Why don't more Americans travel abroad?

I've lived in Korea for the last year and half and there are tons of Americans here.

I have no desire to even go to Canada or Mexico let alone over the pond. I like to drive everywhere and have my own vehicle when I get there. Part of the vacation is the travel to and from the destination. I have been to every state except Hawaii and Alaska and will be lucky if I ever get to those two states.

That is a very stupid article. What, like there is some appropriate number for an "affluent" country in their travel statistics? Canadians travel because the U.S. has stuff that Canada doesn't while the U.S. pretty much has what Canada has. People in the UK have the rest of Europe that is easily accessible. I wish I could have the last 5 minutes of my life back.

tellmewhy wrote:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/02/04/americans.travel.domestically/index.html?hpt=C2

Does this article cover it?

Between growing up as a military brat, joining the military, studying abroad and then working for German company; I have been just about everywhere.

Perhaps there is some truth to the statement that Americans don't travel, but can't say that from what I have scene. Not only have I found Americans traveling everywhere I've been, I have found Americans actually living in most of these places.

A few things:

Traveling to most places for Americans is time consuming and expensive.

A basic fact, America is nicer than most places, that's why the world comes here. It takes a lifetime just to see this country. Go to Hawaii on vacation, most places you would go to in the world is downhill from there.

Americans get fewer holidays and vacation days than most other countries, which limits your international travel opportunities.

It is easier for other people to come here because half the world speaks English; there are some countries that speak multiple languages that an American would need to learn in order to fully function there.

Americans aren't as fascinated by other cultures because we have parts of that culture here. America is full of Brazilians, Puerto Ricans, Arabs, Ethiopians, Polish, Nigerians, Russians, Indian, Korean, etc. There are more Jamaicans in America than Jamaica. - If I want to see Mexicans, I can go to El Pasco and if want to see China, I can go to Chinatown...that's a joke, but hopefully you get my point.

Btw, I love to travel and I didn't read the article or most of the posts; I might be missing the point and/or repeating what other people have already said...I am being lazy.

Sorry TrackCoach, I do not see your point. I moved here (Bangkok) about 12 years ago, and my only regret is that I didn't move here sooner.

I think that most Americans do not travel abroad because (1) they know that I am out there somewhere and (2) They are scared.

givemeabreaknowladies wrote:

why dont more europeans travel here?

Because there are a lot more interesting places to go?

uneducated and cant afford it

Hawaii is 85% Asian and Polynesian. In the 1950s the Japanese took the top spots in the Hawaiian economy, politics, and education system. The State Governor, both Senators, and both House Representatives were Japanese. By the 1990s, Hawaiians, Polynesians, Portuguese, Asians, Haoles and a scant few Popolos came of age in Hawaii and dominated. So Hawaii is very different than the mainland since it is the only non-Haole state in the union.

Track Coach, While I do agree that americans do have very diverse cultures in the big cities, I cannot agree with you on getting to know other cultures within the US.

You cannot expect to know the chinese culture from going to the local Fook Mii place and visiting NYC's chinatown. Same goes for Creole, other asian, european, african, arabic cultures etc.

People from these places have a completely different approach to personal relationships, hospitality, physical contact, gender differences, entertainment, time, organisation, company organisation, public nudity or what not.

Plus: Even if the communities are large enough to give an insight into their culture, they live a separate lifestyle which white americans get to see only seldomly.

You also do not get to see much architectural diversity in the US simply due to the fact that it did not exist (architecturally) until 400 years ago. So while places like Chicago< NYC Or Washington do offer some great modern architecture i have to say this: if you want to see where the world as we see it today came from, you have to leave the states.

Furthermore: while you may have been fortunate enough to know the US and other countries quite well, thjere are many americans who have not travelled further away from their home town than a few hundred miles. I personally know quite a few that never went north of NC or west of New Orleans.

Similar things you can observe in the midwest. So these people don't even care about their OWN country, why the hell would they care about any other?

It might just be about the media opening their eyes to the world out there, so if that happens, we may see a change of mind... but I believe that will be a VERY long shot.

Sorry man, but you sound quite pretentious. There is nothing noble or exceptional about being well traveled.

There are millions of people who have never lived in other countries and know plenty. Yes, traveling broadens your world view, but that isn't necessary for some virtuous life.

International travel available to the common man is a 20th century phenomenon. Traveling is a privilege.

