Americans and Foreign Travel (mansion, bridge, attractions, package)

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by yankinscotland

Fear of people or places that are different, different money, languages, customs, cultures. They are comfortable with what is familiar.

Europeans get much more holiday time. New on a job you get 4 weeks holiday.

These don't really intimidate me much except for the language barriers. Common fears can include the potential of terrorist attacks which makes folks wanting to stay close to home and the fear of international flying where you are over the ocean for hours on end.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by yankinscotland

The differences aren't exactly huge though. I have a big interest in ancient cultures. A few native American sites in the southwest US woudn't satisfy it. I've seen sites that are over 5,000 years old. Africa. Australia. Much of Europe. Roman sites. And I'm about to visit Rome and see the Vatican, Pompeii, etc. Nothing similar to that in the US.

That's because the USA is a relatively young country compared to somewhere like Italy or Jerusalem.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by burgler09

I agree completely, I find it rather annoying that someone feels a person looks down on other people just because they don't want to travel. Difference of opinions, sure.. but the people who think they are above other people because they want to go to other countries is just flat out annoying. To each their own. (yes, i'm into travel)

It is also more expensive for Americans to go abroad, if we want to go abroad we have to cross the ocean and that is a lot more expensive than simply taking a cheap flight from france to spain. I bet the amount of Americans that go abroad would be about the same as the europeans that spend the money to come here to USA and cross the ocean.

Not to mention the exchange rates that don't favor Americans ...

[Miaiam]

What a nice post.

Originally Posted by quijote

Another factor is pure inertia. Travel can be expensive, planning can be time-consuming, and the whole enterprise can seem really draining. For people who have maybe two or three weeks of vacation time per year, it doesn't make sense to get tired out in the unknown when you can just stay at home, or in the state, and relax and work in the garden. I'm sure many non-travellers would like to travel abroad, but then various questions, along with inertia, set in: where to begin? how do you prepare? what's involved?

What some people fail to understand is, sometimes - most times - "the unknown" is incredibly beautiful, has a lot of history, and will sure give one wonderful memories and a huge amount of knowledge and culture...

Maybe another reason: Many Europeans live in smallish flats and other spaces that, compared to the US model, are kind of small. Travel abroad provides a kind of escape from that, perhaps.

I disagree, my understanding is most Europeans are used to travel from an early age, so spending summers (or other seasons) overseas is as easy as staying home. Even if they lived in large houses, traveling is a natural thing. Besides, there are so many wonderful places in Europe it would be just a shame not to travel around, when an enjoyable train trip will take one virtually everywhere.

Remodeling the kitchen, getting a new car, dining out several times a week....those may be budgeting priorities.

Imo traveling is an absolute priority!

In my case, it took me a while to realize that yes, as long as I have the money and time and energy, I can just pack up and go. No need to wait for a special occasion, no need to wait until retirement, no need to be rich: just make the plans and do it.

For many people, there is even a sense of guilt in travelling "too much."

This is something I will never understand!

Many other people would see it as absurd or indulgent to take the trips that I do every year, but I'm over that. Life is short, and there's so much to see and experience out there. My next trips outside of the US for 2011 and 2012 are Taiwan and Croatia. The trips are major undertakings and will be tiring, but the rewards are much greater.

Great words, good for you!!

PS: may I suggest you tell people who have any negative comments about traveling overseas that, when they start paying for your trips, perhaps they are entitled to give a sour, jealous opinion.

[Ol' Wanderer]

I took my first oversea trip at 20 in 1969. I had $400 for all expenses after airfares. Spend 6 weeks travel on bus, train, ferry, and at one time, hitchhiking. My wandering path took me from Amsterdam, through London, Paris, Zurich, Innsbruck, Munich, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, back to Copenhagen, London, and Amsterdam.

In London, I stayed with a family friend, and when she was away, with her neighbor. The rest of the trip, I slept in dirt-cheap pensions, on cots in gymnasiums, and benches in train stations. Watched Apollo 11 landed on the moon from a pub in London. My meals came from free crackers and cheese that breweries provided at the end of their free tours. The last week in Amsterdam, I barely survived on one candy bar a day. I turned 21 that week. Couldn't wait to get back on the airplane where there was free food.

I made sure $10 was put aside for the transportation home from the airport. (At that time, there were only two choices: all day journey on bus with many transfers, or a $9.75 hair-raising helicopter service from LAX to Newport Beach, where my mother picked me up for the drive to our home in Laguna Beach. I opted for the helicopter service, one of the last flights before it crashed and the service was terminated permanently.) When I finally walked through our front door, there was 25 cents left in my pocket.

That experience started my lifelong passion with travel. I'm happily to say I no longer sleep on benches or think of candy bars as food, either while in the States or on foreign soil. With our last trip earlier this year, I've stayed in 50 countries so far. My wife, who only started to travel seriously after we met, has seen 46 countries. Our children all went through multiple passports of their own.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by Charles in PGI

I took my first oversea trip at 20 in 1969. I had $400 for all expenses after airfares. Spend 6 weeks travel on bus, train, ferry, and at one time, hitchhiking. My wandering path took me from Amsterdam, through London, Paris, Zurich, Innsbruck, Munich, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, back to Copenhagen, London, and Amsterdam.

