Why Americans Don’t Travel Overseas
We’ve all heard the alarming statistics- only 15% of Americans own a passport. (Update: That number is about 25% now) That number is rising but only because Americans are required to show a passport when going to Mexico and Canada now. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin only got her passport last year and has only been to military bases in Iraq and Germany. In fact, she has implied that traveling is for the rich: “I’m not one of those who maybe come from a background of, you know, kids who perhaps graduate college and their parents get ‘em a passport and give ‘em a back pack and say go off and travel the world. Noooo. I worked all my life… I was not, uh, a part of, I guess, that culture.”
So why is that America, a country with 300 million people and the world’s superpower, turns a blind eye to the rest of the planet and political figures tout their lack of overseas travel as a plus? I believe there are a few reasons:
First, there is size. Forget about post 9/11 politics for a moment. Most family vacations in America are to other parts of America. Why? Because the U.S.A. takes up a whole continent and we have all the world’s environments in our states. Need beaches? Head to Florida. The tropics? Hawaii. Desert? Arizona. The cold Tundra? Alaska. Temperate forests? Washington. This attitude is best summed up by a response I got from a friend in Iowa: “Why would you want to go to Thailand? It’s far and scary. If you want beaches, just go to Florida.” Americans simply don’t see the need to go anywhere else when they can do it all in their country, especially when they are afraid of the world.
Which brings me to my second point- fear. Americans are just scared of the world. I mean really scared. Maybe even petrified. In this post 9/11 world (even before it), Americans have been taught the world is a big scary place. There are terrorists outside every hotel waiting to kidnap you. People don’t like you because you are American. The world is violent. It’s poor. It’s dirty. It’s savage. Only Canada and Europe are O.K. but, if you go there, they will still be rude to you because you are American. No one likes us. The sky is falling!
Even before 9/11, the media created an environment of fear. If it bleeds, it leads right? Even prior to 9/11, the media played up violence at home and abroad. Pictures of riots in the foreign streets, threats against Americans, and general violence were all played up to portray a violent and unsafe world. Politicians now tell us “they hate you” as former NYC mayor, Rudy Guiliani, did during his campaign. It’s US vs. THEM!!!
Bombarded by this for decades, Americans think this myth is reality and don’t want to leave the states. People always ask me why I want to leave the US to travel. Isn’t the U.S. just as good? No one likes us out there people say.
To Americans, the world is a scary place and it’s a perception only reinforced by the media and politicians.
Finally, it is because of cultural ignorance. Yes, I said it- it’s because Americans are ignorant. I mean ignorant as they simply just don’t know what is going on outside their borders. I mean I don’t blame them. When you are told the world is scary, why would you want to care about it? Why would you want to go to places where they want to kill you? So Americans don’t put an emphasis on learning about the world. We don’t take languages, avoid overseas programs, and don’t talk about our world in schools. Our schools teach one foreign language: Spanish, and that is only because we have a large Spanish speaking population in the country not because we want to go to Spain. The media doesn’t focus on the world except if it relates to something bad and our politicians encourage us to erect walls not break down barriers.
Some people argue that it’s because America is “far” from the rest of the world as if there is an insurmountable distance to go to get places. However, New Zealand is further geographically yet they are encouraged to go out and explore the world. It’s further for them to get anywhere in the world than it is for Americans. In the age of the internet, Twitter, You Tube, and airplanes, it is easy to go places. Distance is no excuse.
No, Americans don’t travel because of culture not location. Sure, it’s not universal. There are plenty of Americans out there exploring the world and breaking down cultural barriers. They come back and break down myths and encourage the world to get involved. But even in the more liberal places in America, you see this attitude that America is the world’s only safe country, that most of the world is pretty scary. In reality, Americans have an image of the world that is totally divorced from reality.
The sad irony is that we created the world we are so afraid of. America’s push for a globalized world brought many players onto the world stage. It helped the Chinese dragon emerge from its cage, brought India in the game, helped Brazil, and tore down communism. Now, we look at the world scared that we know longer understand it or our place in it. Instead of trying to learn more about this new world, we keep erecting barriers and burying our head in the sand.
