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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is it true that many Americans will never visit another country

228 replies

cinaminvanilla · 26/08/2021 18:18

I remember reading an article where it says that many Americans don't have a passport or leave the USA ever in their lives. Just wondering does anyone with knowledge know if this true. Because the US is so big I could imagine people never travelling to another country. I think I read that for those who visit other countries the two most popular countries for people who live in the US to visit aside from their own is Canada and Mexico.

OP posts:
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 27/08/2021 06:39

I used to live in Germany. Could jump in the car and be in Denmark, Poland, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein etc within a few hours (and technically didn't need a passport to do so due the Schnegan area). Even the UK wasn't that far.

As US residents have explained already...they could travel for the same length of time and be in the same State.

I wonder if they've ever broken down the passport statistics by state... would the ones nearer the birders have higher passport ownership?

FrankGrillosWrist · 27/08/2021 06:39

Oh & here’s me thinking it was because they can’t convert 😆. I never knew an American that didn’t insist on using the $, no wonder they have no money. In Mexico they were all queueing up to do timeshares for the free trips … Everything’s really not so AWESOME in the USA.

ElleOhWell · 27/08/2021 07:08

Slightly off topic but how do those with so little holiday entitlement cope during school holidays etc? Seems so unfair to leave it up to businesses! Are your nursery/childcare fees much more affordable than ours?

NeverTalkToStrangers · 27/08/2021 07:11

I think the short holiday entitlement is the reason US kids go to summer camp.

plinkplinkfizzer · 27/08/2021 07:17

Is it also true there is no legal entitlement to maternity leave , that some Women use annual leave ? Although some companies can be generous.

NumberTheory · 27/08/2021 07:31

@ElleOhWell

Slightly off topic but how do those with so little holiday entitlement cope during school holidays etc? Seems so unfair to leave it up to businesses! Are your nursery/childcare fees much more affordable than ours?
Most places there will be low cost camps or camps with sliding fees. Normally run by local government or churches and nonprofits. But you have to be organized to get a space.
NumberTheory · 27/08/2021 07:35

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

I used to live in Germany. Could jump in the car and be in Denmark, Poland, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein etc within a few hours (and technically didn't need a passport to do so due the Schnegan area). Even the UK wasn't that far.

As US residents have explained already...they could travel for the same length of time and be in the same State.

I wonder if they've ever broken down the passport statistics by state... would the ones nearer the birders have higher passport ownership?

This is a decade old, so some states may have changed a bit, but I believe it’s still the case that income and education level are bigger factors.

www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/03/americas-great-passport-divide/72399/

THisbackwithavengeance · 27/08/2021 07:44

Tbh if I lived in the US, I wouldn't have much interest in visiting Europe either unless I was interested in historical architecture and/or medieval history or perhaps wanted to see where my ancestors came from.

They have everything they could possibly want in their own country.

stripedbananas · 27/08/2021 07:46

Why would they there's so much to see in their own country.

Larryyourwaiter · 27/08/2021 07:57

I’ve been to Florida a few times. We’ve been there for 2 weeks, the Americans you meet come for a few days. The thing is their flight time often isn’t different to ours. I imagine many don’t have the time to fit in foreign trips.

RightYesButNo · 27/08/2021 08:03

@plinkplinkfizzer

Is it also true there is no legal entitlement to maternity leave , that some Women use annual leave ? Although some companies can be generous.
Yes, the US is the only Western country with zero days/weeks of national paid maternity leave. In some places, you are “allowed” to take 12 weeks completely unpaid, but only 60% of women workers are “eligible” to take them (?!! Been working long enough? Work full time? I’m not sure?). Eight states, as you’ll see in this article, have passed their own laws for some paid maternity leave. In California, which is often considered one of the most liberal, it’s six weeks for a normal delivery and eight weeks for a c-section. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/27/maternity-leave-us-policy-worst-worlds-richest-countries California (maternity leave falls under disability, ha; and there are hoops to jump through): www.edd.ca.gov/disability/pfl_mothers.htm YES, some companies are generous, but those are anecdotes, not data showing the whole country.

