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I think the main reason Americans don't travel overseas as much is simply life choices. We choose to value having a large house, 3-4 cars for a household, having a wife and 2-4 kids, and all the expenses that go with it. Most importantly, is that no matter how much many American may complain about their jobs, most do their job because they love it. People love their jobs so much that they would rather work than be at home or travel. When people complain about jobs, it is normally about the company, pay, or some benefit. It is rarely about the actual job itself.
In Europe, most people live in apartments and have few if any cars. They don't take out huge mortgages for houses usually and three kids would be considered a huge family. Marriage isn't even a real institution in most of Europe. The parents normally aren't married and often don't live together. Thus there isn't a need or desire for large living space. On top of all this, the govt maintains public housing that is a lot nicer than the American counterpart. The govt has generous welfare benefits. Even if one were to go into credit card debt funding vacations, credit scores don't mean as much in Europe and the generous welfare serves as a buffer to crushing bill payments. You don't have as much to worry about if you spend the money you do make. It is a lot more difficult to be evicted from an apartment as well. But just as in America, this is the choice they have made. It isn't inherently better or worse.
Another big factor is the tradition of gap years. In America, young people go from high to college to work. Most don't take a break in between. In other countries, it is the tradition for a few years when young to go travel the world before starting college and work.
I think that despite all the globalization, there is no one set way people live. People aren't robots. Each country has a unique culture. I think it is a cultural difference more than anything else that causes people to wonder why Americans don't travel overseas as often.
My workplace is stingy (and I wish that it was federally mandated) but alas, even I still can do it despite not being rich.
It does not have to be two weeks, it can be a week in one country visiting one city or the surrounding area.
One can start there if it is your first time, but it is up to you.
I wasn't even talking about paid leave. I've known very few people whose employers allowed more than two weeks of vacation per year, and in most cases they couldn't take those two weeks in a row (because their absence would have been a disaster for everyone else). Currently I have enough money saved that I could probably spend a month in Europe without pay, but my employer would tell me not to bother coming back! (They wouldn't say the same for two weeks, but my job would be a nightmare when I came back!)
And I'm sure one could visit Europe with only a week, but it seems like it would be difficult and one wouldn't get to experience enough. My brother went to Great Britain for seven days a few years ago, and after writing off all the time he spent getting there and back, he spent about four days not flying or waiting in airports. Plus, maybe it's not like this for anyone else, but I would have to have an extra day to recharge at home before returning to work. But I also have an extremely physically demanding job, so I realize that might not apply to most people.
The two things I hate most about USA are medical benefits and vacation time. I don't like to be a slave to my employer because I like to go on vacations at least twice a year. This is why vacation time should be government mandated because quality of life gets better. Americans live to work and Europeans work to live
The two things I hate most about USA are medical benefits and vacation time. I don't like to be a slave to my employer because I like to go on vacations at least twice a year.
1. We don't get as much time off.
2. We aren't surrounded by a billion other interesting countries like in Europe.
3. Most importantly, there's so much to do and see here. As a Texan, I can go to Chicago or New York for much cheaper, stay for longer, have a great time, and still feel like I'm in a completely different country. Hell, in Chicago I don't even need to adjust my watch. Not only that, but I can do those trips in less days. I can spend a labor day weekend in NY or Chicago. I would need a week at least for a European vacation. And that's the bare minimum.
Trust me, I'd love to go all over the world. London, Paris, Rome, Greece, Hong Kong are all on my list. But unfortunately, it's just not that feasible to do very often.
Saying that we don't want to travel overseas is pig ignorant. It's incredibly expensive for an American to cross either ocean with any regularity. And we're not terribly impressed by Europeans saying that they travel more because they have passports. That would be like me, a Michigander, needing documentation to travel to Wisconsin or Ohio. Whoopty-frickin-doo, not impressive at all.
From a US citizen who's travelled on more continents regularly than an extremely high percentage of Europeans...
That would be like me, a Michigander, needing documentation to travel to Wisconsin or Ohio. Whoopty-frickin-doo, not impressive at all.
Europeans don't need passports to travel in the European Union. They only need IDs. So it's the same.
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(They wouldn't say the same for two weeks, but my job would be a nightmare when I came back!)
