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Why more Americans don't travel abroad
- Thread starter entremet
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Phoenix
Member
That is absolutely not true. Most places I've gone people want to get to know you and ask a lot of questions about America to see if what they're being told is true. The only issue I've had traveling was heading into more rural Japan as a black man. You'd think I was Godzilla by the way you're treated
Hell I remember when I went to Vietnam I was expecting some issues, but I had more fun in Vietnam than I have in many other places. From their perspective we lost the war... and they don't have too many issues pointing that out in the museums.
biggersmaller
Banned
It's cool that overseas travel is easy for your family to afford, however "middle class" is a large enough spectrum to where money is hardly a bullshit reason. I feel fortunate to have the means to travel the amount I have.
Cheapest ticket to London I could find was $1100.
Or I could fly basically anywhere in the US for ~$600 and have $500 spending cash.
That and the fact that I don't have a passport kinda dampen the mood. I'll be getting a passport at some point in the next year or two, but that would only be for trips to Canada.
Or I could fly basically anywhere in the US for ~$600 and have $500 spending cash.
That and the fact that I don't have a passport kinda dampen the mood. I'll be getting a passport at some point in the next year or two, but that would only be for trips to Canada.
terrisus
Member
Indeed. "Just don't waste money on random/worthless things, save for a while, and you can travel wherever you want!"
Oh, gee, great, thanks.
Phoenix
Member
I wouldn't go that far. It's definitely the one reason that I don't travel more and I've been to plenty of places outside the states. In particular the biggest expense is the air travel. Getting there is usually the most expensive single component of the vacation.
I spent 11 months in Central/South America, saw 11 countries and the entire trip only cost me $3000~ with flights included.
Just gotta know what you're doing. Couchsurfing, working in hostels, hitchhiking, helpx etc.
Definitely not for everyone though, takes a certain type of person.
Just gotta know what you're doing. Couchsurfing, working in hostels, hitchhiking, helpx etc.
Definitely not for everyone though, takes a certain type of person.
That is absolutely not true. Most places I've gone people want to get to know you and ask a lot of questions about America to see if what they're being told is true. The only issue I've had traveling was heading into more rural Japan as a black man. You'd think I was Godzilla by the way you're treated
Hell I remember when I went to Vietnam I was expecting some issues, but I had more fun in Vietnam than I have in many other places. From their perspective we lost the war... and they don't have too many issues pointing that out in the museums.
Did you go to the Cu Chi tunnels? Even if I'm not American, I found the video they showed there pretty insulting and outragous. They're really glorifying those "super American killers".
$3000 is a shit ton of money. If I move back in with my parents, I'd be able to do that.
Travel within the continental 48 states is unrestricted, cheap, and allows for a wealth of experiences.
There is history, culture, and natural beauty to be had all over. If Americans seek it out within their own borders, well, it's no slight on the rest of the world.
I've traveled to Europe and Asia for business. I loved the experience, but the time traveling to those destinations was long, the process was tiring, and dealing with customs is something I prefer to do only if I absolutely have to.
old
Member
Most American do want to travel. They can't afford it. Too expensive with a weak dollar. Plus a work obsessed culture that leads to Americans getting very little to no paid time off. Plus a job market that heavily favors jobs over workers, where workers might not come back to a job if they take too long off because the boss thinks they're not a "team player".
I hate the recent Cadillac commercial. People shouldn't live to work. They should work to live.
I hate the recent Cadillac commercial. People shouldn't live to work. They should work to live.
Phoenix
Member
Yep. Not only went to the tunnels, but also went through them. Its a horrifying experience to be crawling underground (they apparently widened the tunnels so that American tourists could fit in them) with absolutely no light except for that coming from my camera. I'll see if I can post a pic.
The way in
Inside
Guide coming out of another tunnel on the way out
I can't speak to the outrageousness of what they said as our guides were pretty neutral and stuck to the facts. At the end of the tour had a chance to fire off an M-16, AK, and M-60 (OMG) at some sample targets.
It is, but we are talking about 11 months, that breaks down to only $272 a month.
