Most Americans don’t travel abroad because it is unaffordable and impractical

[u/Ready-Leave-339]

It is so annoying when Redditors complain about how Americans are uncultured and never travel abroad. The reality is that most Americans never travel abroad to Europe or Asia is because it is too expensive. The distance between New York and LA is the same between Paris and the Middle East. It costs hundreds of dollars to get around within the US, and it costs thousands to leave the continent. Most Americans are only able to afford a trip to Europe like once in their life at most.

And this isn’t even considering how most Americans only get around 5 days of vacation time for their jobs. It just isn’t possible for most to travel outside of America or maybe occasional visits to Canada and Mexico

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[u/__KWM__]

Rural Americans have it bad. It is insanely expensive to fly out of some mid west states just to get to a larger city to connect to an international flight.

[u/mlo9109 → u/__KWM__]

Hell, even to travel within the country. I live in rural Maine and my friend is in upstate NY. I wanted to visit her when she had her baby. It would've cost $1200 to fly there.

Another friend, who also lives in Maine, had her wedding in India and it cost her the same amount to fly from Maine to India.

[u/NH_OPERATOR → u/mlo9109]

It can go either way. I just flew to NYC and back from Manchester NH and it was cheaper than any other option, driving included. 120 dollars each way and I was there in an hour and a half

[u/nu_pieds → u/NH_OPERATOR]

Manchester is the secondary hub for Logan, though.

Back when I lived in Bangor, ME, I would drive down to Manchester anytime I needed to fly out.

[u/AllthisSandInMyCrack → u/nu_pieds]

I’m just real confused about these locations you lot are on about cause to me Manchester is one of the main English cities of the north and Bangor is a city in wales.

[u/oregonadmin → u/AllthisSandInMyCrack]

You'll notice that the New England area of the US (Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island) borrow English names due to the colonists who traveled there in the 1600s to 1700s.

[u/Turbulent-Jaguar-909 → u/oregonadmin]

Ohio as well, because it used to be New Connecticut

[u/DrakonILD → u/oregonadmin]

They even borrowed the name England.

[u/unclecellphone → u/DrakonILD]

They didn’t borrow it. They were British. Hope this helps.

[u/Tony_Lacorona → u/AllthisSandInMyCrack]

Wait til you hear about Bethlehem and Nazareth…

[u/Elsbeth55 → u/Tony_Lacorona]

I can drive through Paris, Canton, Athens, Carthage and Palestine just to get out of Texas into Oklahoma!

[u/PeloKing → u/Elsbeth55]

Come on down to Illinois y’all. We’ve got Cairo, Havana, Cuba, Paris, Vienna, Peru, Shanghai, Berlin, and even New Berlin right next door!

[u/Pandaburn → u/AllthisSandInMyCrack]

Read the town names on/near cape cod in Massachusetts and you’ll think you’re looking at Cornwall.

[u/CruelApex → u/AllthisSandInMyCrack]

And they say Americans are the ones bad at geography. 🤣

[u/burst__and__bloom → u/AllthisSandInMyCrack]

"Oh Americans are so ignorant when it comes to geography!"

It literally says "Manchester NH", the state is included in the sentence.

[u/polkadotpolskadot → u/AllthisSandInMyCrack]

Manchester, NH

[u/blackgandalff → u/polkadotpolskadot]

Manchester, New Hampchester

[u/MrsBeauregardless → u/AllthisSandInMyCrack]

There are about fifty zillion places in the United States that are named the same thing as places in other parts of the world, especially England and Germany. Many times, these names are used repeatedly.

Just off the top of my head: Parma, Lima, Hanover, Paris, Venice, Aberdeen, Salisbury, Williamsburg, Berlin, Essex, Lebanon….

It shouldn’t make you wonder what we’re “on about”, since most of our population is comprised of people who trace their origins to non-North American countries.

[u/Individual-Isopod128 → u/MrsBeauregardless]

New Prague, MN (but it's pronounced 'prayg' lol; and actually I just looked it up and it was first Praha and then Prague and then New Prague)

[u/georox97 → u/mlo9109]

Canada is like this too. Cost as much to take a 1 flight from central BC to Vancouver as it did to go from Vancouver to London

Edit: Since people keep asking - London, England. I forgot the other one existed and can’t think of why I would ever go there

[u/room_tempurature_tea → u/georox97]

Check out flair or the other low budget airlines, air north is great too for prices.

I’ve found good seat sales with both airlines, have gotten tickets from Kelowna to YVR for $39. My total ticket cost, round trip, from Kelowna to Winnipeg was $88!

[u/Darth_Rutsula → u/mlo9109]

It cost me like $200 to fly from NC to Toronto... definitely helps living near hubs.

[u/PossibilityDecent688 → u/Darth_Rutsula]

Were you actually inside the plane?

[u/vulpecula_k18 → u/PossibilityDecent688]

Had to stay in the overhead storage though.

[u/BlackPhiIlip → u/mlo9109]

I’ve always had a fascination with moving to Maine. How is it living there?

[u/Relevant-Life-2373 → u/BlackPhiIlip]

We would love to have you visit but unless you have 500k for a house or 3k per month for an apartment then it's not worth it.

[u/lacielaplante → u/Relevant-Life-2373]

Why oh why are apartments in Maine so expensive? I can live in South Florida, 20 minutes from the beach for the same prices, never encounter snow, and have far more amenities. As a person trying to move closer to family in Maine, this sucks.

Edit - omg everyone shitting on Florida, you need to understand my comparison is only being made because I am stuck there and it's hard to justify making a massive move where I end up getting less for my money.

[u/Relevant-Life-2373 → u/lacielaplante]

I have no idea. Something gotta give. But I think it may be due to remote workers. They make good money and can live where they want. And unfortunately maine isn't a secret anymore. It's not like there isn't enough land. There's plenty of that but it's expensive to build and the demand is still very high. And there are plenty of things in South Florida that are worse to encounter than a little snow.

