Why do few Americans travel abroad compared to other nationalities?
 

I just want to point out, I am an Aussie (Australian) and every time I travel abroad, I notice how few Americans I meet compared with other nationalities , I was wondering why that is the case, I then did some research and it says time off work (only 2 weeks off) and Money are an issue, another point people point out is the fact that the US is a huge place with lots of varieties of weather, climate, geography, terrain and the like, but then again, so does Australia, but beyond those reasons, why don't they travel abroad, it perplexes me???

PS. I hope this is in the right category that I put this in??? if not please re-categorise this in a different thread.

Australia isn't tiny but it's quite a bit smaller than the US: Not just in terms of landmass but in terms of population. If you then factor in a large part of the American population lives next to either Canada (Bigger than both the US or Australia) or Mexico traveling outside of the Americas is obviously less important. That before you add the short hops to places in the Caribbean.

Most Europeans tend to travel within Europe or even within their own countries. It's a myth that everybody in Europe travels the world.

Personally I think the line about vacation length is a bit of overdone. Not everybody has only two weeks. The people with the money to travel tend to have more flexible schedules.

So why don't people travel? The same reason people in other countries don't travel. A lack of interest.

The statistic to know would be the number of trips taken abroad per 1 million people... which I was not able to find.

But, according to this article (July 2019), Australians take a significantly smaller total number of trips abroad than people from other countries, in particular China, the U.S., Germany and the U.K.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/201...ere-on-holiday

Could your observation indicate that Americans are standing out less as they travel? Or could it be that Americans tend to choose different destinations than Australians do?

https://www.traveller.com.au/most-po...figures-h0wfjg

https://www.statista.com/chart/18742...-us-travelers/

Sorry but there is nothing here to conclude that based on the Americans you happen to bump into while traveling that few Americans travel.

Consider where you were and when you were there. If you went say close to home like Bali and saw few Americans I would say you would have seen more in say Hawaii, Mexico or the Caribbean.

Personally, I meet plenty of US citizens (as opposed to “Americans” ) when travelling. I think a number of factors will influence how many you will meet. Pre 9/11 a very low % of US (think around 15-20%) citizens had passports, simply because they didn't need them to visit their favourite haunts close to home - Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean islands etc. The number of US citizens now holding passports has risen to something like 40% which still lags way behind the 76% of UK citizens with passports or 70% of Australians (but of course, in absolute terms the population of the US is way higher and will offset this to a great extent.

Another factor, for the working population at least, is the amount of holiday (vacation) time allocated to employees. When working for the London office of a US company, I can recall how delighted my US colleagues were to be posted there if only because their vacation allocation usually doubled! this effectively freed them up to take not one but two or more trips per year so the total amount of holiday time will have a significant effect on how long people people spend travelling. For people in Europe at least the taking of a “long weekend” trip within to another countrey is way more prevalent than I suspect it is in either the USA or Australia simply because of the distances involved

Of course Jean could be correct in her assertion that "Americans are standing out less as they travel” although, I would have to say that most of my friends from the US are not what I would describe as shy retiring types ;)

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/15/stat...the-world.html
As Mr. C said having longer allowances for PTO is a factor. The US lags far behind per the chart.

I transferred to a unionize hospital and spent the last 24 years of my career there. As a registered nurse I got far more benefits than my colleagues in the private sector. My paid time off which includes vacation and holidays and personal days came to around 7 1/2 weeks and we also had a separate bank for sick days which did not cut into the holiday time that we had. When you compare this to what register nurses get in the private sector it’s far far better. As such it enables us or anyone who has more time off to go further away and to come back with enough time to adjust to jet lag.

I also wonder if your age and how/where you travel influences how many "Americans" you meet? I haven't looked at any statistics, but I recall when I used to travel regularly in New Zealand (independently, using public transportation and some hostel-type lodgings) there weren't that many Americans. They seemed more likely to be on package tours, or drove rental vehicles or campers and maybe they stayed in hotels. I would more often meet them on things like organized day tours, or hear US accents at scenic stops on driving routes. I don't know how things stand now, this was pre-Lord of the Rings (thank goodness!)

Yes a lot of "Americans" vacation in Mexico especially during the snowbird months. So if you haven't been to Mexico between November and March, you haven't run into all of those international travelers. And you probably aren't running into the retired Americans who populate upscale resorts and restaurants, either. Unless you are in Oaxaca, LOL....

I never run into very many Australian tourists here, other than hearing a lot of Aussie accents in Disneyland. And on cruise ships to South America. There were tons in Bali, of course.

