Local People seem to be more friendly when im on vacation.

I have been to the foreign countries of Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, and Louisville. The people there seem to be similar to the ones in the California big cities and suburbs as far as being more reserved and not openly friendly at first. I have found that they can be friendly if I initiate the friendly exchange.
I have found that most of our California beach towns are very openly friendly to strangers. The people of the California Central Valley have been friendly to me even when they find out that I’m a California native (68 years).
My experience has found that people who don’t live in or near big cities tend to be more outgoing and friendly than the big city dwellers.

On the other had, I walked into a small restaurant in a small town outside of Louisville, Kentucky and everyone of the 14 people in there stopped talking and stared at me. The waitress came over to me and asked me what I wanted. I told her that I would like to get some breakfast. She looked me up and down, gave me a smile, and seated me. Everyone went back to talking.

About 11 years later a similar thing occurred in the very small town of Wever, Iowa.