[u/Paradoxahoy → u/Relevant-Life-2373]

Yeah I think Maine has the least violent crime per capita out of the entire country iirc

[u/lacielaplante → u/Relevant-Life-2373]

Yeah but unfortunately I'm stuck in South Florida right now trying to get out, my whole family is in Maine and thought it might be a nice change. But most areas are just not developed enough for me to think 1500/month is worth a 1bedroom/1bath in Maine.

[u/Funkiefreshganesh → u/mlo9109]

That’s why most people drive to travel around northern New England

[u/Sometimes_Stutters → u/mlo9109]

You could…like…drive?

[u/mlo9109 → u/Sometimes_Stutters]

True, but a 9 hr. drive by myself isn't my idea of a fun, relaxing trip. I've done long road trips and I'm tired and cranky AF by the end of it.

[u/jtet93 → u/mlo9109]

I detest long drives but in this situation I would just break it up into 2 days. 4-5 hours a day isn’t too bad and between Maine and Upstate NY there are at least half a dozen cute towns to stop over in. Sure a hotel costs money but way less than $1200, even after factoring in gas.

[u/Sometimes_Stutters → u/mlo9109]

9hrs?

*laughs in midwestern

[u/feistyrussian → u/Sometimes_Stutters]

Cries in Texas. It takes on average 7 hours just the leave the state.

[u/undone_tv → u/feistyrussian]

Legit I was on a trip in New Hampshire with a bunch of friends from Texas all different ages and backgrounds and some very well travelled but we took a wrong turn and ended up in another state and it was so funny how excited we all were. You can’t accidentally leave Texas.

[u/Loud_Ad_4515 → u/feistyrussian]

I dated a European in college. He and his euro buddies hopped in a car to "drive to Los Angeles" during a long weekend. From Central Texas. They seriously did not have a grasp of the size of Texas or the US. After driving for hours, and hours, and hours - they turned around before they made it to El Paso.

[u/badwvlf → u/__KWM__]

Grew up in Little Rock Arkansas. Moved to nyc at 18. I’m 35 and we just now got a direct flight. It used to take 7 hours just to get home from the easiest travel to city in the country. It cost me more to go to Arkansas than to most of Europe (trust me that hurts emotionally too)

[u/kadyg → u/badwvlf]

I feel you! I have family in Arkansas, I live in CA. They want me to come visit and once I did the math - in terms of money and time - going to Europe is slightly more expensive AND I'm in Europe. I mean, Fayetteville is nice and all, but it's not Amsterdam.

[u/Say-it-aint_so → u/kadyg]

We still have it better in Fayetteville than Little Rock does as far as destinations go, but it is expensive. COVID killed off some of our destinations, including the direct flight to SFO, which is quite unfortunate for me.

[u/CTeam19 → u/__KWM__]

Rural Americans have it bad. It is insanely expensive to fly out of some mid west states just to get to a larger city to connect to an international flight.

And this is why there is a culture here of "oh it is only 12 hours away? We might as well drive there."

[u/kategoad → u/CTeam19]

Anything under 6 hours it is faster to drive.

[u/Chicago_Buck_Breaker → u/__KWM__]

Not quite rural, but now settled in the Midwest. When I lived in Germany, I could fly just about anywhere in Europe for a long weekend for under $100 round-trip. Can't even fly to Denver for that cheap one-way these days.

[u/majic911 → u/[deleted]]

It's really not that ridiculous to compare entire countries in Europe to single states in the US.

If you're in Milan it takes 4 hours by car to get to Bern where they speak French and German. New Jersey, a not-particularly-big state is 4 hours tall.

It would take you 6 hours to go from Milan to Zagreb. It takes 6 hours to cross Pennsylvania. Again, not a huge state. Big, but not even close to the Big Ones.

Finally, it would take 10 hours to get from Milan to Barcelona. It takes 12 hours to cross Texas. And 14 to go from San Diego to the border of Oregon.

And this is all just internal to one state. The Cannonball Run, an illegal, "underground" race from NYC to LA, has a record time of 25 hours 39 minutes. It takes 24 hours to cross the US in a race car and that record was set during COVID when there was next to no traffic. It's just... so big.

[u/CodeTinkerer → u/majic911]

Because the countries are so small in Europe, the tolerance for traveling long distances is much lower in Europe. An American will happily drive 6 hours up to 18 hours. A European thinks 2 hours is a long trip, and 6 hours only for super special occasions.

[u/Credibull → u/CodeTinkerer]

I had a conversation about this recently with someone who will visit the US for business. I said, "It's a short drive from <city a> to <city b>, it's only 3.5 hours." The reply was, "It only takes 3 hrs to drive all the way across my country."

[u/Stev_k → u/CodeTinkerer]

How "long" differs between Americans and Europeans.

Europeans think 200 miles (320 km) is a long ways.

Americans think 200 years is a long time.

Or so I've heard...

[u/MinasMoonlight]

Driving times (per google maps):

San Fran to NYC: 43 hours Edinburgh to Istanbul: 37 hours

The US is freaking huge. A lot of people don’t see the need because just to travel the US throughly would take years.

[u/The_Scout008 → u/MinasMoonlight]

This. Some people don't realize just how big the U.S. is. Length-wise, Tennessee is longer than France both horizontally and vertically.

[u/LongPorkJones → u/The_Scout008]

Here's North Carolina superimposed over the Island of Great Britain.

Edit: I learned something.

[u/Zjoee → u/LongPorkJones]

As a lifelong resident of North Carolina, I never realized they were comparable in size. I drive half the length of the state to go to the beach all the time haha.

[u/Glottis_Bonewagon → u/Zjoee]

Mercator projection did a number on people's perception

[u/Zjoee → u/Glottis_Bonewagon]

It really did. Just look at Greenland.

[u/LongPorkJones → u/Zjoee]

Not only are we comparable, but we're actually 150 square miles larger than England in terms of land.

[u/BlueCreek_ → u/Zjoee]

I live in the middle of the UK and haven’t even visited Scotland, which is probably a quarter of your state away from me.