I would say that there are several wonderful experiences that can't be found within continental USA.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Government fees maybe? I have no clue but I spent $1100 for Aer Lingus with a layover in Dublin for a couple hours to arrive in Paris and that was with buying it 5 or 6 months in advance of leaving. You also have to realize that the US is big enough that most people don't live near the major hubs which absolutely decimates you in pricing. Most people don't live by NYC or LA or whatever that have major hubs that at least slightly reduce prices to the ones I mentioned. I drove to JFK instead of a closer airport because of the price difference and flight availability.
I'm not sure how what any of what you're saying proves your point that it's not expensive to travel... Also, it must be nice having absolutely no responsibilities that you can disappear for 11 months with no repercussions and have no bills for the time you're gone between student loans, rent, etc.
And there are more than enough amazing experiences that you can have in the US or one of it's neighboring countries to last you a lifetime. It's been beaten to death in this thread why not every person travels the globe for months at a time, if you guys can't understand it by now then there's not much that can be said.
Is not only "learn". I have traveled quite a bit, and there's just some place you can't believe they exist and I seriously doubt there's a convincing replica inside continental USA. I mean, Kyoto, Saint Peter Basilica, La Alhambra, Machu Pichu and Tajin... they are places that should only exist on fantasy tales.
I agree on that it is expensive. Just not that it's the reason why Americans travel less. If middle class singles/couples without Kids deem it too expensive, it actually means that they got different priorities (like a nicer car/ house)
I did this when I was younger and was free of responsibilities.
Everyone I met was traveling for at least 2-3 months, sometimes much more and none of them were rich. It's really not as hard as people make it out to be.
Also, $270 a month for food, partying, travel, and shelter is pretty incredible. My friends pay 6 times that in a months rent alone.
entremet
Member
Maybe we should promote the gap year that Euros and Aussies have. But since most students are drowning in debt and Americans don't want to subsidize tertiary education, I guess that makes the gap year just not achievable here.
RukusProvider
Banned
I goto different EU countries for about 2.5 weeks each year with my wife. Never had an issue. If anything, she gets hated on for being a Brit!
Maybe that's the key. Bring a Brit with you...
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
I figured, I would argue most on this board are definitely past this age and have missed any opportunity of such a thing until they retire.
Gap year is cool but irrelevant. There's multiple reasons we travel less from less vacation, to different priorities to younger generations being heavily weighed down in debt, to expensive as fuck airfare and more. There's more to the dynamic than just "wanting" to go somewhere. It doesn't help that most people feel like there's a stigma that people hate us and don't want those "stupid Americans" in their country so they'd rather go somewhere they know they'll enjoy than the opposite. The gap year is cool but I know I wouldn't take advantage of it and the only way I have traveled outside the US or anywhere really was by taking a loan out for studying abroad and paying high interest on it for "education" otherwise I'd never have the opportunity. With the current state of higher education, I'd either skip the year off or spend the whole time working to try and get rid of some of my ridiculous college debt and then once you get a "real job" so to speak you have to many responsibilities to just up and travel. A lot of things need to change to make it more attractive to most.
Parisians are great.
Well, there's a difference between "I can't" and "there's no need to".
entremet
Member
People hating us is really overblown as proved by myself and other posters. Sad that Drake had that experience though. Dicks are everywhere sadly.
My thing is this, it seems that many think international travel is this mythical thing that only the uber rich or retirees can do. Nothing can be further from the truth. The problem we as American, me included, are bad a saving for long terms things. Most of us finance big ticket items--cars, homes, etc. You ask most people what they would do if they have more funds--travel. So the desire is there. You can travel on a modest income, you just need to plan and save long term. But obviously, if you have tons of debt and no job travel is last thing on you mind.
It's more the defeatist attitude that is just not possible to do so, which is false. If it is your dream to visit Ireland, make a plan. Don't just chalk it up to defeat. Again that's given if your finances are in order. I didn't start traveling until I paid off my student loans and credit cards personally. Heck it may take a few years until you have funds.
Its expensive. Sorry but it is. My wife and i are both above the medium income for our city and the country. But 1000-2000 dollars for airfare for one person adds up. And no we aren't always buying shit, we eat out maybe once a week, but typically only once a month. We cook our own food. We have no car payments, we have only a house payment.