Some of the younger American travelers that I've met more recently (in the Galapagos, for example) had their own businesses and didn't need to get employer approval for a vacation of more than 2-3 weeks. I do think that is an issue for the "wage slave" working population. Even those with lots of seniority and vacation days, there is always the "we need coverage" thing. So you might get a few 2-week vacations and then a 3-week vacation if you planned it far enough in advance during a time that wasn't busy. Actually that is also true for a friend who has been working for John Lewis in Cardiff. She used to come around the Christmas Holidays but now it's around Halloween if she gets approval at the beginning of the year.

We certainly run into a lot of Australian tourists when we travel from the US to Europe and Asia.

I'd agree with another comment here that we can probably be attributed to not being interested at all. Even with the time and the money, travel is not something that interests everyone.

Jacketwatch: I agree with you, anyone who travels to Hawaii will see a ton of Americans.

(thanks, I got a chuckle reading your response).

thank you! I’m glad somebody liked it :lol:

It seems to me that Americans travel a lot, just differently. Think about it. If you are in England or Ireland, a quick flight puts you in other countries like France or Spain for beaches. In the States, a quick flight takes you from state to state. A flight from NY puts you in Florida or Puerto Rico or the Caribbean for beaches. Within Europe, it is easy to take a train or fly to a major city for shows, food, etc. In the States, on the East Coast, people travel to NYC, Washington etc. for their cultural fix.

One other thing, and I honestly have no idea how this affects Europeans, but the US is such a huge country with families far apart, I suspect a lot of travel in the states is spent going to see family, much of it by time-consuming car travel. For many years, all of our vacations were spent going to visit elderly parents who lived in different states far from our home.

The cynic in me can't help but think that in addition to all of the above, some Americans (as in US citizens) tend to think that the world revolves around the United States and thus there's no reason or need to go anywhere else, let alone learn a foreign language, which certainly facilitates travel abroad. That and fear.
Along those lines, a few years back we were having dinner in Arequipa, Peru, and a German man approached our table and said he and his son were debating where we were from. His son said we couldn't possibly be from the US because we were speaking Spanish.
I like the joke I heard from a Mexican friend: Como se llama alguien que habla tres idiomas? Trilingue. Y, dos? Bilingue. Y sólo uno? Americano!

I think someone has already mentioned it, but one of the main faults with your logic is timing.

You don’t meet a lot of Americans because (most likely) you travel during the same times a lot of Aussies travel. Not Americans. I’ve been to Europe when US school is out, and when it’s not—two very different experiences in terms of meeting other Americans. There’s a reason US air travel spikes on set dates every year. My best friend is a teacher and her spring break is always “that week”—always very expensive.

then as someone else mentioned, lack of interest. There are people in every country who just don’t travel.

I dunno how much PTO really plays into it. My father gets a lot of vacation time. Doesn’t use it to travel. He was in the army for years, and now he’d rather do anything but travel. He takes “vacation” when he’s down to use it or lose it—drives my mother insane around Christmas. I get relatively little—I make it work. It helps that I don’t need to use it to visit family for Christmas, I’ve no in-laws, I rarely attend weddings, and (thank heavens) my extended family would laugh if someone asked when we all got together for “reunions”. these are all reasons my friends use their PTO. They get it, they just don’t use it to travel with for various reasons.

i do think—and this is just anecdotal—that a lot of Americans see travel in a certain way. I think a lot of stereotypes are just that, but there’s a certain truth to the one about Americans’ expectations. A trip to Paris doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive, but it will be if you treat it like a once in a life time trip—as in you stay at an expensive hotel, eat at all the “must eat” places, go to all the “major” museums, and shows. And that attitude gets passed down—champagne tastes on a beer budget, so to speak.

Aussies have their own quirks, though. Many of the ones I meet hit the same three places—LA, NYC, Vegas. Never really figured out the fascination with Vegas. Shopping? Or the whole American iconic thing? And I love both NYC and LA, but there’s a LOT in between the two.

There are also differences among Europeans about where and how they travel, for whatever reason. In the mass packaged holiday market, for example, some Spanish resorts feature more for German visitors than British. In Australia, I noticed that camper-van hire companies in Alice Springs expected German-speaking customers, but little or no sign of French or Italian.

And of course the fall-out from CV19 may up-end travel habits in all sorts of ways.

Yes there are many European "destinations" that are really just warmer versions of home. The same TV channels on. The same food and beer.

Sort of like an American going someplace to eat at McDonalds, stay at a Holiday inn, while drinking Miller around the pool watching ESPN.

