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yep, thats because they are rude. These are the same jerks that give us Americans a bad reputation outside the States.
My original post and some others came on strong, but remember lots of us are sensitive to steriotypes brought on about the US from non-citizens, particularly Europeans and the post WW2/cold war generation brought up to some degree with anti-american feelings. The "American's don't travel bit" is just plain false (or, at least, is mitigated by the reasons listed in this thread), and feeds into the steriotype of "Americans are uneducated and ignorant" and then into social and political differences between Europe and the US. We've seen it before, threads go off tangent. Add to the fact that this is a subject that came up in these forum only a few months ago, and is essentially a duplicate post.
Regardless, rudeness (for lack of a better term) is allowed in the forums, personal attacks are not. So I ask you to watch your tone as well. It adds nothing to the discussion.
My original post and some others came on strong, but remember lots of us are sensitive to steriotypes brought on about the US from non-citizens, particularly Europeans and the post WW2/cold war generation brought up to some degree with anti-american feelings. The "American's don't travel bit" is just plain false (or, at least, is mitigated by the reasons listed in this thread), and feeds into the steriotype of "Americans are uneducated and ignorant" and then into social and political differences between Europe and the US. We've seen it before, threads go off tangent. Add to the fact that this is a subject that came up in these forum only a few months ago, and is essentially a duplicate post.
Regardless, rudeness (for lack of a better term) is allowed in the forums, personal attacks are not. So I ask you to watch your tone as well. It adds nothing to the discussion.
Let me get this, so you are fully aware of the rules against attacking people and yet joined the crew calling the OP ignorant? Buzz off and go do something constructive with your time. If you dont have the energy to respond to repetitive threads ...move over and allow those that do have the time to contribute. Nonsense
Let me get this, so you are fully aware of the rules against attacking people and yet joined the crew calling the OP ignorant? Buzz off and go do something constructive with your time. If you dont have the energy to respond to repetitive threads ...move over and allow those that do have the time to contribute. Nonsense
woah, you are WAY out of line. I never called the OP ignorant. I attacked the idea, not the person. And that sir is the difference between you and I. I kindly ask you to stand down from this topic before the mods step in and do it for you. A locked thread does not serve the OP.
Sifwer, please.. do yourself a favor and look at the map before you start quoting places.
A week in Malaysia vs a week in Florida? Let's see: Malaysia is 25 - 30 hours flight from American's east coast (that's if you're lucky to get a flight with only 1 stop over). Add time difference to the equation, you will lose 2 days going there (leave Monday, arrive Wednesday). A week is not enough time for such a long journey. So to compare that to Florida that's only 2 hours from east coast. No comparison there, honey! Plus there's airfare to consider (US$2000 - $3000 per person to Malaysia from east coast - and we're talking economy class here, compared to $300 or less to Florida).
I just came back from Bali a couple of weeks ago and as much as I enjoyed the time I spent there, the journey was positively grueling!! Thank God I'm going to Florida next week to recuperate
Well, every year about 355 000 Swedes (USA about 600 000, same as Germany) goes to Thailand for vacation, thats a long flight & time difference for us as well. Check the map
We have Greece, Italy, Spain within a few hours (and most ppl go there). Check the map .
Tickets to Asia is much more expensive than to the mideterranean for us as well. Look it up somewhere
So theres no big difference, this cant be the main reasons.
A week is not enough, I agree, Swedes usually spend 2weeks or more. So this makes my theory about americans having shorter vacation a big reason why you dont travel overseas as much as "I" expected you too.
And, of course also as many ppl point out, you have a huge fantastic country with alot to see.
With my bad English I dont understand if u liked Bali or not . Wont you recommend it to other americans? Dont you think its impossible to compare Bali with anything else found within america and that many americans miss something not going there? Instead of going to Hawaii or Florida every year?
-Didnt the cheaper living make up for the more expensive flight ticket?
With my bad English I dont understand if u liked Bali or not . Wont you recommend it to other americans? Dont you think its impossible to compare Bali with anything else found within america and that many americans miss something not going there? Instead of going to Hawaii or Florida every year?
-Didnt the cheaper living make up for the more expensive flight ticket?
This brings up an intersting point. I went to Bali as well about 8 years ago. Bali is a grueling flight but an amazing place...IF you avoid the tourist slums that are overhwelmed with Drunk, sunburned Aussies. I would recommend it, but to experience the rich Hindu culture, not as a tropical island experience. Anyways my point and my subjective opinion is the many Europeans don't see travel outside their own country as a cultural experience, whereas Americans do not take that type of travel, since it does take long expensive flights and valuable vacation time, for granted.
