Originally Posted by oneworld82

And that's the difference between traveling to understand how a country is really like and traveling just to put dots on a map and brag with friends...

Still, I respect more anyone who travels over anyone who judges other cultures without having ever witnessed them... I myself try to fly places taking the long way around and trying as many first or business classes as possible (because I am an airline geek of sort). But then, if you read my trip reports, you see that I try to immerse myself into the country and to understand it from my point of view - however faulty that might be.

Yet, I am European, and I find Europeans are in general more keen to travel this way, while Americans (among which I live now) prefer a different, more rushed travel style. Think two weeks vacations vs long weekends (I am we'll aware I am generalizing here).