Am I that unusual?

[Greysparkles]

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?!

I think it’s unusual and I was beyond poor growing up. Think food bank poverty. I travelled once I job a job. If you fancy it, do it. If you don’t, that’s ok too.

No I don't think it's unusual at all. As a poster up thread has said socio economic and age are likely to have an impact.
Think how much a single passport costs.
Completely untrue that it's as cheap to holiday abroad as UK, there's so many hidden costs to account for from travel insurance to getting to airport
I don't think people who holiday abroad have any right to be judgy either.
Holiday does not necessarily equal travel/ cultural exploration.

I don't think it's rubbish. It's very expensive to holiday over here

Not neccesarily! Depends what you book doesnt it. Iv had loads of cheap holidays in the UK - i couldnt have gone abroad for the same price.

What astonishing is how narrow minded some people are.

"Abroad" is yes, a brit AI resort in Spain
it's also cities, countryside, every other possible culture and religion, every climate, every belief, museums, sports, forests, ocean. It's pretty much limitless what you can achieve, explore, meet, and the jobs you could possibly try.

I wouldn't want my kids not to realise and see for themselves how different people can be, how small the UK really is and that there is more to do and see.

If they don't like it, and want to settle in a british town somewhere, why not.But at least it's should be a choice and unless they've experienced other culture, how could they possibly know they prefer being here.

Even if you only go for a couple of weeks a year, some parts of the world are so beautiful, why missing out?

If you think of all the health reasons that might stop you from travelling, what a shame not to do as much as you can whilst you can. It might not last.

Doing your bit for climate change, I would have assumed.

I'm the same op, I'm 39, grew up in a big family so my parents couldn't afford it and they only went abroad for the first time in their late 50's.

I always said I would go to New York for my 40th but can't afford it. We go to Butlins every year with our 3 kids. Once I graduate from uni I'm going we can take them abroad but it's just too expensive for us (we are very lucky to be able to afford a UK holiday each year though)

Me too.

I did go abroad to France for a school trip age 14yo though. But never had an individual passport.
It really doesn't bother me whether I do or not. There's some great places in the UK to visit.

Good for you OP, we have to think of the environment - wish a few more people put that first!

Besides, people very often equate travel with being interesting - ever wanted to fall asleep through someone's never-ending holiday account? Yawn. Yes, you've been on holiday to Mexico, but you really have nothing else going for you, do you... There are lots of things to experience in life, not just flying. So I think you're not unusual at all ! :)

I haven't had a holiday abroad as an adult - last time was 22 years ago - and DH has only been once in his life. I had to travel abroad with work 5 years ago and had literally no idea how airports work - a friend had to talk me through it! Still no plans to go on holiday outside the UK as I don't have the spare cash and DH won't even consider going.

I'm not "proud" of a fortnight's package holiday Greece, but I am quite proud of organising a mini-sabbatical and spending several months at a language school, or fundraising several thousand pounds to go trekking in the Himalayas, or taking part in a charity project in rural West Africa, or going on my own to less touristy destinations where I don't speak the language. All of those things were outside my comfort zone, and trips like that require you to be a bit more enterprising and adventurous than caravanning for a week in Bognor Regis

Which is fair enough - but there are also other things which the OP might've been doing that would be similarly outside her comfort zone as well as being enterprising and adventurous in other aspects of her life (when not caravanning for a week in Bognor). Travel is only one part of most people's lives, after all.

There are definitely more adventurous and character building options for travel in Britain which might be a more useful comparison in this case. Caravanning in Bognor probably requires more skills (like emotional resilience!) than a package holiday in the Costa del Sol, which might be a fairer comparison.

there's no doubt there are fabulous things out there in the world, but there are also some wonderful places in Britain and a great deal to see

Well yes of course there are 
You seem to be implying that people who travel abroad automatically disregard the amazing things the UK has to offer when I suspect the opposite is true.
People who want to see and experience new people/sights/customs will do so both in the UK and abroad.

Are you genuinely totally incurious?

That's a bit harsh. There's loads of fabulous things to be curious about in the UK.

