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[nomad soul]

Why more Americans don't travel abroad
by Natalie Avon, Special to CNN | February 04, 2011

The numbers tell the story: Of the 308 million-plus citizens in the United States, 30% have passports. That's just too low for such an affluent country, said Bruce Bommarito, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the U.S. Travel Association. "Americans are comfortable in their own environment," Bommarito said.

There were 61.5 million trips outside the United States in 2009, down 3% from 2008, according to the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. About 50% of those trips were to either Mexico or Canada, destinations that didn't require a passport until 2007. The percentage of Americans with passports -- a number that was in the teens just a few years ago -- has spiked since the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was adopted. It requires American and Canadian travelers to present documents showing citizenship when entering the United States.

Despite the climbing number of American passports in circulation, 30% is still low compared to Canada's 60% and the United Kingdom's 75%. "Not taking the leap is comforting, because this is the American life," said Matthew Kepnes, international traveler and creator of NomadicMatt.com, a blog chronicling his travels and observations. "Breaking outside anything that is your norm is scary."

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.

America has it all: "From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans, white with foam," as "God Bless America" proclaims. Beautiful beaches in Florida, crisp skiing in Colorado and the desert sun in Arizona are among thousands of domestic destinations competing to lure visitors. "In the United States, we have an enormous amount of places we can travel -- basically an entire continent," said everything-everywhere.com author Gary Arndt, who has been traveling abroad and blogging since 2007. "You can do all kinds of things without needing a passport." Arndt, who was in Los Angeles when interviewed by CNN, noted that he could go to any number of different ethnic enclaves within the city and get a taste of culture without spending much money or time. The same goes for many other parts of the country.

"There are pockets of regional culture -- the South has an attitude that New Yorker's don't have," Kepnes said. "But you don't have the cultural differences that you would get if you went to Asia, Paris or London." Even with Chinatown in Los Angeles and Little Italy in New York City, it's just not the same as walking the streets of Beijing or riding a gondola in Venice. "America is an outstanding country and an outstanding vacation destination -- no doubt about that," said Joe Byrne, executive vice president for Tourism Ireland. "But it is America. I'm sure you have great Irish traditional music in an American Irish pub, but you don't have the Lakes of Killarney."

For the rest of the article, go to:
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-04/travel/americans.travel.domestically_1_western-hemisphere-travel-initiative-passports-tourism-industries/2?_s=PM:TRAVEL

[johnslat]

Dear nomad_soul,

And something not mentioned - the American tradition of isolationism. Many Americans (especially, I'd say, in the non-coastal regions) have a profound lack of curiosity/interest in the rest of the world. Indeed, a fair number view ALL other lands with at least mild suspicion and distrust.

My niece loves to travel and has gone unaccompanied throughout Europe. A common response from her friends is, "Wow, how brave of you," which she finds half amusing and half sad.

Regards,
John

[nomad soul]

John, like your niece, I too am a solo, female traveler and have received comments like, "Be careful," and "Gee, you're so brave---I could never do that." But I've also gotten snarky responses such as "Why would you want to go there?" and "What's so special about that place?" because the destination isn't exotic-sounding or known.

Sadly, there are Americans who have never even ventured outside the borders of their home state.

[johnslat]

Dear nomad_soul,

You picked a good user name.

"Sadly, there are Americans who have never even ventured outside the borders of their home state."

You could make that "home city" or "home town," and it'd be equally true.

Personally, I've never understood that mentality. I mean, as far as I know, we get only one chance to see this wonderful world. Not taking advantage of opportunities to do so seems inexplicable to me.

Regards,
John

[artemisia]

[BadBeagleBad]

What I find most interesting is most people�s reactions to my (another lone female) travelling alone. Most of the comments show a profound lack of even basic understanding of what other countries are like. As someone else already mentioned, a very common comment is �wow aren�t you afraid to go to (fill in the blank) alone? And, the funniest one, when I went to Cuba last year several people were surprised that I would travel to a country where I didn�t speak the language. And these are people who KNOW me and KNOW I speak Spanish. So it is obvious that they didn�t know that CUBANS also (kind of) speak Spanish. Most people are just not interested at all in learning about another culture, and if they do go abroad it is often to some place like Cancun, which might have great beaches, but is just another resort with nice weather, much like resorts all over the world. It really doesn�t expose you to what Mexico is. And, I don�t think most Americans realize just how much more violent crime there is in the US compared to lots of other places, and are SHOCKED and really don�t even seem to believe you when you explain to them.

