As someone who has spent most of his adult life traveling internationally, I love both returning to my own home town (to see what's changed, what's stayed the same), but even more to visit the home towns of new friends in new countries.

I'm living in Ho Chi Minh City now, and most of the people I meet are from small towns, either in the Mekong Delta or elsewhere in the country. Visiting these areas with a local is something unique... it may not seem so special to someone who calls the place home, but seen through the eyes of a foreigner, it can be amazing.