I think a lot of Americans don’t consider the USA that “beautiful” because it’s their own country, and other countries are perceived as more “exotic,” exciting, and beautiful. I am American and I know I’d often rather go to some shitty little town in Central America and ooh and aww at standard buildings and standard jungle than take a road trip across the USA. And I’ve seen a lot of the truly breathtaking scenes in many national parks here. More of that USA stuff is on my bucket list, but still, other countries and their sights rank higher on my list most of the time because that stuff seems less attainable, somehow. The USA is my home country and will always be here. Lower barrier to entry for me to see stuff here.

I wonder if national pride comes into play at all here. If you’re speaking to Europeans, maybe they’ve got some cultural thing where they’re super proud of their own natural beauty? Like how Mexicans treat their Aztec, Mayan, etc. archaeological zones. Americans don’t really have that, I mean we think our national parks are cool and appreciate them, and those of us who are outdoorsy certainly recreate in them, but we don’t obsess over them as a point of national identity, y’know?