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When I meet Americans, I always ask, if I can, where they are from. On a 2017 trip, I stated at six hostels multiple nights in former-USSR. I met two Americans, in each of two places, all Peace Corps. That's it. None on US vacations, out of maybe 50 or 75 that I hung out with.
This forum is funny in that we go back and forth between complaining about all the loud Americans then claiming Americans don't travel overseas. Instead of anecdotes just look at data for some countries in Asia, which is farther to reach for both Western Europe and USA:
- In 2018 Americans were 3rd for China tourism arrivals at 2.5 million, behind only Japan and Korea which are obviously a much closer distance.
- In 2020 Americans were 6th in arrivals to Vietnam, more than double any Western European country. Every country ahead of them was Asian except for Russia, which is also mostly in Asia.
- In 2018 more Americans arrived in Cambodia than any European country, almost as much as the two highest in Europe (France and Germany) combined.
- In 2019 Americans were third in tourist arrivals to Thailand, behind Russia and China. UK was highest in Western Europe.
There might be higher per capita from other countries but the notion that there aren't any Americans who travel just isn't supported by tourism arrival statistics, the odds you'll encounter an American tourist is often higher than encountering a tourist from any other single western country.
This forum is funny in that we go back and forth between complaining about all the loud Americans then claiming Americans don't travel overseas. Instead of anecdotes just look at data for some countries in Asia, which is farther to reach for both Western Europe and USA:
- In 2018 Americans were 3rd for China tourism arrivals at 2.5 million, behind only Japan and Korea which are obviously a much closer distance.
- In 2020 Americans were 6th in arrivals to Vietnam, more than double any Western European country. Every country ahead of them was Asian except for Russia, which is also mostly in Asia.
- In 2018 more Americans arrived in Cambodia than any European country, almost as much as the two highest in Europe (France and Germany) combined.
- In 2019 Americans were third in tourist arrivals to Thailand, behind Russia and China. UK was highest in Western Europe.
There might be higher per capita from other countries but the notion that there aren't any Americans who travel just isn't supported by tourism arrival statistics, the odds you'll encounter an American tourist is often higher than encountering a tourist from any other single western country.
Those countries are bargains....I think the point is there are over 330 million Americans, from a very wealthy country. You'd think there would be more Americans traveling abroad and or visit a varied amount of countries.
We've traveled a bit. It was a surprise to us when we took a week long boat trip on the Mekong River and of the 50-ish passengers on board found that we were the only Americans. We had a similar experience on a small boat cruise in Croatia a couple years prior to that.
Personally, I don't understand it. It would benefit many Americans to get out of their own country and see the world, get some perspective.
My theory is that Americans are going to the ‘big name’ places they’ve heard of a bunch and who have easy air links to. You’ll find tons of them in London or Paris or Rome because they’ve had friends who went there. Not so much in lower publicity. On the recent Great Alps Road trip, the only places where we seemed to hear many American voices were Linderhof castle (a popular day trip from a nearby US military resort) Munich, and then a few at CERN in Geneva and when we were spectating at the Tour de France. Some of the other stops we made are just not really on the English language radar like Bregenz, Austria or Sierre, Switzerland.
And most Americans don’t have the time for a Austrian deep dive and are going to stick to Vienna or Salzburg if they do go to Austria rather than a lake town where people from Vienna go for a quick vacation.
How was that cruise down the Mekong? I've checked into it before, seems very nice. Again, that cruise is not affordable for many Americans. Much more expensive than an ocean cruise for several reasons.
I thought it was great, my wife was less thrilled. The boat, food, and staff were absolutely top-notch. The daily excursions were mostly very good, if not a little repetitive towards the end. The only real chance to get off the boat and wander on our own was in Phnom Penh, everything else was guided. I was into drinking in the sights and history and culture and there is plenty of that.
And they are bargains for people in Western Europe too, and it has nothing to do with being a bargain as USA is far ahead of other western countries for tourist arrivals to more expensive Asian countries like Japan and Korea as well.
Again, I'm not saying Americans travel as much as Europeans, but this whole anecdotal "rarely see an American" thing is nonsensical.
If you have a decent paying job, you can always request unpaid LOA from the employer. I didn’t have much of paid vacation when I started working, but I took unpaid days off. It’s not convenient but I didn’t care in a sense I made enough from my working days. Of course, employer approving those days off can be a hassle but most reasonable mangers will comply.
Perhaps that is a cultural difference as many young people here think the opposite. They want to do essential overseas travelling and see the world, saying that when they are old they can see their own country thoroughly.
Trouble is we get hooked on overseas travel. We just booked for South Africa for next year. So glad we can travel again after the past two years.
Hi Marisa,
What is it like traveling to African continent for someone who is primarily interested in natural and cultural attractions? Anyone else who has been to Africa, also feel free to chime in.
We've traveled a bit. It was a surprise to us when we took a week long boat trip on the Mekong River and of the 50-ish passengers on board found that we were the only Americans. We had a similar experience on a small boat cruise in Croatia a couple years prior to that.
Personally, I don't understand it. It would benefit many Americans to get out of their own country and see the world, get some perspective.
Sometimes it's not where you travel but how you travel that will dictate your co-travelers.
Were you on Avalon Waterways's or Viking's Mekong river cruises? Avalon and Viking generally have a more US-centric group of passengers than local tour companies.
What is it like traveling to African continent for someone who is primarily interested in natural and cultural attractions? Anyone else who has been to Africa, also feel free to chime in.
We leave for Sth Africa the week after next so will update you on my return. We have been there before and to Zimbabwe, in 1998. We loved that trip, the natural attractions are amazing. We were booked to go to Kenya and Tanzania in 2020 but covid got in the way.
This will be our first overseas trip post Covid and we had to get our heads around all the requirements such as travel insurance and currencies. And to keep in mind that Sth Africa is greatly affected by load shedding, with power outages for hours a day. South African cash is essential. Our phones will be used only for emergencies so it will feel like travelling in the olden days!
July we head to the Whitsundays and southern Queensland, October to Portugal, Morocco, Spain and Malta, for a month. Then we have just booked to visit Taiwan next February. So pretty exciting to be able to do all this again. Husband was saying his favourite trip was to Alaska and Utah in 2018 but unfortunately our dollar is too low against the US to even contemplate a return at this time.
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