"Tilt-And-Turn Windows": 32 Things Travelers Were Impressed By In Other Countries

To learn more about this topic from a travel expert, we reached out to Alyse of The Invisible Tourist. Alyse was kind enough to share her thoughts on things she's come across around the world that she wishes her home country of Australia had.

First, the traveler mentioned Japanese toilets. "If you know, you know! Having the luxury of a heated seat in the cold months, the 'privacy' music option in public toilets to mask less desirable sounds, the famous bidet, automatic flush and lid lift... Doing one's business has never felt as luxurious as it does in Japan," Alyse explained.

We were also curious if Alyse expects to find any of these fancy toilets in Australia any time soon. "Toilets with bidets are certainly hard to come by in Australia," she noted. "You can purchase an expensive Japanese-style lid as an add-on to your current home toilet, but the downside is it requires a power point nearby to function."

"Our home bathrooms and public toilets haven't been built with this requirement in mind," she explained. "The result is power extension cables stretching across our bathrooms (as the case with one of my friends recently!) or bathroom renovations. Hopefully with more and more fellow Australians visiting Japan each year, they will embrace this cultural toilet difference, and soon it won't seem weird to install power points beside toilets."

On the other hand, we wanted to know if there's anything Australia does well that Alyse might miss if she were to permanently move abroad. "I do think Australia does really well with our road markings and traffic signage," she told Bored Panda.

"Within our massive country with no high-speed rail, driving long distances interstate is very common so good signage is important. Highway exit signage is large and clearly marked, double white lines down the centre of more rural roads to warn not to pass, ample overtaking lanes," she explained.

"In contrast, when driving in other countries, I found some intersections to be confusing at times, as the traffic lights are placed after the intersection instead of before it. Or, highway exits aren't clear and it's easy to miss the turnoff, and other kinds of warning signs we have in Australia to aid driving aren't found abroad," Alyse noted.

"Separately, when abroad, I do really miss the diversity of cuisine we have in Australia, especially in our capital cities," Alyse says. "Most people think of Aussie food as sausage rolls and meat pies, but we have cuisines from every corner of the Earth."

"Cravings for Indian, Greek, Vietnamese, South African, Turkish, Japanese, Nepalese, Brazilian and everything in between can easily be satisfied. In some countries, the option is the local cuisine without many alternatives, which is fine of course! But if traveling for an extended time or living abroad, it's nice to mix things up once in a while," she explained.

If you'd like to learn more about Alyse's travels, be sure to visit The Invisible Tourist or check out her book How to Not Look Like a Tourist!

We were also lucky enough to get in touch with Canadian globetrotter King Siu of Travel, Eat, Drink to hear his thoughts on this topic. As far as things he's been a bit envious of when traveling abroad, King shared, "The public transit system in most countries is better than what we'd find in Canada. While in the major cities, like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, you'll find decent systems, it doesn't compare to major cities like NYC, London, Paris, or Hong Kong. And if you look at the inter-city train systems, especially when it comes to high-speed rail, we really don't do well there."

"Protected bike lanes are something that I've seen in many other countries that we are only starting to do in Canada," the traveler added. "There are so many benefits to getting more people on bikes and out of cars, but many like myself are hesitant because of the safety concerns of riding in open traffic."

King has also noticed that, in some countries, residents are able to pick up alcohol from corner stores. "In Canada, until recently, alcohol could only be purchased in special government stores, so it was not nearly as convenient," he explained. "They have since expanded the sale of wine and beer to selected grocery stores, but one definitely has to plan in advance. I know this isn't really an important one, and we should all probably drink less, but it is definitely a convenience I enjoy when I'm abroad."

"I found that most places do a much better job of preserving the history of their cities, and I'm speaking mainly about buildings/architecture," he added. "In Canada, we've mainly just knocked down old buildings and put up new glass boxes. This might be a hot take, but while I love my hometown of Toronto, architecturally it's not an attractive city when compared to other major cities of the world - unless you're a fan of glass boxes."

Great urban green spaces are another thing King appreciates when traveling abroad. "While we have them, I don't feel they are often spaces that really draw people in and keep them there," he noted. "NYC and London are top of mind for having great park spaces of all sizes throughout the city that are destinations."

"In Canada, we tend to just add some grass, trees, and maybe just throw in a playground," the traveler says. "And while that's better than nothing, the equivalent in NYC or London would likely also include a cafe or a restaurant to make the space more inviting and functional, not to mention that the lease for that business likely provides funding to help improve and maintain that park space."

We also asked King if he expects these things to become more prevalent in Canada. "The transit and bike lane situation is slowly getting better, and I do feel it will get there eventually, but it will take many decades," he told Bored Panda. "Besides the enormous costs, attitudes around car use need to change. The younger generations are definitely more accepting of using public transit and even not owning a car, so once they become the decision makers I think we will see more progress there."

"As much as it's important to me, I don't think alcohol purchasing is high enough on the radar for politicians just yet to become a priority," he added with a laugh. "There has been a more strategic effort in Canada to preserve our historical buildings, so going forward, I'm hopeful that our cities can retain more architectural personality."

"I feel that most of the things I spoke of earlier are generational issues that will slowly resolve themselves as the younger generations become more influential," King explained. "We're more accepting of change and in a world where it's not crazy to not own a car and instead use public transit and car share services like Uber."

But of course, there are plenty of things that Canada does well too, so we asked King to share some of his favorites. "I do like the conveniences of having things open later, and in some cases 24/7," he noted. "Not having to worry if my tap water is clean. I really miss air conditioning sometimes when I'm away, as it's pretty standard everywhere in Canada."

"I appreciate free public restrooms in Canada, which isn't always the case abroad," King continued. "I love coffee, and in particular brewed coffee. This is a bit trickier to find outside of North America as espressos are usually the norm. So, it's comforting to know that any cafe I go into in Canada will have brewed coffee."

"Universal healthcare is something I took for granted growing up in Canada. It's not perfect, but it's nice to not worry about going bankrupt if I get sick," King added. "Courteous drivers are something I miss when I'm driving outside of Canada, and it always takes me a minute to adjust from polite Canadian driver to less polite Canadian driver in order to survive the local driving customs."

King also loves the good natured rivalry at sporting events you'll find in Canada. "You can go to an opposing team's arena/stadium and cheer for your team without fear of death," he noted. "There may be some trash talking, but it's generally done in good fun. This isn't really the case in many places, especially when dealing with soccer/football matches abroad."

Finally, King added, "I know most of what I said is really just an inconvenience, and that there are more important issues in the world. But, of the ones that can make a difference to helping people live happier, healthier, and more balanced lives, let's try to make them happen!"

If you'd like to follow King's adventures and keep up with his travels around the world, be sure to check out his YouTube channel Travel, Eat, Drink!