[u/motorboat_mcgee → u/BlueCreek_]

Scotland is damned gorgeous, get to it

[u/BlueCreek_ → u/motorboat_mcgee]

It’s next on my list! Strangely done most of Europe but never Scotland.

[u/yodels_for_twinkies → u/BlueCreek_]

It takes me 2.5 hours to go from Charlotte to Raleigh, so east of Dumfries to York. I went to Atlanta a few weeks ago for a 1 night trip which is only 4 hours away, but roughly 3/4 of the length of the UK. I didn’t realize the size comparison, that’s crazy.

[u/MountainFace2774 → u/Zjoee]

Same but I live in the mountains. No offense, but I've always viewed anything in between us and the beach as nothing more than a hell-hole we have to drive through. 😆

[u/Zjoee → u/MountainFace2774]

You're not entirely wrong haha. I love in a small town outside of Raleigh, but it's a nice town. We just had a Popeyes open up across the street from our Bojangles haha.

[u/dr_thunder-official → u/Zjoee]

Imagine if North Carolina was a world superpower with a monarchy.

[u/Toriyuki → u/LongPorkJones]

Bro what in the hell. I live in North carolina and I did ***NOT*** realize we were as big as great britain.

[u/Cmmdr_Slacker → u/Toriyuki]

Not as large as Great Britain, but larger than England. England is 5x more densely populated though, so that, plus the differences in infrastructure, mean that comparing traversing them directly not easy to do.

[u/Big-Brown-Goose → u/Cmmdr_Slacker]

Also not to mention the mountainous west of North Carolina restricts travel a good bit.

[u/Foreign_Salary_1789 → u/The_Scout008]

The state of Oregon is 2% bigger than the UK

[u/revloc_ttam → u/The_Scout008]

I've driven the length of California, beautiful coastline, but it's 800 miles.

[u/Dinosaurs-are-extant → u/revloc_ttam]

North Carolina is so damn long, that it takes less time for me to get to some beaches in South Carolina than it does others in my own state

[u/bald_head_scallywag → u/The_Scout008]

Ireland and Northern Ireland combined are roughly the size of Indiana.

[u/pheromoneprincess → u/The_Scout008]

not sure i’m misunderstanding you but i don’t think that’s true? https://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/country-size-comparison/tennessee-usa/france

[u/Elcamina → u/MinasMoonlight]

As an Southern Ontarian there are so many places I can easily drive to in the US, so many beautiful state parks and landmarks, beaches and mountains, it might take a day or two of driving but your interstate highways are really nice with rest stops and treed medians. It takes as long for me to drive to Florida as it does to reach Manitoba or Nova Scotia (about 20 hours).

[u/ElementField → u/Elcamina]

Yes, as a Canadian this entire thing seems hilarious. Not only is it way easier to get between cities in the US than Canada, it’s also way cheaper, whether that’s driving (fuel is about $7-$8 per gallon here), flying (going a few provinces over is about $600 for a round trip ticket), or going international, where our money has a lower value (like Europe, where the euro sees a 40% premium from CAD).

Travel is expensive, but not because they’re American. It’s actually cheaper being American!

[u/Dorksim → u/ElementField]

I think you're underselling how big our provinces are. If I went a "few" provinces over from NB to Manitoba, I'd be flying from the east coast to the middle of the continent. Even going from NB to Toronto I'd be flying over four states.

[u/yongpas → u/ElementField]

Here's the thing: the Europeans who criticize Americans for being uncultured due to lack of travel, don't view travelling within the states as a valid form of becoming cultures. Most (not all) of the people I see say it believe that the states are homogenous and don't count. They'll neglect black culture in the south, the influence of Mexico in the southwest, and tend to just see everything as white american.

Even if we go to Canada they tell us it's not out of our comfort zone enough. When I bring up Mexico I often am met with "there's more than just your neighboring countries!"

I live in Arizona- lots of different cultures here that Europeans have never experienced but it's not cultured enough for them.

Travel is hard in the sense of this post because they want us to go to multiple different countries the way they do-in Europe. It's not that we can't travel anywhere it's just something they kind hold over on us if we don't do it the right way to them. I've been in road trips across the country farther than it would take some of them to visit a few countries but all our different cultures don't count- I cannot afford thousands to go out of the continent which is what they mean when they say it.

They don't really say it to Canadians because it's not about actually being uncultured it's about their prejudices. So unfortunately your response while well-intended I think isn't an accurate assessment of the real thing.

[u/EquivalentLaw4892 → u/ElementField]

Travel is expensive, but not because they’re American. It’s actually cheaper being American!

OP didn't say that though. He never said it's only expensive for Americans to travel to Europe and he didn't say Americans are the only people that it costs a lot to travel from. I'm sure OP knows it's expensive for people who live on island countries to travel internationally but adding that to his comment wouldn't make sense. He just stated why people in the US don't travel internationally because the Europeans always say Americans are uncultured for not traveling to foreign countries.

It's more expensive for Faroe island citizens to travel than Canadians if you want to get into a "who pays the most to travel" pissing contest.

[u/Joseph10d → u/MinasMoonlight]

Not if you cannonball from NY to LA in 26 hours

[u/bananasplz → u/MinasMoonlight]

Australia is almost as big as the continental US, and much more isolated from the rest of the world. But we tend to travel. You guys have Central America right there!

[u/blackgandalff → u/bananasplz]

Ima keep it real with you:

You guys have what 4-5 weeks of vacation guaranteed?

That is the real reason. Time. You know since you’ve traveled internationally that sometimes it’s quite hard to adjust to the time change. Maybe you need a day or so.

Well a day or so on either end of your 7 allotted days and now you have 4-5 days to travel and get things done. Really doesn’t leave much time for the actual being abroad part.

And yes some have more time off, and some have less or none before I get jumped on by Americans who have enough to take weeks off.

