Poll:Do you travel internationally?

[Alan]

Years ago, we had a customer who flew in from Sweden. Looking at a map, he thought he'd fly into Chicago, rent a car and "drive an hour or so" to Boston. After a few hours of driving, he turned back to Chicago and got a flight.

His perspective of distance was of a much smaller country.

Back in the late 80's my boss in the UK was going on business to the HQ of one of our major engineering suppliers in Boston. Our US HQ was in Wilmington so he lined up a visit to them also. It was only while he was in Boston that he discovered his mistake that the Wilmington near Boston was not where our US HQ was and that Wilmington,DE was actually a 6 hour drive away. He had to apologize to the folks he had lined up for the meeting as he couldn't make it that trip.

 

[Hermit]

I know some who have the money and the time, but they hate to fly so they stay home.

+1

Or travel by camper in the U.S.

Not that I have not been over seas. My passport has long since expired.

 

[Koogie]

I traveled quite a bit domestically and internationally for business and DW accompanied me on a couple of trips. For the last 4 years since retirement we've had a couple of international trips a year (not counting our almost annual 300 to 500 miles driving trips to the provinces of Quebec and Toronto).

Toronto isn't a province... it's a different planet...

 

[gerntz]

+1 Since we left the US, we regret not visiting dozens of scenic and otherwise very interesting places there when it was a lot easier and cheaper!

-BB

Seriously, you can afford to live in Switz & think it's expensive to visit & travel USA? LOL

 

[gerntz]

Turn the island of Britain upside down & it approximates the shape & size of FL.

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

Seriously, you can afford to live in Switz & think it's expensive to visit & travel USA? LOL

Barely afford -- I retired after 30 years working for nonprofits/universities. Not everyone here is rich!

There are three of us I think

And, they actually charge for transatlantic flights, so yes, more expensive. I can show you the math.

-BB

 

[Corporateburnout]

Toronto isn't a province... it's a different planet... [emoji23]

Sorry I meant Ontario. I guess I need my second cup of coffee

 

[CardsFan]

Years ago, we had a customer who flew in from Sweden. Looking at a map, he thought he'd fly into Chicago, rent a car and "drive an hour or so" to Boston. After a few hours of driving, he turned back to Chicago and got a flight.

His perspective of distance was of a much smaller country.

I had a similar experience with a client from Singapore. While in the US, he wanted to visit several other vendors, in a short amount of time. I tried to help him plan it, but he just did not appreciate the distances until I showed him a map and pointed out the scale.

 

[Sojourner]

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

Hmmm... It's unfortunate that you found my reply condescending and judgmental. That wasn't my intention, but I suppose it might have come across that way due to the brevity of my remarks.

Clearly I don't think that every American who doesn't travel internationally has a limited, insular worldview. As others have pointed out, there are obvious reasons why people would not travel overseas, such as limited vacation time, limited travel funds, the perceived inconvenience and hassle of long distance travel, etc. But I do think that if those factors are not issues for someone in the US, and they still decide not to travel overseas, then maybe it IS due to a rather insular mindset. I have seen this firsthand in a number of family members and acquaintances over the years. They just seem to have little (or no) interest in other cultures and places outside the US... and sometimes even outside their own state or region. Personally, I do find this mind boggling, as I stated before. But I don't think any less of them as people for feeling this way. Having said that, I do think it's quite regrettable that so many Americans have never traveled overseas. Experiencing other cultures and languages and ways of life can be very eye opening and good for the mind and soul.

 

[Chuckanut]

A lot of people have out dated ideas about what life outside the borders of the USA and Canada is like.

My parents came from Italy. All I heard as a youth was how hard life was in the 'old country'. I grew up on stories about my dad and his friends climbing rocky hills to farm a few vegetables, running along the train tracks to pick up coal that fell off the trains so his family could have heat in the winter, carrying water from the well to their home, paying a baker a few copper coins to bake the family bread so they could eat, meat once a week maybe, and, of course, the corrupt and evil fascist government followed by the real hardships of recovering from WW2.

