I have very vivid memories from the early 2000s of riding my silver compact scooter with lime green wheels around my grandparents’ palm tree-filled neighborhood in Florida. I had wanted a “Razor” – brands matter in your teens – but I still took enough pride in my off-brand scooter to bring it down to Florida to show off on our family vacation.

More than a decade later, I spotted its cobweb-covered wheels in my parents’ storage closet and decided to take it out for a spin. Apparently, I should have considered bringing it with me across the Atlantic because scooters are quite in vogue here. Whether going about our daily routines in Geneva or sightseeing in other European metropolises, Gui and I have been repeatedly impressed by the number of scooters in our midst – and not just with kids at the handlebars, but plenty of adults. We still get a kick out of seeing grown men scoot along the sidewalks on these tiny, foldable two-wheelers, which, for us, are so strongly associated with childhood.

Here are a few examples of adults scooting around Europe, in case you want to see them in action. Now I can stop being the creepy lady taking photos of people riding their scooters. Happy Thursday!