Why don't Americans travel

Syd_Barret said:
Also, America is an extremely large country with alot of diversity
Click to expand...


considering it's 'extremely large' area, the US is about as diverse as a roll of toilet paper compared to europe.

Besides, it takes me as long to get to CA from NY as it does to get from London to NY.

I've flown as far west as your country goes, and other than a few extra hours and a few hundered extra bucks (or a few less grams of coke purchased the months before) I find no real difference flying London to CA or Hawaii than I do to NY.

Obviously, if you can't afford to pay a few hundred extra then that's different. And i'm sure if you can't afford that, you don't buy those cool shoes you saw last week, or a g of coke, or go to a club more than once every 3 months?


It's all about what you want to spend your money on. There are no real prohibiting factors preventing people in the US travelling outside their own country, other than a simple desire to remain there and spend their money on something else.

As it's already been mentioned before, foreign travel is something which most people from UK, Aus and NZ consider part of their yearly expenditure.

Considering you have one of the highest disposable incomes in the world, lack of funds is hardly an argument.
 
^while NYC is a big city, the entire US does not live there. most people have to fly from their home to NYC, wait around for their international flight and then fly to europe. it adds a fair bit of extra travel time.

i do not get paid vacation with my job, so a week off is a week without pay. currently, plane fare from where i live to anywhere in europe is almost a month's salary. not only do i need to save up for the plane fare and spending money, i need to save up enough to cover my expenses at home.

yes, it is doable. but in general, people favor instant gratification. if you ask a random person in the US if they would rather save $25/day for a trip in several months or go out to dinner every night for several months, people will generally pick the latter. its just the way US culture is.
 
I think Americans actually travel more than people realize. But it's seen as something to do when one is financially secure, and not so much when you're young and on a tight budget. So to a Brit or Aussie doing their gap year, it may seem that there are hardly any Americans on the road. I'm an 18 year old American myself, have been out of the U.S. since last July, and the number of traveling Americans certainly seems disproportiante to the number of Brits, Aussies, and Canadians. But if you're staying in the Hilton, you'll probably run into way more Americans. Conversely, I've met quite a few American expats here in Asia.

It's also worth taking into consideration that, given the State Department's statistic of passport ownership being at 25%, than about 75,000,000 Americans have passports. That's over twice the population of Canada, and almost four times the population of Australia. If you were to actually break down passport ownership in the U.S. demographically, you'd probably see very consistent patterns of which groups tend to own passports and which ones don't.
 
^^^ My turn to be a prissy ass: you don't OWN your passport. No one does. It belongs to your nation's government, and they can force you to surrender it at any time.

But no, your point is still valid.

Let's keep this in mind too -- in the US you NEED a passport for a lot less than you do in some countries. In Russia, passport ownership is damn near 100%. Why? Because there, you need a passport to buy train tickets or check into a hotel, even if you're a local citizen. Everyone there carries their 'dokumenty' on them in a neat little leather folder at all times, just like a wallet. I have never, in contrast, been somewhere in the US where I've absolutely needed to show a passport. Until very recently, you could even travel to the two countries we share land borders with without one.
 
animal_cookie said:
^while NYC is a big city, the entire US does not live there. most people have to fly from their home to NYC, wait around for their international flight and then fly to europe. it adds a fair bit of extra travel time.
Click to expand...

This is true - but remember, for me to get to Europe, I have to fly 14 hours to LA, then wait around for my international connection etc, then fly 8 hours to London.....similar for the Aussies....

i do not get paid vacation with my job, so a week off is a week without pay. currently, plane fare from where i live to anywhere in europe is almost a month's salary. not only do i need to save up for the plane fare and spending money, i need to save up enough to cover my expenses at home.

yes, it is doable. but in general, people favor instant gratification. if you ask a random person in the US if they would rather save $25/day for a trip in several months or go out to dinner every night for several months, people will generally pick the latter. its just the way US culture is.
Click to expand...

