 2-3 degrees of separation from everyone in the state. My personal biggest complaints are lack of public transport and a climbing scene that isn't large enough. Everything else I really appreciate however. Oh and a nice bonus is that we have some of the most beautiful sunsets in the entire world. We can thank the red dirt for that.
Anything you hear about Portland in the media is by no means indicative of the entire 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 subsequent 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 and the water was literally blue. It was like water drawn on cartoons, rather than the muck of ponds. There were numerous waterfalls on this single trail and in a small pool before one we got to bathe in it and boil water to cook before returning back... The cooking happened first. On another trail, it began raining as we began so we had to hide out beneath some trees to wait it out. Oh and the trees in this state were straight. I mean really straight. These things grew a perfect 90 degrees up from the ground.
I also got to go and camp out on 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 sounded ike someone jumping in, even the occasional fish leaping out. All of the Native American stories about the Wendigo's suddenly become very believable in places like this. Alongside the natural beauty of the land what was even more 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 'em without interrupting your walk. Another great state.
Went on a big trip here with my extended family. Got to see the Liberty Bell & ate an authentic Chili Cheese steak.
This state has many charming points from its geography, pit-stops and personal attachment from family reunions. The landscape here is gorgeuous,
landing itself on the border of the beginning of what I call the "Pacific Northwest" landscaping in the Eastern part of the state and the Great Plains
in the other parts. The Douglas Firs of the Eastern section house the chipmunks as well as the beautiful rolling hills that are so characteristic of Wyoming
and further West. The Great Plains here is also unlike the other states, as it contains the
Have only been to Dallas and Galveston, though the Dallas aquarium is cool. A while back I had to drive up here at 2:00AM to drop someone off at the airport as an emergency trip. I rented a hotel and forgot to bring spare contacts for the return trip... This state has been infamous in my life for screwing me over with vision problems.
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. My pre-school was poised up top a cliff over-looking the ocean and I can still clearly see the occasional submarine going to and from a local harbor.
When I was younger I got to visit Yellowstone park as a family trip, however I don't have any photos with me currently. In the Summer of 2026 during a family reunion, my brother dad and I had an off day so we went and visited Devil's Tower. Very neat little thing, I'd love to climb it sometime in the future if at all possible.
Last edit on July-19-2026