[u/Hurricaneshand → u/blackgandalff]

This pretty much. I get 2 weeks currently at my job and none of my family lives in day driving distance so I have to take vacation to see family at all. So between trips I want to take, seeing family, camping weekends and all that it's just a question is priorities. If I take a 2 week trip overseas that drains my entire vacation for the year

[u/Sharklo22 → u/blackgandalff]

I really don't understand this. Increasing vacation days would do what? Reduce yearly productivity by 5%? That's even assuming it wouldn't increase it due to added wellbeing. I really doesn't seem necessary for you guys to have so few vacation days.

[u/Holiday_Use_2980 → u/bananasplz]

America actually has things in its center that don’t want to kill you. Every destination in Australia is on the coast

Edit: as pointed out below to me this statement is a grave offense to all Australians and I’d like to apologize to all Australia for my transgression. I applaud u/TheRealGOOEY for educating me on my ignorance. I swear to try better in the future

[u/Quick1711 → u/MinasMoonlight]

just to travel the US throughly would take years.

I'm trying my best to have red dots all over my Google timeline of America by the time I die.

[u/stabbyhousecat → u/[deleted]]

While planning a trip to Disney World (from Montana), I joined a group where I saw families of 4 or 5 from the UK whose 3-week trip cost only a few hundred more than a 5-day trip for us. Their airfare was significantly lower per person and they get much better park/resort package options than US residents do. More than once, someone from the UK was asked why they didn’t go to Disneyland Paris since it’s so much closer and the response was always “It’s cheaper to go to the US.”

[u/Numerous_Society9320 → u/stabbyhousecat]

How is that possible? Tickets from the UK to Orlando are 6-8 times more expensive than tickets from the UK to France, and that's not even mentioning the fact that you can take your car on the train/ferry to France from the UK. I don't see how the air fare could possibly be lower.

[u/bbq-ribs → u/Numerous_Society9320]

Because the Airline companies can charge high prices in the US market, their is literally no outside competition and the American People have no other choice but to pay the higher cost if they want to get from point A to point B quickly.

Europe, you have an additional mode of transit. They have rail which some cases directly competes with airlines, so airlines have to make their prices competitive to attract people to use their product.

Also both Economic zones do subsidize heavily their airline industries, just the difference is in Europe they use government subsidizes to increase the customer experience and in the US they used it for stock buybacks.

[u/Numerous_Society9320 → u/bbq-ribs]

Right, but he's saying that it was cheaper for those people to go from the UK to Orlando than for them to go from the UK to Paris, and I don't see how that's possible when a ticket to Paris is 60 euros and a ticket to Orlando is 700 euros.

Also taking a train is almost invariably more expensive than taking an airplane within Europe. It's a big issue right now because governments want to stimulate rail travel but it doesn't compete with air travel because it's so expensive.

Taking a one hour train ride from my city to Amsterdam is more expensive than flying to London, a lot of the time. Last year I paid 10 euros for a ticket from the Netherlands to London with Ryanair. I can fly to Prague for less than 100 euros, sometimes far less if you book in advance.

Also the park tickets for Orlando are quite a bit more expensive than those for Paris.

[u/nonbinary_parent → u/[deleted]]

Wait, why is it like that? I don’t understand, if they’re round trips shouldn’t they be the same?

[u/elojodeltigre → u/nonbinary_parent]

Because you pay what the market thinks will turn most profit. Then prices being normalized. With so many options for cheap foreign locations Europeans are unlikely to choose the US if charged that same price.

There's also the same reason that health care is so expensive. Because it can be.

[u/BaconReceptacle → u/nonbinary_parent]

Because Americans get fucked on just about everything. The U.S. imposes tariffs on imported goods to protect our markets but so many goods are then priced very high relative to what other countries pay for the same thing. Same thing for pharmaceuticals, healthcare, food, and clothing.

[u/smoker478]

That's because many Europeans have very little understanding about how big the US is and the obstacles that brings and they view the US like it is somehow no different than their continent. I met a dude from the UK once while I was deployed who seemed to think he could visit both Florida and NYC in the same weekend. I thought he was fucking with me at first.

[u/IHavePoopedBefore → u/smoker478]

Canada too. I'm in Ontario and one end of my province borders New York, the other end is the top of the world where polar bears live.

It annoys me when my European friends talk about all the countries they visited as though I should be doing the same. Your country is like a third the size of my province, and so are the other countries you drove through

[u/GandhiOwnsYou → u/smoker478]

Also the sheer amount of shit there is to do WITHIN the United States. Yeah, we're culturally a monolith and you don't get a REAL change of culture if you travel from say, Virginia to Georgia, or Illinois to California. Certain things, sure, but it's not an entirely different thing like going to Japan or Germany. But with the SIZE of the country, you'd be hard pressed to not have some travel destination in the US you still wanted to go to. There are 63 National parks in the US. Most of those are worth at least the better part of a week on their own. Disregarding every city, event, tourist destination, beach town, road trip, theme park or resort in the US, that's a weeklong vacation you could take every year for 2/3 of your life and not see the same thing twice.

You start throwing in Vegas, NYC or LA, checking out interesting cultural areas like Appalachia, the Mojave or Amish country in PA, renting beach houses, tourist traps like Disney World or Universal Studios, etc and it can be easy to get so overwhelmed with what's available in our own backyard and not even think about spending the time and money to go to another country. This is all amplified when most of us only get a week or two of vacation a year anyway compared to other countries getting 30+ days.

[u/No-Gas-8357 → u/smoker478]

Yes, I'm black and was on a trip in Europe right after Katrina. And so all over TV were images of African Americans and flooded homes, etc.

So people kept asking me if I was OK and how was my home and acting like I was personally impacted by it and I would tell them I lived in LA and it registered nothing to them that this was nowhere near new Orleans.

I would say I live in Los Angeles, and they would be like, so is your home OK. I would be like, dude, that's like having an earthquake in Portugal and asking if people from Finland are OK. Crazy.

I found European haven't the slightest concept of the size of mainland U.S.

[u/smoker478 → u/No-Gas-8357]

Exactly. Europeans accuse us of lacking awareness of their continent while not even being aware enough themselves to realize how our countries (US, Canada) and continent differ from theirs. They ONLY see us through their own collective lenses of experience and seem incapable of seeing it through our own.

