Comments on: Why don’t Americans travel more?

By: Aaron J

Aaron J — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:01:46 +0000

I have lived in California all my life. I have ZERO interest in traveling to other countries. Let me explain why. The ends do not justify the means. A 10 to 20 hour flight? Thousands of dollars spent on hotels and flight and activities? I don’t think so. Just to see different geography and culture? In my opinion, it’s just not worth the misery of sitting on a plane going crazy. The hassle of packing, spending money on hotels, over rated trendy activities that I can easily do in my hometown or within driving distance. I see culture ALL DAY LONG! Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Thai, Middle Eastern, and honestly, I don’t feel comfortable with any of their cultures, it’s not me or my style! Why should I subject myself to something I don’t like or need? So why would I want to travel a million miles away from my comfort zone to be uncomfortable and spend thousands to do it? Just because I’m not comfortable with it doesn’t mean I don’t respect it. A lot of these “world travelers” who claim to have epiphanies about “perspective” need to open up their minds just a tad bit more and realize that a great perspective in life is not limited just to world travelers. As an American, I don’t criticize other cultures in the world and say “you need to travel to America more to gain perspective!” in fact I say do whatever it is you do as long as you don’t force your culture or agenda on to me. For people who seek out traveling and other cultures, by all means do it, you love it, so do it. Equally and just as valid, I tend to hate it and find it to be extremely inconvenient, exhausting and financially draining. My point is why is it so hard for world travelers with “perspective” to accept or care that Americans, not all, don’t like traveling over seas? Who gives a shit. To each their own. Individualism, everyone is different!

By: reise

reise — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:39:57 +0000

Florida is a great place for vacations, especially in summer. I really love the beach there

By: J

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:09:26 +0000

I’m from California and I’ve been traveling on my own for over 6 months because I couldn’t get any of my friends back home to come with me. The main issue: money. Most of my friends are in their second halves of undergraduate degrees and not just lack money, but have negative money (as in tens of thousands in debt from loans). As I understand, many foreign countries pay most of, if not all, of their students’ ways through university, even offering spending money and housing for them to do semesters abroad. Not to mention that, at least within Europe, traveling to a new land can be as cheap as a 10 euro ryanair ticket. Even those of my friends who are not knee deep in debt because their parents have offered to front their tuitions cannot travel because they are only given the money permitting that they’re in school. The same goes for government money. Loans can be deferred as well, but again only if you remain as a student. Otherwise most require that you begin paying them back in months. And what about our vacations? Picking up extra shifts at shit jobs (as low as equivalent 5-6 euro per hour). Any savings we might accumulate is also good to hold onto incase some sudden accident lands you with an enormous hospital bill (some of the best insurance plans pay up to 90%, but a week long stay can run over $20,000, not to mention surgeries, treatments, etc. that 10% gets large quite quickly). Throw in the Puritan work ethic (as in everyone’s parents would kill them and me for daring to distract their darlings from the career path) and you’ve got a sure-fire recipe for staying home.

These aren’t the only reasons of course. The US is a big beautiful country on its own, with lots to see. And many of us are just scared, insular, stupid, etc. I know I’m coming off absurdly defensive here, but I’ve spent so much time hearing people tell me both that “all americans are rich,” and “americans don’t travel” and its frustrating when I see so many of my best pals eating only ramen noodles and telling me they wish they could be with me right now.

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I Hate Church People | ::: i Hate Church ::: — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:14:52 +0000

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By: lizz

lizz — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:20:03 +0000

best graphic ever.

By: floreta

floreta — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:27:13 +0000

i think a big part of it has to do with the culture of america discouraging idealist mentality. people are automatons. as you mentioned, stuck in consumerist society. the cog in the machine.

By: Nicolai

Nicolai — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:05:55 +0000

People who complain about Americans not traveling are many of the same ones who hassle Americans who are traveling.

….Nice!

By: David

David — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:11:21 +0000

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2008/10/20/debunking-passport-myth/ makes the point that the real question is why Europeans quote the low numbers so much….

By: brian from nodebtworldtravel.com

brian from nodebtworldtravel.com — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:02:21 +0000

Biggest factor to me: Two weeks vacations on average in US vs. 4 weeks and up in Europe and Australia.

When I had 4 weeks vacation in America I felt like King of the World. That free time allowed me to travel more than my friends and family.

If you’ve only got two weeks, you may want to save those days or do something closer to home.

By: Rev

Rev — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:32:00 +0000

The stereotypical “American dream”, when taken at its core, emphasizes settling down — financial security, a nice house with a white picket fence, a spouse and family (and dog?).

Settling down and breaking away just do not go together very well.

It is a cycle. Parents do not take their children on vacations or excursions beyond the local sights. They teach their kids to pursue their dreams… as long as their dreams keep them home (in the same state, at most). I mean, we have all heard some story or another about a mother convincing her teenage daughter not to go to college in LA or NYC because it is “too far” or, better yet, “too dangerous”. And LA and NYC are both American cities, so one can only imagine if said daughter expressed interest in studying abroad.

I believe American society is a very insular one in general. We feel secure on our own land. We can control things on our own land. Once we leave American soil we are at the mercy of the rest of the world, and that false sense of security evaporates.

Of course, that is just My take on Americans from what I observe. There could be any number of reasons why we do not branch out — but I think My reasoning is a small part of it.