"Australians take a significantly smaller total number of trips abroad than people from other countries, in particular China, the U.S., Germany and the U.K"

This may be misleading, because Australia is very far from anywhere, but Southeast Asia and airfares are very expensive. It's much cheaper to fly from North America to Europe than from Australia and for this reason Aussies may travel abroad less frequently than US Americans, but they travel for longer.

Who travels more?

An American who travels abroad 3 times a Year, spending 2 weeks in Italy, 1 week in Mexico, and a daytrip to Canada or an Aussie who travels abroad once in 2 years, spending 3 months abroad visiting 10 countries?

We travel much more since being retire and semi retired. If not for the dog we would stay for a couple of months. Americans do not have much vacation time and tend to do family trips to parks, beach, Disney etc. As a child we would go to Boston, DC NY and Philly. My parents took us to Miami and the Keys in 1970 instead of Christmas. We loved it. My Dad was always up for a trip. We rented a cottage at the shore in the summer. We didn't really have money for a flight to Europe. I paid more for a flight in 2000 to the UK than I have ever paid since. Prices were very high 20 years ago.

Just pointing out summer all the major European cities are full of American college age kids. Plus quite a few have a year abroad.

In terms of sheer numbers they likely dwarf the total number of Australians traveling to Europe.

There are many factors but in the US we only get 2-3 weeks of vacation. I had to be at a job 13 yrs to get 4 weeks. Then there is the cost to travel. Believe it or not but there are a lot of people who can't afford to.

My parents did not have a lot of money. Our vacations were at my grandmother's beach house which had no heat or air conditioning. Showers were taken outside and no TV. To us this was vacation and I grew up that way. I only few once a year one way to visit my Aunt. My grandfather was a travel agent who got my airfare by collecting points at the local grocery store. I didn't travel overseas until I was in my mid 20s with a friend and that was after 2000.

Not all people grew up like I did but it plays a part. I did have high school trip that went to Europe over Easter but my parents couldn't afford it and did I want to spend all my money made babysitting on a trip? No.

I only started going overseas once I had enough money that I wouldn't miss later in a few months. Time is another factor as I did have a job that only gave 10 days. Which they tried to make me pay back when I left after 10 months. I only took 4 days of it. Not all colleges provided study abroad when I was in school. That is a more recent thing.

When I lived in Western Australia, I always wondered why so few Aussies from 'over east' visited WA, which is one third of Australia:)

For West Aussies, it's faster and easier to get to Bali (3:50) and Singapore (5:30) than to some parts of Australia. For East Aussies, it's faster and easier to get to New Zealand (3:00 from Sydney) than Western Australia (5:00 from Sydney).

In the US, it's generally faster and easier to get from one state to another...which was not the case for us when we lived in Western Australia. And unlike Australia, which is red and empty in the middle and green and inhabited around the edges, the US is filled in the middle, so there are a lot of places to visit.

As an avid traveling American, I much prefer off-the-beaten path international destinations, where I'm less likely to run into other Americans....and I usually travel well off season. And now that I think of it, I haven't encountered that many Aussies on my travels (outside of Australia that is).

As mentioned up thread, I think some Americans don't travel internationally because they have so much at their doorstep. Many people I know don't quite understand why I'd rather travel internationally than domestically.

There's also the difference in time off which has been mentioned already. Australians get 6-8 weeks of long service leave after 7-10 years with the same employer. Many Americans get a fraction of that.

If mej210390 revisits this thread, I'd be interested to know where he/she has traveled.

Adding to marvelousmouse, when it's summer in the US, it's winter in Australia. 🏖

Based on which study? i don't think that's accurate. Maybe they just go to different routes so you don't bump into them often.

Per the US State Dept approx 39% of Americans currently have a passport so right there it means only a minority can travel to other countries. And only a fraction of passport holders will travel out of the country in any one year. I read a travel industry journal a couple of years ago that 'guestimated' that up to 20% of passports are applied for because of a specific upcoming trip and seldom used more than once or twice in their 10 year validity.

In my own extended family -- three different cousins/uncle had to get passports because of trips I was planning for them. They never traveled out of the country again. With everything there is to see and do/diversity in the US - "There is so much of my own country I haven't seen so France (or England, or Thailand or Japan, or wherever) will just have to wait." is a pretty common sentiment.

I can believe that. I think I got my passport the first time for WYD in Toronto.

I first started traveling internationally because I’d been to the major US cities. I wanted more transit oriented destinations. It’s not that that I’ve seen everything in the US. Not even close. But the year I went to Japan, I had actually had a Maine/Vermont trip all planned out. Injured my leg, driving sounded miserable, and rebooked for Japan. If I’d had a spouse or buddy going with me to Maine, I would’ve still gone.

flights are a significant expense. And the older I get, the more I understand my parents perspective. A flight with several kids, ranging from teen to baby, just sounds like a lot of work, not vacation. I’d take an older niece or nephew on an international trip, but only one at a time.