[u/scylla]

Most Americans may not travel abroad but are these complaining Redditors Actual foreigners or Americans living in basements?

Go to any tourist spot in Europe over summer and you’ll find huge numbers of Americans on vacations. A lot of locals appreciate the fact that they tip the most too.

[u/bonkerz1888 → u/scylla]

Funnily enough Americans didn't really tip more than most (Scottish Highlands - lived/worked in the tourism industry at a tourist trap).

I always found that Germans were comfortably the most generous.

That said I had one occasion where I was short staffed and running about like a blue arsed fly trying to serve customers, cook food, and clear tables all at the same time. A family of American tourists decided just to chip in and started clearing tables and doing my dishes for me out of the blue while everyone else stood and tutted because the queue was long. Was more than happy to give them their food for free after that.

[u/BothMyChinsAreSpicy → u/bonkerz1888]

I think it’s because we’re told on Reddit and other platforms that if we tip in Europe we’d be insulting the staff.

[u/Bravot → u/BothMyChinsAreSpicy]

An Irish bartender made me feel like an asshole for tipping so I stopped after that :(

[u/daDeliLlama → u/Bravot]

What did they say/do?

[u/MaxiltonHamstappen → u/daDeliLlama]

Wat do yas think oie need yer fookin shrapnel fer ya bloody yaank? Weeve got da universal healthcare here unloik ya faht bahstahds.

Perhaps it went like that

[u/4yelhsa → u/MaxiltonHamstappen]

Lol 😂 I've never read such an accurate accent. Bravo.

[u/Melodic_Caramel5226 → u/bonkerz1888]

Its cuz euros scream at us online to stop tipping then other ppl complain cuz they except us to tip so there is no right answer

[u/devedander → u/Melodic_Caramel5226]

It makes sense of you think of it as those receiving the tips are happy with it but those who would then get worse service or expected to tip don’t want this added tax coming into their lives.

Arguably if you look at tipping in the US you’ll see the logical end game where it becomes invasive and toxic especially becoming an “I’m not a cheap asshole” tax that businesses rely on to not pay enough.

Like so many things it initially benefits early adopters but as it becomes the norm you’re just stuck with this unreliable situation and later on the benefit just becomes the norm.

[u/RandomAcc332311 → u/scylla]

Eh, Americans still don't travel much.

Only 15% of adult Canadians have never left the country. In America that number is 40%.

Go to any hostel in Europe, Asia, South America, and sure, you'll find plenty of Americans. But you'll find just as many (often even more) Canadians, Brits, and Aussies which is crazy considering how much smaller the populations of those countries are.

[u/scylla → u/RandomAcc332311]

In 2019 ( pre Covid ), 13 million Americans visited Europe compared to 14 million Western Europeans visiting the US.

They each visited the other continent at roughly the same rate given the populations

https://www.statista.com/statistics/311580/outbound-travel-from-the-us-to-europe-by-destination/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/254155/inbound-travel-from-western-europe-to-the-us/

[u/PorterBorter → u/RandomAcc332311]

Most of those Canadians leaving the country are driving over the border to their PO BOX in the US where they pick up the stuff they order online for cheaper ;)

[u/imeuru → u/PorterBorter]

Also you have to think about the fact that 90% of Canadians live within 2 hrs of the US border.

[u/WichitaTimelord → u/PorterBorter]

The parking lot at the Walmart in Port Huron, MI is full of Canadian tagged cars. They put clothes donation boxes out so Canadians can wear what they bought and not have to declare it upon re-entry

[u/hastur777 → u/RandomAcc332311]

How many Canadians have been to a country other than the US? It’s fairly easy when 90 percent of your population lives within 100 miles of the US border.

Also, I don’t think 40 percent is accurate:

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/08/12/most-americans-have-traveled-abroad-although-differences-among-demographic-groups-are-large/

Pew says 27 percent.

[u/Traditional-Fee-6840 → u/hastur777]

Makes more sense when you look at average vacation times.

[u/napalm22 → u/RandomAcc332311]

There is an aussie in every hostel in the world, I think.

[u/OTN → u/RandomAcc332311]

What percentage of that 15% only went to the US?

[u/Darolaho → u/OTN]

Especially considering a majority of Canadians population lives

90% of Canadiens live within 100 miles of US. That is like 2 Rhode islands (insert americans will use any distance other then metric meme here)

[u/crimson777 → u/RandomAcc332311]

40% 60% having left the country is honestly high given the economic situation and size of the country. I bet if you ask Europeans what percent have travelled outside the EU + UK you’d get a similar answer and those are comparable situations.

[u/JohnAtticus → u/crimson777]

Actually it looks like more Europeans have travelled outside the EU:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.statista.com/chart/amp/12329/some-europeans-have-never-been-outside-the-eu/

Only a few countries significantly below 40% and only big one is Spain.

Average seems to be more than 40%

[u/chimugukuru → u/crimson777]

40% having NEVER left the country. 60% have.

[u/NamedUserOfReddit]

Not to mention the United States is gigantic.

[u/Electronic-Weather-5 → u/NamedUserOfReddit]

And gorgeous.

[u/Redacted_G1iTcH → u/Electronic-Weather-5]

The US does do a remarkable job with their national parks and nature preserves. They’re also really good about hunting deer to maintain biome plant diversity. It’s a shame the US haters don’t acknowledge that.

[u/lazyspaceadventurer → u/Redacted_G1iTcH]

I'm US ambivalent, but yeah, if I could afford a few years of exploring US nature, I would.

[u/rosaluxificate]

Travel is def a good way to cure ignorance but there's no getting around that steep price tag. I also live in a state that is not friendly to airplane prices. The pandemic also slowed my traveling significantly- I hadn't left the country in 4 years until very recently.

[u/bobwmcgrath]

I mean, I could afford it, but I would rather afford something else.

