Many people in Rhode Island have never been to Boston, let alone New York. I’ve coached a very successful entrepreneur who has never been to New York and doesn’t wish to go. Most people can’t locate Bolivia or Laos (or Nebraska) on a map.

When Americans in a survey were asked the three most famous Japanese they could think of, it was Bruce Lee, Yoko Ono, and Godzilla. Or not?

Through my travels abroad, I learned:
- To eat “European style.”
- People are far more multi-lingual than we are.
- Computers in foreign airport restrooms tell you how many stalls are available, and you can rate the cleanliness.
- Floating markets of Thailand (and the Cayman).
- The immensity of the Great Wall (some of which can’t be fixed today).
- The Acropolis uses the same machinery today to repair it as was used to build it.
- The exquisite wines of Chile don’t travel well.
- The modernized airport immigration systems.
- There is better first class (Emirates, Air Singapore).
- Some lamps are older than our country.
- The timeless artistry (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rodin, Mozart, Vivaldi).
- Bikes, scooters, motorcycles, and trains are used for everyday commutes.
- People in the US are stagnantly Americentric.

We see the world through distorted lenses: US TV, US papers, US social media friends. If it’s truly a global economy, we ought to be a global people. Diversity goes beyond borders.