Why don't Americans travel

^high travel costs + not much vacation time = why i have yet to travel overseas. i can't speak for why anyone else doesn't travel...

but the amount of americans with passports is not a good indication of whether we leave the country or not. prior to this year, you did not need a passport to visit canada, mexico or much of the caribbean. which is where the majority of americans would be traveling to.
 
^
I hear you :). But then, one could re-frame the question as why so few Americans travel outside of N America? And w/r/t/ costs, as I said in my first post in this thread, the costs (and distances) are higher for Aussies and Kiwis, but we still travel :) [Again, not flaming, but I think it's an interesting question to discuss the cultural differences in this area]

RA: if you're under 28 (maybe 30?) get yourself a working holiday visa. Get over here, get a job. Get your employer to sponsor you, and you can stay as long as you like and eventually get citizenship. If you're in IT, or any sort of job that's in high demand, you'll get sponsored easily. (I know loads of Brits and Irish who are doing just that). Unemployment's at about 3.5%, so no worries about getting a job, we need the workers.

Link: Irish Working Holiday Scheme
 
^when you take holiday, are the days off paid for?

i have more i want to say, but people are getting mad that i am sitting here arguing and they want food. i will be back tho :p
 
Sim0n said:
Yeah, good point. Sorry. Easy to leave a job, but maybe not easy to find a new one. I guess that argument doesn't hold (at least at the moment). But then, Americans didn't travel much in 1999 - pre 9/11, and with a booming economy.
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Yeah. It comes down to a combination of things. You get a lot of travellers who are would speak their views about their government straight up, but I would always tell those people that their country still has a fuckload to be proud of and stop dwelling on it whilst on holidays. But as Sin0n says, the lack of travellers existed prior to Y2k and 9/11, so it doesn't really hold up and overseas travel is much cheaper for an American than say an Aussie. That said though, it has always been hard for an American to get two weeks or more off work I am told. Here I am able to take my entire annual 4 weeks leave in one hit without concern. In fact I may accumulate my leave up for next year so I can take a longer one. A lot of Aussies here never leave the country because they honestly believe that their country is wonderful and provides them everything they would want in life, so why leave. Americans too share that but only with a much deeper sense of patriotism and capitalist thirst. Here if you fail because you've blown all your money on overseas travel the social security system will protect you well enough to rebound back up again.
 
Even if you get more than 2 weeks off, it is generally frowned upon to take a large chunk of that in a row. Fuckin' bullshit if you ask me and I'm lucky enough to have 3 weeks of vacation time.
 
junglejuice said:
Yeah, we don't travel at all.

That's why I've only been to...

<snip>
Scotland
<snip>

%)
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When was this, where did you go, and why didn't you hit me up, bro? :X
 
Americans dont travel because the rest of the world is filled with a bunch of fuckin barbarian lunatics (with weird accents). Nobody wants to put up with all that shit; silly languages, stupid customs, retarded currencies, and faggity units of measurements. Kilometers? Meters? Fuck off. It's feet, miles, and inches.

Too many savage crazy people too willing to behead you all the while chanting some creepy song keeps me at home.

I just picture 25 mexicans (or whatever) all carrying AK-47s wearing bandanas with Rambo style artillery across their chest jumping out of a 1974 pickup truck militia style whenever I hear about those so called "exotic" places.

Venezuela? NO THANKS.
Philippines? NO THANKS.
China? NO WAY.
 
^+1

Plus foreigners stink. We might come visit you guys if you used some soap once in a while.:D
 
BA said:
Americans dont travel because the rest of the world is filled with a bunch of fuckin barbarian lunatics (with weird accents). Nobody wants to put up with all that shit; silly languages, stupid customs, retarded currencies, and faggity units of measurements. Kilometers? Meters? Fuck off. It's feet, miles, and inches.

Too many savage crazy people too willing to behead you all the while chanting some creepy song keeps me at home.

I just picture 25 mexicans (or whatever) all carrying AK-47s wearing bandanas with Rambo style artillery across their chest jumping out of a 1974 pickup truck militia style whenever I hear about those so called "exotic" places.