Bali is an example - for Australians it's the equavalent for us in the US going to Florida. Simply a cheap close destination for Aussies to get drunk, party, take the kids to a tshirt shop, and bake on a Kuta beach. They could care less about 1,000 year old temples. Same with the south coast of Spain and Canaries which are overwhelmed with Brits - a close cheap destination for them to escape sucky British weather and even suckier British beaches, heck they even serve fish and chips in the tourist city slums. I am sure they can care less about visiting the historic Alahambra and give up a day at the beach. Same with Greece, Serbia, etc. Now, Amercian travelers have our own domestic locations to veg out at, we don't need to travel to Bali or the Seychelles to get a half decent beach, we have Disney World for the ultimate kid spot, etc. But internaltional travelers from the US are more interested in cultural or historical sights and will not take it for granted. Europeans? - a Brit in Tenerife is looking for a beach, a pint of Bass Ale, and the nearest fish&chips outlet and pretty much nothing else. Again, just my opinions based on observations.
woah, you are WAY out of line. I never called the OP ignorant. I attacked the idea, not the person.
I don't see anyone here who called the OP ignorant. Yes, I, too, attacked the idea and even tried to explain one of the reasons behind the vast amount of passport holders in Europe.
In six months since I joined C-D, this is the third or fourth thread on the exact same subject, all with plenty of American bashing. Granted, the OP said s/he does not know about the other threads and probably did not have any intention to belittle Americans who only travel within their country. However, every one of these threads, including this one, is an opportunity to call in people who think they are better than others just because their priority is travelling oversea.
I admired the English and now, Australian and NZ, societies that encourage their young people to take a gap year to travel around the world before settling down to the mundane things in life. The Grand Tour was a great idea three hundred years ago and it has become better with each generation passed.
Unfortunately, a great majority of American youths graduate from college with student loans that require 10, 15, or 25 years to pay off. My daughter is one of them. With law school, she acquired a 350K in education-related loans. Who dared to take a year off to travel and add at least another $30K on top of that when the interest started to accumulate on the loans 60 days after graduation? We did provide her with funds for three-month backpacking in Europe, but most parents would not or could not do that. Since then, she scrapped and saved to travel on her own funds almost every year, but I doubt she could continue to do so in this economy.
When one enters adult life with a huge student loan, then car loan, then mortgage or rent, then 40 to 60-hour workweek with only two weeks of vacation a year, there is not much one can do in term of foreign travel.
In our combine families (my husband's and mine), foreign travelling is top priority. It has been that way for five generations, but not one of us belittles others who do not travel to foreign countries. Foreign travelling does not make anyone superior to anyone else. Not counting other family members' lists, just between my husband and me, we have visited 96 countries in the last 40+ years, and no, we do not see ourselves as better than the people who have never owned a passport in their lives. If their priorities are to pay off their debts and/or to provide for their children's needs, ought I to applaud them instead of criticizing?
Last edited by Ol' Wanderer; 12-22-2011 at 09:44 AM..
The only reason I don't travel overseas is because it is expensive, and would require using more vacation time at once. I went to Germany and Austria once about 10 years ago and loved it. There are a lot of other countries that I would like to visit. I hope that it will be easier for me to do so in the future.
Actually, I'd much prefer the beauty of Japan over China. Not to mention, the pollution and smog is so awful in China I'd never want to visit, Tibet not included
You realize China is kinda big and diverse right?
Nothing against Japan, it is quite lovely, but to dismiss China as having comparable beauty because of the smog problems in their large cities is silly China has some of the most dramatic and unique landscapes in the world.
Here's my two cents worth. I've hit 46 of the 48 contiguous states, most of Canada, and about ten Caribbean Islands. While I would love to travel more abroad, the lack of significant vacation time makes that unmanagable. I've been to Latvia, Greece and Kenya in my three trips abroad. In Greece and Latvia, I had people I could sponge off so the cost was reduced greatly. The Kenya safari was the only abroad trip fully funded by me. So time and money are significant factors. But that's just me. I do know that while living in the Washington, D.C. area, many of the people I met had limited knowledge of anything beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. When one person heard I was from Minnesota, they asked why Iowa had so much snow when it was so close to Alabama. Now I'm in Texas and it is surprising to hear how many people have never left the state. It is big, but most is pretty monotonous. My personal opinion is that there is a large number that really have no interest in seeing anything other than what they are already familiar with, don't have a spirit of adventure. And for many others, it's the same reason why I haven't seen as much as I would like: time and money. Good thing the lottery is tomorrow.
@Ol' Wanderer: Could you or anyone else please post the links to the two threads about African Americans and travel you were referring to?
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