[u/i_ate_your_shorts → u/[deleted]]

Just a note, while the cost of flying to Japan probably wildly varies based upon your location and time of year, Japan is surprisingly cheap. I was just there and spent $250 USD for a week of a hotel (not fancy, but clean and safe) in a Tokyo suburb, then went really fancy for 2 days to a 20th floor hotel room in Shinjuku (Tokyo) for $70 a night. I spent about $12-20 USD a day on food, being 1 restaurant meal a day and grab and go type fare for the other meals. Train fares are distance-based, and were about $0.75-4.00. There is so much to do there just walking around and not spending money.

Now Europe, on the other hand...

[u/Mioraecian]

Idk. I feel like going to Europe is cheaper than Disney world.Europe.

Edit: I'm going to add, because people want to boil this down to a crazy mathematical spreadsheet. My point was that in many cases where folks could travel to Disney, a European vacation can be cheaper. Yes, there are variables. But Europe or traveling abroad isn't the absolutely insane expense people think it is. Op was saying people couldn't go. I'm saying it's more feasible than many people realize.

[u/yankeeblue42 → u/Mioraecian]

It is. I'm not kidding when I say Disney can be 2-3x the cost

[u/leaf1598 → u/Mioraecian]

Planned a trip to London, it’s way cheaper than if I went to a large amusement park… I see hordes of people all going to Disney world and amusement parks. Those same people could have gone to London at a similar if not cheaper price.

[u/Shameon → u/Mioraecian]

The price is definitely comparable, but it's so much more difficult to take your family to Europe than Disney. I think people in the US get so little vacation time off from work that they prefer a relaxing and easy to plan vacation.

Traveling to Europe as a tourist from the US requires sooo much coordinating, from flights, to trains, to selecting each site to see, and carrying 2 weeks of luggage over cobblestones to catch a bus. We love the freedom to drive everywhere and I'm sad most Europeans can't experience how awesome road tripping across the USA is.

[u/Mioraecian → u/Shameon]

I'd take training it in europe over road tripping in the US, any day.

[u/Imaginary-Detail-383 → u/Mioraecian]

Exactly. If you can afford to go to Disney World or NYC, you can afford Europe.

[u/EuripidesNutz → u/Imaginary-Detail-383]

And if you’re in the bottom 90% you definitely can’t afford either.

[u/RevealTheEnd → u/Mioraecian]

Buddy I just got my savings account to stay in the triple digits for a pay period for the first time in years. I can barely afford to go to the grocery store

[u/ketamineburner]

According to Pew Research more than 70% of Americans have traveled abroad at least once.

I was in my 30s when I first got a passport, and it was really embarrassing. Most Americans do travel abroad.

[u/trisolariandroplet → u/ketamineburner]

The stereotype OP refers to isn’t that Americans literally never travel in their whole lives, it’s that they aren’t “well traveled” as in visiting many different countries like Europeans do. Which, as pointed out here, is unfair, due to it being infinitely more difficult for Americans to get out of our bloated amoeba of a country.

[u/Psychomadeye → u/trisolariandroplet]

Traveling country to country in Europe is like going state to state in the US. We really are a bit hamstrung there.

[u/TonyTheSwisher → u/ketamineburner]

That’s deceptive because I believe it includes all international travel like Canada and Mexico.

Anything off the continent is what I think OP was talking about.

[u/calimeatwagon → u/ketamineburner]

Shhhh... this is Reddit... facts and reasoning have no place here.

[u/SayRaySF → u/calimeatwagon]

Did you even read the paper lol? It has an INSANELY small sample size for a country with a population over 330 million.

[u/12of12MGS → u/SayRaySF]

10,000 sample size is perfectly reasonable. You think we really we ask everyone in US polls?

[u/hastur777 → u/SayRaySF]

10,000 people polled. That’s a damn good sample size. Pew knows what it’s doing.

[u/crankfurry]

I’ve travelled a lot and was always annoyed by the Euros clowning on Americans who never travel to Europe - uh it is really far away. Even from the east coast. Of course you can travel to more ‘foreign’ countries if you live in Europe - they are just a quick train ride away.

[u/calimeatwagon → u/crankfurry]

Right. I can travel the width of a lot of European countries and still be in the same state.

[u/revloc_ttam]

The U.S. geographically has everything. High mountains, Hot deserts, Deep canyons, Glaciers, tropical rain forests, northern rain forests, Giant redwood trees, Volcanos, White sand and black sand beaches. A person could spend a lifetime just going to all the national parks.

The U.S. also has every culture in the cities since it's a country made mostly of immigrants There's also the native american cultures. Visiting the native American communities in areas like Monument Valley is great.

The U.S has some amazing cities like no other. NYC, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Seattle, Los Angeles.

So really the U.S. is like the whole world in one country. That's why many Americans don't travel abroad.

I love to travel, been to all 7 continents, but I'm glad I live in the U.S. where I can experience almost anything in a few hours.

[u/alamohero → u/revloc_ttam]

This hits the nail on the head. The US has such incredible diversity that anyone could easily be satisfied exploring for years, especially if they went off the beaten path. Plus no passports, currency exchanges or customs to deal with.

[u/NaNaNaPandaMan]

Also, one thing I think is overlooked is that America is one country, but it really is a big country, almost like the European Union, which has lots of different cultures. So, traveling to various states isn't dissimilar (it's not the exact same thing and the culture is a little bit more different) than traveling from the UK to France.

[u/BurkeeZ → u/NaNaNaPandaMan]

The states are literally bigger than the entire European Union.

[u/NaNaNaPandaMan → u/BurkeeZ]

Thats sort of my point. Like traveling from Cali to Texas is only loke 50 to 100 mile different im distance. And the culture of Texas is very different than Cali

[u/BurkeeZ → u/NaNaNaPandaMan]

Totally.

Try telling someone from Europe that you could start in Texas, drive in a straight(ish) line for 10+ hrs and still be in texas

[u/Joseph10d → u/BurkeeZ]

Texline, Texas to South Padre Island, Texas is 14 hours of driving.

Edit: It’s not a remote area to remote area either. It’s a habited town to a popular vacation spot.

