Recently my husband, John, and I made a trip of a lifetime, a “bucket list” trip to Australia and New Zealand. We dreamed of it for years and planned it for months. I went on a hot-air balloon ride in central Australia and saw kangaroos running through the bush. We took a helicopter ride to the top of a glacier in New Zealand and stood there in amazement — everywhere we looked was more beautiful than what we had viewed before. It was a wonderful experience.

I looked forward to being “unplugged” from social media, the evening news and papers. Before we left, we were a little apprehensive as to how we would be received after President Trump cut the conversation short with the prime minister of Australia about taking the refugees that had been agreed upon by the previous administration. Our fears were unfounded. We were well received in both countries. They were so friendly and accommodating.

However, when people learned we were from the U.S.A., we were asked about our county’s political climate. It didn’t matter if they were from Canada, the U.K., Australia or New Zealand, the questions were the same: They were deeply concerned over four things — trade, access to the states, the administration’s relationship with Russia and nuclear war.

When we did read their newspapers, President Trump was either on the front page or on the second page. They covered what was happening in D.C. on their evening news. It became apparent that the world is watching us very closely. They are watching what our new government does and how we as citizens react.

I sat next to a man in his early 40s for 12 hours on the way over. He was a Kiwi (New Zealander) and heading home for a holiday to visit his mum. He lived in Paris and was traveling around the world before he started his new job. He had been in Washington D.C. during the Inauguration and the Women’s March. He described the color of the Inauguration Day as gray and the mood of the people was somber. He said the next day was vibrant at the Women’s March and the mood of the people exuberant. The change was so drastic that he was compelled to write an article about his experience.

While we were there a beloved Aussie children’s author, Mem Fox, was detained in Los Angeles for eight hours and questioned “aggressively” (her words) with no idea why. She was on her way to Milwaukee to receive an award for her literary contributions; it was her 116th trip to the U.S. She thinks it will be her last. She was given an apology after she complained to her Embassy.

This was a hot topic with our new Aussie friends which we spent two weeks with touring New Zealand. I felt saddened by her experience. It took us over an hour to get through customs in L.A. We went through six different screening points with American passports. It went very smoothly and our experience was as pleasant as possible after being awake for over 24 hours.

We learned many things about the culture and history of two of our closest allies, but most importantly we discovered just how large of a role America plays on the world stage. They are watching us very very closely, because what happens here will in turn affect the rest of the world.