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 was 25 the first time I ever flew. I had a passport before then, as I had been to France by ferry a couple of times. I was quite surprised to hear my sister has a valid passport, as she never has the money to go away.

I feel sad at your age and stage of life you have yet to have an inkling or desire to experience somewhere beyond your own cave. I can appreciate it is a "mindset"that needs to change vs other limiting factors truly preventing you wanting to apply for a passport.

In the event budget is a reason, Europe is literally on your door step and the eurotunnel offers cheap deals across for a family. You can travel by car so freely and try to appreciate what other people and culture has to offer. Start small like France or Spain. I sincerely hope you find a place you want to see for your own eyes one day. Travel builds character, life skills & really does broaden the mind. Hope you will consider at least one trip in your life time for you and your family. Carpe diem.

We did a mix and I always loved my UK camping holidays the best a child. 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! We did all of these OP, Scotland and Yorkshire coasts too.

They are my best memories and the ultimate adventure, so that's what I'm trying to replicate for my boys.

They can travel as young adults when they will appreciate the culture a lot more.

Obviously that's just my experience. I'm not saying kids don't love visiting the Taj Mahal, Golden Gate Bridge, Colosseum etc.... but if I took my boys now I doubt they'd even remember it.

well I can honestly say that those people who drone on about where they have travelled to are hands down the most boring people ever!

Possibly, but there are very, very few people who've been abroad that ever mention it because it's everyday stuff.

I know quite a few people this is true of. They (as a group) would all meet the following demographics: poor, single parent families, had kid/s young (teens/early 20s) and from poor WC backgrounds. I know people that's true of who have still been abroad but usually because they have relatives abroad so have visited them at some point, or if they've had an unexpected windfall.

I think there's a difference between being interested and interesting

It's perfectly possible to be interested in seeing places and experiencing cultures but not have the storytelling or social skills to make those experiences interesting in the retelling. Doesn't mean you should stay at home though.

I'm 55 and never owned a passport.
Growing up, my parents could never afford to take us (6 kids) abroad.
Now,I can't afford it myself. I have enough money to pay my bills and be able to treat myself sometimes.

I'd rather go on day trips around the UK. Yes there are some beautiful places in the world but I'm happy here. Maybe one day I may get a passport and travel but no urge to at the moment.

I find it a bit weird that travel snobbery seems to be acceptable but other forms of snobbery would rightly be called out. It's lacking curiosity" not to travel, but if someone said that about not reading Ovid, or learning calculus or taking up niche sports (or anything else one might do in their spare time), people would be jumping all over themselves to point out that those things aren't accessible to everyone because of background and because not everyone would want to do them even if they could. I'm not sure why travelling is innately different, but a lot of people do perceive to be a basis on which to make judgements.

You'd be unusual in my circles too but I do have a colleague like you. Nothing to do with finance. She and her DH haven't been abroad and they are in their early 50s.

They have had some amazing holidays in all corners of the UK though. Hadrians wall, Roman ruins, Georgian Bath, Stonehenge at sunrise, sleeper trains to Scotland, castles, whale watching, cathedrals, canal boat across viaducts, steam trains (driving), even the Orient Express in the UK.

When they've seen everything in the UK they'll go to France....

My mum has never been abroad or flown in a plane.
My sister booked & paid for her & my mum to go to Lanzarote for 2 weeks a few years ago but my mum sadly chickened out so my sister had to go alone.

When I was young we were too poor to go on holiday even in this country.
Once I started work I was on min wage then temping so still too poor until I got a well paid admin job aged 23... so my first ever holiday was a long weekend in Cornwall aged 23 with friends.

My first foreign holiday was a girls holiday to Mallorca aged 24... well I loved it!! Hot sun, beautiful beach, warm sea, cheap drinks & lots of fun.

I'm now 43 & I admit I've only been to Europe plus been to certain places several times... I haven't been abroad every year due to cost & ill health but some years I've been twice.

I love Spanish & Greek culture, going to Crete again this year as beaches are stunning; I've been to Mykonos, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Mallorca all a few times.
I recently had a week city break to Krakow & it was amazing; lots of history. I will definitely go back.
Also travelled to Amsterdam & the Algarve.

I'd like to travel to Rome, Croatia & Montenegro, Istanbul, Israel & Jordan (especially Petra), Sri Lanka & even Pakistan would really be out of my comfort zone but I have some friends from there.

The issue for me is that I have poorly controlled epilepsy & mental health problems so travelling alone isn't really an option, I travel a lot with my sister or one of my friends but they don't want to go to the above places... also travel insurance for me is so expensive!!

I think life is so short & you only live once so if you have the money why not go abroad to experience other cultures either on holiday or travelling - I have always been b&b or self catering or air bnb & always eat the local food, I wouldn't stay AI but I certainly wouldn't criticise friends who like to.

