Why don't Americans travel

It certainly would be nice to travel, however, most people don't have month long 'holidays' in the US. most people get a week to two weeks starting off at a nice paying job - and it's often difficult to take time off. as it is, i get a week paid vacation right now and i will acquire 10 days as of 1-07. It would be lovely to continue to accrue time off and take a month long vacation overseas.. but just a week or so? I can't justify it, and airfare is far too expensive..

and i highly doubt my job would really appreciate it, either. hardly anybody i work with takes time off. it wouldn't be too smart if the new girl decided to jet off to Europe, or elsewhere.

must be nice to travel when mommy and daddy foots the bill. :) it's a lot easier and affords a lot more creativity when you don't have any worries. i'd love to visit Greece.. it's always been my goal honeymoon, in fact, I'd like to live there, but... that's just a pipe dream for now.
 
Pardon the French, but seriously, "foreign countries are demonized by the government and media"????

And my grandmother has traveled the world, the *entire* world, and she has never been met with anything but hospitality. Why is it you think everyone is so full of hate?

He didn't say anyone is full of hate.. he said American government and media demonize other countries and it's true. Especially non-western countries. So, yeah.. your language was uncalled for and your fans who posted after you are idiots.


Anyway...

Why are there less passport holders in the US? Well, let's see.. what countries can I easily visit in the US without paying about $800+ for a ticket.. Canada and Mexico. I can get into Canada without a passport and have done so within the last month but who cares anyway? Canada might as well be Montana. Then there is Mexico but honestly who wants to go to Mexico? Not to mention I'm sure I could go there without a passport as well.

As was already mentioned the North American continent is huge but it's only three countries and the only one that really has any border security is the US. Compare that to any European country and the amount of countries that fit into a landmass the size of the US (or North America) and it's pretty fucking obvious to me why more people have passports over there than here.

Then there is the last issue which is the 10%.. and 7% numbers..

http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2003/01/31/how_many_america.php

* 25%: “75% of Americans don't own a passport”
http://www.birminghamrecords.co.uk/maninsf/maninsf11.html

* 22%: “just 22% of Americans own a passport”
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/saturdaysection/story/0,8922,779505,00.html

* <20%: “less than 20% of all Americans own a passport”
http://wwwnew.towson.edu/studyabroad/reasons.htm

* 15%: “85 percent of Americans do not own a passport”
http://www.br.cc.va.us/vcca/bran.html

* 10%: “only 10 percent of US citizens *ever* own a passport”
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/speakers_corner/discussion/attacks_on_america/_comments/311074/

* <10%: “fewer than 10 percent own a passport”
http://www.ocmetro.com/metro062702/business062702.html

* 7%: “only seven percent of Americans own a passport”
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/030123/7/33lcu.html

Yeah so obviously those news reports and articles are bullshit and wrong.. or at least some of them are. So, how many people really have US passports?

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2225.html#8

Q. How many U.S. citizens currently hold passports?

Over 70 million U.S. citizens hold valid passports, an estimated quarter of the eligible population. The number of passport applications and issuances continues to grow. In fiscal year 2006, the U.S. Department of State issued over 12.1 million passports.

So, the number is more like 25% coming from the actual U.S. State Department.

So, 25% combined with the fact that you don't even really need a passport to go to Canada/Mexico combined with how fucking huge North America is compared to Europe and....

Wow, what a surprise.. Americans DO travel and this entire notion that we don't is utter bullshit and retarded. Thanks.
 
I'm guessing it's several factors:

1.) Travel outside of Mexico and Canada is (relatively) expensive.

2.) In a related vein, I think it's safe to say that overseas travel has always been a pursuit of the well-heeled, which automatically reduces the pool of potential travellers.

3.) Some of it may be insularity, but there also might be some cost-benefit analysis: what are the benefits of me spending $2000 to visit London versus making that same amount and paying my bills? For that matter, do I even have the vacation time?

So no, I don't think it's a case of American narrow-mindedness.
 
prior to a few months ago, americans didn't need a passport to travel to much of the caribbean or central america either. now a US citizen needs a passport to go to these destinations if they fly, and in a few months when they drive to canada or mexico. so the percent of people with passports will increase.
 
I like how that's always the knee-jerk reaction. It's always tied back to us being narrow-minded.. 8(
 
Oh and one more thing.. like the site I linked said, 12 million passports were issued in 2006.. that is 5 or 10 year long passports.

So, if there are 300 million people in the US that means about 4% of the country got a passport in ONE year and it lasts 5 or 10 years the majority being 10 year long passports (over 16 years old).

So, ask yourself how less than 10% of Americans could have passports when last year along 4% got a passport that lasts 10/5 years.
 
I think there's a few reasons:
1) America is fucking HUGE, there's tons of shit within our own country that we tend to be more encouraged to see.
2) The American dollar is weak as shit in a lot of places around the world, if you don't get shafted on regular expenses when traveling you'll get hit with a really expensive plane ticket or both.
3) Americans throughout history have a bit of a xenophobic side to them, so going out to other cultures doesn't sound appealing.

