Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
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?
Last edited by PJSaturn; 06-25-2019 at 08:53 AM..
Reason: Merged two threads on same topic.
Different cultures. From my travels abroad talking to people from New Zealand and especially Australia, I was told they are encouraged to travel and see the world from a young age, since they are relatively "remote", it's not uncommon for someone to take a gap year or travel for 2 years, because most places (except for Asia) are far from where they live. So if you're going to take a trip, might as well make it a long one!
Just look at the United States and the different cultures here with respect to traveling. I'm a huge National Park Service nerd and have been to 260 out of the 419 different units and do you know how often I seen a black person or Hispanic person visiting those units, not a lot, it's like seeing a unicorn and I've been doing it for over 20 years. Sure people will talk about cost and having a good enough vehicle to get to those places, but the National Park Service is one of the cheaper things one can do, relative to Disney and other resorts.
Well... when I worked for the airlines our flights international flights we always jam packed
with ....( wait for it) Americans! When I traveled to Europe, Asia, South and Central America I ran into a lot of US. Citizens. So you can tell where you’ve been and what you’ve experienced, but you don’t want to hear about someone else’s experiences? You don’t want people to dispute what you say? Why ask the question if you don’t want an informed answer? Why not write it in a blog?
Americans largely get 2 to 3 weeks of paid vacation per year. That limits the number of people you'll see in "tough to access" places. The east coast is 6 to 8 hours flight time to Europe. Those flights are stuffed full of Americans. For international origination/destination city pairs, JFK to LHR is #9 with about 3 million passengers. Personally, I'm not going to do a 12 time zone & 24+ hour door-to-door Asia trip unless I'm gone for at least 3 weeks or if my employer is paying business class.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,596 posts, read 57,546,778 times
Reputation: 46013
BTW:
1) Laos and Cambodia are a heck of a lot closer to NZ / AU than to USA.
2) Most countries travel more in their summer than winter (it is currently summer in NZ and AU)
3) It is MUCH cheaper to jet from NZ / AU to SE Asia than from USA - better time zones, less jet lag.
4) NZ / AU / Western Europe mtn countries are more likely to Trek than USA people
5) USA educators and parents are less likely to train / look / venture abroad ('generic' USA residents are USA centric +/-) i.e. whatever is ez and cheap. USA is 'good - enough'
Our kids were international travelers and lived in places overseas since age 5, so... some continue to do that, some stay in USA, all travel a lot.
everyone has their perspective....
I do not care about where others are from, I enjoy them, and learn from all.
My international travel is primarily limited to Europe, Mexico, and Central America. Any flights longer than 4 hours have to be business class for me so, it gets pricey and, flights longer than 8 hours I want to be able to spend at least a month there. With those prerequisites and the fact that I still have a full time job, travel to Asia, South America, New Zealand, etc. are trips I won’t make until I retire. I hate long flights so if I’m going to do it, it won’t be for a two week visit.
It's expensive to travel out of the country, it's more of a hassle because you need a passport too, which is yet another expense, as well as possibly needing immunizations depending on where you're traveling too, and lastly some places seem unsafe for Americans. Those are my main reasons for staying in the U.S.
I do like to travel and my family is trying to see as many National Parks and Monuments as we can. We enjoy going new places and meeting new people, and seeing other cultures or local customs.
My daughter and I have talked about a trip to Ireland when she graduates from college in a few years. Already I am trying to figure out how we're going to afford the trip over there. My hubby is of Irish decent so we'd like to see where his family came from. So I'm not totally against travel outside of the U.S., but it does carry extra expense and risks and that's why we haven't left the country yet.
Location: "Silicon Valley" (part of San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA)
4,375 posts, read 4,045,841 times
Reputation: 2157
Quote:
Originally Posted by kletter1mann
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.
It's expensive, dude! Usually the middle class will go off to Europe once in their lifetime...but if you talk about flying to the other side of the world, that's expensive. I have a few penpals in Southeast Asia. Sometimes I look at visiting them. In one case, to fly to her island in the Philippines, including the hotel stay, was $1400!!! And that's if I wanted to fly uncomfortably, in coach/economy class! 1st class was several thousand dollars. Three days in London is $900 including airfare, if flying coach and staying at a decent hotel.
In the future when I get a better job I'd like to travel. But right now my monthly take-home pay is around $2000 so you can see why I would hesitate to spend $1400. I'm going to spend that going down to San Diego this summer for Gay Pride 2019, and it took a year to save up the money for that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