As an American immigrant to Australia, I agree with the diversity of domestic travel being a big difference. Both countries have a huge variety of landscapes. But Australia I think is much more culturally homogeneous country even while being one of the world's most ethnically diverse. That diversity seems to integrate and modify Australian culture quickly. I find that Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide generally still "feel" pretty much alike. Whereas New Orleans is incredibly different from Seattle, New York or Miami... nearly as much so as European cities are from each other.

We do enjoy a good road trip here in Australia too. But when if we want that feel of being somewhere very different, it requires a minimum 6 hours flight from Melbourne (Bali) or 9.5 hours to Bangkok or Hong Kong, same as the average flight from the US to Europe. I think Aussies just get used to biting the bullet and booking long trips. The drive time between major Australian cities is just about as long anyway (and not nearly as cheap to stay once there, compared to Asia). I'd love to go visit Uluru (very much a unique cultural difference, it seems) but I haven't yet. The truth of it is that a flight there and a few nights stay is more expensive than two weeks in Vietnam. When you qualify for 8 weeks paid holidays, you might not want to spend it all on a 3 day trip.

What I find most curious about your question isn't in comparison to Australians, but that when we're in places like southeast Asia there does seem to be so many more Europeans than Americans in both high and shoulder seasons. It's about the same travel distance for either, their school hols schedules are similar, they both have similar levels of attractions to keep them closer to home and northern winter is about the only sane time to go no matter where you're from. That one I can't explain.

I can see some of your points. However I don’t agree about the distance equation to southeast Asia from Europe and the United States. I’m not sure what your measuring point or starting point is but for people from the US it takes around a day to get to Southeast Asia unless you have a direct flight but that still is say 14-16 hours whereas from Europe it’s significantly less I think. As for winter travel I think that when you have children in school you have your answer as to why you can’t do that. The winter holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving are pretty much here a time for family get together‘s.

Another different factor is vacation time. Unfortunately the United States does not have as much vacation time usually as you see in Europe or in Australia.

Retirees like us have the time and there are usually reasonably priced travel packages to go abroad so cost may be less of a factor than one may think.

We have had a chance to meet quite a few Australians in our travels and one thing I do notice and agree with you about is that when you see Aussies travel abroad they really like to go to a lot of different places. For example we have met people on a cruise who’s plans include leaving from the cruise and going to other destinations afterwards.

Yeah, it’s a longer and more expensive flight to go to Southeast Asia. Normal prices are probably similar, but I rarely see good prices from airlines I’d be willing to fly with, whereas I’m very often seeing European flights I could snap up. All of the SEA travelers I know actually are going to visit family. And because of expense, they go every couple of years at most,

There’s more to it, I think, as well. Weather plays a part for me. Culture certainly plays a part. If someone is going to take their kids on one international trip, it’s going to be stuff they connect to, and European history is heavily taught in American schools. I think, too, there’s a lot to be said about the “tourist trail”. A neighbor or relative comes back with their snapshots of a trip. And the average American will plan their trip based on that, because it gives them confidence, because those locales are heavily covered in a guidebook. They might not stick to all of it. But the point is, you’d probably see the most Americans in Asia in the same spots. If you’ve been a few times, CC, chances are you’ve branched off and you’re less likely to be in those spots yourself. Or, possibly, you missed them due to a difference in schedules.

I used to leave for Europe and Asia from Memphis or St. Louis in the US. Now we live in Melbourne Australia. So my views could be coloured by the extra pain of getting out of the central US to a hub (Chicago when it was not snowing if we were lucky), where Melbourne rarely has to connect through Sydney to get underway and rarely has weather to contend with.

Agreed that the flight difference is a bit longer from the more heavily populated West Coast US or Europe. A fair point that a couple of hours probably does matter though. I've done the US to Asia bit fairly often and about the same going Australia to Asia and to the US. To *me*, it doesn't feel particularly easier to do 10 hours over 12 or 14. I've regretted breaking up a long direct route into two shorter legs once. It's just easier to keep going. But deciding and planning is very much about perception.

It's also about options. Even if you compare why do more Australians visit the US than why Americans visit Australia, it's partly that Americans have more painless options on where to go than Australians do. The flight between the two places is the same, but the motivation to go isn't.