I've been to Dublin twice and Canary Islands once (age 13). I don't have a passport now
But then I don't holiday in the U.K. either so...

I think you are unusual OP but I don’t think I’d really think about it much past asking you what you did do for holidays. I agree that people miss a lot on their own doorstep because they’re sold the excitement of the exotic. The uk can offer so much from dolphins to tintagel, the Tate to Edinburgh castle.

Besides that I think air travel especially is going to become less socially acceptable as the environmental impact becomes more apparent. I know people who’ve averaged two long haul and up to three short haul flights a year in the name of leisure. It’s fairly distasteful in the shadow of current climate concerns.

Then there’s the impact of the footfall to popular tourist destinations. So many environments have been badly damaged through people’s desire to experience them. Everest and the Great Barrier Reef spring to mind. There’s the argument they benefit from the financial gain but I’m not sure that’s worth the drastically shortened shelf life.

what is sad is the lack of curiosity, and more importantly the waste of opportunities. But each to their own

More presumption. Anyone who hasn't travelled overseas must have no curiosity?

@Veterinari, I'm not going to bicker about this all night, but what I said was that I thought your question was harsh (and by that I meant that it was worded harshly, or, as I later clarified, unkindly). I said that there were lots of nice places in the UK too. You said you thought the OP was incurious about those as she didn't mention any interest in them in the OP. I said that was your presumption. The OP has clarified that she does travel within England, and therefore is presumably curious about it to some extent. I think my comment on that front is reasonable in the face of that, to be fair. I maintain that your original comment was worded unkindly, and if you didn't mean it that way, that's a shame. I have been very careful not to make any personal comments about you - my statements have been directed at what you said, not your person. I'm sorry you don't seem to want to engage in a discussion on that basis.

I've never been abroad,but its because we were poor growing up and not much better now...I'd love to see the world though. Mid 30s now

I'm curious, I love trying different foods etc and would love to experience different cultures
But given I haven't had a holiday in the U.K. since 2009 because I can't afford it, it's pretty unlikely. I've also never been to London

I'm 36

I feel It suggests a bit of an insular mentality tbh. There are plenty of nice places in the uk but not having an interest in experiencing anything other than British culture is strange to me.

I know just one person who has never been abroad, but she also displays an unpleasant “I don’t eat foreign food, want foreigners as my neighbour” attitude.

I do actually find it a bit sad that someone has no interest in seeing the world. There’s just so much to experience out there. The UK has some lovely places, but I couldn’t imagine spending my whole life in the Uk.

Its your life and your choices . A few years back I would have thought you unusual, but we have met quite a number of folk who are similar. I am quite a bit older and since our kids were small we have always went usually somewhere in Europe or the canary islands. I am actually looking at an inexpensive holiday on a short flight. Dh suggests we should go on holiday and gives me a very limited dates and tells me to come up with something. ( he is not techie)
As a child we did not get on holidays, but our kids love travelling and are glad at the experices they got .
In our case it is something we look forward to. It helps get us away from stress.

More presumption. Anyone who hasn't travelled overseas must have no curiosity?

if only to show your kids the places they currently study at school, experience the languages they are learning and so on.

The end of the Erasmus program here is a real shame.

Visiting another country does always broaden horizons. I know plenty of people who have a week one a beach every year but haven't ever been far from home in the UK. I have been abroad but I do feel the beauty and variety of our lovely country is often overlooked.

It is a bit strange though, like only ever eating chips and insisting other food is horrid without ever trying it. Or only ever dating blond men and saying you’ll move on to different looking guys when you’ve run out of blond men.

Variety is the spice of life. I didn’t go abroad when I was a kid because we were too poor. Once I grew up I was off on the ferry with a tent and when we had our kids (still poor) we camped all over Europe. Further flung travel has had to wait until we had more money and our kids have grown up. And yes, travel does expand your mind, especially outside Europe.

My kids have very itchy feet. My two eldest have done the gap six months, funded by six months living at home and saving their socks off. No bank of mum and dad. DC3 has gone to uni abroad. Travel is great for your confidence.

I cant think if anyone I know who hasnt been abroad. I’d say it’s extremely unusual. I cant imagine having never experienced the thrill of a jumbo set taking off - it amazes me every time I fly and to see above the cloud layer, the sun rising to greet you and even better, the great cities of the world such as Rome, Paris and Hong Kong laid out beneath you - just breath-taking.

I suppose it takes all sorts.

jumbo jet

I don't travel abroad, because air travel is so damaging to the environment and I live in such a remote place that anything other than air travel adds at least 2 days to the time I'm away.

People will usually find a way to justify what they want to do, and if sneering at people who do otherwise is it, then that's what will happen.