We are one day into our Samoa adventure, and it already feels as though we’re in a Norman Rockwell version of the South Pacific.

The Fa’a Samoa or “Samoan Way” is an unapologetic embrace of family culture and community that feels straight out of the 1950s.  We’ve been driving around seeing the world through small snapshots that seem like they are taken with a time travel lens.

We arrive on Saturday morning and by seven in the morning the churches are packed, although the sun has not yet come up.  Not just a single church, but every few miles a large open air cathedral full to the brim.

After daybreak, couples stroll the two lane “highway,” entire families pack the back of Toyota pickup trucks.  People are smiling, happy and (most strikingly) no one is looking at a device.  The villages around the capital city of Apia are mostly squatty open-air affairs, and most homes have a family tomb just outside the front door.

The colorful busses that ply the narrow road are overflowing with bodies and a mass of elbows and arms protrude in all directions.  Every few miles someone sells chicken and plantain BBQ for $2 a plate.

Late in the afternoon, we drive the same road and see no fewer than seven volleyball games.  In between them, the tiniest of roadside stands sell taro, pineapple, vegetables, oka (ceviche with coconut milk), and fresh fish strung up from poles.

The most striking thing about Samoa so far is the friendliness (not the delicious girl scout cookies, which we have yet to find).  It only takes a few minutes to pick up on the vibe. Everyone from the women working at the tourist information counters, to the guy selling fish and chips are genuinely warm and charming.  No one seems pissed off or in a bad mood.  In fact, they all seem genuinely glad to see you.

I suppose it’s hard to feel bitter when you live somewhere as beautiful and warm as Samoa.  I wouldn’t say people seem rich – in fact most homes and shops look a bit shabby – but there is an earnest joy about the place that makes people come across as truly happy.

Somewhere along the way, they’ve learned to live without many material possessions.  I think my own country could use a little bit of Fa’a Samoa.  Then again, it could also use a little more 85 degree weather and brilliant blue water.