
Why more Americans don't travel abroad: only 30% have passports - georgecmu
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/02/04/americans.travel.domestically/
======
mc32
I think the question might better be, why don't Americans travel overseas?
Then compare that to how many non-Americans travel overseas. What I'm getting
at is that in a small country, you deplete exploration of your own country
quickly. In larger places like America, Australia, Canada, China, Russia, one
has lots to discover at home and "abroad" can be very far away for many in the
interior.

Whereas, places like Europe, Middle East, South America are made up (mostly)
by relatively small countries, so going abroad could be a 5 hour drive or
train ride.

When Europeans go south for the Summer (or Winter) they go to another country,
almost necessarily; in the US or other large countries, Summer beaches or
Winter slopes are in the same country, hence no need to travel outside the
country.

I think this question of travel deserves another metric to take the distance
and geographic discrepancies into account.

~~~
barrkel
Geographically the US is varied, but pretty homogeneous culturally. Yes, there
are differences, but compared with the differences between most countries,
even in Europe, they're quite small.

I guess I'm exposing my own biases; I don't travel for geographic or climate
related reasons.

------
whiletruefork
I'd be interested to see the distribution of passports geographically across
the US. Some parts of the United States just don't lend themselves to easy
travelling. Other than Canada or Mexico it isn't as easy to travel abroad (or
neccessary) as it is for Europeans. The US spans Mountains for skiing, beaches
for surfing, jungles, deserts, you name it - we've got the geography for it.
In fact, it would be interesting to compare these statistics to possibly
europeans leaving the EU zone (since then we would have geographically
equivalent sets).

In conclusion - get a passport, travelling is awesome!

------
marcusbooster
Passports are easy, plane tickets are expensive. The average American does not
have the resources to plan out a luxury, multi-continental vacation. I can
only hope my European friends don't take it personally.

~~~
barrkel
Plane tickets aren't _that_ expensive (I see about 550 USD New York / London
round-trip on Virgin Atlantic, and that's just the first search I did). If
your trip is city-focused, you'd probably save a substantial portion of that
on car rental.

And why does a cross-atlantic vacation have to be "luxury"? Most of the appeal
of going such a long way is experiencing a different culture. Most of what
you're buying with a luxury hotel is a more expensive lobby with more
expensive services. (E.g. internet access cost is usually inversely correlated
with room rate.) All you really need is somewhere safe, quiet and conveniently
located to sleep, as you'll spend most of the day out of the room.

EDIT: I did another search, except in March instead of May, and I was seeing
round-trip prices of 377 USD.

~~~
tenaciousJk
Maybe $400 or $600 isn't expensive to /you/, but it is to me.

~~~
barrkel
I don't think 400 USD is expensive to a majority of this non-passport-owning
70% of the US population.

I mean, it's not something you spend just any day of the week, but to never in
your lifetime visit Europe?

------
bendmorris
Seems like a symptom to me, not a cause. If people wanted to travel abroad,
they'd go get passports.

~~~
Jach
No kidding, it's spectacularly easy to get one if you want. The only pitfall
is not getting one quick enough for a trip as they can take some time to
arrive in the mail without extra fees.

------
kylec
It might also be due in part to the ridiculous and potentially humiliating
procedures required for flight, especially international flight, that puts
many people off of the idea of travelling.

~~~
whiletruefork
It's easier now to travel then it has ever been before. I can wake up in the
US and decide to have dinner in Paris.

This versus having to tough a weeks long voyage across the Atlantic followed
by months in wagons crossing unfriendly territory where I might die Oregan
Trail style.

Sure, airports could be better. But if you think the difficulty of airports
now outweights the benefits of travelling I am surprised our ancestors ever
left their huts.

~~~
martey
I think kylec was talking about leisure travel. People did not immigrate to
the United States (or emigrate to Oregon) because they wanted a vacation, but
because they wanted a better life. As a result, the mental calculus is
different.

Also, one could argue that international travel in February 2001 was
significantly easier and less stressful than a similar trip today.

------
bconway
Misleading title, the article spells out quite a few legitimate reasons for
this, none of which have to do with people's ability to procure passports:

 _Tourism experts and avid travelers attribute Americans' lack of interest in
international travel to a few key factors, including: the United States' own
rich cultural and geographic diversity, an American skepticism and/or
ignorance about international destinations, a work culture that prevents
Americans from taking long vacations abroad and the prohibitive cost and
logistics of going overseas._

------
r0h4n
might be lack of respect/awareness of other cultures/parts of the world.