I never wanted to go there. NEVER!

Then I saw a travel show on TV showing modern Italy and other countries around the world. As soon as the kids moved out and the dog died, I started traveling overseas and I haven't' stopped. Needless to say Italy is my most visited country. I guess it's in my blood.

 

[Cobra9777]

Prior to age 38, I had never left the US except for one family driving trip to Mexico when I was about 12. We were driving through south Texas to visit a relative and my Dad decided to turn south into Mexico. We crossed the border, drove around for maybe an hour, and came back. Never got out of the car.

Early in my Megacorp career, I never traveled except for one-off domestic trips. That all changed at 38. Got my passport and started regular visits to Megacorp sites in Germany, France, Japan, Mexico, and several Asian countries. Then, we took family vacations to England, France, Mexico, and Jamaica. Late in my career, I did a 3-year expat assignment in Asia. I lived in Taiwan, China, and the Philippines, while traveling almost continuously in the region, plus lots of trips back to the US. I greatly enjoyed traveling but I have little desire to go back to Asia.

In retirement, we generally travel 3 times per year, following a fairly predictable pattern: a 2 or 3 week international trip or cruise, a 1 week domestic trip to visit relatives or friends we haven't seen in a while, and a 1 week domestic trip to some place of natural beauty that we've never seen. Internationally, in 5 years of retirement, we've been to Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, the Dominican Republic, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico. This year, we're going back to the Dominican Republic for 2 weeks, then a 2-week tour of the western National Parks, and a trip to Seattle to visit relatives and do some sightseeing.

 

[erkevin]

My wife and I have been going primarily to Mexico the past few years. Five trips planned for 2018. Mexico because of how far the US Dollar goes there. Two weeks ago, we spent an afternoon on the beach in Puerto Vallarta: 2 large margaritas and a bucket of 6 Pacificos was $13.75

 

[Chuckanut]

Most working US adults get 2 weeks per year, so they aren't exactly going to spend 10 days in the Mediterranean, and are going to want to get as much actual vacation time out of the week they have off in the summer (compared to most other countries where 4 weeks is pretty normal, and where the culture supports long vacations). Going to Japan for me means I arrive tomorrow night. I have to factor 3 complete days of travel to get there and back.

Bingo! +1

I remember watching travel guru Rick Steves talk about his company on TV. He had a great tour of Europe set up but it was not selling well - 16 days of fun travel starting on a Saturday and ending on a Sunday morning. Somebody reminded him that since most Americans only get 2 weeks of vacation, they could not start the tour until Sunday at the earliest (traveling to Europe soaks up a day or more), and arriving back in the USA jet-lagged on Sunday evening not a good idea if one had to work on Monday morning. He cut the tour down to 14 days and it was a success.

 

[Eagle43]

Thanks to Uncle Sam I have lived for a year or longer in Japan, Germany, Vietnam, and England. I have also traveled to several Western European countries as well as the Caribbean and Canada. I haven't been to all of the States, yet.

 

[gerntz]

Barely afford -- I retired after 30 years working for nonprofits/universities. Not everyone here is rich!

There are three of us I think

And, they actually charge for transatlantic flights, so yes, more expensive. I can show you the math.

-BB

Regardless, if you lived equally well in the US as Switz, you'd easily have more for travel.

 

[kcowan]

I have travelled extensively in the US. Have missed a few like Maine, the Dakotas, West Virginia. Once I spent 14 weeks commuting to NY from Toronto.

I also spent a few years commuting to KL and Manila from Vancouver once every quarter for 10 days. They say it takes a day to adapt to an hour time change so the 15 hour time difference would mean 20 days a quarter adapting. After that ordeal, a trip to Europe is a breeze!

