An American Journal: Day 15 (Reflection)

Today has been a slow day, other than watching Bladerunner 2049 (which was great) we’ve just been taking it easy. I’m going to use the gap to write a reflection post, so if you’re here for the journal then skip ahead to Day 16 (it’s a lot more interesting).

Tonight Mari asked me a question I couldn’t answer so I’ll try to reflect on it here.

How has the States compared to your expectations?

My expectations before coming to the USA were simultaneously loaded and lacking in depth. As I’ve discussed before every setting here has a narrative attached thanks to television and movies.

I’ve seen the big cities before, but with larger than life characters on larger than life quests. I’ve seen the country landscapes before but with soundtracks that have guided me on how to feel about them.

I see them all here again and I recognise them, but for the first time I see them now for what they are; just regular places where regular people go to work, buy their groceries and hang out with their families.

In countries like Thailand, Nepal and Indonesia I didn’t have these big screen pre-conceived ideas of what life would be like, but in some ways the experience is just the same. You see that wherever you go, people are just people doing the same things that I’m sure people throughout the world do. They’re just trying to get by, and most of the time they’re trying to do it with a smile on their face.

In every country, including the States, travel helps to deconstruct your ideas to the point where you realise everyone is different, but also exactly the same.

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