Venezuela? NO THANKS.
Philippines? NO THANKS.
China? NO WAY.
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Colombia. Peru. Bolivia. The Netherlands. Spain. Canada. Afghanistan.

All great countries.
 
animal_cookie said:
it depends on what computer jobs people are looking for. there is still a rather large number of programmer type positions open.

the problem with the job market is that right now there are more people holding bachelor degrees than ever before. it used to be you need a BA or a BS to separate yourself from everyone else, now you need an advance degree.

also, there is a big problem with downsizing. circuit city just laid off a couple thousand salaried workers and replaced them with hourly workers at a lower pay rate.
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Programming is still a tiny niche, that mostly Indians seem to fill.. at least at my company. With schools spitting out IT workers, they're a dime a dozen, and most are general support, and whether they have degrees or don't, you don't get awesome vacation time starting out anymore, really.

I also think your initial comment about 'changing jobs' was ridiculous Simon.. even though you kinda took it back. It's not so easy to find a job sometimes and then be picky about the vacation time. Generally people work hard so they can accrue that vacation time later on.. even if I had 2+ weeks of vacation time starting off I wouldn't be able to afford to take it right away. That takes a savings account/budget and comfort at a position.
 
i have only left this country twice and both times were a joke. plenty of americans would embrace foreign travel, but the reasons are numerous why they don't.

1. we're afraid of the unknown, sometimes. i'd feel like an ass going to a different country and not being able to speak the language.
2. language barrier- goes along with #1,
2. money (arguable, yes)
3. vacation time (this is debatable, but i think plenty of americans forsake vacation time to work their way up the corporate ladder.)
4. so much to see in this country (yes, you can go skiing in the alps, but...we have got a lot of cool stuff to check out)

the grand canyon
mt. st. helens
nyc
ground zero
vegas
disney world
seattle
red rock country
mississippi river
golden gate bridge
the pipeline in hawaii
savannah, ga
st. augustine, the oldest city in the country
the crazy lifestyle of key west
new orleans
yellowstone
l.a.
niagara falls
mt. rushmore
route 66
alaska
4 corners
haight ashbury


and yes, i realize every country has plenty of places to see, but not every country has absorbed plenty of different cultures (diluted, yeah, maybe) with nearly every single possible environment.

but, shit, if someone wants to fly me to ireland, i am *so* down.
 
BA: typical gringo infidel attitude. YOU DIE NOW!!!! falalalalalalalalal!!!!
 
randycaver said:
Programming is still a tiny niche, that mostly Indians seem to fill.. at least at my company. With schools spitting out IT workers, they're a dime a dozen, and most are general support, and whether they have degrees or don't, you don't get awesome vacation time starting out anymore, really.
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Computer Science and other technology program enrollment has dropped off considerably in recent years.
 
There are tons of community colleges that offer certifications for it

and check out computertraining.com - any moron can become certified there.
 
From who's vantage point? I don't really think you can say programming is a "tiny niche" being outsourced and filled by Indian workers. It's a big industry and not all companies are like yours. I'm also not sure how you can say IT workers are a dime a dozen. Where are you getting your information?
 
Helpdesk workers are often viewed as a dime a dozen, hello, IT is blue collar thread?

I'm not necessarily saying that I agree, but I DO work in IT recruiting, and I know what I come across and I know what IT staff tell me. We have offices in Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, and FL, and elsewhere.. this is not just *my* opinion.

Programming is definitely a big industry but compared to IT helpdesk and similar positions, it's definitely smaller.. we've had several programming positions open for quite some time and they haven't been filled. Way over half of the programmers we DO have are Indian, and we've helped them get work visas to work here.
 
fruitfly said:
BA, did you know that Venezuela is supposed to be home to some of the hottest chicks on earth? Would that change your mind? :D
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They can have 100% of the world's hottest women but if I'm not alive to enjoy it what does it matter!! ;)

Columbia? Afghanistan? Peru? Nice countries?

Nice try.
 
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