The phrase “third world” originated during the Cold War as a way to describe countries that were not aligned with either the Soviet Union or the US, and then evolved into a catch-all term used to describe non-Western countries, according to History.com.

Many contemporary historians believe the term is outdated, and some have opted to replace it with the phrase “developing countries”, although some outlets have reported that there are disagreements among academics about this term, particularly because several non-Western countries have a higher GDP than countries in Europe.

“I feel like a lot of Americans, at least the people near me, really don’t know how people in other countries live,” she said, explaining that she made the video to show people who may not have travelled much what it was really like.

In 2019, Forbes reported that in a survey of 2,000 Americans, 40 per cent said they had never left the country. Various outlets have also reported that American people are less likely to travel abroad than citizens in most other countries.

Werner started travelling with her husband and two children last year and has since pulled her kids out of school so they can visit and learn more about other countries.

Werner said she knew very little about Malaysia before she landed there, and filmed more than 20 videos of herself as she visited places and tried new cuisines in Kuala Lumpur.

Her content filmed in Malaysia now has more than 3 million views.

Malaysia is well-known for its “mall culture,” and there are more than 20 malls in Kuala Lumpur, according to travel website WonderfulMalaysia.com.

While Werner does visit malls back in the US, she said she felt shopping centres were designed in a nicer way in Malaysia than in many parts of America.

“I’d walk into a mall and just get chills all over my body because of the way it looked. I felt so excited,” she said.

Werner also said that Malaysian malls, which sometimes have digitalised maps that provide an exact route of how to get from your current location to a particular store, were particularly impressive in comparison to many American malls.

“The new technology that Malaysia has just far outweighed my deepest imagination,” she said, adding, “It was fancy and fabulous. I mean, first class.”

Werner said that she visited Times Square Mall in Kuala Lumpur and was “blown away” by the fact that there was an indoor amusement park, which included a roller coaster that twisted around the inside of the mall.

The TikToker bought two tickets for her children to ride it, and said it was a drastically different experience for them, as there aren’t many child-friendly activities for them to do in their town of McHenry, Mississippi.

“If you go on Google Earth and look up where I’m from, you can see how sheltered my children were, and how much better all the fun stuff here that is literally at their fingertips,” she said.

In another shopping centre, Werner found a giant sandpit, ball pit, and bouncy castle that local children were playing in, and filmed it on TikTok. “If I was a kid, I would be going crazy,” she said in the video.

There are many indoor and open-air food courts in Malaysia, where vendors set up stalls to sell different dishes and cuisines.

When Werner visited Central Market food court in Kuala Lumpur, she said, “I was impressed by the fact that you could get anything you wanted, really.”

“If you wanted Indian food, Italian food, Chinese food, it was all there.”

She also said she felt like there were more restaurants dotted around the city than she was used to seeing, with many of them staying open 24 hours a day. “It was like we couldn’t eat enough,” she said.

Before Werner travelled to Bangkok, she was not aware that Thailand, and certain other countries in Southeast Asia, have the delivery and car service Grab, which was founded in Malaysia in 2012.

Werner ordered a variety of food dishes through Grab delivery and had a picnic with her family, filming it and reviewing the service on TikTok.

In her hometown, Werner does not always have access to Uber or a service that can deliver food, and she said that when she ordered a Grab in Malaysia, she was impressed that the food arrived within 30 minutes and was delivered directly to her door, even though she was staying in a high-rise building.

“It really did show that they work so hard and put so much care into it. I mean, even the drinks were wrapped up well,” she said, adding that it surprised her as she was used to feeling like “half your coke is going to be all over the place and the French fries are going to be cold by the time the order gets to you.”

Before arriving in Malaysia, Werner said she imagined most people would be Buddhist, much like Thailand, so she was surprised to learn that the official religion of Malaysia is Islam, although other religions may also be practised freely, according to the Malaysian constitution.

Visiting locations such as the National Monument to honour those who died during Malaysia’s fight for independence, and the National Palace where the monarch lives, helped her to learn things about the country that she did not learn at school.

“Every country has its own history, and it’s been a great learning experience to find out about these cultures for myself,” she said, adding that she wanted her children to not just learn about history from an American perspective.

Looking back on her viral TikTok about Malaysia, where she challenged people who might refer to Malaysia with the disputed term, “third world”, Werner said, “I like opening up hard conversations, and I’m glad it got such a good response.”

According to the United Nations list of country classifications for 2022, Malaysia is officially a “developing country”, but it is not on the UN’s list of “least developed” countries in the world. In 2020, Forbes reported that Malaysia was investing resources into becoming part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a collective of developed nations often referred to as the “rich countries club”.

Werner said she would love to return to Malaysia for a longer trip, saying, “I don’t know why some people still use the term ‘third world’, but they need to check themselves because this place is amazing,” she said.

Many commenters under Werner’s video told the TikToker that they were from Malaysia, or had Malaysian flags next to their usernames.

These commenters agreed that some people seem to have misconceptions about what life is like for many residents in Malaysia.

“Unfortunately … some people still think that our houses are on trees lol,” one comment with 138 likes said.

Other commenters said they agreed it is wrong for people to refer to countries using the term “third world”, and that they thought people should visit a country before making judgments about it.

Since leaving Malaysia, Werner has travelled back to Thailand and is currently staying in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she films content about her experiences and journeys.

“I’m happy to spread joy and an awareness of different cultures,” she said, adding, “I hope to encourage people to get out of their box, basically.”

Werner said she wants her content to inspire viewers to “go see different people, different places and different ways of life.”