How do Americans do holidays?

[Champagneforeveryone]

We've just flown to Venice for a few days, and I was reading the guide book which says that flights arrived only from a couple of US states.

Which got me thinking how very little I know about this and it seems I have a huge amount of preconceptions 🙄

I imagined that you could fly from every state to anywhere in the world - obviously not! So I'm guessing there's a large number of internal flights? Are they expensive? Are they as time consuming as taking a flight abroad, or are they similar to taking a bus.

Also, does this limit how you holiday? I had always imagined that the US was similar to us and people holidayed abroad frequently (ours would be mostly Europe with the occasional long haul "big" holiday) Do you fly to different states or do you leave the US?

TIA for filling the gaps in my knowledge while DH showers 😉

Also in terms of holiday allowance, when I actually had a job that had a holiday allowance (not all do or at least didn't when I still lived there), I had 10 paid days off per year - this included both holiday time and sick leave. I remember the one job I had that separated them, so I got sick leave plus 10 days of holiday and I just thought it was amazing. I don't know how my mum managed when I was growing up. It's probably why my grandparents always had me when I was off school because she just had no flexibility at all to stay home with me when I was ill as a single parent trying to balance everything.

Sorry for the typos and it’s frustrating that we can’t edit on MN.

I meant while people like to travel abroad there is less pressure that your vacation must be abroad like the UK. And I also meant proximity to Europe for the UK is an advantage while the US is closer to Canada and Mexico. The Carribean islands are also close and lots of Americans travel there, Aruba is popular. also central and South America eg Costa Rica is popular.

Cruises are very popular and many can be taken with just a drivers license for closed loops cruises.

@Cantstandbullshitanymore im so very jealous right now! It's a (bit of a pipe) dream of mine to visit the USA in particular michigan, I have a ridiculously long set of bookmarks and Pinterest boards dedicated to it!

Someone mentioned they go to Disney etc yeah but they also have lots of other things eg Wisconsin Dells not too far from us is the waterparks capital of the work with so many water parks and it’s amazing for a short trip with kids.

www.wpr.org/how-did-wisconsin-dells-become-waterpark-capital-world

We’ve had trips to Indianapolis which has one of the best children’s museums I'm aware of.

dontjustfly.com/childrens-museum-indianapolis/

And these are not even major cities like NYC and LA. And btw I think children’s museums are great ideas and something we should try in the UK:
www.parents.com/fun/vacation/us-destinations/the-10-best-childrens-museums/

I think they also do seasonal activities better than the UK eg even in winter there’s a lot more to do. You have state parks, national parks, atonal forest etc all around and there’s just vast differences in weather, land and options from deserts to beaches to snow for skiing to blazing hot.

Michigan is really beautiful. Our plan is to stop at Traverse city for 1-2 days, then close to Holland Michigan which is a Dutch town and still retains many Dutch traditions, stop by Silver Bear dunes which etc then drive up to Mackinaw City and get the ferry to the island.

It’s also pros and cons, the proximity to Europe for the UK is also amazing with easy and quick access.

I'd second everything that Can't stand had said. I live in Michigan and it's a great place for a holiday. Until recently Americans didn't need a passport to go to Canada.

DH was talking with someone at work who doesn't have a passport and said he'd never left the country, but he's been to Canada many times. So the statistic is a little misleading about how many Americans don't have a passport.

I'd say that in America never leaving their home state is equivalent to not going abroad. There are people who don't visit other states, but there are also Europeans who don't visit other countries.

Michigan is one of my favourite states - DH’s home state, so we visit a lot. Staying in a beach house in the woods right on the shores of Lake Michigan at Muskegon was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on.

We holiday in nearby places - Spain, France, Italy, Greece.

They presumably holiday in places near to them - different states with different things to see, or neighbouring countries. Flying all the way to Europe from America is like flying all the way to America from the UK - not a common thing to do.

On American TV they are always going to stay in a cabin in the woods (usually one that they or a family member own) or to a beach resort in Florida or to ski in the colder States or to New York to see the tourist stuff.

Maybe the cabin in the woods thing is the cultural equivalent of owning a chalet at Skegness.

