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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Am I that unusual?

420 replies

Greysparkles · 22/02/2020 18:26

To have never had a passport and never travelled to another country?

Was talking about holidays with friends recently, and got talking about airports etc and i mentioned I'd no idea what they were on about as I've never flown.
Well the looks I got! Like I'd grown an extra head!
Is it that unusual?! Am I the only one?! Grin

OP posts:
Poorolddaddypig · 24/02/2020 15:59

In my social circle it would be unheard of to have never travelled - all of us have been on holidays and trips abroad, many of us have been backpacking/travelling abroad for several months at a time, and some of us have (and/or still do) lived/worked abroad. In fact, I’m not sure I know anyone who has never been abroad, now I think about it 🤔

Nicolastuffedone · 24/02/2020 16:23

Yes.

Arthritica · 24/02/2020 16:24

I think you are very unusual.

In my youth, as soon as I had scraped together about £100 I’d get the coach (later, the train) through the night to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva (BAD decision, took forever. Misread the timetable).
Rock up at the youth hostel at dawn to book in, live on bread and jam for a few days to explore the city as best I could afford, head home again.

4 days here, 3 days there, fit around work and studying. They were such amazing experiences.

Got older and a bit better paid, did lots of air travel. Now we’re back to road trips and train journeys for environmental reasons.

It seems sad not to have seen even our near neighbours like France and Belgium.

GetMeOffThisCycleOfMisery · 25/02/2020 01:17

Unusual to many, yes. But not a stick to beat you with OP.

I'm yet to RTFT, but as you can afford it now, why not get out there and explore the world?

My Ex-BIL was in his 40s, never had a passport either. Met his now wife, she was well
-travelled and had lived abroad, and she got him to get a passport.

He's got the total travel bug now. Seems to be off to a different European destination every other month and absolutely loves it. Smile

GetMeOffThisCycleOfMisery · 25/02/2020 01:23

Going abroad doesn’t mean you can’t also holiday in the uk and vice versa. We don’t get one holiday in our life times. We can do both. Uk and abroad.They are not mutually and permanently exclusive.

Agree @Bluntness100. We take three breaks a year. (Five if you count the two music festivals I attend!).

We do a caravan holiday at Bunn Leisure in Selsey, do a long weekend city break in Europe (Budapest is currently my favorite) and then a week's summer holiday in September to places like Croatia, Portugal, Balearics, Turkey etc.

I appreciate and love what the UK offers. But I need a week in the sun at least once a year. Grin

BadLad · 25/02/2020 01:41

I think it's very unusual.

I love my holidays and my main hobby is learning languages, so I wouldn't judge you, but I'd assume you were someone with whom I'd have very little in common.

BobbleBun · 25/02/2020 02:06

My DP has a passport but has never (and doesn't want to) been outside of the UK.

He got it as proof of age when he was younger and going to pubs etc.

Clevererthanyou · 25/02/2020 02:13

At least you’re not adding to the already awful and totally unnecessary pollution of the planet eh op? Grin

nettie434 · 25/02/2020 02:45

I looked up the number of adults who don’t have a passport Greysparkles. It was 17% in the last census apparently. I’m not sure whether that’s ‘never held a passport’ or ‘don’t currently have one’ but it looks from this as if it’s unusual but definitely not exceptional.

I used to know a couple who both had extremely well paid jobs. One of them had never been outside the UK and had no wish to. Another colleague hates flying and has got dogs and horses that she doesn’t like to leave so she and her husband have staycations. If it wasn’t for work and some friends who lived in lots of countries, I wouldn’t have travelled much either.

This thread isn’t a great advert for saying travel broadens the mind when so many posts come across as a bit sneery. You sound as if you have created an independent life and give your children experiences in the UK you weren’t able to have yourself as a child. That’s something to be proud of that not everyone can say they’ve achieved by their own efforts.

Actually with global warming and more natural disasters, we might all end up travelling less in the future.

Bluntness100 · 25/02/2020 09:01

Suspect am awful lot of that 17 percent are young adults whose parents couldn’t afford to take them abroad or don’t need a passport right now so haven’t replaced due to cost, or the very elderly who also saw no need to replace as they won’t be travelling again , possibly also the mid group where they can’t afford to travel or can’t afford to replace their passport right now.

The world has become much smaller and international travel is definitely the norm but there are demographic pockets where international travel is simply something totally unaffordable, or not on the immediate agenda due to ill health, disabilities etc.

I’d really think that only a tiny percentage of those people are adults who simply don’t wish to travel abroad due to lack of interest and have never done so.

