Sometimes, the astir memorable parts of traveling overseas aren't the landmarks everyone tells you to see. They're the small, mundane things you announcement on the mode — the nationalist systems, societal habits, and taste norms that marque you wonderment wherefore they aren't much communal backmost home. After our recent roundup of planetary customs radical wished they could follow successful the US went viral, readers wrote successful with adjacent much examples from their ain travels. So, present are 21 traditions, habits, and practices from astir the satellite that they deliberation America could larn from:
1. "My mom's broadside of the household is German. I person been determination galore times. Work/life equilibrium is what they have. You get a minimum of 4 weeks paid abrogation per year, adjacent astatine McDonald's, successful your archetypal twelvemonth of work! My relative worked for a naturopath for galore years. She had 16 weeks of paid abrogation per year! I deliberation Americans would beryllium healthier and happier if they had a spot much clip to relax."
Picture Alliance / Getty Images
2. "In Japan, astir factories and businesses articulation unneurotic successful the parking batch and bash stretches and exercises earlier the workday, and sometimes after."
Maroke / Getty Images
3. "When I was sick successful London, the doc came to my edifice country with a small achromatic bag. He checked maine out, past gave maine pills straight from his container for tonsillitis and receptor infections. It was truthful casual and convenient."

Gary Yeowell / Getty Images
4. "Ireland has repurposed and prominently marked telephone booths to clasp easy disposable defibrillators and instructions connected however to usage them. You'll spot them successful each town, from tiny villages to ample cities. If idiosyncratic has a bosom attack, their availability saves lives, particularly successful agrarian areas wherever it mightiness instrumentality clip for the EMS to arrive."

Derick Hudson / Getty Images
5. "Countries wherever it is normalized to person a sauna successful the house. I stayed successful a edifice successful Vilnius, Lithuania, that had a sauna successful the suite. It was amazing."

Rytis Bernotas / Getty Images
6. "I truly miss the banchan, oregon broadside dishes, served with meals successful Korea. You could get afloat by lone eating them, but the nutrient successful wide is truthful flavorful and delicious that you can't assistance but gobble up what you ordered, regardless!"

Irina Marwan / Getty Images
7. "Practically everyplace successful Germany, you tin spell to a bakery — oregon a bakery successful a supermarket, oregon astatine the bid presumption — and get a freshly made sandwich, and determination are galore varieties."

Panama7 / Getty Images
8. "Charcuterie for meal successful Germany."

Arfo / Getty Images
9. "I emotion the feeling of not being hurried successful a Catalan oregon Spanish restaurant. You tin speech with your chap diners agelong aft your repast has finished. Because waiters are paid decently present and don't person the backward strategy of relying connected tips, there's nary hurry to crook tables truthful quickly. A idiosyncratic tin afloat bask their repast without feeling similar they're going to beryllium shooed retired of the edifice arsenic soon arsenic the past fork drops."

Ucg / Getty Images
10. "In Rome, I emotion the Nasone h2o fountains, which are perpetually flowing, clean, fresh, and beautiful. I besides loved the deficiency of 'to-go' culture. Americans are ever connected the spell and successful a rush, hurriedly picking up java and nutrient successful small containers and consuming them en way to the adjacent happening we person to do. In Italy, it was truthful fantastic to dilatory down, sip java from a cupful and saucer, and really beryllium and bask meals."

Piola666 / Getty Images
11. "The subway successful Mexico City is fast, and determination is simply a bid each 2 minutes. Weekends included! It's besides precise cleanable and safe, with cops connected tiny platforms astatine each station. The New York City subway is an embarrassment to civilization."

Abalcazar / Getty Images
12. "In Denmark, the bicycle culture! Everyone — dressed to the nines, oregon students going to people — gets astir connected galore antithetic styles of bicycles. There are immense bicycle parking tons extracurricular of their underground transit stations and besides scattered each astir antithetic areas successful the cities. They adjacent person their ain postulation lights to follow. There are 3 sets of postulation lights to watch: 1 acceptable for autos, 1 acceptable for pedestrians, and a wholly antithetic acceptable for cyclists. Absolutely loved the healthy, zero-emissions manner they follow."

George Pachantouris / Getty Images
13. "London taxis. They beryllium up to six radical and person plentifulness of country for a mates with luggage. I privation them successful NYC."

Cristian Storto Fotografia / Getty Images
14. "Three French customs that I emotion are asking household members each greeting if they person slept good ('Bien dormi?'), greeting each coworker successful your bureau each day, and being thanked for a acquisition with kisses connected some cheeks ('la bise')."

Yellow Dog Productions / Getty Images
15. "It's a small thing, but aft surviving successful Puerto Rico for the past 3 years, erstwhile I spell backmost to the US, the deficiency of 'buen provecho' strikes maine arsenic weird. It fundamentally means 'bon appétit,' and you accidental it to anyone who is eating anyplace — like, walking to your array astatine a restaurant, successful the lunchroom with your coworkers, oregon if a alien grabs a snack from a cart connected the sidewalk portion you're walking by."

Jeff Greenberg / Getty Images
16. "While traveling successful Greece, we observed radical lingering successful cafes. Sometimes it was aft a repast oregon an aperitif. Several hold unit would say, 'Siga, siga,' to us. When we questioned them, they said it meant 'slowly, slowly,' and past went connected to explicate that Greeks don't similar to unreserved done their lives, but similar to instrumentality a relaxed pace. Something they said is not seen successful American visitors!"

Izzet Keribar / Getty Images
17. "In Japan, respect for elders was a given. On crowded trains, successful lines astatine the market store, radical gave up their spot truthful 'obaasan' oregon 'ojiisan' (grandmothers and grandfathers) could beryllium down arsenic needed, oregon didn't person agelong waiting times successful line. I privation we integrated that courtesy here. Older radical are not discarded there."

Sopa Images / Getty Images
18. "Every edifice successful Spain has to person a nationalist bathroom. According to folklore, immoderate king made this rule, and they've kept it going for hundreds of years due to the fact that it's specified a large idea. I often permission a tiny tip, but you don't person to. It definite makes traveling easier for an aged man!"

Pablo Blazquez Dominguez / Getty Images
19. "In Paris, each greeting astatine astir 4 a.m., thoroughfare washers travel down the thoroughfare and lavation distant each the detritus of the erstwhile day, including Pierre Poodle's poo. So each greeting erstwhile radical commencement their engaged days, the streets are clean, and there's thing icky to measurement into. I thought that was sheer genius."

Olli0815 / Getty Images
20. And finally, "I emotion the feeling of information and information successful Japan. As a elder woman, I ne'er felt unsafe, nary substance what clip of the time oregon night. Also, if you suffer oregon hide anything, determination is nary request to worry. It volition beryllium precisely wherever you near it. No 1 volition ever instrumentality thing that doesn't beryllium to them."

Marco Bottigelli / Getty Images

1 day ago
9





English (US) ·