I appreciate the US. I was born there and it has breathtaking sites. But the way it treats its workers, new mothers, honestly regular mothers, and anyone who needs ongoing medical care, is heartbreaking.

Eatenpig · 27/08/2021 08:03

@Divebar2021

I can think of loads of people who holiday outside Europe. - US, Australia, New Zealand Canada, Thailand, Caribbean are all destinations that we / friends have been to over the last few years.
But that relies on a certain level of income. I'd kill to take my kids to these places and I travelled a lot when single and no kids & higher paid job. Not even a remote chance now
Eatenpig · 27/08/2021 08:07

I've lived in the states. I had the luxury of travelling to several states. But only maybe 5/6 stares out of all of them and some of those only a few days. The USA has literally everything holiday type wise and the different climates to go with it. So whatever you fancied you can do many times over. Everyone I knew had ten days annual leave and one annual holiday.
So wasn't worth the extra cost of leaving the USA

plinkplinkfizzer · 27/08/2021 08:11

@RightYesButNo That is shocking . I suppose Women have done all the protests and stuff . We are lucky in UK lets hope we never have to fight to keep it .

ElleOhWell · 27/08/2021 08:21

@RightYesButNo that is shocking!

ElleOhWell · 27/08/2021 08:23

@NumberTheory I imagine you do have been super organised! I’d stand no chance!

Eatenpig · 27/08/2021 08:43

@plinkplinkfizzer The US has / had a very different attitude towards economy. Business ruled everything. No state health care etc. Onus is on everyone to pay for everything themselves. So women's right to paid time off after a baby is / was very low priority. I knew many women back in work 2 weeks after baby born.

RightYesButNo · 27/08/2021 08:48

@plinkplinkfizzer @ElleOhWell
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Most people think it works that Americans have insurance and that pays for their medical care the way we have the NHS. Not even close. The average new mother will by herself have to pay $4314, even with insurance, for a vaginal birth, and $5161 for a C-section.
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/01/how-much-does-it-cost-have-baby-us/604519/
And then those 12 weeks unpaid. If you’re even part of the 60% that qualify for them. What if you’re birth injured and can’t go back? You lose your job. And yes, they can fire you; it’s perfectly legal in almost all states. (In some states, like South Carolina, they can fire you after twenty years with no warning and no pension for no reason at all; it’s called at-will employment and it’s horrific).

There’s a reason that 66% of bankruptcies in the US are tied to medical issues. And obviously, some of them are going to be tied to having a baby. Especially if baby needs special care or… Then you really do end up getting a bill for $100,000+ at what should be the happiest time of your life.
Sad

RightYesButNo · 27/08/2021 08:53

This is the American picture of what happens when medical costs aren’t covered and there’s no social housing, like we have, even if it’s isn’t great, or even good, sometimes. Families separated only because of money:
www.wkyufm.org/post/homelessness-and-health-costs-kentucky-mom-faced-cancer-while-living-her-car#stream/0

plinkplinkfizzer · 27/08/2021 08:58

That seems really brutal @RightYesButNo .It must be terrifying to find yourself or a family member vulnerable with life changing illness or disabilities .

danadas · 27/08/2021 09:15

I've no desire to leave the UK and we are tiny in comparison so can easily see how people living in such a vast country dont travel outside.

That's without taking into account those that are excluded because of finances/caring commitments/ breaks from work etc.

HarrietsChariot · 27/08/2021 09:24

Yes it's true, but it's down to practicality as much as anything else.

An American can go on a skiing holiday, to an island in the Pacific or the Carribean without needing a passport. They can go to the desert or the Arctic without leaving the country. There are some of the most beautiful areas of nature, forests, rivers, national parks. They can go to some of the biggest cities in the world, to some of the most remote spots in the world, and everywhere in between.

