World’s most welcoming countries
International hospitality from Iceland to Bosnia
If It Were My Home provides statistical comparison of energy consumption, life expectancy and financial and socio-economic conditions between countries. Choose two countries, find out how they measure up and then post your comments to the community message board.
The road test: We completed a variety of comparisons between countries, including:
- United States v Afghanistan
- Colombia v Ghana
- United Kingdom v Bangladesh
- Australia v Japan
- United Arab Emirates v Switzerland
- Venezuela v Norway
- China v India
and the list goes on…
Then we checked out the Disasters page, which helps users to visualize the size of the BP Oil Spill and Pakistani flooding by pairing it with other, more familiar landmasses. For example the impact of the Pakistani flood-affected territory is equal in size to part of the United States east coast, from Vermont to South Carolina.
The highlights: This is a great site for conveying facts in a way that is relatable to you. If you were American, Afghanis would use 99% less electricity than you do. The information is interesting and well-cited, and the disasters component makes the magnitude of these tragedies much more comprehendible, at least on a physical scale. We would, however, like to see more recent phenomena such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and the flooding along the Mississippi River in the United States.
The speedbumps: While the information is interesting, we feel like… great, now what? This isn’t what we need to know in order to move elsewhere, is it? It would also be fun to incorporate some miscellaneous and perhaps lighter factoids: likeliness to drive a car, time spent at work, consumption of beef products or litres of beer, etc.
The bottom line: We like If It Were My Home because we think the content is interesting and relatable; we are just aren't sure how often we'll be back.
Florence’s unlikely artistic win 
Reader Q&A: Three days in Delhi 
On the road: San Pedro de Atacama 
Exploring Laos’ Pak Ou Caves 
Best places to heal a broken heart 
Epicurean Slovenia makes its mark 
Walking with Jesus in the Galilee 
Vancouver’s revamped night market 
New Mexico’s hospital turned hotel 
Business trip: Denver 
Four apps encourage smarter detours 
Are the French really arrogant? 
Navigating Laos’ treacherous roads 
What makes air passengers happy? 
Our favourite images of the week 
Top 10 North American gardens 
A salty offering to Polish saints 
Cuba, the Caribbean’s wild island 