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When I visited Greece this past year, I traveled solo.... As an American I was surprised at how many Australians, Canadians, and ppl from the UK I met. Tons of people....however it was glaringly apparent that I was ALWAYS the only american wherever I went. I was actually quite surprised. I couldn't help but wonder why I didn't encounter more Americans while in Greece. I mean the US has over 300 million people. Statistically, it made sense, however most ppl I met in the Greek Islands were Australian....followed by UKers and the Canadians. Had a great time, met so many cool ppl. I actually started to resent the fact I met no Americans like "why don't Americans value travel like other anglo-sphere countries? like, wtf?"
Yeah I notice more Canadians than Americans here, at least young solo travellers. Americans tend to travel in groups, seldom solo it seems. And they're more represented in the older demographic. I think that's another reason why they stand out, unlike French, Germans, British, Canadians, Koreans you don't see as many solo Americans, especially backpacker/budget travellers.
So often if I hear someone with an American accent i find it prudent to ask where they're from rather than just assuming they're American. There's a more than 50% chance that they're Canadian not American.
Yeah I notice more Canadians than Americans here, at least young solo travellers. Americans tend to travel in groups, seldom solo it seems. And they're more represented in the older demographic. I think that's another reason why they stand out, unlike French, Germans, British, Canadians, Koreans you don't see as many solo Americans, especially backpacker/budget travellers.
So often if I hear someone with an American accent i find it prudent to ask where they're from rather than just assuming they're American. There's a more than 50% chance that they're Canadian not American.
Yeah, I was traveling solo, kind of doing the whole party circuit of the greek islands last summer. Honestly, I will never forget what an amazing time I had. I met soooo many awesome people, had so much fun, kind of crazy time, but I basically back-packed and budget traveled my way from one island to the next. Met many life-long friends. More (young) Americans need to do this. . . . Also, opened to my eyes more to the world and learned to think a little more globally and not be so insular, which many Americans can be (my own friends included).
I wish the US adopted the "gap year" as well. Hardly anyone does gap year-- I didn't. Had never even heard of the concept.
LOL Us East Coasters regard West Coasters as reserved, passive-aggressive, unproductive i.e. too relaxed, etc.
Me as an East Coaster, I actually found the people in LA to be a really cool bunch when I visited.
LA is very different from the rest of the west coast too. East Coasters tend to do better there but have a hard time with Seattle, the Bay Area and San Diego.
Yeah, I was traveling solo, kind of doing the whole party circuit of the greek islands last summer. Honestly, I will never forget what an amazing time I had. I met soooo many awesome people, had so much fun, kind of crazy time, but I basically back-packed and budget traveled my way from one island to the next. Met many life-long friends. More (young) Americans need to do this. . . . Also, opened to my eyes more to the world and learned to think a little more globally and not be so insular, which many Americans can be (my own friends included).
I wish the US adopted the "gap year" as well. Hardly anyone does gap year-- I didn't. Had never even heard of the concept.
For sure, I notice a lot of young Americans are also wary of travelling abroad alone. In contrast, tons of people from other developed nations do so. I met an 18 year old girl from the UK who was going round the world alone. She'd been trekking in South America and was interesting to talk to. It just doesn't seem part of the culture in the US for young people to do a lot of extended travel, as it is in other countries. Here in seems indeed the government almost encourages it, with working holiday visas.etc, as well as countless companies which offer working holiday positions, exchange programmes, as well as many student travel agents. The 'gap year' after high school is getting less common though as the job market becomes competitive, but since travel is more accessible than ever it's not uncommon for young people to travel to Brazil, or Nepal or places that in the past only the real adventurous types would venture to. Americans lack of vacation time does not help either.
When I visited Greece this past year, I traveled solo.... As an American I was surprised at how many Australians, Canadians, and ppl from the UK I met. Tons of people....however it was glaringly apparent that I was ALWAYS the only american wherever I went. I was actually quite surprised. I couldn't help but wonder why I didn't encounter more Americans while in Greece. I mean the US has over 300 million people. Statistically, it made sense, however most ppl I met in the Greek Islands were Australian....followed by UKers and the Canadians. Had a great time, met so many cool ppl. I actually started to resent the fact I met no Americans like "why don't Americans value travel like other anglo-sphere countries? like, wtf?"
Americans travel to the same specific locations over and over. It's it's not London, Paris or Rome, many probably don't even know where it is. When people ask me where I want to go in Europe and I say Dublin, Brussels, Amsterdam and Stockholm, you can hear the proverbial pin drop.
Americans travel to the same specific locations over and over. It's it's not London, Paris or Rome, many probably don't even know where it is. When people ask me where I want to go in Europe and I say Dublin, Brussels, Amsterdam and Stockholm, you can hear the proverbial pin drop.
I went on a tour of Italy in November, and there was a group of 3 - a mother her son and his fiancee, who had done the exact same tour before (well the mother and son, he wanted to show his fiancee Italy i guess). There was also an older lady who said she'd been to Italy 4 times, also on the same tour at least once before (seeing the same sites) and that was the only foreign country she'd been to. I mean it's her money, of course, and I'm not criticising it, but I find it peculiar some people prefer to see the same things over and over again rather than new things.
Yeah I notice more Canadians than Americans here, at least young solo travellers. Americans tend to travel in groups, seldom solo it seems. And they're more represented in the older demographic. I think that's another reason why they stand out, unlike French, Germans, British, Canadians, Koreans you don't see as many solo Americans, especially backpacker/budget travellers.
So often if I hear someone with an American accent i find it prudent to ask where they're from rather than just assuming they're American. There's a more than 50% chance that they're Canadian not American.
American have a tendency to think it's not safe to travel alone, even within our country. My family practically crapped sailboats when I told them I was going to drive alone from Washington to southern California. There's this paranoia of something happening and you're all alone.
For sure, I notice a lot of young Americans are also wary of travelling abroad alone. In contrast, tons of people from other developed nations do so. I met an 18 year old girl from the UK who was going round the world alone. She'd been trekking in South America and was interesting to talk to. It just doesn't seem part of the culture in the US for young people to do a lot of extended travel, as it is in other countries. Here in seems indeed the government almost encourages it, with working holiday visas.etc, as well as countless companies which offer working holiday positions, exchange programmes, as well as many student travel agents. The 'gap year' after high school is getting less common though as the job market becomes competitive, but since travel is more accessible than ever it's not uncommon for young people to travel to Brazil, or Nepal or places that in the past only the real adventurous types would venture to. Americans lack of vacation time does not help either.
Most young Americans don't have the financial means to travel but trust me, the desire is there. Give them the means and off they go.
I went on a tour of Italy in November, and there was a group of 3 - a mother her son and his fiancee, who had done the exact same tour before (well the mother and son, he wanted to show his fiancee Italy i guess). There was also an older lady who said she'd been to Italy 4 times, also on the same tour at least once before (seeing the same sites) and that was the only foreign country she'd been to. I mean it's her money, of course, and I'm not criticising it, but I find it peculiar some people prefer to see the same things over and over again rather than new things.
When I worked at Sea World in San Diego, we would get Irish college students each summer (let me tell you they are a real blast, love 'em). When we would talk to them they would tell us where they had been the previous summers and/or where they were going the upcoming summer. Only one guy ever returned two summers later over all the years.
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