SheSaidNoFuckThat · 25/02/2020 10:09

I have flown but only within UK, never had a passport and although there's places I'd like to see I'm not that bothered. I'm 40 btw

TinklyLittleLaugh · 25/02/2020 10:21

Actually with global warming and more natural disasters, we might all end up travelling less in the future.

I get the impression from some young people they are cramming it in while they can. DS was joking about telling his scrawny half feral grandchildren tales of temples and tropical beaches whilst huddled round a campfire in some sort of dystopian desert wilderness.

PineappleDanish · 25/02/2020 17:35

I think it's the "not interested in finding out about the big world" which is so alien to me.

Littlebluetruck · 25/02/2020 17:52

I think it's the "not interested in finding out about the big world" which is so alien to me

Same.

Notso · 25/02/2020 18:09

I think it's the "not interested in finding out about the big world" which is so alien to me

You can be interested in the world without wanting to travel around it though.

This thread isn’t a great advert for saying travel broadens the mind when so many posts come across as a bit sneery.
Indeed.

Harls1969 · 25/02/2020 18:51

I don't know. We went to Butlins most years when I was a kid. Despite living 20 miles or so away from the French coast (SE England), I didn't go to France until my late 20s, that was my first time abroad. Second time was 10 years later when we went to Cyprus for a wedding. Went to Tunisia the following year and then UK holidays for another 11 years. I'm now 51 and have been abroad only 5 times! People always give me funny looks but not everyone can afford it

1Morewineplease · 25/02/2020 19:39

I’m mid 50s. I went abroad at school and visited my grandparents, who lived abroad. I also went on a hellish holiday at 20 to Gran Canaria. I’ve been married nearly 30 years , had two children and have never been abroad during that time.
I also don’t have a photo driving licence.
I recently wanted to add money to my ISA. The bank wouldn’t let me because I couldn’t prove who I was ... no passport or photo ID. I quibbled but it was a case of ‘ no can do.’
Strange thing is, I can do the transaction online with no identity checks?!!!

GhostsToMonsoon · 25/02/2020 20:54

I'd say it's fairly unusual - but perhaps not as much as some people might think. My friend's partner has never been on a plane, and he's 38. I think he went abroad for the first time about 10 years ago.

I know someone else who only got a passport because she needed proof of ID, but has been abroad once as a teenager and that's about it. I once shared a house at university with someone who'd never been abroad. I also know people who used to go abroad regularly but haven't for years since having children.

My grandparents hardly ever went on holiday, even in the UK, but that was a different generation (plus they were loathe to leave their allotment during the growing season). However, they were very interested in the world and reading about other countries.

Your carbon footprint will certainly be much reduced if you've never flown.

HindsightIs2020 · 26/02/2020 12:55

I didn't travel abroad till I was in my 30s

Inextremis · 26/02/2020 13:28

If nothing else, I think a bit of foreign travel makes you appreciate what we have at home. I've been to lots of places, but love how green the UK and Ireland are, love the diversity of foods we can access, love our temperate climate, lack of dangerous creatures, appreciate our relatively rare extreme weather incidents and our largely tolerant and accepting societies. Travel helps you realise that not all the above are givens, and for that reason I would recommend that everyone visits a few other countries in order to gain some perspective on how privileged we really are.

SisterAgatha · 26/02/2020 13:47

My passport is basically my ticket out of here, I love the knowledge I could get on a plane today if I wanted and go anywhere in the world. Not having one is a bit of a barrier I think, even if just mentally.

AngstyAnnie · 26/02/2020 13:50

Different strokes for different folks but completely alien to me as I wanted to travel the world since I knew there was a world!

I can't think of a single friend/acquaintance my age (33) who hasn't spent time working/traveling abroad. However, having your DC young changes things. My mum had us young and so her options for travel were limited for years so I can understand how it could have happened. Treat yourself OP! With budget airlines the world is very easy to see.

Comeinalready · 27/02/2020 15:32

Given your location, yes, unusual but not abnormal. I know lots of people who've never been abroad and have no interest in flying, and that's OK. Me, I couldn't wait to go on my first plane ride :)

CorianderLord · 27/02/2020 15:35

It's not unheard of, but the only friend I have who doesn't have one didn't get one because his parents were Windrush generation so he doesn't want to call attention to himself.

We're all 20-30 and ten to go abroad 2-5 times a year

CorianderLord · 27/02/2020 15:36

@RhodaCamel I find getting a train to the airport and flying somewhere far less stress than driving all round the place