One thing I miss about my trip to Glasgow is the free third spaces I found there. Many of the museums in the city, as well as the botanical gardens, had free entry. The same was true in Edinburgh. There was a huge national museum with free entry that would take multiple visits to see everything. The castles and monuments often had paid entry, but there were many cultural and artistic locations that were open to all. 

Like public transportation, these also exist to some extent in the United States. The National Zoo and the complete network of Smithsonian museums are free in Washington D.C. But outside of the capitol, I have very rarely seen free cultural spaces. This results in a lack of accessible third spaces. If I want to get together with friends, we must pay for our event 90% of the time. This can mean anything from buying coffee to paying for an escape room. But in Scotland, I spent hours in the Kelvingrove Museum without having to spend any money at all.  

Since the United States is so big, I wish that there would be more publicly-funded projects across the states. Even if they could only exist in the state capitols, I wish there were more free third spaces in the U.S. 

I saw in Scotland a different attitude towards public funding for the arts and culture than I do in the U.S. While the U.S. is defunding its programs, Scotland is strengthening theirs. This attitude towards education, culture, and productive uses of free time is one of the many things I miss about my time abroad.