Conversely, we can fly Southwest to a lot of cool places in the US. Hell, Texas alone has a ton of places to visit and see. Or do road trips, we love to go to a bed and breakfast for a four day weekend and i drive a Diesel car, that's significantly cheaper than flying anywhere, let alone out of the country. The other reason was until i joined an Australian company I only ever got two weeks vacation, now I get four. Hopefully I will get to go to Australia for the company and we will make a vacation out of it.
That said, combined(we both had been outside the country before we met) we've been to Paris, London, Japan, Barbados, Belize, Canada, and other caribbean locations, several of these multiple times.
When we went to belize the airfare was like 5-600 bucks, not bad really, but then all these bullshit taxes and fees kicked in it was 900 bucks per person. Flying directly from houston to belize city, only a two hour flight.
Conversely, we can fly Southwest to a lot of cool places in the US. Hell, Texas alone has a ton of places to visit and see. Or do road trips, we love to go to a bed and breakfast for a four day weekend and i drive a Diesel car, that's significantly cheaper than flying anywhere, let alone out of the country. The other reason was until i joined an Australian company I only ever got two weeks vacation, now I get four. Hopefully I will get to go to Australia for the company and we will make a vacation out of it.
That said, combined(we both had been outside the country before we met) we've been to Paris, London, Japan, Barbados, Belize, Canada, and other caribbean locations, several of these multiple times.
When we went to belize the airfare was like 5-600 bucks, not bad really, but then all these bullshit taxes and fees kicked in it was 900 bucks per person. Flying directly from houston to belize city, only a two hour flight.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Maybe but most people don't have that feeling, especially after the wars and the George Bush era. Like I said, the hatred and vitriol thrown at the broad brush strokes of "Americans" on this board and how stupid they are certainly don't make you want to rush to visit those countries. Like I said, it's the culmination of a lot of things, not one specific thing.
Close to 95% of this thread has been bitching about how expensive it is, if the takeaway from that for you was "there's no need to" then I don't know what to say. That seems to be a very small minority so far and I still don't think it's hard to understand why one might feel that way.
entremet
Member
That's pretty awesome. Have you tried rewards cards for airfares?
Most people seem to be talking about traveling solo or with a partner...can anyone offer advice and/or experiences for a family of 4 with young children? What kind of hostel options are available, what if you dont live anywhere near a hub airport, etc? We've driven 6 hrs to a hub airport before but parking costs could be crazy for a multiple week scenario.
entremet
Member
You can do it. I've seen some small families stay in hostels. You can take a room that has four beds.
Some hostels have shared bathrooms. Some have private bathrooms. I'd look for those with private bathrooms since you have young kids.
Here's some more info.
http://www.hostelbookers.com/article/hostel-types/family-hostels/
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
It really comes down to individual hostels... Some restrict ages and you can't stay at them if you're over say 25. Other allow any age and have huge rooms up to 10 people. Others have 3-6 person rooms you can rent out so it's only you and a group of friends or family or whatever and is more like a cheap hotel when staying. I've stayed at all three types I mentioned and it really comes down to how the hostel is set up. There's not one format they all follow.
no, we dont fly that much, the only two on that list that we've been to together are belize and barbados.
entremet
Member
That's still pretty good. I assume you're still young, not older than 45. You have time. Take a long view as well. Maybe do an international trip every 5 years. I do one every 3-4 years.
There's a huge premium put on foreign travel--it makes you more experienced, lets you see things you've read about in books in real life, lets you meet people from other countries, and it gives you something to talk about.
Meanwhile, infrastructure in the USA is rotting anywhere that isn't a major city or near to one. You have people who travel everywhere else in the world, then come home to criticize anyone who isn't on their level with travel and cultural experiences. The class divide is ridiculous in the USA and there's little empathy to go around (see any number of "dumb hillbilly" posts on gaf.) Foreign travel is one of those things people can lord over others as some example of their sophistication. Study abroad programs look really nice when colleges offer them and while a couple students on loans who normally not get to do that sort of thing might get to go, the rest of the class had their parents cover it and it's just kind of a vacation.
Foreign travel is great, it's nice to see things, meet people, and chase experiences; but maybe a little more emphasis on exploring the huge, beautiful but largely divided and unevenly developed USA could raise some more awareness and close some gaps in understanding. I guess I'm saying it's overrated. People who spend enough time on the road eventually get hit with malaise pretty bad as well...after enough time spent conversing with foreigners, going sight seeing, trying new foods + experiences--it all eventually starts to blend together and the self-serving nature of it comes to the top.
