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Exactly...a lot of Brits, for example, don't have a true interest in travelling other than going to the same holiday resort in Spain year after year to sit in the sun. There are people who are curious about the world everywhere, why should the US be an exception?
Each summer where I worked in San Diego, college aged Irish kids would come over and work for the summer. Very occasionally, we'd get a few Aussies and maybe a German. The one thing that set them apart from the Americans I worked with is that they had the means to go to another country and work for the summer. Many of them had either worked in some other part of the US or maybe another country before, or had plans to do so. Only one Irish guy ever came back and that was after he had gone to two other places in between. This is something many of the American kids I worked with could only dream about.
Each summer where I worked in San Diego, college aged Irish kids would come over and work for the summer. Very occasionally, we'd get a few Aussies and maybe a German. The one thing that set them apart from the Americans I worked with is that they had the means to go to another country and work for the summer. Many of them had either worked in some other part of the US or maybe another country before, or had plans to do so. Only one Irish guy ever came back and that was after he had gone to two other places in between. This is something many of the American kids I worked with could only dream about.
Indeed, it seems our government actually encourages people to travel and experience life abroad, or there are a lot of programmes available for us to do so. We have working holiday arrangements with many countries, such as Canada, US, UK or Japan. Many Aussies go to work in the ski-fields of Canada.
With a brother who runs a backpackers in the North of New Zealand one thing that stands out is the lack of young Americans traveling.
With fifty million Americans with passports one would expect more of them.
We get lots of Canadians, Germans, Scandinavians,Israelis, and of course our dearly beloved brothers Australians who make their own rules up when we play them in sport.
In sheer numbers we get more Canadians than young Americans yet there is a lot more Americans
So if the USA is a rich country why don't your young travel, fear of the unknown ?
The State Department says there are 113,431,943 valid passport holders as of 2012, considerably more than 50 million. But that is roughly 36% of the population. In any case, the percentage is very small compared to many countries (including Canada).
Many other sources cite a smaller percentage. The value of 28% was cited in a GAO report in 2008, and a 2011 CNN article says 30%. The confusion seems to be in passport cards which are only valid for land travel to Canada and Mexico. You can have a card in addition to a regular passport, but it is not clear how many people choose both. In any case driving or walking to Canada or Mexico is not particularly daring.
The UK number of 75% is particularly interesting since UK citizens can go to so many countries without a passport at all.
The most obvious fact normally mentioned is the size of America compared to many countries. But I think that there are other factors at work than just size. Most people in the world are confronted with other states as a reality of life. I think you grow up in Sweden, you are intensely aware that events outside of your country of 9 million have massive influence on the country. It is almost unthinkable to grow up today in Sweden and not be reasonably fluent in another language.
You know the old joke. What is the word for someone who speaks three languages (ANSWER: trilingual). What is the word for someone who speaks two languages (ANSWER: bilingual). What is the word for someone who speaks one language (ANSWER: American).
Consider the following fact. The name "America" was given to the entire "new world" both North and South America. The common assumption is that it is a stylized version of the first name of Amerigo Vespucci, a man who never saw either Britain or Northern America. As such, it is unfair for citizens of the USA to co-opt the word "American" for only themselves. More properly they should say "Northern American" for the cultures of USA and Canada, or US citizen. If it sounds funny to say "I am a US citizen" instead of "I am an American", then consider that it is almost always unnecessary to identify yourself as almost everyone in the room automatically knows you are from the USA.
That fact really should not carry any emotional weight. It is a simple statement of etymology. But try to bring it up, and you will probably get some emotional reactions from people.
The wealth of the country is not really relevant, as people only spend money on that which they think is worthwhile.
Last edited by PacoMartin; 08-13-2013 at 01:25 AM..
Are you aware of what I was responding to, or are you just having a knee jerk reaction?
Yes, I understood fully well the assumption that you were making, and it simply doesn't ring true for all. Next time you should try not to have a knee-jerk, sarcastic reaction. I agree that going to a resort doesn't make one outdoorsy, but plenty people do far more than sit on a resort. Come on...
Last edited by ReineDeCoeur; 08-13-2013 at 06:45 AM..
I will have to say that you don't need to be rich or pay large amounts of money to study abroad. I'm Salvadorean American that lives in the Los Angeles Area and my parents are definitely not rich at all. I have a pretty good job working in Banquets and I receive grants/scholarships to attend university.
So I mostly save up my money that I get from my job and the grants leftover to travel overseas. Also my boss lets me travel abroad for a month which is very rare for any employer to do in the US . I try to do at least 2 international trips each year. I will either go in December/January or in July.
I will love to travel more but I'm attending university at the moment but when I am finish with school, I will definitely will like to travel to more countries.
So far I have been to Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Canada, England, , Mexico, Germany, Czech Republic, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Italy, and Austria in the past three years. I also have gone to El Salvador twice when I was little as well.
So far I am looking forward for my next trip which will probably either India or check out Eastern Europe or The Philippines or Northern Africa( Morocco/ Tunisia).
