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I recently returned from a 6 week adventure travel trip to Laos and Cambodia. I traveled by bus, boat and motorcycle. It was the experience of a lifetime. I was very struck by how few Americans I encountered - practically none! The tourists/travelers were overwhelmingly Euros, Aussies, Kiwis and Canadians. These were not wealthy people, just regular working folks with the curiosity and will to see the world, eat new food and push outside their comfort zone. Americans, it seems, are interested mostly in inclusive resorts and Disneyland.
Why is this? Please don't respond that you've personally been where ever. That may well be. But I'm speaking of the extreme scarcity of Americans getting out and seeing something different and exotic. It's undeniable. What's wrong with us? Fear? Lack of education? Lack of curiosity? Spending money on fancy cars, houses, whatever, and that's it?
There's another phenomenon at play as well. I have repeatedly encountered younger people saving up and quitting their jobs to travel and see the world before returning to where ever and going back to work. Or, traveling around after university to travel before settling down. They are curious and unafraid. Yet Americans are strikingly absent from this cohort. And yes, there are exceptions. And don't tell me it's the money. When there's a will there's a way and traveling in Asia can be astoundingly cheap.
I hear you, but Jack Kerouac isn't going to come back to a job in America. At least not a professional one.
The workforce has gotten extremely competitive. Managers have gotten adept at making sure that there is forced interacton in everything. There are no wizards of oz left. Duplicity runs in many levels. A manager has to....as they have to interact as well. I'll come in tomorrow and there will be e-mails with deliverable needs at all times. People stretch to get ahead of the workload, even just a little. They need to have interactions and keep communications with others very good, or they in turn can be forced into failure.
How do you get away from that for a few weeks? You literally cannot. You dare not. New mothers come into the office just to keep abreast of what's going on while showing off a new baby. Reminding people not to take over everything while gone.
Don't kid yourself, if you take 6-12 months to jump off the treadmill and see the world....nobody's letting you back on. I'm sure it's easier if you want a low level job, but people view it negatively. With everyone running their own treadmills, nobody wants to have to also cover for someone that's off and about in the world. There's no LSL like in Australia. There's no month of August like in Europe. There's no returning to the homeland for a couple of weeks like in China.
You just run...and if you're lucky you might get to travel with your job. To get that job you racked up school debt. And you bought a car to get to that job. You bought a house because Americans don't live with their parents and everyone driving cars means you want to live close. You paid for an expensive wedding. You had expensive kids. You keep running, because it's not that crisscrossing SE Asia is expensive from what's paid out, but it's very expensive in terms of income, and you need that income or you lose everything. Even if you're cool....what about your spouse? It's even filtering down into the kids as well. Are they in a hyper-competitive group?
Which is why many Americans prefer the inclusive stuff. They don't want to do anything but be modestly entertained and unwind and get a quick break from the treadmill. Give something the kids will enjoy and you don't need to prepare all that much before leaving....because you know you won't have time.
Some fear for the opportunity cost. Others, institutionalized after so many years on the treadmill, start to see differences of most kinds in a different light. Either way, with big trips so far apart, there's a stress amount to make sure everyone has a good time. Things are seen. Mission is accomplished. What's in Botswana? What if you don't like it? Wait another 10 years for another mega-trip....nah, go safe and sound.
Hence, fly American Airlines to our vacation in Disneyworld China, right in the park, we see everything, we eat in the park and get a boat tour one night...fly to see the Great Wall and Forbidden City...rave about how different the McDonalds selections are and enjoy the Marriott there. Then fly home and let everyone know about China.
I can affirm your Paris comment. It was good to see Notre Dam Cathedral and a few other sites, but you're spot on --they are rude and cruel in my experience. If you do go to Paris again, make sure you have practiced a rude response in certain French so that they hear you and hopefully may grow past their rudeness. I'll go back, but will be extra-ever-ready next time.
If I decide to travel via private jet, well, the experience would be rather wasted if you're not going out to rub shoulders with the locals. And if you hate the locals (not a fan of the French) then why bother to fly out at all?
feel free to IM me.
The ironic thing here is that I am 1/2 French. My mother only spoke French when she was young and only knows her prayers in French.
