I'll add to this. Every place has its ups and downs, and the cultural distance allows Westerners to completely miss the negatives. Normally this is canceled out

I'll add to this. Every place has its ups and downs, and the cultural distance allows Westerners to completely miss the negatives. Normally this is canceled out because the majority of nonwestern nations are visibly poor. That means it can just seem incredibly cool and fun, while it's actually a relatively boring country in the scheme of things