There is more to see in America than anyone can do within their lifetime. You'd have to visit every state and territory in all seasons to have a chance.

Plus, most Americans are not mega-rich. Rich comparatively, but not so rich that money is no object. Why pay for flights to Spain for a beach holiday when you can stay at home with less hassle and spend a lot less money?

How many British people would ever need a passport if you could travel round the whole of Europe without one? (Even when Britain was in the EU you needed one to travel the continent, plus not all European countries were in the EU anyway.)

Or to put it another way, most British people never leave Europe. That's not so different to most Americans never leaving America.

MattyGroves · 27/08/2021 09:44

Or to put it another way, most British people never leave Europe. That's not so different to most Americans never leaving America.

I am not sure that's true. I don't know anyone who hasn't left Europe. I am sure there are some people who don't leave Europe but I think it's quite common for British people to travel to for e.g. Egypt, India, Australia/NZ, and actually the US

BiddyPop · 27/08/2021 10:24

When I was getting my passport, I was told that only 4% of Americans hold a passport. And not all of those are for travel reasons.

The USA is a very large country. With a heck of a lot of people. But because it is so large, there is a lot of variation across it and plenty of interesting places for citizens to visit without ever going outside the borders.

It is also quite an insular country in lots of ways - news is very much headlines on a loop rather than in-depth, domestically focussed (within the State itself, and some national level) mostly, and the small amount of international news there is tends to be focussed on US troops abroad and VERY important international news. So while we would have been hearing about wildfires in California as part of an item about hot conditions causing fires across Europe (France, Greece, Spain etc) and elsewhere (Turkey, Africa) generally a couple of weeks ago, their news will only focus on California and not mention anything outside the US.

There is a lot lower level of holidays in US work - the average is 10 days per year. Employment conditions generally are not as good as in the EU (no paid sick leave, no or very very short mat leave (less than 4 weeks), etc). So there is not the same opportunity to travel long distances for a couple of weeks and have spare time for family emergencies later in the year.

And while there are big variations in the type of people in different parts of the USA, there are many parts where people are happy living their entire lives in relatively confined communities and not travelling at all outside of their local area. I'm not necessarily talking about communes or the like - but communities in the mid-west where small town life is comfortable and people are sufficiently happy, don't have a lot of spare cash, and don't see a need to get out beyond their everyday limits - it is their normal. Whereas there are others in other parts (particularly around big cities, tend to be more affluent areas, tend to be more highly educated to University level and have professional jobs etc) who would see travel right across the US and internationally as something that would be good to do. I know that's a sweeping generalisation - people in small town mid-west states do also travel and also move away, and some living in big cities never leave their own small neighbourhoods within that city.

I'll also point out that I live in a country smaller than the UK and, other than travelling here from the US when I was less than a year, I didn't travel internationally again until I was 25 and I was not deprived. We had summer holidays every year growing up, just here in this country (and I have holidayed here quite a few years since then also).

But I have also been to the far side of the planet (USA, Canada, Cuba, China, etc) for holidays as well as plenty across the UK and rest of Europe, and a fair amount of travel for work both within Europe and further afield.

I hope at some stage to go further afield within the USA and Canada as there are so many interesting places to see there (we have been a few times but US has been along the East coast only, only passing through the middle in transit, but along the length of that coast from Cape Cod down to Florida Keys).

BiddyPop · 27/08/2021 10:36

I should probably also say that we were relatively unusual growing up - in that we actually went on holidays. Most people we grew up with never went away, or if they did, they visited family in the city 25 miles away or camped at the beach 50 miles away (rather than going to the beach 2 miles away) but never actually left our county, let alone the country.

By the time I was starting to travel, most of my group of friends had been on multiple foreign holidays once they had started working - package beach holidays in Spain, Portugal, Canaries etc. I was one of the first to do a city break going to Paris. And there are still a couple who have settled in the home village and have never been abroad (but have holidayed in this country).

Different things suit different people. Including whether or not you travel, and where you will go on those travels.

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