The things America does better than Britain

My epic journeys across the US revealed plenty of things us Britons can learn from our friends across the pond

It has taken me two cross-country bicycle trips and more than 8,000 miles in the saddle to realise that America doesn’t need to be made great again. Because it may already be the greatest country on Earth.
Sure, some of the food is rubbish, and tipping has spiralled out of control, but from iconic national parks that are visible from space, to billboards that champion small-town heroes, the USA is a nation that occupies a special place in my heart.
In fact, when I’m asked where I would go if I could do just one holiday over and over again, my answer is the USA.
But what can we learn from their best bits? Here are nine things that I think the US does better than Britain.
From Denali to Yosemite, via Big Bend and Yellowstone (the world’s first national park, created in 1872), the variety and diversity of protected landscapes in the US is mind-blowing. Many – the Grand Canyon, for example – are not just icons of America, but of the world.
Patrolled by a team of passionate rangers, they remain one of those non-political entities that unite most Americans. But, while they inspired Britain to do similar in the middle of the 20th century, our national parks have, unfortunately, never been cherished, or protected, in quite the same way.
Amidst the enormity of America, camping just feels a bit more gnarly than it often does within the pokey confines of little Britain. Sure, many of their federal and state-run campsites are primitive, with barely a long-drop loo, but what they lack in running water, they make up for in glorious isolation. The American “camping” experience often sits brilliantly between the rawness of an African safari and the affordable (single-night permits start at around $10), family-friendly fun of a British Butlins.
Fly a Union Jack outside your house in Britain and you’re likely to raise a few eyebrows. Drape a Saint George’s Cross over the garden fence and certain people will probably suspect you have far-Fight tendencies. Such is their rarity.
However, in America, the Star-Spangled Banner remains ubiquitous. It flies outside homes, schools, fire departments and churches and simply signals that the owner or occupier is a patriotic American.
That said, some Democratic voters now believe that the US flag has been hijacked by the Republican Party. “It’s my flag too,” I was told by a woman in Tacoma, Washington (a safe blue state). “No one is going to take my flag away from me!”
Ride or drive into any small town and the first thing you’ll likely see is a signpost celebrating its local heroes. Roland, Oklahoma, for example: “Home to: Ryan Nolan, World Duck Calling Champion 2008.” It’s not uncommon to enter a diner and find sun-bleached photos of former prom queens, quarterbacks and rodeo champions, all perms and shoulder pads.
In Britain, meanwhile, we so often suffer from “Tall Poppy Syndrome”, the cultural phenomenon of needing to denigrate our successful peers, to cut them down a peg or two.
Walk into a British village pub and start talking loudly about Brexit or the general election and you’ll probably be asked to pipe down.
In contrast, one of the greatest joys of travelling in the USA is seeing how keen most people are to talk about politics, or other big, and sometimes controversial, topics. Freedom of speech seems so hardwired into the American psyche that many skip the small talk and cut directly to the chase, offering opinions on climate change, gun ownership and the US Constitution at the drop of a MAGA hat.
We might not agree on all things, but it’s good to talk.
Forget our blackened British bangers still frozen in the middle, or a withered burger and a squirt of tomato ketchup, southern barbecue – not to be confused with grilling – is all about cooking low and slow, over wood or charcoal.
This is meat that – quite literally – falls off the bone and smacks your tastebuds with smoky umami. And while I confess to not being particularly fond of most American cuisine, this is a culinary subculture I can get wholeheartedly behind.
The best I’ve ever had? Fat Daddy’s Bar-B-Que in Russellville, Arkansas.
Put Fleetwood Mac on repeat and let the good times roll. Nowhere does road trips quite like the good ol’ U-S of A: land of the free and home of the brave. It’s hard to imagine any country quite like it. Big enough to feel truly epic and never-ending, while modern and connected enough to have regular gas stations and motels. Other giant countries like Russia and Australia simply can’t compete.
The wildest drive in Britain? Perhaps the North Coast 500. But you’ll have to share it with thousands of campervans and “wild campers”.
For an immersive and often free (or very cheap) American experience, head to a school or college football match, where you’ll share the bleachers with the entire town and make dozens of new friends in the process.
In Casper, Montana, I stumbled across the annual Oil Bowl, played between the area’s two biggest high schools, in front of a crowd of over 5,000 people: more than some English Football League Two matches. Some college matches attract over 100,000 spectators.
At my state comprehensive, we were lucky if the PE teachers turned up to our football and cricket matches, let alone our friends and family.
The next time a “heatwave” strikes Britain, cancelling trains and grinding schools and businesses to a halt, let’s look across the pond for inspiration, where they’re experts in keeping cool.
You want iced water with that? Sure thing. A grumbling ice machine at the end of every hotel and motel corridor? No problem.
America is, after all, the birthplace of “AC” – first patented by scientist John Gorrie in 1851 to blow cool air over malaria and yellow fever patients. According to the US Energy Information Administration, almost 90 per cent of US homes now have it. We need to catch up.
Telegraph readers can save 15 per cent on Simon Parker’s new book, A Ride Across America, at The Telegraph Bookshop.

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