The attitude you hold is typical pseudo intellectual pat myself on the back bullshit.

I am life long international traveler including Peru, Israel, and Japan. I have lived in two other countries. I love traveling and it really broadens my world view. But, it doesn't make me exceptional. Just something I enjoy.

Sounds like you have a problem with your own exceptionalism.

If that didnt sum you up, this will:

sorry hombre wrote:

Sorry man, but you sound quite pretentious. There is nothing noble or exceptional about being well traveled.

The attitude you hold is typical pseudo intellectual pat myself on the back bullshit.

Sounds like you have a problem with your own exceptionalism.

Sounds like you have a problem with your envy / inferiority complex.

To some extent a broader world view is important to a virtuous life. It's easy to shrug off "collateral damage" in a war or fear immigrants if they're only a concept to you and that's a view that way too many Americans seem to hold. It turns up here often enough on non-running topics. Getting to understand people from other places helps to break that down. Certainly there are other ways but getting to other places is a very good one.

phew wrote:

sorry hombre wrote:

Sorry man, but you sound quite pretentious. There is nothing noble or exceptional about being well traveled.

The attitude you hold is typical pseudo intellectual pat myself on the back bullshit.

Sounds like you have a problem with your own exceptionalism.

Sounds like you have a problem with your envy / inferiority complex.

perfectly content with who i am. you must have cherry picked the part where i am well traveled as well.

HRE wrote:

To some extent a broader world view is important to a virtuous life. It's easy to shrug off "collateral damage" in a war or fear immigrants if they're only a concept to you and that's a view that way too many Americans seem to hold. It turns up here often enough on non-running topics. Getting to understand people from other places helps to break that down. Certainly there are other ways but getting to other places is a very good one.

agreed, broader world view is good, but traveling is not a must for this. traveling is a privilege. having a good world view is not a function of privilege.

from my traveling it seems america is the most excepting country in the world. we bend over backwards to make sure everyone is welcome. we are not the melting pot for nothing. in far east asia, they are extremely wary of foreigners. i experienced my first real bit of racism in a subway in korea.

even a lot of canadians i have met are nervous around "ghetto" blacks.

like the other guy stated previously, in switzerland a citizen must have roots to be a citizen.

just go to NYC. 180 different cultures all living together.

Silly to compare American international travel to international travel by others. America is a big place and a lot of Americans live really darn far from the nearest foreign country. Even though Canada is a large country, the bulk of the population lives very close to the U.S. and all of the significant Canadian cities are within a relatively short drive of the border.

A lot of people in Europe are basically in a situation where visiting the next town over counts as international travel. The trip from London to Paris is just a little longer than the trip from my apartment in Ithaca, NY to NYC. The trip from Zurich to Munich is a three hour drive. Of course people in this situation are more likely to have crossed the national border at some point than people living in, say, Denver.

Looks like everyone interviewed in the article is in the TRAVEL INDUSTRY! Shocking that they would want Americans to travel abroad more.

My first trip to Europe was when I was in my late 30s. My family did not have a lot of money growing up and my dad owned a small business (pretty tough to leave for 2 weeks--which we NEVER did). So for me, it was money and then it was apprehension. Where to go? What about language issues? (less of an issue in Western Europe especially big cities). While I took French in HS and college, no way I was comfortable speaking it.

A younger friend of mine is planning his and his GF's first trip to Europe. My suggestion was to start in Ireland or England. Not having to worry about the language barrier will be a good start. (And both countries offer things they are interested in). Then Paris--everyone does need to see Paris---with a stop in Normandy on the way (He likes WWII history so that was a must see). No language issues in Paris (plenty of restaurants have dual language menus).

I also warned him that it will be expensive and hotel rooms will be amazingly small unless they are willing to drop a LOT of money.

HRE wrote:

It's easy to shrug off "collateral damage" in a war or fear immigrants if they're only a concept to you and that's a view that way too many Americans seem to hold.

1) If you want to see a "country" that the United States fought a war with, you can just go see the South.

2) Wouldn't America be the best place to see immigrants? I mean, people that live in a foreign country are NOT immigrants (unless they immigrated there from another foreign country).

Why is anyone saying anything about costs?

Don't we hear every single day on here about how America is the richest country in the world?

Surely you're all rich and can do whatever the hell you want?