In London, I stayed with a family friend, and when she was away, with her neighbor. The rest of the trip, I slept in dirt-cheap pensions, on cots in gymnasiums, and benches in train stations. Watched Apollo 11 landed on the moon from a pub in London. My meals came from free crackers and cheese that breweries provided at the end of their free tours. The last week in Amsterdam, I barely survived on one candy bar a day. I turned 21 that week. Couldn't wait to get back on the airplane where there was free food.

I made sure $10 was put aside for the transportation home from the airport. (At that time, there were only two choices: all day journey on bus with many transfers, or a $9.75 hair-raising helicopter service from LAX to Newport Beach, where my mother picked me up for the drive to our home in Laguna Beach. I opted for the helicopter service, one of the last flights before it crashed and the service was terminated permanently.) When I finally walked through our front door, there was 25 cents left in my pocket.

That experience started my lifelong passion with travel. I'm happily to say I no longer sleep on benches or think of candy bars as food, either while in the States or on foreign soil. With our last trip earlier this year, I've stayed in 50 countries so far. My wife, who only started to travel seriously after we met, has seen 46 countries. Our children all went through multiple passports of their own.

This sounds great. Most of my travel has been to...Punta Gorda, FL. I am not kidding--my ex-husbands family was there and we used to go down twice a year. That caught my eye in your post.

The only place outside the US I've ever been to is The Bahamas, twice. However, my daughter will be going to college in China for the next year, and I'm planning to visit her in the spring.

[Ol' Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

This sounds great. Most of my travel has been to...Punta Gorda, FL. I am not kidding--my ex-husbands family was there and we used to go down twice a year. That caught my eye in your post.

The only place outside the US I've ever been to is The Bahamas, twice. However, my daughter will be going to college in China for the next year, and I'm planning to visit her in the spring.

Punta Gorda! LOL. What a small world.

We have been to Hong Kong and Macau, never to mainland China, but friends and relatives who have been there said it's very beautiful. My wife's sister will be there in January with an organized tour.

[rfr69]

Originally Posted by queensgrl

Why is it that so many Americans don't travel abroad while so many foreigners take holidays to the US? I've longed to travel for years but I'm single and the prospect of going alone is scary, especially since I'm limited in foreign languages (I read, write and speak some Spanish). However I am making plans to study abroad later this year if all goes well.

There's something very insular about Americans that I can't quite pinpoint. It's woven into the design of our suburban communities, where every town has strip malls with the same stores, we aspire to wear the same clothing, drive similar cars and live in subdivisions with four styles of houses. This sameness is also creeping into major cities once known for their uniqueness.

It's like wherever we go, we have to see the things we have back home. It feels like the 1950s all over again (from what I've read, anyway -- I was not born yet). It's like an artificial existence of sorts.

We stay in our backyards and grill food, go on cruises (semi-foreign travel) or we travel to Vegas and Disney World, but we won't visit the real world.

What gives?

"We won't visit the real world"

Give me a break. Firstly, Europeans are going to travel to more countries because they can hit about 15 countries within the same amount of time we would travel to a different city in the US.

Europe is also closer to more exotic locations so where as Americans going to Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, may seem "boring" or "touristy" to you for the same price and distance Europeans can go to different parts of Africa, the Middle East, Russia, etc.

I personally would have no desire going to any of those places but to a travel snob going to those places means your cool so some do.

The US is a huge country, most people who travel abroad probably havn't seen more than 1% of what there is to see in the US. As someone else pointed out, a guy from london can't travel to a extremely differnet places like say Oregon, Alaska, Florida, And deserts in Arizona and Nevada within his own country he has to leave, we in the US can go to all these very different climates and environments right in our own country.

I enjoy beach destinations, aside from that not really intersted in seeing different cultures and architecture and all that jazz. Put me on a beach in the Caribbean with a Red Stripe, a Spliff and a dirty banana for the lady and my guitar and a few locals to chill with and Im good.

[Miaiam]

Originally Posted by rfr69

I personally would have no desire going to any of those places but to a travel snob going to those places means your cool so some do.

Please don't assume everyone travels just to be a "travel snob".

Some people - like myself - are truly interested in other cultures, find that fascinating, and understand the world is a huge place with a lot of nice things to be known and appreciated.

[rfr69]

Originally Posted by Miaiam

Please don't assume everyone travels just to be a "travel snob".

Some people - like myself - are truly interested in other cultures, find that fascinating, and understand the world is a huge place with a lot of nice things to be known and appreciated.

I don't think everyone who likes to travel to exotic places is a travel snob but many seem to think they are more wordly or better than others b/c they have been to Thailand or wherever else.

Many of us have no desire to go to many of those place.

Another factor to consider is Europeans have so much more vacation time. Personally i get about a week a year to go on vacation. I like to use that week to relax. I been going to Jamaica for the past 5 years b/c it's cheap, I know I like it, and I get a chance to relax.

If I had a month or more of vacation maybe I would try other places but I'd hate to try someplace new, hate it and realize I wasted the one free week I have this year doing that. ALso, I don't want to be trecking around and spend long periods of time traveling during my one week.

Jamaica takes me 3.5 hours to get to so its not a day wasted traveling, leave early and I'm on the beach with a redstripe and a smoke by 11 am. I know I like it, it's cheap. There's plenty of outdoor activities to do if I want to be active and I can always chill on the beach if I want to do that.