Richard Turen
The greatest single discovery for first-time travelers overseas is that it can be quite different over there. And a corollary: We might actually have something to learn by observing how others deal with issues and how they enrich their lives.
I love sharing these observations with clients. Today, I want to share a few with you.
Sweden is, as one writer put it, a "supermarket without walls." When driving around its countryside, it is always advisable to have a large sack in the back seat for foraging.
The tourism folks have, in fact, started referring to Sweden as "The Edible Country." They have a program encouraging those motoring through the beautiful Swedish countryside to pull over and start looking for edibles growing in the wild. Residents and visitors alike can forage for parsnips and gooseberries to their heart's content.
Of course, you can't pull up to someone's lovely front yard and start gathering juniper berries, wild mushrooms and onions. To be precise, you have to stay 75 yards away from a private residence. But everyone in Sweden, including tourists, has a constitutional right to forage and relax on undeveloped land anywhere in the country.
So, while you can't go stomping through someone's garden, you can go almost anywhere else and consider the land to be your own as you hunt for fresh contributions to the evening meal. Or perhaps lay out a picnic blanket and go looking for lunch.
There is one rule, and that is that you are not allowed to "disturb or destroy" the land where your harvesting.
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Let's stay on the topic of food but move to the opposite side of the world. For the past 30 years, I have done an informal cocktail-hour survey of guests accompanying us on our annual international vacations. I always ask, "If all costs were covered, would you be willing to move here tomorrow to begin a new phase of your life?" There is one country where close to 50% said they would, in a heartbeat: New Zealand.
But life isn't perfect anywhere. It turns out that many Kiwis have been reduced to ordering groceries online from Australia. Grocery prices have been soaring, and a head of cauliflower is now about $10. This is due, in large measure, to the fact that New Zealand places a 15% goods and services tax on virtually every food category. Australia doesn't.
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Back to Scandinavia: Finland has had a problem in its beachfront cities. Packs of teenagers partying on beaches are disturbing some of the rather affluent residents living in seaside homes. What to do? How to stop it?
The Finns were determined that the noise would not continue.
The police came up with a solution to disperse these unruly adolescents: A number of police vans were equipped with powerful loudspeakers. The police would, without fanfare, pull up near the party beach and begin playing classical music as loudly as the speakers could. Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" was the piece selected most often.
And guess what? It has worked. One police official explained, "Young people stay away from places where there is classical music."
That is crime prevention, Finnish style.
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And finally, a challenge to the long-standing assumption that you could always count on the German train system to run on time.
Deutsche Bahn, the German rail network, issued a report this summer stating that only 64% of long-distance German trains reach their destination on time. Once a source of national pride, Germany's train system is now seen as "chaotic" by residents.
Nothing is forever.