But I have to guess you're right. Time is probably the biggest factor. Countries with little time off and have work pressure not to take more than 2 weeks (I remember from several employers in the US) simply have to be more selective and limited in where they choose to go. Whereas here, we'll have off at least 6 weeks in the coming year, plus 4 weeks banked from an inactive 2020. And besides time, it's money. "Americans" is a very big group and while very wealthy on the whole, it's not particularly known for equity in the distribution of that wealth. Often reflected in the fight over minimum wage, for instance (which for most US states is half that of much of the industrialized world with lower GDPs and PPPs). A *lot* of rural and inner-city Americans are simply unable to afford to go very far from home and so it becomes a culture of believing only rich people travel overseas. A drive to Destin or Branson or the Dells is a luxury for many people.

Those flights to SEA can stretch into well over 20 hours or more with layovers. I agree its easier if you can get a NS flight though it seems to me these are costlier however.

As for the time factor that is a big one, I agree. I was fortunate to have close to 6 weeks vacation per year counting use of 4 personal holidays though as an RN we were restricted to max 2 weeks in the summer as those months were "prime time" so to speak. Most people don't have that much time and some may have to use vacation time for sick days too so thats another factor. We had a separate sick bank but that can run dry with a prolonged illness. I was out over two mos. due to knee surgery. My sick bank was well stocked because i seldom used it but others were not so fortunate and had to dip into vacation time as their sick time ran out. My wife had PTO and everything was combined and in her case it was pretty generous though many are not so fortunate.

As you point out for some long trips are simply not possible for lower income families. This is why driving vacations, camping, etc are popular for many or staycations.

Most of the Aussies I have met are appalled by our tipping custom here. In OZ the wage for service workers is much greater so no tipping is required and from what I can gather Aussies do not want Americans to tip when in Oz so the service workers will not expect it.

All the bat.

Larry

How common are US TV travel shows on Asia?

Here in Italy many have a dream of doing a route 66 road trip. The reason being over the years it's been something the travel TV shows have covered. Along with he US national parks.

Many of these shows end up acting like any other form of advertising.

When I moved here about 10 years ago, tipping was pretty much non-existent except perhaps by a small segment of Australian diners in nice, full service restaurants. Even then, it was more just rounding up and intended as a true gratuity, rather than paying for labour. Along the way, I noticed tip jars appearing in some takeaway shops but they seem to be disappearing again now. It's just a generalization but it does feel like a cultural difference in the relationship between patron and employee. Less of a power differential, so no tipping, grocery employees don't jump out of the way if you're trying to be where they're stocking. Even in taxis, it's generally expected that a passenger (at least a male passenger) will sit up front with the driver and not in the backseat. It has its pros and cons. Probably more pros if you're more of a worker (law dictates nurses get 2x salary on weekends and holidays and long service leave).. Probably more cons if you're a high level professional type. Doctors and lawyers do well but they don't make exponentially more than other professions..



TV does seem to have its effect on things like that! I'm in Australia but have an interest in American style slow cooked BBQ. When I got here, few had heard of it. After Pitmasters and a couple of other tv shows hit Australian TV, it seems to be everywhere. Restaurants, supply companies and large weekend cooking competitions between teams of people who enjoy it. I noticed that there are a half dozen of those competitions now held in Italy too.

Are there travel shows specifically for Asia here? None that I know of but a lot of shows do cover Asia.
1.House Hunters International has episodes from time to time featuring Asia. It’s not travel log material but you do get a good look at life and especially relative cost. Then there are food shows that do feature countries in Asia:
2. Andrew Zimmern of Bizaare Foods.
3. The Late Anthony Bourdain did many shows which IMO was far more about people and culture than food.
4. Eddie Huang of Huangs world.
5. Raw Travel.
6. Netflix has a series on street foods Asia which combines food with life in those countries.
7. And then I suppose you could find tons of stuff on YouTube.

I don't think we have any shows on travelling in Asia either, except for the #6 variety. Seems any chef who gets famous enough here must do a tv show where they set up a cooker in random spots in Asia and cook something. Luke Nguyen's show around Vietnam wasn't bad but it still doesnt' fill you in much on what to do if you're not going to be cooking in the middle of the market. It's a quick montage of scenes and street activity taken before the host got there, straight into him talking to a stall seller or restaurant owner, then into the demo. I like cooking and learning new cuisines but it's probably not a great format for trip planning.

.

Agree. Rick Steves has travel shows about Europe but I really cannot find anything by anybody else that is specific for Asia.

As a US citizen, personally I love to travel abroad, although money and time off are definitely factors. I will say that depending on my budget it is sometimes difficult for me to choose traveling to Europe, or Australia, versus somewhere in the US that I've never been to before. Time is definitely a factor in that if I'm planning a trip to Australia or Asia, getting there and back, could eat up 3 to 4 days of the overall vacation. It can be tough to find that balance.