Yet, I am hopeful. The future of the world requires more integration and young Americans, growing up in this post 9/11 environment are actually more interested in learning about other countries than shunning then. I think the future will be bright so long as political leaders don’t wall us off completely before then.
Good post:
I don’t fault a family for loading up the SUV and heading to another part of the country - to me the deep south is a whole ‘nother world. And growing up the station wagon trips to Washington DC or the Grand Canyon were great memories - all in the country.
But that said - With low airfares (well at least that were low) and wonderful guest houses and pensions throughout the world - there’s just no excuse not to explore and take in another culture.
And safety? I’ve felt safer on the streets of Mexico City and Buenos Aires than I have in Orlando and New Orleans. There’s more good people than bad in the world, and I’ve met, chatted, and enjoyed my time with many people outside of the U.S. Its definitely worth it.
And as far as time/money? I engineer my life to be frugal yet rewarding. My other half and I share a car, live in a nice but modest size house - and don’t pine for every material thing that we see. (ok except for Apple products.) That extra savings helps us travel - and when I look back on my life I’ll certainly remember that over a new plasma TV.
james http://www.futuregringo.comJust a quick correction its “Southwest Airlines.”
Does it say that people ignored the situation? Or did they not realize what was occuring in that full row. I can’t imagine anyone witnessing this and staying silent.
Also remember this was one bizarre incident out of thousands and thousands of daily travelers - so its important to educate and make aware without caving to overzealous fear.
All the best - james
http://www.futuregringo.com
oops sorry I attached a comment from another site at the end of my!! Can you delete that.
The decision to travel has nothing to do with money or time, everything to do with priorities.
I’ll agree with a couple of other commenters that the American culture’s focus on economic wealth instead of cultural wealth tends to reduce overall time spent traveling (inside the US and abroad). It leads to a completely different mindset towards travel and the costs and benefits of travel.
(btw I’ve spent a lot of time in that airport in the picture…)
I don’t think the Americans focus on wealth as much as focus on keeping their heads above water. The average American is 30K in debt has a mortgage a car payment and probably 2 kids.
Also Americans don’t get the vacation time that other countries enjoy. Most Americans get just one week vacation a year which is hardly enough time to go out of the country.
Most Americans haven’t seen much of their own country and years ago a study came out stating that a large percentage of Americans never travel further than 150 miles from where they are born.
One thing is for sure…Americans that do travel out of the country seem to get the bug and keep exploring.
Ok, seriously, we think alike sometimes. I was contemplating this, too. But I didnt think it was out of fear or cultural reasons, but more for monetary purposes, as it is getting more and more expensive. Check it out when you get a chance!
I agree for the most part and the comments have been on target.
I’ve been really fortunate to have traveled a lot over the last several years overseas but my mother had never been out of the USA (save Mexico and the Bahamas) and she had always wanted to go to Ireland. Last year, I finally talked her into renewing the passport and going with me. It was fantastic. She would love to return again in ‘09 but money really is the issue. Sadly, not anything else.
Some Americans don’t travel because of their priorities. I have had people express disbelief at what I paid for plane tickets to Europe yet they hand no problem forking over an even greater amount for a television.
Americans are evolving as a people. It was not too long ago that our main concerns were day to day survival. We are growing more sophisticated and I believe that every year a greater number of Americans will discover the value of traveling outside their borders.
Thirty years ago you would not have found a Thai restaurant in America outside of New York or Los Angeles but now you’ll find them in any medium sized city. Things are getting better.
http://www.mytraveloptimizer.com
I agree it’s about education to a certain extent. My grandfather was born in America, and I spent lots of my childhood travelling from my home in London to the states. I can remember spending a day at school with my friend in NY aged about 10 and in her geography lesson they were learning the state capitals. Her teacher was really suprised that we didn’t learn the US state capitals at my school in London and I can still remember the shock I felt at that. I can remember thinking to myself “I may not know many state capitals, but I have learnt about India, Africa, and lots of European countries”. I asked politely whether they learnt about other countries and was told that they didn’t. This was not some poorly funded public school in a bad neighbourhood, but a very expensive private school.