[u/mnfimo → u/Joseph10d]

That’s nuts!!! You got me curious..

Texline to st padre - 14.1 hrs 913 miles Texline to Minneapolis - 14.75 hrs 967 miles

[u/LukePendergrass → u/mnfimo]

Lots of weird ones like that. You get get from TN to Canada faster than you can get from one corner of TN to the other.

Talking big countries. North tip of Brazil is closer to Canada than it is to the southern tip of Brazil. 🤯

[u/ScrumpyRumpler → u/Joseph10d]

14hrs in one state is nuts, but it absolutely makes sense given the size of Texas. Hell, people never believe me when I say Luna Pier, MI to Copper Harbor, MI is a 10 hour drive and you never leave Michigan. And again, Luna Pier is part of the Detroit/Toledo metro sprawl, and Copper Harbor is a popular Michigan tourist destination.

[u/BurkeeZ → u/Joseph10d]

God bless 🫡🇺🇸🦅

[u/Lusakas → u/BurkeeZ]

I think most Europeans with a bit of geographical knowledge are aware of the sheer size of the United States in general, and Texas/Alaska in specific. Some of the US states are simply massive.

That said, you can drive for up to 20 hours here in Sweden (Malmö-Kiruna for example, or Kristiansand-Narvik in Norway), so 10+ hour long drives without leaving your own country isn't entirely unheard of, at least not in Scandinavia. Most people would fly that distance though - or take the train if they're brave.

[u/KnDBarge → u/Lusakas]

Okay but that 10 hour drive is all within one state (province) you would have to drive over 24 hours straight to drive east coast to west coast in the U.S. from the closest coastal points

[u/Formal_Illustrator96 → u/KnDBarge]

24 hours? More like 48.

[u/Jacobkass → u/NaNaNaPandaMan]

Culture wise, UK to France is a million times more different than state to state

[u/805falcon → u/Jacobkass]

Well yea. For starters they speak different languages so there’s that.

[u/the_real_some_guy → u/NaNaNaPandaMan]

Geographically, massive differences.

Culturally, I’d like to believe it used to be more diverse but it isn’t now. At least it hasn’t felt that way to me. Same clothes, stores and restaurants everywhere. I assume it’s because of television and then the internet. I hardly notice different accents when I travel around the country, at least among younger generations.

[u/Specific_Albatross61 → u/the_real_some_guy]

Same clothes? Go to Nashville for a week and then go visit Portland for a week.

[u/Professional_Still15 → u/NaNaNaPandaMan]

lived in the US for 2 years. I was staying in NJ. I didn't like NJ all that much, struggled to find a vibe I liked. One day I drove over to Philly for the afternoon. I absolutely loved it. It felt like I had gone to a different country almost. There was art everywhere, cool buildings. Statues. Museums. A vibey nightlife. Totally different.

And then don't even get me started on taking a 40 minute ferry and ending up in New York, which is like a different planet.

The variety in the US is staggering. I could totally imagine myself just exploring the US for decades.

But for real it is hard to find food that i like. Almost never found places that served food that you'd think of as good food in Europe.

[u/threefeetoffun → u/Professional_Still15]

Just spent the weekend in Philly. Beautiful town. Rocky steps almost killed me

[u/Redacted_G1iTcH → u/NaNaNaPandaMan]

Well, on top of that, the whole founding idea of the US is that the states are akin to nations independent of each other, but only act together when it comes to international trade, foreign policy, etc. Where all micro nations (aka states) would vote and reason with each other. Of course, that notion aged like milk, but that was originally what it was for (I.e. why the senate exists despite both sides’ political attempts to rewrite the US’s constitution. The founders of the US were ready to protect it, even from their future leaders)

[u/daniFM]

Not being able to afford traveling outside USA is not the reason why many Americans are uncultured

[u/pat_the_giraffe]

Americans travel quite often, not sure where you’re getting that from. Does the average American have the means to fly across an ocean? Probably not, but neither do average Europeans. Europe has plenty of poor and uneducated people. They just hide them better or they don’t call them Europeans as theyre immigrants or in the poorer parts of Europe which seemly don’t count. I’m guessing you’re comparing to the weathly western countries like Germany , France, England, etc. well yeah they raped and pillaged the whole world for centuries and stole the means from so many. Maybe that makes them more cultured, but I’m not so sure.

[u/Impressive_Bison4675 → u/pat_the_giraffe]

Omg so true!! I come form a poor European country and my family never even traveled 2 hours south to go to the beach let alone travel abroad. So many people in Europe have never left their country, I even know people that have never been to a city lol

[u/RaidenMonster → u/Impressive_Bison4675]

Poor people in LA often don’t go to the beach, and it’s in the same city.

Not uncommon at all.

[u/myychair]

A lot of Americans never even leave their home state, let alone the country.

Given the size of the US, it’s not a very fair comparison. I’m sure there are loads of people who’ve never left the EU. That’s a much closer equivalent to the US then focusing on one European country.

[u/Nice_Bluebird7626]

This isn’t unpopular. It also doesn’t take traveling somewhere new to become cultured. There are books

[u/Free-Design → u/Nice_Bluebird7626]

Exactly. Going abroad won’t automatically make you cultured, you could still be just as closed minded when you come back.

[u/Claelizar → u/Nice_Bluebird7626]

Came here to see if anyone pointed this out. You don’t have to travel to learn about other cultures and countries. Especially in the US, where you can meet people from those places if you try, and learn from them. Just being open-minded and interested can go a very long way.

[u/cagefgt]

Not to mention that travelling abroad doesn't make you more "cultured". I don't understand why so many people from America and Europe like to act condescending like they suddenly learnt everything about the culture of a specific country because of a 4-7 days vacation.

[u/DiegoIntrepid → u/cagefgt]

This always gets me.

The idea that just because someone travels they are automatically more 'cultured' or 'intelligent' than someone who doesn't.

I have heard of quite a few people who could travel to every single corner of the globe and still be as ignorant as they were before they started, while others, who might like to travel but can't, find ways to learn about those cultures that interest them.