I found this
www.passportsandvisas.com/travel-blog/where-can-i-travel-without-a-passport
So the 37% who don't have a passport still have the whole of Canada and quite a bit of Central America, as well as Caribbean islands to choose from. So I suppose, given that The US has deserts, ski resorts, volcanoes, beaches, whale watching and mountain and forest trails, as well as almost tropical conditions in Florida, you can have had a lot of different travel experiences without a passport.

We have wet temperate weather. The US is a big continent so gets hotter sunny summers even in the north.
So imagine you had blue sky and sun every summer would you be jetting off to the sun?

I totally agree with you.

I know a guy at work quite senior at director level, makes a load of money and has good vacation time and his idea of vacation is to go Ice fishing in Michigan in winter at his lake house and hunting in summer lol.

I don’t get it but he loves it and is happy so hey you do you.

I imagine it's the same as many here if they want something exotic - 2 or 3 flights each way.

But then again, only 4% of American citizens have a passport and they get very limited leave compared to us in UK/Europe.

And the US itself is so huge with so much variety that it's easy to have varied, interesting and exciting holidays all your life without leaving US soil (don't forget Hawaii and Alaska are also US states).

It's not 4% for USA passport owners, that hasn't been true since absolutely years ago, it's around 37% from a Google.

Very very jealous of all the michigan visits/people living in it the state. There is so much I want to see there, I'd love to come in college football season too and get to see the wolverines play!

I was watching Ozark recently and even amidst all the violence, at least they could sit by the lake after work in the evening sunshine! Almost worth going into violent drug-dealing and taking on gangs...

Exactly.

My hometown in west Texas is on the US/Mexico border. My childhood home is only two miles from Mexico. Only recently have US citizens needed a passport to cross the southern border.

I'm going on a cruise to Mexico soon. I realized my US passport expired but I was assured I could still take the cruise with my drivers license.

And changing in the US is an absolute ballache, because their airports are shit and they seem to be the only country in the world that can't cope with transferring your baggage onto your connecting flight rather than you having to queue up at the carousel for it. Not to mention all the fucking stupid questions at immigration.

"How long are you spending in the US, ma'am?"

"Ideally only an hour, which you would know if you'd looked at my ticket and had a brain, but possibly a whole day if I miss my next flight which is currently boarding because of your stupid questions."

Not quite the point of the thread, but we did a week in Washington then flew to Vegas for a week.

Anyone saying internal flights are like catching a bus are correct. Organised chaos was the rule. Pilot ready to leave stand, passengers standing around gassing. Several announcements saying please sit down so we can depart. Eventually pilot had to come out and literally shout for people to sit down. But only after he announced a different arrival airport which seemed to shut people up so he could be heard.

It was a really rough flight, not sure he didn't choose the worst route

What’s with the sour attitude?

Agree. It’s like a nightmare, I was genuinly scared every time, and I’ll do anything to avoid those flights again. Everything about them was unprofessional. Horrible. 😂

Probably because MN threads about “Americans” even if they start with a well-intentioned and curious OP who genuinely wants to know something as with this one, invariably descend into stereotypes and insults about Americans - all 350 million of them, living in all 50 states - being uncultured, stupid, not knowing that anywhere outside of the US exists, and thinking that hamburger and fries is the pinnacle of world cuisine. And if you are American and or know and love people who are, it gets old very quickly.

"How long are you spending in the US, ma'am?” "Ideally only an hour, which you would know if you'd looked at my ticket and had a brain, but possibly a whole day if I miss my next flight which is currently boarding because of your stupid questions."

We’ve missed connecting flights in NY twice, because of their unorganised chaos.

Good memories! I would love to go back to all of these places. I spent summers with a friend in Chicago as a child and her parents took us to so many wonderful places. We stayed in a cabin to Luddington a few times. Also attended a church camp in UP that was awesome.

TBH if I lived in the US I wouldn't go anywhere else either.

It has everything. Stunning wilderness, mountains, skiing, beaches, resorts, hot or cold weather as required, theme parks, cruises.... everything you could want with American style luxury and - with the exception of New York - great service..

Why on earth would you want to fly to Europe to get ripped off in Venice, pick-pocketed in Barcelona or shite service and poky accommodation in London unless you have a particular interest in history or family ties?

No thank you.

There's an awful lot to visit without ever leaving the US, an astonishing variety of attractions, climates and landscapes. There may not be as much cultural variety as there is travelling across Europe, but a lot of Europeans don't travel for culture either, they just go to seaside resorts and relax.