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I would say most of us in the USA do NOT have lots of vacation and unlike Europe where people go on vacation and forget about their job most in the US are expected to support their replacement and check in - even on vacation. The mindset is that if you could be gone for 2 weeks straight then you can be replaced - at least at every place I have worked.
Also travelling Internationally generally takes a day there and a day back which really cuts vacation time short. I love Intl. travel but it really takes a week or more to really know any big country.
Apparently people still think we are weird because relatively few of us have passports. The YouTube series "Lost in the Pond" just had an episode regarding the Passport question.
And yes, the major bottlenecks-lack of money, and lack of time-were repeated multiple times in the Comments section.
(BTW, I am having trouble posting a link).
Last edited by Tim Randal Walker; 03-16-2019 at 05:31 PM..
Apparently people still think we are weird because relatively few of us have passports. The YouTube series "Lost in the Pond" just had an episode regarding the Passport question.
And yes, the major bottlenecks-lack of money, and lack of time-were repeated multiple times in the Comments section.
(BTW, I am having trouble posting a link).
Somewhat true but if you look at EU travel outside the EU it’s similar to American foreign travel.
Someone from Denmark going to Germany or the Netherlands going to France are weekend trips like New Yorkers going to Vermont for Skiing not massive vacations. Americans only need passports for big trips not little day trips or weekend getaways.
Also a lot of European travel isn’t about cultural curiosity. You can’t Ski in Belgium, Brits retire to Spain or Greece for the Weather not for the cultural immersion,
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Too lazy to thumb through all these posts to see what city the OP had the pleasure of being stationed in where he met people who haven’t left the US or had no desire to visit outside of it. Willing to bet it wasn’t a NYC, Chicago, LA, or Miami.
Speaking for myself, I’ve traveled 38 times outside the country (mainly Europe and Latin America)—and, no, I’m not counting Canada and day trips to Mexico in that number. Travel—a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Last edited by elchevere; 03-16-2019 at 06:51 PM..
We're planning our next European vacation - we go to Europe from Texas every few years and this year we're going to hit the German Christmas markets in southern Germany. Our next trip will probably be to Berlin and then into Poland.
We're planning to visit Scotland within the next five years as well. Probably will need to jump on over to Ireland too on that trip. We do plan to fly into Manchester, England but we've already been to England - I just want to see Hadrian's Wall before we head up to Scotland.
I personally can't think of anyone I know here in the US who HASN'T been overseas. And like the poster above, I'm not even counting Canada or Mexico - those aren't "overseas." Those are just a drive across an adjoining border - like most of the EU countries.
When I lived in Germany, we'd often go to France or the Netherlands or Austria or (fill in the blank) for the weekend. As in "drive there on Friday and drive back Sunday evening." It was great! And it was also a whole lot easier than traveling anywhere in the EU from the US.
Plenty of Americans go overseas all the time, but they aren't the norm. It's people with money and time or jobs that feature international travel. It's a class thing which is how foreign travel has traditionally been seen everywhere.
Wealthy, young Englishmen went on tours of the continent as far back as the 1700s when most Europeans could hardly fathom leaving even the immediate area they lived in for leisure purposes. The availability of air travel and socialist-driven regulation of work conditions opened foreign travel to the European masses at all social levels.
America never had that regulation, so it's mostly the very wealthy and the old that travel abroad a lot for leisure.
Most Americans see foreign countries while serving in the military. That's unfortunate and gives a twisted view of travel overseas. If you have a bad experience you might be reluctant to travel. A friend (Vietnam Vet) says (to his wife's disappointment) "I have no desire to spend time and money looking at little grass huts or people who don't want me there". Another veteran friend, 50 years on, now wants to go back to revisit where he was and maybe find people he knew. He goes to Baja every few years. I've convinced him to go to Ireland this fall so we are easing into Europe.
I have a friend in France who visits the US every couple years. I said that it must be nice being able to travel to Germany or Spain or Italy since they are close. He says he has never been to any place other than a short trip across the channel to England. His kids go to nearby places in Europe but he doesn't. My impression is that he doesn't travel much in France...just the US.
Oh brother. As people have said over and over again, it's a lot easier to "travel overseas" if "overseas" is the English Channel!
European countries are as close together as many US states are. No one is overly impressed if someone from Virginia has been to 35 states in the US. I'm not overly impressed that someone from Italy has been to Germany or every single EU country for that matter.
I would bet that about the same percentages of US citizens travel to Europe as EU citizens travel to the US.
In fact, I did find some interesting percentages. 56 percent of Europeans have never traveled outside of the EU, compared to 64 percent of Americans who have never traveled outside of the US. So 8 percent. Not such a big difference after all - and we have a couple of really huge bodies of water to cross, though Europeans often don't even have to cross a body of water to leave the EU. https://www.statista.com/chart/12329...utside-the-eu/
In 2016, 3.6 percent of Americans traveled to Europe though, so actually more than twice the percentage of Americans travel to Europe as Europeans travel to the USA. https://thepointsguy.com/2017/01/rec...d-abroad-2016/
And twenty percent of Americans traveled using passports, to various countries outside the US that year.
Oh brother. As people have said over and over again, it's a lot easier to "travel overseas" if "overseas" is the English Channel!
European countries are as close together as many US states are. No one is overly impressed if someone from Virginia has been to 35 states in the US. I'm not overly impressed that someone from Italy has been to Germany or every single EU country for that matter.
I would bet that about the same percentages of US citizens travel to Europe as EU citizens travel to the US.
In fact, I did find some interesting percentages. 56 percent of Europeans have never traveled outside of the EU, compared to 64 percent of Americans who have never traveled outside of the US. So 8 percent. Not such a big difference after all - and we have a couple of really huge bodies of water to cross, though Europeans often don't even have to cross a body of water to leave the EU. https://www.statista.com/chart/12329...utside-the-eu/
In 2016, 3.6 percent of Americans traveled to Europe though, so actually more than twice the percentage of Americans travel to Europe as Europeans travel to the USA. https://thepointsguy.com/2017/01/rec...d-abroad-2016/
And twenty percent of Americans traveled using passports, to various countries outside the US that year.
86% of the world's population lives in Asia, Africa, Europe. You don't need to go "overseas" as a European traveler to visit any of these places. It's not a fair comparison at all.
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