Copyright newsweek
An American traveler’s observations about everyday Italian home quirks have gone viral on TikTok. In a TikTok video titled “Everything my American mind can’t comprehend about my Italian apartment,” 25-year-old Sarah Margaret (@probablyhangry) gives her followers a tour of the apartment she stayed in during a visit to Turin in northern Italy. The video has amassed over 895,000 views since the clip was posted on September 4. Highlighting unexpected differences in appliances and amenities, she offers a snapshot of how everyday life abroad can feel novel to an outsider. “I was staying in northern Italy, in Turin, a city just outside of Milan,” the poster told Newsweek. “I spent a month in Italy, two weeks on vacation and two weeks for work. I stayed in four apartments in total, with the final apartment being the one I was in the longest. I did a home stay with a local family on the outskirts of Milan, where I got my first taste of authentic Italian culture.” @probablyhangry Would these also blow your mind?? Or are these things normal to you? I’d love to hear from others too!! #italy🇮🇹 #travelitaly #travelvlog #americanmind #walkablecities ♬ original sound – Sarah 🌈🌞 | Living Abroad The viral post comes amid a booming travel industry. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reports that about 300 million tourists traveled internationally in the first quarter of 2025—14 million more than the same period last year. This reflects what the UNWTO called a period of “robust and sustained travel demand” despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. The TikTok video walks viewers through the aspects of Italian living that left her most surprised. “First stop—this is the wildest thing to me. I thought I broke the window at first,” she says, demonstrating how the window tilts inward when partially opened. “I have no idea why it does that… wild to me.” She later discovered that twisting the handle differently allows the window to open normally. Next up is the apartment’s washer-dryer combo. “It says ‘wash’ and it says ‘dry,’ but it doesn’t actually dry,” she explains. “It spins the clothes and gets a lot of water out of them. But it’s not like a dryer that I’ve ever seen before… this actually blew my mind.” As a result, she said she had been air-drying all her clothes, not just her delicates, for the past month. Another moment of surprise comes when the poster points out the two tiny trash bins in the apartment, each about the size of her hand. “I did a home stay as well and they had the exact same thing,” she notes, hinting at a broader trend in Italian waste disposal practices. She briefly gestures toward a bidet positioned next to the toilet, saying only: “I’m not gonna be elaborating on this one, but it’s definitely been an interesting experience.” On climate control, she notes that while her apartment had air conditioning, “I feel like the air conditioning in the United States is so much stronger… no matter what, it just feels like it just never really gets cold [here]. I’ve heard other people say that as well, so I don’t feel crazy.” Demonstrating the induction stove in the apartment, she admits it left her confused at first. “I really struggled with that at first… but once I figured it out, the stove felt very fancy. So I was very impressed.” She later marvels at her view from the apartment, noting: “I can just look outside and see all of these beautiful old buildings… that’s gorgeous…I just want to sit and look out the window all day.” She also points out the elevators in Italy. “It’s actually fine in the apartment that I’m in… but a lot of the places I’ve been in Italy, the elevators have been very small.” She shows one just barely wide enough to fit her with her arms stretched out to both sides. “It blows my mind every single time,” she says, adding that she has encountered even smaller elevators in other buildings. The video concludes with the poster reflecting on the joys of urban walkability in Italy. “My absolute favorite thing about being in Italy is right now I can smell pizza cooking from my window being open over there… I’m within walking distance of hundreds and hundreds of restaurants… there’s a grocery store right next door to me… it is one of the most eye-opening experiences I’ve ever had because… I’ve really never lived anywhere that’s been walkable.” Reflecting on the cultural differences she experienced during her time in Italy, the poster told Newsweek: “Much of what I mentioned in the video, I noticed beforehand, but I didn’t film because I wanted to respect the family home I was welcomed into.” Having grown up in the Midwest and spent the past two years living in the Caribbean for work, the poster made it her mission to explore the world after finishing graduate school. “I’ve made it my goal to travel to as many countries as possible and see the ways that other people live around the world. I’m at 25 countries now at 25 ...
