”What is your favorite country?”. Oh, many times have I been asked this one.
The facile response would be to sigh deeply, look in to the distance, and whisper ’Italy – it is just so romantic’. And, of course, that is a perfectly reasonable answer, and the reason that 70 million people visit that country each year. As a full time traveler I get to see many, many countries, and have developed a general list of how I evaluate a country. In no particular order:
Landscape. I tend to enjoy greener places with varied topography more than brown flat places. Botswana is beautiful, but after about 800km of savannah I rather tuned out. Ditto for a few hours of sand in Oman. Contrast that with the wildly changing vistas of Vietnam and South Africa. Novelty, surprise and variety are things that I crave.
Military posture. There is an immediately obvious difference between places where the military on the streets act as if they are there to protect citizens against outrages (Spain), or protect elites against citizens (Equatorial Guinea). Walking around a place that spends a lot of resources on keeping their own population in line reminds me of how fortunate I am.
Public images of leadership. I did not make it to Iraq before Saddam took a tumble, but my impression is that every upright plane was plastered with an image of the great leader. For a contemporary version of this extreme vanity, visit Brunei. My sense is that if anyone has to try to reinforce to the populace how great they are, then they are most likely to be less than great. A clear indicator that oppression or extreme manipulation is the current choice.
Architecture, and the built environment. While a village of half-timbered houses nestled in a German forest is just about heaven for me, I thoroughly appreciate the vernacular structures in Albania. The style of ’half built structures of concrete block with rebar sticking out the top’ is sadly a global norm. Whether there is an appearance of collective design and care, or the low hanging fruit of individual choice; rich or poor, there is aesthetic.
Planted Environment. Two levels. Crops that thrive in a locale may be beautiful or not, and I may favour the lavender fields over corn expanses. But of much greater interest to me are what residents choose to tend in non commercial spaces. A single orange tree in a dusty Omani village may be remarkable for it’s rarity. But the relentlessly, exuberantly, almost impossibly dense plantings of decorative species around Samoa speak of a civic engagement that is, in my experience, unparalled.
Personal presentation. This goes at how the people choose to dress, and how they adorn their possessions. At the end of consistent fails are the dreary clothes of Ukrainians and modern South Korean uniform compared to the gorgeous dresses of Liberian women and traditional Bolivian attire. At the fail end are the drab, dented taxis in so many places contrasted with the wildly adorned wedding cake minibuses in Thailand. Do they plant even a token shrub in front of a shop? Extra points.
The Gini Coefficient. A measure of wealth distribution, with zero being a place where everyone is equal, to 1, where one person owns everything. Seeing exceptional functional social countries such as Finland prioritize collective success over supreme personal wealth in places such as Paraguay makes me happier. As someone who is acutely aware that I am am wealthier than nearly everyone I see, visiting and thoroughly enjoying South Africa, with the world’s highest Gini, does cause me some personal discomfort.
Rubbish. As with many of the aspects on my list this is a cultural choice, not an economic one. In many places the salient visual feature is a checkerboard of faded plastic objects and other discarded dross paving the streets. Ditches are filled with a mix of organic and inorganic trash. On temple grounds in Nepal groups of young men stand around in windrows of trash. In stark contrast in Rwanda it is surprising to see any discarded item. Come on people.
Sanitation, both public and private. Driving around Nicaragua, a very poor place, I was struck by how there is a solidly built outhouse on virtually every modest property. From the consistent design it appears to be a government program. Contrast that with open sewers in Belize City and some spectacularly awful toilets in Eastern Europe. Clean, functional toilets are so central to public health and happiness, and just not that hard or expensive to construct, that absence is remarkable.
How they treat their dogs. In many places I see lots of dogs (Sud Tirol); in others virtually none at all (Mauritius). The condition of the ones that I do see really influences how I perceive a region. The scraggy, sad, poxy ones in Sierra Leone lower my happiness compared to the lean, lively, playful ones on the beach on Zanzibar.
Are there goats roaming? I love goats.
Unhoused population. The presence of a high number of homeless people speaks volumes to me. It says that the State is not committed to working for the citizens it is supposed to represent. It really is not an economic condition – there are shocking numbers of homeless in the U.S., while there are none to be seen at all in South Korea.
Begging. A large number of people asking me for money (as opposed to trying to sell me something) wears me down and make me sad or frustrated. This is a cultural construct, not an economic one. Apologies for singling out the U.S. again, but it is a stark contrast to poor Namibia, where not a single person asked me for anything.
The unexpected. Some places get bonus points for being iconoclastic. I just do not understand why the Japanese do many of the things that they do, but my trip was so filled with ’huh?’ and ’wow, that is interesting’ that it bumped the country up my rankings.
Smoking. The studies indicate that the better educated and economically better off a person is, the less likely they are to smoke. The world returns varied results. Lebanon leads the league in my experience. Yet beautiful Western Europe still has a stunning number of smokers. They reduce my happiness every time I sit for a meal.
Without explication I also consider general safety, the presence or absence of chain stores, and ambient noise levels.
Who is at the bottom of my list? Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea.
Who is at the top? …