Travelling is an amazing luxury and offers great perspective. We just can't forget to visit our brothers and sisters elsewhere in our own country. If someone intends to hold a strong opinion regarding a thing, I totally agree that it's best to have real world experience with it. Like you I've had conversations with people that have flip flopped on their views after having an "enlightening" experience abroad or domestically. It's always interesting trying to figure out their thoughr process as they try to wrestle with the ideals that academia, their social circle, work, and the media have fed them in comparison with their own n=1 experiment. Seeing truly is believing.
I've been pleasantly surprised by places I thought I'd hate, and I've been to places that everyone raves about that had me itching to leave(just my own personal taste again).......but I'm still glad I had those experiences as uncomfortable as they were. I'm still in flux though. Come August the wife finishes her final round of training and we'll be trying to settle somewhere for the long haul.....which is both exciting and kind of nerve wracking think we won't be running away to a new destination every 2-4 years.