My daughter is six and at her free state school in London she is currently learning about Russia (stories, dances and toys etc) and has learnt about India, Australia and other places. The children can learn French, Mandarin, musical instruments etc etc. When their teacher reads them a story it might be a traditional English tale or a traditional Kenyan one. A great emphasis is placed on internationalism, which might be because of our colonial past, but also because the UK is a pretty international place, London in particular. In her class she has children with one or two parents who are French, German, Spanish, Buglarian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Australian and a child who has recently moved from the Congo because his parents were working there. It is part of our education and becomes part of our culture.
I don’t know exactly how I feel about this post. On one hand, it makes some valid points, but on the other hand, it makes the points with very oversimplified assumptions. The biggest implied statement is that a larger percentage of (based on most of the countries cited as examples) westernized countries’ populations travel abroad than percentage of the American population.
Maybe only 15% of Americans own a passport, but what about other nations? I’m guessing the number might be higher in Europe since they travel the same distances to other countries as Americans do to other states. On the whole, however, I can’t imagine that number being that much lower than the rest of the world.
I’m currently in Korea teaching English, and while this is a small sampling and, thus, shouldn’t be used as a sweeping generality, more than 50% of the teachers in my orientation of 400 were from the States. Maybe the rest of the Western world doesn’t want to teach English, who knows?
Also, in Korea, I’ve spoken to many Koreans who have never left Seoul. It’s in their culture to live at home until they’re married, which I’m sure is a (subconscious?) cultural factor along with the xenophobia stemming from their country’s history of repeatedly being taken over by other nations. They’re quite nationalistic. On the opposite side of that coin, though, many of the wealthier kids here “travel” to other countries to study English. That factors in economics and priorities, which makes it yet another outlying point.
This also doesn’t mention the fact that the definition of “travel” seems to also be up in the air. Are you there for the people? For the tourist sites? To learn English? This seems to be a subjective standard that changes the argument.
I think the thing that bothers me most about this post, which has been cited in other comments, is the fact that it seems to be critical of those who don’t travel. You’re using your own personal experiences as the criteria. The traveling folk are already in the minority, and as a result there’s some sort of cultural elitism among them, which sometimes (and not necessarily in this post or in your attitude) results in convenient fodder for Ameri-bashing — even though the American system is what has given us these opportunities to travel in the first place, but that’s another story in itself.
Sorry for being late to the discussion and for writing half a novel here, but thanks for the thought-provoking post, Matt.
I don’t see anything alarming about the relatively small percentage of American’s with a passport. Who cares - and this is coming from someone who’s got one, and used it to travel overseas (not just Canada and Mexico).
I also disagree with the fear factor. I doubt too many Americans are fearful of foreign travel. I’ve never met anybody who claimed to be.
It’s a shame so few people want to travel. The world is so interesting! XD
@ Daniel:
just to add some figures:
35 % of Germans own a passport (I presume it will be about the same for most of the other European countries) - not regarding the fact that most Europeans can travel the whole of Europe just with a national ID (which e.g. is mandatory in Germany anyway).
So for short distance travelling within Europe (which you mentioned as an equivalent to Americans visting another US state), an ID is sufficient - passports are just for serious travelling
The USA doesn’t take up a whole continent, not even half. If you consider America as two continents, north and south, then north america is comprise of Canada, USA ann Mexico.
My wife and I travel outside the US frequently (our last trip was to Denmark and Finland), but we’re the only people we know who have been to locations like that. However, most of our friends have also been outside the US, but it involved trips to Mexico or the Caribbean. I believe that’s because for a lot of people a good vacation is going somewhere warm and enjoying some time in the sun. As a lot of people mentioned above, in the US we generally only get a couple of weeks vacation, and if we have time to get away, we want to do something we really enjoy. For my wife and I, that’s hanging out in a Parisian cafe or strolling the Esplanadi Boulevard in Helsinki. Pretty much everyone else we know just wants to get away from the cold, which isn’t going to happen in Helsinki.