I've been fortunate to have lived in the Philippines and have spent a couple weeks traveling through London, Brighton, & Paris and having parents that are fully supportive of me getting out of the country and seeing the world firsthand. I do think it's unfortunate that Americans don't travel as much as a lot of other cultures. While I was in Europe this issue was definitely something I thought about a lot after meeting tons of Aussies, Irish, Swiss, and Swedish travelers.
 
traveling is hard when you get 2 weeks of vacation a year. 2 weeks seems pretty standard here. when i left the uk in 1993 i had 5 weeks of vacation - makes travel a little more likely.

alasdair
 
waking_orange said:
Why don't American's travel outside the country. I read an article saying that less than 10 percent of Americans have a passport. I have traveled around the world and I meet people from around the world except American's. Is our society so individualistic that we don't give a shit about any other place except our own.
I'm not American and but I live in the States. The reason why is because America is fucking massive. You could travel all over America and see something new and different where ever you go. It's also expensive.
 
you see, if americans cross any borders, we implode. its a new bill that was introduced with the patriot act, of course it was buried under miles of fine print and bullshit. but yes in fact the moment we step on to forigen soil our internal workings begin forming an intense vacuum and eventually if we dont hurry our little patriot asses back to the good ol' USA we form a universe destroying black hole. :\
 
DonkeyPunch said:
you see, if americans cross any borders, we implode. its a new bill that was introduced with the patriot act, of course it was buried under miles of fine print and bullshit. but yes in fact the moment we step on to forigen soil our internal workings begin forming an intense vacuum and eventually if we dont hurry our little patriot asses back to the good ol' USA we form a universe destroying black hole. :\

isn't this so sad? i've had several friends implode already.
 
Antarctica
we have a winner

their is soooo much to see and do in the US ,Mexico and Canada that their isn't much reason to spend the mega money to go further.
i agree there's a lot to see
but even with everything you get to see in the US and canada, you pretty much only see one culture

what are the benefits of me spending $2000 to visit London versus making that same amount and paying my bills? For that matter, do I even have the vacation time?
?
the experience!
why would you spend money on anything but your bills then?
because that's what makes life interesting
paying bills doesn't make life interesting, discovering and experiencing does
 
isn't this so sad? i've had several friends implode already.

^ terrible... damn you Bush!

lol, seriously though... I read somewhere that come next year, getting your passport is gonna be nearly impossible. as in it will be a long extensive background check like you would go through in order to buy a damn gun. also its going to cost like 200 bucks to get it or some rediculous amount. Ol' george is just working his way to absolute total power, one freedom at a time.

look into national ID cards too, scary shit.
 
I love the American excuse it is to expensive. We are the richest country in the world and have one of the strongest currencies in the world. Yes our dollar has went down in value but it's still a lot more powerful in other countries than here. American's just choose to spend their money on consumer items and the trendy items. The average American family goes in debt another 1000 dollars each year. We have money we just choose to spend it on useless consumer items.
 
vegan said:
i agree there's a lot to see
but even with everything you get to see in the US and canada, you pretty much only see one culture

I strongly disagree with this statement. I can think of 10+ cultures you can experience in my city alone.
 
i would love to travel to so many places in the world but i don't have the money right now.^^and no its not because i spend it on useless consumer items, its because i'm paying for school. i will eventually though. i think the first place i go though will be maui which is still in the US. i went there a little over a year ago and can't wait to go back.
 
waking_orange said:
I love the American excuse it is to expensive. We are the richest country in the world and have one of the strongest currencies in the world. Yes our dollar has went down in value but it's still a lot more powerful in other countries than here. American's just choose to spend their money on consumer items and the trendy items. The average American family goes in debt another 1000 dollars each year. We have money we just choose to spend it on useless consumer items.

While I somewhat agree with you, it really is about where people want to travel to. When I was in in Europe I was paying close to 2 American dollars to 1 Pound or Euro. I know I coulda gone to Thailand or some other place that is cheap, I had more interest in going to Europe. Or if you look at trying to go from the U.S. to Japan, talk about paying out of your ass. It all depends on where you want to go.
 
I just checked a flight from Newark to Dublin leaving tomorrow.

It costs 445 dollars at the lowest fare.

With the bills a lot of people have, not a lot of people have 445 dollars to throw around.

And that's not even counting hotel fares, food expenses, and in-country travel expenses.

That could run up to 1500 dollars. Not walking-around money. And I'm being conservative, if I'm not mistaken.
 
have love will travel.

the American work week is a lot more challenging than overseas and we just don't get the option to take extended vacations. however, luckily I have been able to travel to many countries, mostly Spanish speaking - so my Passport is very heavily used :)

also like buzzy said, America is so vast: the climate difference of say, Los Angeles, Southern California and New York, New York are WORLDS appart. a great aspect of living in a European nation is that you are close to many different cultures, languages, etc. I'm forever jealous :)
 
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