Unfortunately, once my mom got to be a little older, they only spoke English. They wanted their kids to be American, and discouraged any French speaking.
Anyway, when I speak about French-speaking snobs, I feel like I have a different understanding. My grandparents who spoke French in the northeastern US were discriminated against for speaking French, because the "potato pickers" were the local farm laborers who spoke French. So, they wanted their kids to speak English with a local American accent, so they wouldn't be discriminated against.
So, even if I went to France, as a person who was 1/2 French, they would probably discriminate against me not only because my accent wasn't perfect, but even if they knew my family history, they would probably discriminate against me because we were emmigrants who weren't highly educated, blah blah. Even though my French grandfather was an engineer who helped build highways in CA.
Anyway, I guess my point is just that everyone needs to look at why you want to visit a country, etc. and also if you want to promote any kind of message they have by giving them your travel dollars. I really feel opposed to giving my travel dollars to a country that disparages my country.
I had dinner once where there was a guest from France, and we were having a barbecue with corn on the cob. He found that hilarious and said that French political cartoons often depict Americans eating corn on the cob. He then ranted about how Americans don't know where Paris is.
I asked him if he knew the capital of Indiana. He said no. I said I didn't know either. But, this just showed how huge my country is and how unimportant France is compared to our problems here in the US.
Anyway, just saying, if I'm going to spend my tiny budget on travel, it's going to be somewhere I feel truly welcomed and appreciated.
1. Vacation time- typically 10 days, and some don't even get that
2. Cost- international flights are not cheap
3. Time- A flight to Asia pushes 10+ hours, you lose a lot of travel time on just the flight (see #1)
4. Many families find it costly/difficult to travel with smaller children (are grandma and grandpa going to babysit for 2 weeks?)
5. Many families have pets that need supervision- either kennel ($$) or having trustworthy neighbors/family to check in on them
6. To be fair, Laos and Cambodia (after all other #s are taken into consideration) are probably not high on peoples' travel wishlists compared to more developed and bustling countries. I admit neither is very high on mine, and I'd rather do another trip or two to Japan or Taiwan before going to either.
Wages are so low here that relatively few people can afford to travel.
If travel is a big priority for you, then you'll find the time and money to do so.
How did I manage to do so much foreign travel?
Thrift stores, including socks, underwear and shoes.
By never eating out at restaurants, except an occasional fast food stop. Lots of cheap slow cooker meals.
Haven't been to a cinema since the 1980's
No car payments since the late 1980's
Roommate income
Travel has always been high on my priority list. This saying says it all: Nothing brings you closer to eternity than travel.
There were times I came back from a memorable South American trip, and I would have laughed if the plane crashed on the way back! I was ready for eternity!
I always traveled to places where my tourist dollar went the furthest. On my 12 trips to South/Central America in the 2000's I never paid more than $25 for a really nice room. If I had gone to expensive, overpriced Europe, I would have had to give up at least 5 or 6 of those trips to South/Central America.
If I had gone to expensive, overpriced Europe, I would have had to give up at least 5 or 6 of those trips to South/Central America.
Europe is much more than UK/France/Italy/Greece/etc.
We averaged less in daily costs in Albania and Macedonia than we did anywhere in Latin America. Bulgaria and Romania were both cheaper than Panama or Costa Rica.
I recently returned from a 6 week adventure travel trip to Laos and Cambodia. I traveled by bus, boat and motorcycle. It was the experience of a lifetime. I was very struck by how few Americans I encountered - practically none! The tourists/travelers were overwhelmingly Euros, Aussies, Kiwis and Canadians. These were not wealthy people, just regular working folks with the curiosity and will to see the world, eat new food and push outside their comfort zone. Americans, it seems, are interested mostly in inclusive resorts and Disneyland.
Why is this? Please don't respond that you've personally been where ever. That may well be. But I'm speaking of the extreme scarcity of Americans getting out and seeing something different and exotic. It's undeniable. What's wrong with us? Fear? Lack of education? Lack of curiosity? Spending money on fancy cars, houses, whatever, and that's it?
I have never been outside the US and have no desire to do so. I traveled considerably for business for many years, within the US, and never want to get on a plane again. I do have it in mind to maybe go to Cuba, just because it is so close, but that would be about it.
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