Andrew Sarangan wrote:

There is great truth in what the other poster said about Americans
expecting the whole world to be the same. I have traveled in Europe
and Asia, and you can spot an American easily because they are the
ones who insist on speaking English, have specific eating and sleeping
criteria. Most of the other travelers (particularly Europeans) had no
qualms about staying at local hostels, eating at roadside restaurants
and chatting with the locals in their language. I found American
tourists were typically older, had more money, and were traveling in
groups or charted bus tours and typically seen around major tourist
attractions. Europeans, Canadians and Australians were much younger,
and were traveling off the beaten path.

I think this is changing with many of our
youth. My daughter has no problem with
grabbing a backpack and sleeping bag and
heading out on a new adventure with minimal
planning and organization. Many college
age students do this and hopefully they will
turn into middle-aged people that are more
flexable.

I've spent months in Japan living on the
economy and a week in a construction camp
in the Sierra Madres. Not to mention some
military time in Germany. I've used about
every kind of toilet in the world and not
complained. That must count for something (: