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Does that mean Americans never take vacations abroad any longer than 13 days??
Ummmm, no. There's a HUGE variety of jobs and work schedules in the US.
For instance, my husband works two weeks on and two weeks off - and I don't work at all anymore (outside the home) in order to be able to travel as we like. We can re arrange those days or weeks as we like, with just a few months notice to his customers and his team.
That being said, we really don't LIKE to be away from home more than about two weeks. We start missing oru dogs!
I'm guessing 13 is the US average? It varies though. I've always worked in retail and I've had a situation where I can take off probably up to 25 days off a year as long as they're not all in a row. The most I've taken off in a row was probably 2 weeks. As a musician I save most of my days off for playing shows out of town.
At my former, white collar job (bank manager) I got four paid weeks off per year, plus paid bank holidays, PLUS two weeks of paid sick days if I needed them (which I didn't usually need).
I get 28 days vacation (recently cut from 35), but I've never had the spare money to travel overseas. I was raising a child, now grown, by myself, and many times my vacation days were taken to do activities with her through her school or whatever. The only time I've left the country is to go to the Bahamas, but that's only about a 3 hour flight, and I didn't even need a passport.
I'd love to visit the UK and Spain and Argentina. Have always wanted to visit those three countries. My daughter's been to China because she studied there for a semester on a scholarship, so she's ahead of me.
I don't see myself ever having the chance to travel to those places, but I still hold out some hope that it could happen. Maybe I could hit the lottery...
It does seem as though foreign travel runs in families. My parents had too many kids to travel overseas--my father was in Europe for WWII, as someone else said their grandparents were--but he left his legs in France and I guess never had the desire to go back there again.
I agree with every response you made except your final one. U.S cities are incredibly different (I'd say more so than any one country). I mean, sure if you go to Madrid and then hop on over to Istanbul the differences will be huge, but those are different countries. The difference between New Orleans and Seattle is pretty massive as well and it's the same country. Regardless of that, when I go on a vacation I don't go to cities. I go to enjoy nature, because frankly I don't give a crap what man can or has built, mother earth is much more impressive. And in the U.S we have it all; Mountains, oceans, Great Lakes, forests of every kind, swamps, plains, deserts, glaciers, etc.
i was generalizing obviously, since i am so sick of people saying that old tired line. there is a lot of truth to what i said. culturally, the US is EXTREMELY homogenous for its size. same language and culture everywhere for the most part. there are regional differences, sure, but they are barely noticeable to the outsider. for example people can talk about the mexican influence in the southwest. i dunno i see more change walking 100 meters into tijuana from san ysidro than i do anywhere in the US. if one wants to see true contrast and meaningful cultural differences, they need to leave the US. i'm not trying to bash the US, it is a great country with many world class cities that are definitely worth checking out. also i agree when it comes to nature and scenery, the US is extremely diverse.
A flight from Chicago to LA $144?! That will be the day!
You have worked in 32 states? Haha ok.
i am a political consultant, specialize in ballot access for initiatives/referendum/candidates/etc, i have worked in almost every state that has some sort of initiative process. i also sell political gear during campaign season, so i travel around on the rally circuit, so yes have worked in 32 states.
Most of those nations are expensive to get flights to. It all depends on how popular of a destination the nation is. Tourist areas in Mexico and some Carribean Islands are cheaper because there are alot of flights to and from those locations. A less popular destination like Nicaragua or Belize would cost much more to visit for example than would Cancun Mexico. Even somewhere like Mexico is going to cost thousands for most people to visit, and regardless of what you have heard we are not all rich here in the US. The economy is bad and millions are barely making it on low wage jobs. I was fortunate enough when I was younger to visit western Europe and I always thought I would go again. I now know that probably wont happen untill retirement, God willing. There are many places overseas Id love to visit like Columbia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Isreal, Kenya, Australia and China. Will I see any of these places?, not likely unless I win the lottery. Like I said I am lucky to have seen Europe, many Americans dont ever get the opportunity to travel. I think you believe Americans dont travel because they dont want to, but that is not the case. They dont travel because they are in debt and broke. A few may not travel overseas out of fear of terrorism or being mistreated because they are American. These people are in the minority, for the most part they dont travel because of money.
i dunno about belize or nicaragua, but i've flown between LAX/LAS and PTY, SJO, and SAL and have paid $350-450 range. getting to them is not impossibly expensive or difficult, which was my entire point.
you dont need to win the lottery to get to the countries you listed you want to go to (except maybe australia lol). many americans who make very little money are able to travel to them all the time, it's not some impossible dream.
i am a political consultant, specialize in ballot access for initiatives/referendum/candidates/etc, i have worked in almost every state that has some sort of initiative process. i also sell political gear during campaign season, so i travel around on the rally circuit, so yes have worked in 32 states.
Ok whatever!
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