Comments on: Why Americans Don’t Travel Overseas

By: Expatty

Expatty — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:49:24 +0000

http://www.expatexposed.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2764&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I completely agree, the amount of abuse Yanks receive in New Zealand is unbelievable. Not when you are a tourist – because they want your money and they smile and take it without saying anything. But if you are actually living there, they feel very free to dump on you. It does not matter if you are a Bushie or not. You’re a convenient punching bag for all the world problems they blame America for. If you can’t take it, don’t live here. I’m heading out of here as soon as I can. You wouldn’t believe their newspapers. They are like tabloids – criticizing America for everything, all negative coverage, and all very very petty.

By: Andre

Andre — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:49:41 +0000

Agreed.

By: Laura

Laura — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:37:29 +0000

Perhaps there were more American’s due to the sheer population of America….. (I know it is a small case study, but I still think it works)

According to wikipedia: USA – 308 million

NZ + Australia + UK + Ireland + SA + Canada (the other countries which can get visas for S. Korea) = 4 + 22 +62 + 6 + 49 +34 = 177 million for all of the other visa countries COMBINED. The population of the US is nearly double the population of these countries, meaning to make it an even distribution proportionately, there should be almost 2/3 Americans….

By: Kerry

Kerry — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:49:41 +0000

I don’t think cultural ignorance/fear represents the majority of Americans. I think the main reason Americans don’t travel overseas is the expense, followed by the small amount of time off work we get every year. Most of my relatives live in England, and so my opinion here is based on what I know of them. But they travel internationally pretty frequently. Some of my younger cousins plan a trip to a different country nearly every year. This is because they just don’t have the expenses that most Americans have. It’s much more common for Europeans to live with their families into adulthood, so they don’t have the housing expenses that we have. They also don’t have cars because it’s just not needed as much as it is here. So they have a lot more room to save their money. And not trying to make a blanket statement at all, but the people I personally know in England seem to live inside their means a bit more than most Americans, thus eliminating the debt that a lot of us have.

Also, they get more time off from their jobs each year than most of us get. We get maybe 2-3 weeks if we’re lucky and even then, a lot of employers don’t like for us to take more than a week at a time. So it’s a bit harder to plan an extensive vacation within such a restrictive time frame. Most people I know would love to travel overseas. They just don’t have the means to.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:46:35 +0000

I agree with the majority of the post. Especially due to the sheer number of working hours we put in each day making it very difficult to travel. I know my next destination will be Cancun, which is not nearly ‘crossing the sea’, but its a good first-step =D

By: Thomas

Thomas — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:42:10 +0000

I agree with what Amanda says. Out of all the people that travel, we Americans get the most crap thrown our way. We’re constantly stereotyped in other countries. I’m currently living in New Zealand, and I don’t think anyone’s country gets put down as much as the US does.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:24:11 +0000

Most Americans don’t travel because it is very expensive. Even a well-educated American making a middle-class income may not have the luxury of travel (like myself – how can I justify a $3000 Europe trip when I have $40000 in student debt?). But furthermore, why would I want to spend my hard-earned money in a continent (Europe) that largely considers Americans ignorant, lazy, and rude? If I do get together some travel money eventually, I will be spending it somewhere where people like Americans.

By: Trudy

Trudy — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:54:23 +0000

Great post. I had no idea so few Americans had passports. I think this is because I love to travel and my parents are not US citizens so I am used to the passport deal. I think misplaced nationalism, fear, ignorance and superiority complexes are why many Americans do not travel. Not traveling is to ignore so much that contributes to the world. The best experiences that I have ever had have not occurred in my home country, the US. Some of the most interesting people I know are 1st generation Americans like I am or Americans who have traveled/lived elsewhere. It can be a great eye-opening experience if a person enters it with an open mind, willingness to learn and a sense of adventure. I’d also like to point out that ignorance and superiority complexes are within some who travel as well. They travel with their noses down at others and treat anyone they meet as “primal” or inferior.

By: Lauren, Ephemerratic

Lauren, Ephemerratic — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:25:56 +0000

I’d propose that it’s not simply that Americans don’t travel overseas. Many don’t travel much at all.

After 10 years of living in San Francisco, very few friends and family have come to visit from New York, an easy four to six hour flight from the East Coast. I’ve gotten all the excuses: time, money, kids, earthquakes (that’d be the big FEAR), and believe it or not, racism. You add the overseas factors of language barriers, strange customs, unusual food, touts, and unfamiliar bureaucratic hurdles, unsafe drinking water, and needing a passport and you’ve just convinced most people I grew up with in the suburbs that there’s nothing they’d rather do less. Damn shame, that.

By: jforestphotos

jforestphotos — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:23:00 +0000

Your post has sparked quite the debate!

I agree with you somewhat. I think yes, by in large, we are scared. Our culture does emphasize how we are number one in the world.

But some of it isn’t our fault. I’m from the northeast, (maine in fact) so when I was growing up, we would take trips to Quebec occasionally. We did take a couple of trips to florida when I was young, and then one to california to visit family. We can travel many thousands of miles, and still be in the US.

I think it’s a mixture of all of these factors that keeps us from traveling as much as other nations.