I grew up in the heartland of the United States.
I didn’t think much about my own culture until I left my hometown to get my undergraduate degree in Global Studies.
Earning that Global Studies degree meant spending a lot of time outside the US… at which point my own American identity became a focal point of my studies.
I don’t want to bore anyone with what I learned, nor sell you on the merits of anthropology.
But you should know this: the fulcrum of successful anthropological studies is the anthropologist’s ability to know themselves. So, I first had to ‘study myself’ before I could hope to learn about other cultures.
Ten years later, I’m still on this journey of growth and understanding.
And I’m still an American abroad.
One of my favorite facets of travel is hearing what visitors think when they return home and have some time to process their experience. Even the most casual trips yield new perspectives.
In honor of the traveler’s journey and its ability to expand our horizons, I’m taking a look at a few of the most tangible things that I’ve learned about myself as an American abroad. Please keep in mind this list reflects my own life and experiences as someone who has lived, studied, and traveled across the world.
The US lives life in the fast lane
Of course, the pace of life in New York City isn’t quite the same as it is in rural Arkansas.
Despite the serious differences in lifestyles across the US, most Americans love having a boisterously good ol’ time.
In other words, we aren’t too shy about having fun and living life in the fast lane.
Whether racing bikes, playing cornhole, or watching a baseball game, we’re going to let it all out—in the name of fun, in the name of freedom, in the name of being alive, baby!
And I have to tell you—this isn’t exclusive to the United States. This is a pan-American characteristic. From Buenos Aires to Kingston to Omaha, Americans from across the New World aren’t expected to tighten the reigns when things get fun.
We’re going to turn up the volume and keep dancing.
The US glorifies the hustle
That being said, Americans don’t only like to turn up the heat when we’re having fun.
We’re also known for putting our nose down and grinding—especially when it comes to our sense of economic hustle. (For good or bad—I’m not going to delve into the morality of non-stop work.)
Just like the term ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ hints, Americans have a very tight hold on what we perceive as destiny. And for us, destiny is entirely malleable.
We’re encouraged to pursue our dreams, even if it means taking on added work with higher stakes.
I’ve found this type of maddening hustle to be pretty unique to the US, though I’ve also felt similarly when visiting both Mexico and Taiwan. I’ve also heard that places like China, Japan, and South Korea also work long hours for more days a week.
The US is extremely diverse
I have never been anywhere as diverse as the United States.
For all the critiques I hear about the US as an American living abroad (we’re loud, we’re ignorant, we’re racist), we’re extremely diverse. I grew up with more diversity in the Midwest than I experience today in Barcelona.
I’m talking about unique religious sects that live entirely of their own accord, from Mormon universities to Amish villages.
I’m talking linguistics, from Chinatowns where Mandarin is the common tongue to the Gullah-Geechee creole language of Georgia.
I’m talking entirely unique holidays, from Kwanzaa to Indigenous Peoples Day.
I could keep going, but I think you get my point. For all the flack the US takes for our cultural conflicts (which are warranted, in my opinion), these critiques fail to recognize just how functional our melting pot is.
The US has a hero mentality
The United States really loves an underdog.
And if you want to see how America imagines itself, then look no further than our fictional superheroes.
Superman is a great example. (There’s a reason he features keenly in Americana content.) But let’s not forget about more modern iterations of the American superhero.
Iron Man (2008) is probably the best example of our hero mentality—one that actually touches on the other elements listed in this article.
Let me lay it out: Tony Stark is a loud and boisterous hustler who uses his diverse network of connections to fashion himself from a tycoon businessman into a superhero. (That’s the modern Captain America, in my opinion.)
The US is very chill about debt
Lastly, I have to touch on this just because it regularly blows the minds of my European friends. It’s our relationship to debt.
My friends are astounded to hear that most American teenagers actually do take out tens of thousands of dollars in loans just for higher education.
But that’s not actually what shocks them. It’s when I start talking about how often we open up credit card accounts and accrue debt.
I have yet to meet a European friend with a credit card. Why not, you might ask? Well, that question gets flipped back pretty fast. The better question is—why spend money you don’t have?
The American reply is that I’ll have it soon. So long as I keep hustling.