Also, anytime I discuss our trips with people, one of the things I try to stress is that you don’t need to be fluent in the local language to get around. Luckily, English is widely spoken, and in a lot of places it’s all you’ll need. I can speak enough Spanish and French to get by in places where those languages are spoken, but everywhere else I try to learn 20 or so basic words (please, thank you, etc). However, most of the time they’re not necessary. With the exception of two people, everyone we talked to in Finland spoke fluent English. We had similar experiences in Iceland, and Denmark, and Holland, and a couple of other places. The reason I bring it up to people is that as exciting as travelling is, there are a lot of reasons to stay home (it’s too expensive, it’s too far to go, etc.), and I don’t want the fear of a language barrier to be the last excuse someone uses to stay home or go back to the beach instead of going to a country they’ve dreamed of visiting.
your forget that Americans don’t save. we are the consumers of the world, are we not? that’s a big reason why we don’t do expensive plane travel… rather have the 42″ flat screen than a plane trip to Austrailia. It’s just the American mentality I guess to own expensive things versus experience wonderful travel.
This is why the huge cost of going on a vacation outside of the US isn’t a common thing for the average American. I only got to go abroad because I studied abroad and could use financial aid to pay for it. but i’ve been wanting to go abroad again to some place different this time and only having graduated college recently I just can’t save up the money to pay for the planet ticket alone (which in this day, is generally a $1000 anywhere outside of Canada and Mexico).
I promise you, go out and ask lots of Americans in their 20s and 30s who are without children if they want to go abroad and they’ll say yes. but if you ask them why they don’t, money will be the top answer, and it is a learned value we are taught. it’s an expected value to have plasmas and iphones and laptops versus fabulous travel memories.
Well this article is very well written. I have to agree Americans are cultured ignorant but usually try to study up on things before traveling.
To miss the opportunity to travel aboard is ignorant.
Country’s may not agree with out government but people do not blame American tourists.It is the opposite.They are thrilled that Americans visit their country.
This is my opinion any way.
Good read !
Well written and some good points. Also it is expensive and we dont have 30 or more days off a year like a typical European. And is the average French citizen coming to the U.S. or going to Thailand or are they heading to Austria and Greece. Geography matters a lot.
I tend to agree with much of what you state. I also feel it’s the size and options of the US that makes people less likely to travel overseas.
In Europe, you drive a few hundred miles and you can be in a foreign country,. here, the next state.
Good post and nice observations. My 2c. America is undoubtedly the economic superpower. I’ve seen just so much prosperity here. Being from India, I have had the opportunity to compare both cultures. We have everything in abundance in US. The fact that Americans are used to this abundance, prosperity and a perfect world is largely why they do not feel the need to travel outside US; in most cases hardly any travel even within US. I meet so many people who have hardly visited other states or even other cities in their state. It is really interesting to view the reviews and opinions of Americans on review websites in general. Its a clear indication they want everything to perfection; like the bubble in which we start to live in US. This is not available everywhere, which might be another reason for the ‘fear’ factor. Its interesting to see how they are so concerned about the smallest things. Not to blame them, but just trying to think why that might be the case.
America is the worlds superpower and therefore there Americans may have the idea that everything needed and wanted is in America so dont see the point in travelling anywhere else. However I have only recently learnt of the sheer vastness of the USA and so can see how each state differs so much from each other therefore Americans are able to pay less for vacations if they stay in America yet still have the experience of being somewhere completly different from home. Also as Americans have less vacation time available this will most likely limit the amount of Americans travelling experiences.
Being an American who has always traveled, I’ve spent a lot of time pondering this same thing. We were always the family that went to exotic places, while our neighbors house-sat for us.
Some of the reasons I’ve found why Americans don’t travel overseas are:
-expense - yes, this is a complicated issue. We want it all, the good job, the partner, the house, the car, good quality THINGS, and travel…in that order.
-we’re not taught that travel is important - while my family taught me travel is important (mom was an expat growing up, dad is from another country), most of my friends thought it was weird that we traveled. They thought we were rich (we had the smallest TV on the block, the oldest cars) because we “jet setted” every vacation.
-not enough vacation time - this is another educational issue. When negotiating for a new job’s salary, ask for more vacation instead of more money; 2 weeks is standard here.
-it’s complicated - traveling requires getting a passport, maybe learning some phrases in another language, maybe driving on the other side of the road, maybe taking public transportation for the first time, and some RESEARCH. Even just one of these things can seem daunting enough to scrap the whole idea. Again, it comes down to priorities (which stems from education and upbringing).
