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What I Love About Americans As a Traveler

Casual conversations with strangers set you guys apart.

Taru Anniina Liikanen
4 min readJul 25, 2022
Photo by Stanislav Ivanitskiy on Unsplash

I just got back from my four-week vacation back home in Finland yesterday. I’m still sleeping off the 24 hours of travel and trying to get back to an Argentinian rhythm — which means today woke up at 3.30, but forced myself to stay in bed until 6 am.

Not to mention getting back on track with everything that’s been happening in the world in the last four weeks that I’ve pretty much been blissfully unaware of everything but my family, the sun and the taste of a fresh, cold IPA.

So, I’m still sticking to easy topics until I can get my head together, and this one came to mind while traveling through Dallas yesterday.

There are a lot of things I criticize about America. For example, it’s impossible for me to understand the lack of health care, social security and a decent education in many parts of the wealthiest country in the world.

The current political and institutional crisis — that’s been decades in the making — is tough to explain in a country that’s claimed the position of beacon of democracy in the world.

Against these things, what I love about the United States might seem superficial, but here it is: talking to strangers.

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Taru Anniina Liikanen
Taru Anniina Liikanen

Written by Taru Anniina Liikanen

Stand-up comedian and recovering political ghostwriter. Finnish by birth, porteña at heart. Bad jokes frequent.

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