By Audrey Scott & Daniel Noll

This is about saying thank you: why we do it, the ways we do it, the cheapening of it, the deepening of it. And why, when you’re traveling, it’s one of the most important words to know in the local language.

Thank you. For travelers, it’s no wonder those words are among the first our guidebooks suggest we learn. With such a simple expression, satisfaction is affirmed, respect is underscored, roads of goodwill are paved and we are bound to one another just a little bit more than we otherwise might have been.

We’ve written more generally of gratitude on this site, but in a number of recent circumstances I found myself reflecting a speck more on the oft-underrated thank you.

Just the other day, I was outside the center of Berlin trying to... More...