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.
-We also have these huge "amusement parks" designed to capture all of our vacation money such as Disneyland and Los Vegas.
Euro-Disney?
Serioulsy though there is a far large ammount of ammusement parks in the United States, it seems like almost every major cities has some huge Six Flags just outside of town.
I've been damn lucky to be able to afford international travel and have been to many countries but there's something I love much much more, the road trip.
I love to pack up the car and drive. The trip is the destination. Stopping to see the world's largest ball of twine while eating a burger from a small town drive in you've never set foot in before is purely an American experience and one that I place higher than any international destination I have been to.
Most Europeans, Asians or otherwise cannot understand what this "" feeling "" is like because it is purely an American ideal.
There's so much to see in the United States so pack the car, get a Stucky's pecan roll in your mouth and drive!!
I don't know if the OP is still posting here, but. .
Just for fun, I looked up the distance between Paris and Berlin. (Capital to capital) It is ~ 650 miles by land transport. That is only 100 miles farther than from Denver to Omaha, Nebraska. We go there at least once a year to visit DH's mother and other family. When my parents were alive, we traveled more than twice that far, 1500 miles, to visit my family in Pittsburgh at least every other year. (They came to see us on the "between" years.) So who says Americans don't travel much. How many Europeans have been to the US? I would like to see that state. http://www.freemaptools.com/how-far-...is_-france.htm
@Eddyline: This driving a three ton vehicle to buy a quart of milk has been debunked many times over.
Higher education is extremely expensive in the US. Many families save tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for college. Such savings is unnecessary in Europe, where even the finest schools are far cheaper than in the US, so families have more money to spend on travel.
I've been damn lucky to be able to afford international travel and have been to many countries but there's something I love much much more, the road trip.
I love to pack up the car and drive. The trip is the destination. Stopping to see the world's largest ball of twine while eating a burger from a small town drive in you've never set foot in before is purely an American experience and one that I place higher than any international destination I have been to.
Most Europeans, Asians or otherwise cannot understand what this "" feeling "" is like because it is purely an American ideal.
There's so much to see in the United States so pack the car, get a Stuckey's pecan roll in your mouth and drive!!
And when you go to these places, often there are many foreigners there who are enjoying seeing these unique sights as well. Just as Americans visiting their countries like seeing their one-of-a-kind locations.
Higher education is extremely expensive in the US. Many families save tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for college. Such savings is unnecessary in Europe, where even the finest schools are far cheaper than in the US, so families have more money to spend on travel.
I never thought of that but you can also add to it that many Americans also have to spend their money on health care too. And housing can be less expensive in Europe as well. So maybe we can say that Europeans have a bit more discretionary income to spend on travel than the average American.
Originally Posted by Eddyline
I find this topic interesting. A few reasons not yet listed.
-The US is very auto-centric, more so than Europe. We drive 3 ton vehicles to get a quart of milk. As noted we are the king of the road trip. We are more likely use a car for our vacation than train, plane or bus. Some friends were discussing their upcoming Europe vacation and they were saying it was hard to rent full size cars in Europe. My first question is why would you rent a car for Europe? Also hear about tourist from Europe who think they can see the USA by train. Well you can see a very small slice of the US by train.
Trains were developed before air travel. It only makes sense they would have train travel before air. Our streets can accomodate larger vehicles better than theirs and our gas prices are less expensive. It is cheaper for us to travel by car, it is cheaper for them to travel by train. There is really no moral or ethical issue here. It's simply one of practicality. And from what I saw when I was in Europe, they seem to tend towards expensive sports cars more than Americans so preferences are just different.
And your point is what?
-The US is the largest owners of "second homes", vacation homes, time shares etc. Many people spend a lot of money to go the same place every year for their vacation time.
It is quite common for the well to do to own second homes in warm climates in Europe. Have you ever heard of dachas in Russia? Or vacation cottages by the sea in the Mediterranean? Or the South of France? I have a middle class friend in the UK who owns several properties one being a summer cottage at the beach.
-We also own a lot of adult toys (boats, ATVs, RVs, snowmobiles etc). So use of our expensive toys takes priority for vacation time.
Yachats owned by wealthy Greek shipping magnates and Italian industrialists are not uncommon. Perhaps the differences are that more of the average citizens in America can afford these things than the average European citizen.
So your comparing wealthy Greek shipping magnates with Joe Sixpack with a garage full of motor toys?
-We also have these huge "amusement parks" designed to capture all of our vacation money such as Disneyland and Los Vegas.
Euro-Disney? Didn't know that. I thought only in America would a family have a corporation deliver its vacation adventure.
-And we can't overlook the attitude of American Exceptionalism, we are the Center of the Universe.
Have you been to France? Yes
For me personally, I did a lot of overseas travel both in my 20's (before kids and mortgage) and again in my later 40s as the kids were old enough to understand foreign cultures. Those in between years were spent visiting family and exploring/camping the American west. The last 10 years, with kids gone, my vacation has been dominated by active recreation in Colorado and the West, climbing, biking, skiing, whitewater and seeing all the back roads I have missed.
As I approach retirement, I'm faced with the reality that the economy has not been my friend and the grand European vacations might not fit the budget. There is also the reality that time is finite and I am not going to see the whole world before I check out. There are still huge sections of the US and Canada that I have never seen and those are going to be my priority for the near future.
P.S. I've never been to Disneyland or Los Vegas and never owned a timeshare or ATV etc and I would love to travel by train.
My only visit there was to Vegas to visit a friend but so what? What's the point? And I have traveled in the US by train but again so what?
I am not trying really to dispute what you are saying, I am trying to point out the similarities between Europeans and Americans because I believe that when you get down to it, people are people and they tend to strive for the same things when given similar opportunities. Also, people will use whatever opportunities are most available to them. It doesn't make any better than any others, just more convenient.
Most suburbanite respondents lived within 10 miles of work (33% within 5 miles), lived within 1 mile of a grocery store, and drove a standard size car, not an SUV.
Very few people are stupid enough to drive even one mile just for a quart of milk, unless they need it for a certain recipe. We keep powdered milk on hand for emergencies. If I had not breast fed my kids, I might have made a run to the store if I was out of formula. However, unless it was late at night, I'd have bought whatever else I needed at the time as well.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 03-09-2013 at 10:26 PM..
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.