I think your comments here make a lot of sense. Overall, it just seems like a preference - travel seems to be a lower priority for Americans (on average) than it is for some other people. Not a criticism, just an observation. No doubt the short vacations would be a factor too....though there also seems to be a smaller number of Americans taking gap years and working holidays compared to Brits or Aussies.

Some good comments in the posts after yours, as well :)
 
How about this: I saw snow-capped mountains, redwood trees, rainforests, swamplands, giant sand dunes, deserts, oceans, beaches, boulders, a gigantic salt lake, and the greatest freshwater reserve on the planet before I ever made it out of this country. I'm not saying that there aren't other beauties and other cultures and other peoples that are worth seeing worldwide; I'm just trying to say that if someone didn't have as much travel time as I did, they could get lost in all the shit there is to do and see here.
 
No doubt the short vacations would be a factor too....though there also seems to be a smaller number of Americans taking gap years and working holidays compared to Brits or Aussies.
Click to expand...

There's definitely not many Americans who go on gap years. The backpacking culture is just not that prevalant in the U.S. Conversely, not that many foreign backpackers come to visit the U.S. Working holidays are pretty rare too, in part because the U.S. government doesn't have the same recipitory agreements that other governments have regarding employment for foreigners. It's certainly not as simple for an American to find work in Australia as it would for a Brit. That said, I know a couple of foreigners who have managed to get working holiday visas in the U.S., so I imagine it's still possible.
 
Sim0n said:
You've just signed one with New Zealand, come visit me!
Click to expand...

I did when I was travelling through there on a working holiday visa. I am a backpacker and American and have been doing it for three years straight now. My first backpacking trip, where I made all of my mistakes and learned how to do it, lasted for six months right after college. Since then, I've had a summer job to get funding and then go any place I think of and try to survive. It's not for everyone, but I love it.
 
Sim0n said:
This is true - but remember, for me to get to Europe, I have to fly 14 hours to LA, then wait around for my international connection etc, then fly 8 hours to London.....similar for the Aussies....
Click to expand...

i was responding directly to kappadaftie's statement that a flight to LA takes as long as a flight to london from NYC. while its true that flying time is the same, its a rather misleading comparison since most people don't live in NYC and have the advantage of direct flights.
 
billywitchdoc.com said:
why do we have to go anywhere were already in the best country :)

i would travel if i had the choice
Click to expand...

You do. It's not that expensive.

The first time I went to Europe, I hesitated to visit England, cause I didn't think it would be "foreign" enough. Boy, was I ever wrong.

I always go in November. No problem finding a room, you're not in a crowd of tourists.

I just go. I don't take a travel guide, or a tour, or anything. I just walk around. I also try to go into some ordinary places, where the people who live there go. One of the best times I had in A'dam. was going to the open air markets they have on Saturday. I bought this big bunch of basil, just to put in my hotel room cause it smelled so good!

I can't speak a lick of French, I have no talent for languages at all. But I went to Paris, anyway. Man, that place is great I saw the Mona Lisa. And, the French are good people. I'm going to see the Eiffel Tower, right? I have to take a leak. So, I find this little park...there's a statue...it's a monument to our guys, who died behind the lines, helping the partisans. (I found another place to piss, needless to say) All of that stuff about them being nasty is bullshit. Maybe some Americans go over there thinking it's a theme park for their amusement.

The language thing was a little difficult. My first meal there, I tried to order lasagna...but I wound up getting this charred sausage that looked like a big donkey dingus. With fries. I ate the fries.

Man, go. If you don't you're cheating yourself.
 
Last edited:
*generlisation* American's don't want to be cultured.

And the one's that do travel, are often the people who want more out of life.

and all those people saying, why would I want to travel?.. We have everything here.. etc..

You just proved my point..
 
simple answer.......too many convicted felons, which if you are one in teh US, you can't leave the US. i don't think it's a lack of those that want but more a lack of those that can.

someone else may have already said all of this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top