[kazpat]

I live in Kazakhstan and still have relatives and friends ask me how is life in Russia? I think it is because they know my wife speaks Russian so that must be where she is from.

When I came home from studying in Turkey most of friends said that I was lucky to have made it home without getting my hand chopped off or raped in prison.

To say that most Americans lack an understanding of what other countries are like is true in my experience and may even be an understatement.

I worked for a medical evacuation company for a couple of years. We would get injured or ill travelers home from overseas locations. The level of anger that some travelers would display when the doctor treating them did not speak English was a shock. I had to resist the urge to remind them that did book a trip to Morocco and not the Grand Canyon. Maybe some Americans are better off staying home.

[Captain_Fil]

Why don't more Americans travel abroad?

Just ask the three Americans who went hiking...into Iran.

[dean_a_jones]

I had always thought of Americans as people who loved to travel abroad, they are always showing up in the Middle East, South East Asia, South America...

Seriously though, I would agree that Americans do not seem to have as much wanderlust as you would expect given their economic means. I do think this is changing, younger people are more likely to travel abroad (although it is often Canada or Mexico when they do). Having said that, I did grow up in NH and CT for around 10 years, and it is depressing how many of my friends and classmates still live in the same small town, or the one next to it.

I went backpacking around Europe in 1999 with a friend from America, whose parents were quite worried he might step on a landmine from WWII, which I found a bit odd.

I think the (often hyper) nationalistic thinking in the US, combined with the fact that the country itself is large, diverse and beautiful does mean that Americans do have a lot to explore without leaving home. I would be interested to know how many Europeans travel beyond Europe, for example, in comparison to Americans beyond North America.

[ancient_dweller]

[ancient_dweller]

[ancient_dweller]

[natsume]

Before a trip to Mexico City, a friend of my mother, astonished that I would travel intentionally to such a chaotically violent place, admonished me, "You have to be careful in those Mexican countries!"

[steki47]

When I go back to the US I always notice the different reactions to my choice to live in Japan. My urban, educated friends think it is pretty cool and ask smart questions whereas the rural, provincial folks I know think I'm nuts for leaving the US. Some born agains said things such as:

"No good American needs a passport."
"I would be scared to go to a country with no God." (Actually, Japan has quite a few gods...)

Perhaps it is best for all parties that such people do not travel abroad.

The article makes valid points, however. We only border two countries and the rest of the world requires some time to get there. The US has every kind of climate and geography, so there is very little need to go beyond its borders. Plus, we are told that we are number one and people from around the world are trying to come into the US which sends the message that the rest of the world is somehow worse. Not my personal opinion, but that will be inferred by some.

The sad result is that a huge chunk of the American population is ignorant of the rest of the world. They find it hard to believe that Japan is actually safer (in terms of street crime) than much of urban America. Or that other countries have fantastic train systems and cellphones.

This is one of my gripes abut my fellow Americans.

[sheikh radlinrol]

You Americans are being a little hard on yourselves. If the UK had Florida, California and the Rockies most of us Brits probably wouldn�t possess passports, either. As for being ignorant of other countries, the Spanish take some beating. I aked a group to name the Portuguese Prime Minister and Portugal�s third city. No reply. Portugal is Spain�s neighbour, BTW.
Some Spaniards think that New York is the American capital and many can�t distinguish between Washington DC and Washington State.
They think that American cuisine is limited to hamburgers.
I�ve been told that green vegetables don�t exist in the UK, that orange juice is a luxury which most people can�t afford and that the famous London taxis were so designed to allow men in bowler hats easy access.
Knowledge of British cities is shaped by soccer. Most people are convinced that Manchester is our second city and have never heard of Birmingham.