-why leave a country with so much? This is something I’ve definitely heard. As someone else mentioned here, we have deserts, beaches, mountains, lakes, farmland - why would you want to pay so much to see it all somewhere else? Again, this comes down to priorities, education, upbringing. You need to know WHY these things are different in other countries and then you need to WANT to go because of the difference.
Americans are not ignorant or poor.
America needs a realignment of intentions and less narcissistic education.
Yes it does seem that the small allowance of vacation time for Americans is an important factor in the limiting of their travels compared to people in other countries, who have more vacation time therefore more time to think about and actually travel. As was said the amount of different scenes and climates present in the USA also hinder some peoples perceptions on going abroad however i suppose the issue of upbringing could be brought into it as the want to travel is a choice made by the individual.
As someone from the UK, I find the fact that only 15% of American individuals have passports a very worrying issue. Due to being from a small country in comparison to the United States of America, the idea that the rest of the world is scary and therefore should not be explored is an alien concept to me. There is no doubt that America is a huge country and can offer a wide variety of experiences, yet many Americans let this fact hinder their oppurtunity to travel the rest of the world.
Travelling the world seems to me an opportunity to expand and broaden your experiences and mind, whilst understanding other cultures ways of life. The fact that Americans do not think this leads me to question the power of the American culture and media in its’ indoctrination of its people in the belief that to travel is anactivity that will lead to danger and problems. This view seems to completely contrast to the English and indeed my own personal view that travelling and exploring is vital to understand others and your own personal culture.
If what Matt says is true about Americans not travelling overseas because of fear then surely the media could be blamed for creating a moral panic surrounding foreign places and people. There are the negative stereotypes of Americans present all over the world however whether these stereotypes turn into discrimination when an American visits a country is quite an assumption to make, The media are very influential in modern day society especially in America where the celebrity watching culture is at its highest. It could be looked into whether then the media could be used to encourage Americans to see and experience different cultures.
I agree with ashley’s previous point that the media is defintiely to be blamed for spreading unnesecary panic amongst American people in regard to travelling overseas. The media filters down into every day society in every culture and affects peoples perceptions and beliefs. Therefore the American media, being such a huge influential vehicle of messages is bound to infliltrate peoples lives.
The idea of changing the media in a positive way to stop the spreading of these negative connatations of tarvelling abroad would be a hard one to tackle, as there are too many messages being disseminated within the USA all the time. At a local level however maybe programmes could be set up to encourage youngsters to think about travelling abroad. This would tackle the problem on a small but I think crucial level and would help to stop the views that are spread by the media continuing to be accepted.
Americans need to travel to experience different cultures. Very good points have been made by previous posters.
Another point to make briefly, I do not believe that American people are necessarily scared of travel, they just do not consider it an option. Whereas inteh UK we consider travelling as an option before beginning a career it just seems not to be encouraged in the US as a positive thing to engage in.
Size? I don’t think it is the core most reason. I find China very big but I don’t see why travelling alone in China will give me more insight about life and other topics. I think it is the concept in us that we don’t need to care about what’s happening in other place… If it is not for the Thai, let’s just have the beaches in Florida.
I think it’s largely the fact that Americans aren’t taught the importance of travel, as the above poster mentioned. That and people have an exaggerated concept of how expensive it is, which the media happily feeds–”if more Americans spend their dollars abroad, we’ll have less money in the economy at home.” Which is nonsense.
You forget to mention the hell people generally go through at the airport in the time consuming checks of the people who will be flying, the confiscation of most often harmless personal item, and also theft of electronics and other items from baggage handlers. Like the nail kits/Swiss army knives that are confiscated and resold on the internet by the airline corporations along with the vast array of other items confiscated in case someone wants to use nail snippers to hijack the plane. And your Ebay purchase of such items are many times FLOWN to you via UPS.
It would be nice if people would just stop generalising. While this is true for a percentage of Americans, it is not true for all. Who knows the exact percentage of Americans who have such an outlook or not?
“The World is a book and those who do not travel, read only a page” - Saint Augustine