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1) Enjoy hiking all of the national parks and monuments. They must be pretty good as we are always stumbling inro foreign nationals from China and Germany.
2) Love to research at great depth American history by visiting historic homes, presidential libraries, university library collections and the like.
3) Enjoying purchasing the "Off the Beaten Track Books" and actually seeing some of the underappreciated parts of this nation.
Personally I see so many of the "world travelers" who honestly, have not been in many of the attractions in their own state.
I don't know a lot of world travelers or those that even go off the beaten path. If it's not visiting family or going to a destination like Vegas they aren't interested.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish Taco64
Most of it has been said, but I will weigh in. There are a variety of factors, there is no one size fits all answer here.
1. Americans are often creatures of habit. I have a lot of coworkers for example that take the same cruise every year or stay at the same condo in Florida every year. I will return to places I like sometimes, but I always try to mix it up a bit. For example, I love Germany and could happily go there every year, but this year I am going to Greece instead to take in a new culture, see new sights, and taste new cuisine.
2. There is a certain percentage of Americans that think anyplace that isn't America is an unsafe, terrorist ridden dump. I had one such person ask me once how I was comfortable traveling to Germany because it was full of terrorists and I couldn't carry a gun to defend myself over there. Guy refuses to go to Wal-Mart not packing heat because he lives in fear that someone will attack him and the delusion that if it does happen he will spontaneously turn into Rambo. Ignorance is powerful.
3. Insufficient time off. Prior to my current job, I was never able to take more than one week off of work at a time. Some people get no paid time off at all. When traveling from the middle of the country, it takes time to get to Europe, Asia, Africa, etc and in the end you spend a whole lot of money on three days on the ground and get home horribly jet lagged.
4. Insufficient money. I feel like most people can afford to travel if it is something they want to do badly enough to make sacrifices in other areas. But in the last job I just mentioned, I also did not make enough money, even to take many trips within the US, even if I did have the time.
5. Lack of interest. Many Americans simply aren't interested in learning about history, other cultures, cuisines, etc. We have it hammered into our brains from a young age that the US is the best country ever, some people never bother to look elsewhere. If we're the best, why bother with anyplace else?
It's sad that more of my fellow citizens will never get to enjoy the pleasures of international travel for one reason or another, but I'm happy to have the opportunity for myself.
#2 is so annoying. It's interesting how safe you find things actually are when you stop watching Fox News.
Was reading FishTacos post. Two of the reasons listed-not enough $, not enough time off-would tend to obscure the number of people who would like to travel overseas, but lack the means.
Places like china is on the other side of the planet.
America is also pretty awesome, and you can get a diverse array of locations just in the states alone.
Yes, China's on the other side of the planet...but it's not really that far away.
It's a 13-hour flight from Newark, NJ, to Beijing, and there's a flight in each direction every day. That's only a little more than half a day.
My dd lived there for a while, and she met a woman who flew to Beijing once a month to stay for a week for business purposes. So, some people COMMUTE to China. The other side of the planet is just on the other side of the planet.
It's not as if it's in another galaxy where you need a lot more vacation time to visit.
I believe she's from Australia, so yeah Cambodia/Vietnam/etc. would indeed make for a much cheaper vacation.
Yes I am and yes Vietnam was cheap. But it would be cheap for Americans too, cheaper for you when you are there because of the exchange rate. Flights, I am not sure. There were about half a million American tourists last year who went to Vietnam so for sure some travel.
I imagine that the main reason Americans do not travel as much as some others is the short amount of vacation time that you get. It is so much less than almost any other developed countries. DD knocked back a transfer from London to the US for that reason. There would have been little time to do the travelling which she loved whereas in the U.K. she was getting six weeks a year paid leave. It was even offered in advance, which it is not here. She was able to get half a years leave after being there three months.
Places like china is on the other side of the planet.
America is also pretty awesome, and you can get a diverse array of locations just in the states alone.
From Boston, I can go to Europe cheaper than most people do Florida. Public transportation is excellent so I usually don’t need a car. I use AirBnB a lot to rent apartments. The prepaid at the Sheraton Heathrow for Saturday night just hit my credit card. $78.62 and that includes breakfast. I know how to use the free bus service around Heathrow. We’re off to Rome on Sunday after sleeping in a real bed. A couple nights in Venice at $146/night for an AirBnB apartment with a canal view is the most expensive lodging for the trip.
We did 8 nights in Lisbon in an Alfama apartment with a great view last year for less than $100/night.
I don't know a lot of world travelers or those that even go off the beaten path. If it's not visiting family or going to a destination like Vegas they aren't interested.
#2 is so annoying. It's interesting how safe you find things actually are when you stop watching Fox News.
Even if many can afford to travel overseas many have the attitude everything is better in the USA, why would they want to go anywhere else?
Not necessarily, I've traveled overseas several times, but now I'm just as happy traveling around here as well. Some people don't like to fly, some enjoy camping, hiking, road trips,, some has young families that would rather go to the beach or DisneyWorld then museums and such. I'm sure some over seas don't want to fly over here either because they don't like long flights.
Yes I am and yes Vietnam was cheap. But it would be cheap for Americans too, cheaper for you when you are there because of the exchange rate. Flights, I am not sure. There were about half a million American tourists last year who went to Vietnam so for sure some travel.
I imagine that the main reason Americans do not travel as much as some others is the short amount of vacation time that you get. It is so much less than almost any other developed countries. DD knocked back a transfer from London to the US for that reason. There would have been little time to do the travelling which she loved whereas in the U.K. she was getting six weeks a year paid leave. It was even offered in advance, which it is not here. She was able to get half a years leave after being there three months.
Yes. I got a whole meal there that was the equivalent of about USD $2.
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The other side of the planet is just on the other side of the planet.
