Poll:Do you travel internationally?

[Zona]

We travel quite a bit, usually outside the US at least one trip per year. Every few years we do an extended trip such as renting Airbnb apartments for 3 months in one or two European cities (as long as the Schengen visa will allow us to stay). I consider travel to be our "hobby" spending since neither of us participates in expensive hobbies (such as golf, skiing, cars, etc). We have a long list of trips on our wishlist -- trying to get around to the more adventurous ones while we are still young/active enough to enjoy them.

We have friends who have the means but do not travel outside the US either because they have young children and/or limited vacation time or they just decide to spend their money on other things. Everyone has their own priorities of how they want to spend their "fun money".

 

[W2R]

Added 3 more options to the poll, at the request of JustCurious.

 

[97guns]

Certainly true to some degree, but this theory doesn't really hold water when you think about all the middle-to-lower income people out there who have big flat-screen TVs and the latest expensive cell phones and what not. If they wanted to, they could forgo some of those extravagances and take an occasional overseas trip.

Flat screens, cell phones and the newest gadgetry is necessity for the masses, members on the forum are the minute minority

I have a few friends that have never been out of state but they’re not hanging out on a retirement forum to hit that no button

 

[kcowan]

I think part of this is a function of your home life, where your parents were born/heritage, and any close relatives that you may have in other countries..

My parents were born in the UK (London and Glasgow) but they never left Toronto (once to Atlantic City and once to The Rockies) and that made me more interested in travel. OTOH my brother only went to Montreal. He truly had no interest in going anywhere. So I can relate to people who don't want to go anywhere. And it is true that the US offers much variety.

 

[aaronc879]

Other than a brief car trip over the Canadian boarder I have never left the US. At 6'6" and legs that are longer than average even for that height, I would never consider an international flight outside of First Class which I can not afford. Therefore I will likely never leave the US by air.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I, too, find it pretty mind boggling that most Americans have never traveled anywhere outside the US. It's difficult for me to understand how people wouldn't want to see and experience different parts of the world from time to time, even if just for an interesting change of scenery. To me, it's kind of analogous to only ever wanting to eat cheeseburgers and fries for lunch, and never having a craving for something different like a burrito with chips and salsa. Speaks to a very limited, insular worldview, IMHO.

We have two international trips so far this year, one in May, one in September, pretty typical for us. However, I have to say I could not disagree with you more. People who prefer not to travel do not necessarily have a “very limited insular worldview,” and people who do like to travel can be pretty narrow minded. Great if people like to travel and are able to do so physically and financially, but it is not sonething everyone enjoys.

 

[COcheesehead]

That seems awfully judgemental. Plenty of people just like the security of being at home, and don't feel comfortable where they don't speak the language, would have to drive on the other side of the road, don't like group tours, don't like airplane travel, don't like unfamiliar food, and so on. There's also plenty to see and do in the US. Non-travelers may volunteer in their community and interact with all different kinds of people. They may actually be more well-rounded than someone who hops on a plane, takes a group tour with other Americans, sees a bunch of touristy sites, and eats at touristy restaurants.

And those are the fun things about travel.

 

[MichaelB]

Does travel to other dimensions count?

 

[athena53]

Heck, yes, and it's a darned expensive habit! I just added a new country to my list (Nepal); according to the liberal definitions of "country" by the Travelers Century Club (England, Scotland and Wales all count separately, for example), I'm now at 35.

I can't really generalize about people who don't travel internationally- the group includes some of my siblings. While I can say that people who do are likely to be more open to different cultures and experienced, more aware of what's going on in the world, etc., that does not imply that those who stay in the US are not. It's just that some of us find the experience worth the expense, the hassle (I was in transit for 48 hours between Kathmandu and DFW last week) and the stuff that goes wrong, and some don't.

 

[Winemaker]

DW's grandmother never left the county she was born in until we brought her up to us to put her in a nursing home. She never had the interest or desire. But man, could she bake and cook, in a dress and with 1"heels!

 

[Dtail]

Not everybody who has money likes to travel, especially internationally. If anything, this poll is good in that it eliminates most of those who would love to go but don't have the money. Those who say none or few are mostly doing that by choice, not necessity.

+1
We wish to have many experiences seeing the wide variety of what the USA has to offer. Besides some cruises to the Carribean, this will work for us.

 

[Walt34]

That seems awfully judgemental. Plenty of people just like the security of being at home, and don't feel comfortable where they don't speak the language, would have to drive on the other side of the road, don't like group tours, don't like airplane travel, don't like unfamiliar food, and so on. There's also plenty to see and do in the US. Non-travelers may volunteer in their community and interact with all different kinds of people. They may actually be more well-rounded than someone who hops on a plane, takes a group tour with other Americans, sees a bunch of touristy sites, and eats at touristy restaurants.

What he said. And what exNavynuke said too.

For most of my life international travel was simply not an option because we didn't have the money. There is, after all, the minor little detail of paying for it, and travel is not cheap. It is only in the last ten years or so that it was an option for us, but always, there has been little interest. DW loathes the idea of a cruise, let alone an international one. Before retirement I traveled once or twice a year for training or teaching, and especially after 9/11 I've had my fill of the TSA and the airlines. They manage to make what should be fun an ordeal and I'm just not going to put up with it, especially on my dime.

For a while there after retirement I tried to interest DW in a travel trailer and seeing more of this country that way but no joy. But for me it wasn't a huge deal and there are plenty of other interesting things to do. Even within a few hundred miles of driving time and an overnight hotel stay there is lots to see and do.

I suppose if seeing the world was a priority for me I would have joined the Navy, at least then that's what all the recruiting posters said. But even back then I had other priorities.

 

[HI Bill]

At my high school 25-year reunion, 2 out of 250 had never left the small county in California (Tehama) where they were born! Ever. !!!!

