One American; a handful of those that hail from slightly older countries

Far left: the most put together 16-year-old I've ever met, a German named Tobi. My mom was still making me lunch at 16, and I was certainly not at night clubs halfway around the world smoking Cuban cigars and drinking Japanese beer.

Some of the truly fascinating and interesting moments have come, of course, in conversation with people like Tobi. While the themes have varied -- commentary on the U.S. has reigned supreme and I will save such a large polemic for another time -- the worldview of Europeans travelling is so completely different from ours. It sounds obvious, but I would say that it's an easy thing to know, but not so much to understand. They have insightful things to say about culture and life, and have for the most part -- because they value travel more highly than we do -- understand cultural and political differences through a wider lense.