@DiseasesOfTheSheep
In what way is asking a genuine question harsh?
OP has not indicated any curiosity or enjoyment of the UK either so it seems a reasonable question!

There are some very odd preconceptions in this thread!

I'm 30 and have never flown. Was poor as a child and have never wanted to as an adult.

It's much better for the environment but I've a thought that this isn't the reason why the OP has never travelled

Yes, I think it’s unusual, and even more so that you don’t seem to want to travel either.

You’ve no idea what you’re missing out on.

It’s not about being “proud of having a holiday”, that’s an odd and slightly bitter interpretation.

It’s about seeing the world. Experiencing different cultures, widening your horizons.

I suspect you know that though and yes you are in a minority. Not just because you have never left the Uk, but more because you’re pretending you don’t know why people do and it’s just a “holiday”

It’s ok to be honest and say you can’t afford it.

I think it’s rather sad a whole world exists and you’ve never seen it...

I know of no adult that hasn’t been abroad so yes you’d be weird within my friends group

Completely untrue that it's as cheap to holiday abroad as UK, there's so many hidden costs to account for from travel insurance to getting to airport

I know it's different for everyone but I will give my example. I live in a city with airport.
Travel to airport 2.50
Plane ticket to Italy return 27
Airport travel 2
Hotel room 3 nights in a centre to save on travel 130
Airport travel 2
Travel from airport home 2.5
Travel insurance included with bank account so no extra cost. Otherwise it can be bought as cheap as £10 for EU travel.
=£166 if single person, 202 if 2 people.
I don't count food and drink into this. You would still have to buy them in UK too.

I would say very unusual. I can't recall ever meeting an adult who hasn't left the country. I'd find it a bit sad to have such a narrow existence and never experience another culture, but I don't really care what other people choose to do.

And for what it's worth I was also poor as a child. Went to Spain once as kid (parents didn't pay) and then not again til I was in my 20s. Most holidays were camping or a relatives caravan.

I also travel lots in the UK - Channel Islands to the Hebrides and most places in between

Still can't fathom people who have no interest in the world!

I'm in the U.K. , & there are so many interesting places to visit even within Europe.
U.K. holidays are very expensive compared to Europe; 5 days half-board, 4* hotel in Italy for Xmas for £650?? Similar thing in U.k. was more than double that.
There are a lot of places in England that I haven't seen - but mainly because I've seen what I want to see.

I haven't been on holiday really. Not the UK or abroad. I have flown once. Three years ago, I had my first holiday. Only to the South of France but it was amazing. We had no money growing up so we never went anywhere. I would LOVE to holiday. I'm constantly dreaming about travelling and exploring the world. I want to see so many different places, especially other parts of the UK. Abroad, too. I have DC now and not much spare money so unlikely to go anywhere any time soon. One day, hopefully.

Yeah it is very unusual to be in your mid 30s and never been abroad, most people have managed at least a couple of days in France and a week or two in spain. I know staycations are all the rage but it's a whole world out there...

@Veterinari, one of the posters earlier in the thread said that they didn't see the point in holidaying in the UK because it's the same everywhere. That's not my preconception, that's actually what they said...

I'm not assuming that everyone who travels abroad is incurious about Britain - that would be really odd as I also do both myself. I just don't presume that people who choose not to travel abroad are "totally incurious" because they haven't added a caveat in their OP to explain something tangential to the main thrust of their thread. If you think that how you expressed your "genuine question" wasn't a bit unnecessarily unkind, that's fine. I disagree, but hey, this is AIBU. We're meant to disagree about stuff here!

I would say it is unusual and feel sad for you

Theres no need to feel sad for me I'm confused as to why you would tbh.

Besides, people very often equate travel with being interesting

Totally agree with this!

We've holidayed in some lovely places in the UK, South Wales is beautiful and we love it there. Suffolk has some lovely countryside to offer, Cornwall. Amazing beaches!

Not that unusual. My parents have never had passports or travelled out of the country.

I've had a passport, but never been out of the country since 2008, my passport ran out in 2018 and I have no hurry to replace it either