 

[scrabbler1]

We have two international trips so far this year, one in May, one in September, pretty typical for us. However, I have to say I could not disagree with you more. People who prefer not to travel do not necessarily have a “very limited insular worldview,” and people who do like to travel can be pretty narrow minded. Great if people like to travel and are able to do so physically and financially, but it is not sonething everyone enjoys.

I agree with your disagreement with Sojourner's overly judgmental and somewhat condescending reply.

My desire to travel got burnt out after 23 years of commuting to work, even if the last 7 years were less than 5 days a week (working part-time). The last time I flew was in 2003 and I have no real desire to fly again. That lack of desire was further cemented by my not willing to go to the considerable trouble to get a RealID enhancement to recently renewed drivers license. Starting in 2020, my DL won't get me through an airport any more. Yay!

My last extended travel was on Amtrak in 2014, a 24-hour train ride from NY to Indianapolis (and then to Kentucky) to visit my ladyfriend's family. The trip going was okay but the return trip was lousy. And to this New Yorker, Kentucky seemed like another planet, if not another country!

Driving to New Jersey or to my brother's place in MA for a pleasure trip is not easy, with all the NYC traffic and tolls. I'll stay closer to home, thank you.

 

[aja8888]

Hey, those furrin' places are a long drive!

Yeah, but those would count as a bit "foreign" to a Texan.

 

[poppydog]

We’re from Scotland, UK, so can’t really vote, but yes, we travel extensively in Europe and to the USA, mostly to escape the lousy b****y weather here!

 

[Souschef]

When DW and I were first dating, we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Her fortune cookie said, "You will set foot on many lands". She said , "oh yeah".
She still has that fortune in her passport case, having set foot in 43 countries in 10 years.
However, mobility limitations and a lack of desire for long plane flights and TSA BS has dimmed our desire to travel more.

 

[Ed B]

I answered "Yes, but only rarely"

I remember talking with a friend who lives in, and is native to, Germany. I was telling him that I was about to go to Rustin Louisiana which is about a 4.5 hour drive east from my home near Fort Worth Texas. He commented that if he drove 4.5 hours east he would be in Eastern Poland.

I agree there is a benefit to traveling overseas. It helps provide context to places and people on other continents. That said, the US is a big place and traveling around the US in a lifetime would be similar to a native Brit traveling extensively around Europe. Except in the US only speaking and understanding English will suffice.

I am interested in one more overseas trip to visit the ancestral homelands of my wife and I. That would be South-central Germany, Northern England, Northern Ireland, the Scottish lowlands and Sweden. It may not happen but it would be fun if we can manage it. But I am not sure I am willing to fold up my 6'5" frame to fit in cattle class on an international flight from DFW. Megacorp allowed us to fly Business Class on international flights. It makes a big difference.

 

[braumeister]

I remember talking with a friend who lives in, and is native to, Germany. I was telling him that I was about to go to Rustin Louisiana which is about a 4.5 hour drive east from my home near Fort Worth Texas. He commented that if he drove 4.5 hours east he would be in Eastern Poland.

A good point. I once w*rked with a guy who grew up in Germany and only moved to the USA in his 30s. He was from Frankfurt, and I asked if he had ever been to Oktoberfest in Munich. His response was "Oh, no. That's much too far away."

We North Americans have a very different perspective on distance.

As a German friend once put it:
"The difference between North Americans and Europeans is that North Americans think 200 years is a long time, and Europeans think 200 miles is a long distance."

 

[MichaelB]

As a German friend once put it:
"The difference between North Americans and Europeans is that North Americans think 200 years is a long time, and Europeans think 200 miles is a long distance."

I first heard that here in E-R Forum.

My BIL is German, when we visited last year I said that to a table of his friends, they all smiled and nodded their heads in full agreement.

 

[Ronstar]

We went on a couple of Caribbean cruises several years ago and found that we didn't really care for cruise travel. So we didn't attempt any more international travel until 2 years ago. We went to England and Ireland and had a great time. We went to Canada (Is Canada international?) last year and enjoyed ourselves also. So now we're open to international travel, but we have several US and Canadian places that we need to conquer first.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I wasn't much of a traveler up to my late 20's other than the obligatory family trips down to LA/San Francisco and some road trips down to Washington and Oregon and across to Alberta.

What kind of forced me out of my bubble were some international work assignments and the gf, now wife, who loves to travel. I enjoy doing the typical touristy stuff at various destination too but I love that travel gives me a practical reason to research the destination, local food, customs, and languages. I'm kind of a picky eater but love "discovering" ingredients and dishes that I then try to employ or replicate at home.
Being somewhat shy, I also hate "forced" conversations but I find we seem to naturally strike up some interesting conversations with locals, ex-pats, fellow travelers, etc while traveling which helps provide additional context and meaning to some the places we hear in the news.
Travel has been a net positive for us and I hope we can continue to do more even though I love Vancouver.

 

[Marita40]

Every few years for me. I love several places in Europe and the British Isles and delight in returning. However, I'm actively paying off debt and saving for retirement right now, so the trips haven't been as many. I hope that changes in retirement.

 

[Gumby]

The young wife and I love to travel internationally. However, since we are still workin' for the man, we are time limited and can only go about once a year. I expect to pick up the pace after 2019.

In my youth, I traveled to many foreign shores courtesy of Uncle Sam's Cruise Line.

 

[Nemo2]

As a German friend once put it:
"The difference between North Americans and Europeans is that North Americans think 200 years is a long time, and Europeans think 200 miles is a long distance."

This is how I first heard it:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/204436.Earle_Hitchner

“The difference between America and England is that Americans think 100 years is a long time, while the English think 100 miles is a long way.”

Earle Hitchner