 

[Marita40]

I grew up on stories about my dad and his friends climbing rocky hills to farm a few vegetables, running along the train tracks to pick up coal that fell off the trains so his family could have heat in the winter, carrying water from the well to their home, paying a baker a few copper coins to bake the family bread so they could eat, meat once a week maybe, and, of course, the corrupt and evil fascist government followed by the real hardships of recovering from WW2.

I heard all these stories too from my grandparents. And they grew up in Chicago.

 

[Grabberson]

Might this poll be skewed by Canadian snowbirds? Wintering in Phoenix counts as annual international travel, but to me, isn't quite what the OP is asking.

 

[kgtest]

I first traveled internationally a little over 5 years ago. Last year I went to 3 different countries. I aim for at least 1 international trip per year these days as I:
A. Have the money to do such trips.
B. Enjoy seeing other cultures and environments.
C. Have seen most of the places I wish to see in the US already.

When we talk of "international" travel, and how little of it Americans do, it's easy to forget context in the discussion. If you grow up in Nebraska and travel upto 1,000 miles east, or 1,000 miles west, and up to 600 miles north or 600 miles south, you'll never leave the United States. If you make the same distance travels from Prague, however, you can visit every country in Europe, from Spain to England all the way to Russia. The latter is "well traveled internationally" while the former "never left home, but they both traveled the same distance. Also, anyone who doesn't believe that you won't see different cultures traveling the states hasn't done so.

Nailed it again. I go down south to eat, I go west to surf and chill, I go east to shop, and I live in the North and Ski. I go to Alaska to fish and Hawaii to vacation.

It's amazing the difference of culture just from Minneapolis to Denver. Go down south to Mississippi and it might seem like a new country?

I've been to 9 different countries...and a TON of islands.

 

[marko]

But I do think that if those factors are not issues for someone in the US, and they still decide not to travel overseas, then maybe it IS due to a rather insular mindset.

DSIL is like that. Money and time are no problem at all but we accompanied (escorted) her to visit her daughter who was interning in Rome.

In short, she hated it and couldn't wait to get home! (From freakin' Rome no less!!). Didn't like the food (!!!!), didn't like the sights, didn't like the hotel, didn't like the idea of dinner at 10PM, the traffic.

She's a wonderful person but she just found it all too 'different' for her liking. As soon as we got her good and drunk she was fine but....

 

[RE2Boys]

I voted I once traveled internationally but it has been a long time, and I'm not counting the short trips to Canada as that is about a hundred mile drive. In my younger years (before 32 years old) I had lived in Germany for five years and spent several weeks in Korea. I had seen more of Europe than I had seen in the US! But over the last 30 years, it's been the US, Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada, both business and pleasure.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I used to travel internationally once every year or two to visit family and sometimes for work or vacations. There's a lot to do where we live so except for family visits we're seeing more local sites for now and will travel more if we ever get bored with that. We can go places like wine tasting in Napa, a hike in the Redwoods or the theater in San Francisco for an afternoon or Yosemite and Lake Tahoe for overnights. We have a dog so we tend to go places he can come with us or where we aren't gone too long and he just stays home like when we go to the theater.

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

Regardless, if you lived equally well in the US as Switz, you'd easily have more for travel.

Sorry, but I am struggling here with how and why this is any of your business in the first place.

 

[Meadbh]

Might this poll be skewed by Canadian snowbirds? Wintering in Phoenix counts as annual international travel, but to me, isn't quite what the OP is asking.

Most of the Canadian snowbirds I know are very well travelled.

 

[Tallman4123]

I voted Somewhat Regularly, but I anticipate that our international travel will diminish going forward. Some of my international travel was on my employer's dime and first class. On personal international trips, we've also gone first class on long haul flights. Because of my height, coach is not an option I'm willing to consider. Now that we are both retired, those international first class seats suddenly seem a bit pricey, so we'll travel domestically more often (though it'll still be first class or "premium"-type seats).

This past winter we drove to Florida for a month-long stay (from CT), took the trip down and back fairly slow and really enjoyed ourselves despite our concerns going into it. Can you say "ROAD TRIP!!"??