After all, if the idea is to experience different cultures, no matter where you are in the USA, you can find somewhere where the culture is completely different from where you're at. You can talk to those people and get different perspectives on things + try to have some understanding.
that's probably a long ramble and not a very air tight argument, plus i'm a hypocrite since I've traveled way more out of the country than within it (which I'm changing from now on), but i'm just thinking out loud about foreign vs. domestic travel.
Do you live near any airport. Sometimes flying from hubs is more expensive. Airline fares don't always correlate with distance flown. The flight connecting from a smaller/regional airport may actually be cheaper.
D
Deleted member 1235
Unconfirmed Member
pretty much the reasons.
as a non american though, reading the truth sounds really sad. I visit the states a bunch and it's so so obvious when you meet some people and you can immediately recognise
1. never seen the world
2. will never see the world.
it's more than practicality for a lot of Americans I think, the idea simply doesn't occur (due to in part I guess the size of US and how well off it is).
Oh, okay, then yeah, that's doable. I mean, not really as I'd have to quit my job, but in terms of expenses, definitely.
In 2006 (when Bush was still president, for whatever that's worth) I traveled for several weeks through Italy, Greece (Athens & Crete), Amsterdam and Scotland. I'm not a talkative or social person so it's not like I met a bunch of people, but I never really encountered anyone who gave me attitude because I'm American.
I fall under the I can't category. At a time in my life where it's not feasible. Give me another 5-10, probably can do it. Until then, we're having a blast going on vacations in the US.
The Horror the horror
Banned
1.) Too expensive
2.) I come back feeling worse about my situation at home than before I left, so I'm pretty content maintaining my misery at a flat line.
2.) I come back feeling worse about my situation at home than before I left, so I'm pretty content maintaining my misery at a flat line.
mechashiva
Member
It's all about vacation time for me. The friends I made in Tokyo had 36 paid days off. Easy to travel abroad with that freedom.
GungHo
Single-handedly caused Exxon-Mobil to sue FOX, start World War 3
In Soviet Russia, chicken and dog is in-flight entertainment.
They want off the ride.
There's always Cuba.
How did you make it obvious that you were American? I only really see people generally get pissed at Americans for acting like they run the place or otherwise being bombastic and loud (note, they get pissed at folks at the other big nations for the same reasons... generally loud and rude is loud and rude no matter where you hail from). Not saying you were... just general hatred of Americans for no reason isn't my experience. I've also been to those places on business and pleasure... they're happy to see me when I'm there to spend money. Then again, I pretty much travel with every intention of no one really remembering I was there beyond the people I'm there to visit or the people who provide me service.
its a perfectly valid ramble, the same people that you talk about also consider everything between the east coast and california "fly over country."
Or just listen to the ignorance and stereotypes on GAF about Texas.
yep, this is why I don't. When you load down your populous with lots and lots of consumer/student/health debt, unsurprisingly, the idea of spending a paycheque on a flight seems less appealing.
The 'expensive' doesn't make much sense to me. Isn't the USA supposed to be one of the richest countries in the world? Your GDPpc is 10k a year higher than here (the Netherlands) yet I know quite a few people that went backpacking through Australia right after high school. You go to Asian countries like Thailand, the plane ticket is almost literally everything you need to budget.
It's got to be because of culture mostly. As someone that is in a completely different culture three hours driving away (USA culturally diverse... Yeah no), going to different countries comes very natural. That and a lack of vacation. Though actually only having two weeks vacation seems almost impossible to me. Is that true? I'd kill myself.
It's true that the USA is one of (or perhaps the) most diverse countries in the world with respect to scenery. Which is why I've been there four times and plan to go back a number of times too (just first South America so I checked all the continents). But there's so much more man
It's got to be because of culture mostly. As someone that is in a completely different culture three hours driving away (USA culturally diverse... Yeah no), going to different countries comes very natural. That and a lack of vacation. Though actually only having two weeks vacation seems almost impossible to me. Is that true? I'd kill myself.
It's true that the USA is one of (or perhaps the) most diverse countries in the world with respect to scenery. Which is why I've been there four times and plan to go back a number of times too (just first South America so I checked all the continents). But there's so much more man
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