We have the best chain restaurants. It's easy to diss them as such, but there is something to be said for knowing that the Outback or Chili's or Waffle House near your hotel will be the same as the one back home.

We have the best ethnic restaurants. As recently as 1980 you could not get a decent Chinese meal in a town smaller than Albuquerque. Now every burg has not only Chinese food, but an all-you-can-eat Asian-fusion buffet, and also Teppan. Every interstate exit has a phỏ or a Mongolian barbecue.

Other things we Americans take for granted: 24-hour coffee shops. All-you-can-eat salad bars. Free refills. Drive-thrus. Pizza delivered nearly anywhere in 30 minutes.

I tend to take it for granted when traveling overseas that there will be the same kind of restaurant availability and value that there is here. Ain't necessarily so, for example Paris, France. Ever tried to get dinner for two for €50?