Thursday, November 29, 2012

Thirty Days of Thanks - Day 29


Earlier this month I wrote about how I was especially thankful for my own city.  Although this post is another one that was meant to have made it much sooner than today, today, and most days, I’m thankful for many other cities and towns around the world.  I’m always surprised when I meet someone who I feel is extremely cultured, sophisticated, intelligent, well-read, and domestically well-traveled who has also made it out of his or her 20s without making it to another continent.  It makes me feel even more fortunate that I’ve had the opportunity to visit Europe several times, and even got to live there for a little while.

Living in Italy, though the relationship that made it possible ended badly, was probably one of the most valuable long-term experiences I’ve ever had.  It gave me a new perspective on how other people throughout the world view the United States, be it good, bad, or both at the same time.  Though the US certainly has its problems with respect to the glass ceiling and women earning lower wages than men for the same work, living in such a male-dominated society gave me a new appreciation for how far we have come.  On a completely different note, I also started getting more enjoyment out of the little things in life, probably because they were so different!

Visiting other countries has led to great times with family and friends, and has allowed me to see and experience important pieces of history – both my own and that of the world.  Probably more important to me, however, is that traveling helped me to find the other city in which I feel more at home than any other place in the world: Vienna, Austria.  I’m convinced that I lived there in a former life, which also makes me wonder where else in the world I’d feel so at home – there must be somewhere else.  Here’s to more traveling in the future!

The gardens at Schönbrun in Vienna

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