This Is How Countries Taste For Someone With Synesthesia

You’ve probably heard of synesthesia, but like us, if you don’t have it, you probably would never understand it fully. So, peeks into what life with the condition show quite an interesting world.

According to Healthline:

Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which information meant to stimulate one of your senses stimulates several of your senses. People who have synesthesia are called synesthetes.

The word “synesthesia” comes from the Greek words: “synth” (which means “together”) and “ethesia” (which means “perception). Synesthetes can often “see” music as colors when they hear it, and “taste” textures like “round” or “pointy” when they eat foods.

Basically people with the condition can use one sense to describe another. For example, one can describe a country (based on its name) with a taste. And that’s exactly what Scottish author Julie McDowall did when asked by travel agency Rickshaw to interpret a world map.

So, are you interested in finding out what does YOUR country taste like?

Let’s start with Asia, where you can find countries that taste like broom bristles, stagnant water and milk, and melting toffee.

Moving west to Europe, we find water orange juice, flavorless soft fruit, salty pebbles, and greasy threads.

How about North America? Well, there’s furniture polish, honeycomb and caramel biscuits with stiff hair, and black bin bags.

Check out the rest of the map here.