But I agree with everybody on the forums that most Americans that do travel overseas will either go to Mexico, Canada, Europe or go around the US to party and have fun. I saw more Americans whenever I have visit Europe but very few when I was visiting Thailand and Cambodia. However I saw a bit more in Japan. But I mostly have encounter more Europeans, Australians, and Canadians whenever I have travel overseas.
I guess the reason that most young americans don't travel is that they don't have the money to go out of the country since most jobs here in the US don't pay that well , the limited vacation time that most jobs give(The max is about two weeks), have student loans/credit cards that they need to pay off, rather waste their little money that they have to go drinking, shopping, or eat out and are fearful to step out of the country due to the lies that the US media likes to portray on other countries.
Plus it is a affordable to check out the US however in my opinion I find it kinda expensive to travel around and I rather use that money to get the cultural experience overseas instead.
Excellent post. To an extent, it is what you want to spend your money on. Like you said, jobs do not pay all that well, so people have to choose between traveling and other activities. Often the latter wins.
People tend to assume that you have money just because you travel a lot, but it just is not the case. I also did a study abroad during school...and during that time visited 8 countries in Europe (9 if you count driving through the Netherlands). Outside of that, I love traveling within the Caribbean since that is where my family is from, and I have lived there. Where others may spend money going to sports games or going out a lot with friends, some of us would rather save to travel.
Like you, I saw more Europeans, Australians and Canadians overseas - on their 4-6 week vacations. It seems that some assume that Americans have the same luxury when we tend to be stuck with 2 weeks. LOL.
Location: NYC based - Used to Live in Philly - Transplant from Miami
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1. Most young Americans have all the money suck into college debt.
2. Aside of that, some of young Americans (some not all) are close minded; their definition of travelling is going to Europe. Alot of them don't like to explore to territories that they are not familiar with. This is something that irks me. I sometimes heard that some boasted how they have seen the world because they went to Italy once - for 10 days.
3. Also to the OP: how do you know that Americans don't travel to NZ? Do you ask all of the backpackers? All of the tourists? Also note that not all Americans are Caucasians. Good example is me.
Anytime I went to Asia they were shocked when I told them I am an american. So those Asians, Blacks and Latinos backpackers that you see in your country might be Americans. The fact that I am Asian does not mean I am from China.
Others can afford to spend more for traveling. There ar no geography classes in US schools, so most of young people may not know about New Zealand existence
No. They have the same amount of money. What Americans don't have is time. Culturally, they're expected to work nonstop year round from before they leave school or they face discrimination and judgement in the job market later on. In other cultures taking three months to trek in Nepal or a gap year to pull beers in London or a few weeks of unpaid leave to drive across America are seen as interesting enriching experiences. In the US they're seen as self indulgent slacking when you could have been doing an unpaid internship somewhere, or sitting at your desk crushing candy.
Americans actually travel a LOT, but it's a lot of short long weekend hops to visit family or see things close by. They probably spend as much over their lifetimes, it's just mostly on airfares.
I went to NZ with a friend in 2011. All in all, the entire trip cost me a shade over $2000. That's airfare, hotels, food, and entertainment (now my friend has some relatives that live there, so staying with them a couple of nights knocked off a couple hundred).
Yes, traveling abroad can be expensive, but if people buddy up and/or do their research to find lower rates, it can be more affordable than initially thought. While there is a little bit of truth to Americans generally not being as rich as Europeans, Canadians, Aussies, Asians etc. the difference isn't huge (probably a couple thousand dollars/yr difference, maybe even less). Vacationing to Americans today is either a weekend trip to a beach or city 5 or 6 hours away, or a domestic flight.
Which also brings me to holiday/vacation days: Americans just don't get that much time off. Many young folks are lucky to get 2-3 weeks of personal time a year. Only when they hit their 40s and earning some seniority do they get more time off. Traveling abroad not only can be expensive, but it's very draining as well. It takes a day (maybe more) to get to a destination clear across the globe (if you include time spent at airports and taxis and what-have-you). And with the jet lag, a lot of folks need a day or two to acclimate. And if they're only taking a week off, then it's really not worth going.
Finally, I think a lot of Americans feel uncomfortable and perhaps even unwelcome in a different country, even if it's an Anglophone and American-friendly nation. Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that many folks in the world just don't care for the States and its persistent meddling in foreign affairs (though some of these countries don't necessarily dislike AmericaNs, just their gov't).
With a brother who runs a backpackers in the North of New Zealand one thing that stands out is the lack of young Americans traveling.
With fifty million Americans with passports one would expect more of them.
We get lots of Canadians, Germans, Scandinavians,Israelis, and of course our dearly beloved brothers Australians who make their own rules up when we play them in sport.
In sheer numbers we get more Canadians than young Americans yet there is a lot more Americans
So if the USA is a rich country why don't your young travel, fear of the unknown ?
You should check the statistics instead of relying on your brother. You're jumping to a false conclusion that Americans don't travel.
But if you want explanations into american travel habits -- the lack of vacation time in our country is probably the biggest difference.
it is unfair for citizens of the USA to co-opt the word "American" for only themselves.
No other country has the word "America" in its name.
Maybe Mexico, Brazil, et cetera, should have considered that before naming their countries. If they wanted to be called Americans, they should've adopted the name "America" for their country.
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