I’ve been thinking about how different it feels on each of the continents I’ve visited this year. Both South America and Africa have an almost dichotomous culture—you are a local or you are a foreigner. Perhaps it’s because I visited Europe during the height of tourist season, but the cultures there seemed to be much more accepting of outsiders, maybe even indifferent.

The countries are all smushed together in Europe, and there’s thousands of years of history between them. Power has also seesawed back and forth between the different empires and nations, so I feel although there’s definitely competition between them, there isn’t necessarily outright animosity.

It’s only been Kenya and Tanzania here in Africa, and will additionally only be South Africa, but there’s much more of a feeling of judgement based on whether you look like you’re from here or not. And maybe that’s because the countries are large, and there isn’t thousands of years of history between the cultures here and the cultures of Europe. Power has also not been a seesaw, not even close. There’s just a hint of resentment here towards my (very) white skin. It will be interesting to see if South Africa is any different, as there is a lot of history with Europe in Cape Town, and due to that history a lot of European settlement.

South America was more similar to Africa than Europe. I don’t recall a feeling of resentment among the locals, but there was definitely a distance, and it seemed I was always immediately labeled a ‘gringo.’ Tourism is more developed on that continent than here, and I wonder if that’s garnered some acceptance from native communities. Obviously neither country has the level of tourism exposure as Europe.

So there are definitely many variables in play, but the fact remains that the feelings I’ve experienced in each place have been very different. On the one hand, that should be expected—they are different places. But on the other, it always does surprise me a little bit that I surprise the locals so much. Yes, I’m just like you. I want the same things—prosperity for myself and my family, love and recognition from people. I do the same things—I spend time with friends, I work, I sleep, I eat.

The more places I visit in this world, the more my conviction grows stronger: this is an incredibly diverse planet, and our species has thousands of unique cultures. But we are more similar than we are different. We are all human.