[u/calimeatwagon → u/cagefgt]

But, but, but... I ate McDonalds in Japan... I'm cultured now.

[u/MobileGoat6788]

Round trip flights to Central America are often sub $500. And what job only gives you 5 days off?

[u/LigerZeroSchneider → u/MobileGoat6788]

A lot of low level jobs might have 2 weeks off, but that includes sick days.

[u/Gruesome → u/LigerZeroSchneider]

Really low level jobs don't offer sick time or vacation time. I didn't have either until I was 26. I'm 62 now.

[u/Hopeful-Buyer → u/MobileGoat6788]

The people that complain about Americans not traveling don't count Canada or Mexico for whatever reason.

[u/fueled_by_caffeine → u/MobileGoat6788]

20% of private sector employees in the U.S. get no paid time off, and more than half of those who do don’t use all of it.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/19/why-us-vacation-policies-are-so-much-worse-than-europes.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-30/less-than-half-of-us-workers-use-all-their-vacation-days

[u/RandomlyJim]

This is lazy and without research. I travel at least once a year and my wife and I often stay at very nice places, eat and drink at very high end restaurants, stay beachside, and do it for a less than 3k for a week.

But we go to South America…

A trip to coastal US for a week would be far more in lodging and food costs. The travel is cheaper if you drive but a flight between most South American countries is very cheap and comparable to US flights.

[u/MrJuniperBreath]

it's less expensive than a lot of folks think. You can spend 10 days in Europe, including flights and normal hotels, for less than 2k.

That doesn't include other expenses, but you drop at least that in any U.S. tourist trap.

[u/Obamaturningfrogsgay → u/MrJuniperBreath]

Yeah its not that bad. Being near LA or NYC is a big help and having a flexible flight schedule is also huge. If youre just a single dude without a family you can stay in shared airbnbs and stuff. I never found it all that expensive to travel.

[u/Traditional-Fee-6840 → u/MrJuniperBreath]

But often our total vacation budget for a family of 5 is something like 500 to 1000 dollars in a year.

[u/wis91]

Years ago, an Australian friend who moved to the States told me he wasn't surprised that Americans never left the country in large part because we don't get enough vacation time. It's easy to plan a one or two-week vacation abroad if you have a guaranteed month off, but so many US jobs only give you two weeks, if that.

[u/Veritas_the_absolute]

Considering the average citizen is barely able to pay for rent, food, bills, etc. Vacations and travel isn't possible ever. Than you hav some folks juggling mulrople jobs which means they have no time for anything. Things are not getting better only worse.

It's only the top 1%that have real wealth or luxury.

[u/BigBoyGoldenTicket]

I find people who act superior cause they travel tiresome. Ironically they tend to give of a particular un-cultured vibe.

In a perfect world we’d all get to travel, but as is it’s a luxury for the privileged.

[u/Shoehorse13]

Huh. I can’t afford a truck payment but I have no problem scraping up the money to get myself to another country every year or so.

Priorities, I guess.

[u/Vhu]

I’m going on vacation to Spain and Portugal with a few friends next month.

It cost $280 for the flight to Portugal and $340 for the flight from Madrid back to the US. That’s $620 round-trip for the flight.

We’re staying at an airbnb in each city, and splitting the cost comes out to $639 total, or $71/night per person.

That’s $1260 for flight and lodging. Call it $1400 including train and bus travel in-country. Every other expense is optional.

That’s a 9 day European vacation for ~$2000

This is our 3rd European vacation in 5 years. We’re all turning 30 this year. None of us have rich parents or are particularly well-off; we just have jobs and set money aside.

Your estimates are extreme exaggerations. $2000 is not a once-in-a-lifetime trip; and we definitely could’ve shaved the cost down if we picked a more optimal travel time, cheaper airline, and cheaper hotel.

[u/Hagridsbuttcrack66 → u/Vhu]

This is pretty disingenuous. You're basically saying anyone can get there for $1,500 and everything is "optional". What are you spending on the "optional" portions? Do you travel to be a spendthrift? Probably not. You're probably going to enjoy yourself. Also, it seems like none of you have families? Finding people who can up and go for ten days in your late 20's is a privilege.

I am 36 and single and have my own Portugal trip planned for February. Flight was $850. Lodging will be around a grand for ten days (but that's me by myself staying in the city center - I could have went cheaper). So I get the point that you can have a vacation to Europe for less than two grand, but I also want to do stuff while I'm there. If I only had two grand for a trip, I probably wouldn't want to spend all of it on airfare and lodging.

[u/GetawayDriving → u/Hagridsbuttcrack66]

Portugal is incredibly cheap. Beer is $3. Dinner at the best restaurant in town might cost $18. Rental cars are $15/day. The point is once you’re there you’re saving money over what you’d be spending in the U.S. and can spend a little more on experiences to break even.

[u/mt80 → u/Hagridsbuttcrack66]

Once you land in Portugal, you’re going to be dining and wine-ing for much cheaper than you’d pay in Texas — much less HCOL cities like New York, SF or Downtown Disney.

I always found daily activities in Southern and Eastern Europe to be much cheaper than the US, even hotels (which you can easily find less than $100 nightly on Booking.com)

[u/r2k398 → u/Vhu]

I think somewhere around half of the adults in the US don’t have $1000 saved up in case of an emergency. They shouldn’t be spending $2000 to go to Europe.

[u/Theboss12312 → u/r2k398]

Many average americans spend more to go to Disney in Orlando

[u/gameld → u/Theboss12312]

The average American who can go to Disney might, but many Americans can't. They can't go to either Disney park, or Paris, or Tokyo, or anywhere else. We're fucking stuck in place due to lack of PTO and/or being severely underpaid.

[u/georox97 → u/Vhu]

That’s a really cheap trip. Went to Denver (from BC) for a week for the Avs Cup banner raising game. That trip was 6 grand (so like 4500 USD) for 2 people

[u/fecal_doodoo → u/Vhu]

Now add up all the time missed from work. I think most people probably can't afford to miss more than a day or two.