In 1867, Mark Twain wrote the famous book The Innocents Abroad, where, in his witty and sometimes cynical manner, he shared travel notes from a long trip to European countries. More than a century and a half has passed since then, and if Mark Twain lived today, he would most likely choose TikTok to express his creativity.
Here’s another great example of the witty travelogue genre from Americans in Europe: the TikToker @royaventurera shared some out-of-context observations her husband had been making during their first big Euro trip. So once upon a time somewhere in Europe, far far away…
More info: TikTok
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Image credits: @royaventurera
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The first video with Roya’s husband’s notes went viral with over 1.5M views on TikTok, and by popular demand, Roya produced a second video that became even more viral, garnering around 1.9M views. It cannot be said that they are all united by some common concept, rather the opposite – however, something in these completely diverse phrases about local places of interest, people, food and customs obviously resonates in the hearts of any American who has ever crossed the Atlantic in the eastern direction.
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What cannot be taken away from Europe is its incredible diversity, both geographical and historical. When you stand on the stones that were laid in the pavement about three thousand years ago, or look at the buildings that remember Julius Caesar or Hannibal, it is difficult to abstract from this thought. However, Americans both in the time of Mark Twain and now were very American-centric, so do not be confused by the comparison of San Francisco, founded about 250 years ago, and almost one-thousand-year-old Amsterdam. In the end, these cities really have something in common… Some kind of a common vibe, don’t you think?
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By the way, the comparison is also appropriate in the opposite direction – Europe has adopted too much from the U.S. over the past centuries. Even the very concept of the contemporary European Union goes back to the great French novelist Victor Hugo, who at one time, back in 1849, came up with the idea of uniting all existing European countries into the so-called “United States of Europe”. Therefore, no matter how different, for example, life in Provence and Louisiana is, something in common can always be found.
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If you are interested in the topic of cultural differences between Europe and North America, seen from the point of view of natives who moved to new and unusual conditions for them, you can, for example, check out this post of ours about a Canadian in the Netherlands, or about a woman from a small Norwegian town who once moved to California. In the meantime, please feel free to read all of these really spot-on and witty remarks from this decent gentleman and maybe add your own in case you’ve ever had a chance to travel across Europe.
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