When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.

Fadiman’s remark reframes travel as an exercise in humility rather than consumption. The traveler’s discomfort—different customs, language barriers, unfamiliar schedules or etiquette—is not a failure of the destination but a reminder that one is a guest in a society organized around local needs and habits. The line implicitly criticizes the expectation that other cultures should cater to outsiders (through “tourist bubbles,” English-first service, or familiar food and norms). Its significance lies in urging cultural respect: adapt yourself to the place, observe before judging, and treat difference as the point of travel rather than an inconvenience to be eliminated.