An Analysis of “Why Americans still don’t travel overseas”
I follow a number of travel blogs on my RSS reader, one of them being Nomadic Matt’s site. When I saw his recent article on “Why Americans STILL don’t travel overseas?“, I wanted to see what Matt had to say on this subject. After I read the article, I thought it raised something interesting points, but as I had more time to think about Matt’s post, I realized that Matt made a lot of assumptions and left out considerations that made his arguments to appear stronger than what they are.
What really struck me though was the number of people in the comments that were giving praise to the post. As of 11/7/09, I only noted one comment that pointed out how ignorant the post sounded. One reason I have decided to write this post is to show the weakness of the arguments presented.
In his article titled, “Why Americans STILL don’t travel overseas“, Matt attempts to address prior arguments such as cost and the geographic size of U.S. and goes on to explain the primary reason for Americans not traveling overseas is really cultural ignorance. It’s Matt’s assumptions and how he addresses the counter arguments to the issue of why Americans do not travel overseas that I particularly disagree with.
First, Matt assumes that the majority of Americans are like him – single with no obligations. This simply is not the case. The majority of Americans are married or have obligations such as work, house and car payments, families to take care of, and limited time to travel. More importantly, Matt assumes that Americans have a desire to travel to the same places that he travels. This is something that can not automatically be assumed.
Matt uses his assumptions to address the cost argument of travel. He states,
“A flight from LAX to BKK is $787 dollars. A flight from London to BKK is $654. A flight from Sydney to BKK is $794. Americans bear no extra cost burden relative to the rest of the world.”
This sounds like a great point to support his argument that cost really is not an issue when it comes to traveling except he does not factor in that not everyone is single like himself. So let’s look at his example prices. He quotes a price of $787 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Bangkok (BKK).
- For a married couple with no children, the total cost for those flights would be $1,574.
- For a married couple with 1 child, the total cost from LAX to BKK would be $2,361.
- For a married couple with 2 children, the total cost from LAX to BKK would be $3,148
The second problem with Matt’s cost argument is not everyone lives in Los Angeles and will start their trip where they actually do live. So let’s look at a few other major cities and see what the cost of that trip to Bangkok is.
(Note: I used kayak.com to perform month long searches for the lowest airfare in April 2010 and July 2010)
I live in Minneapolis (MSP) myself, so the lowest cost for myself to get to BKK is $1,069 in April 2010 (off peak) and over $1,500 if I wanted to travel in July 2010 (peak). Start multipling those numbers by 2 (married with no kids), 3 (married with 1 kid), and 4 (married with 2 kids) and you can quickly see how costs can increase for those families that want to travel overseas.
I also checked the cost to fly to Bangkok from Chicago and New York City. Respectively, the cheapest I could find from Chicago is $800 per person in April 2010 and $1,317 in July 2010. From NYC, the lowest cost per person is $922 in April 2010 and $980 in July 2010.
The other thing about cost you have to consider for Americans is cost relative to other places within the U.S. For example, the lowest cost flights between LAX and NYC are $307 and $310 in April 2010 and July 2010. That’s about 1/3 the price of flying to Bangkok from NYC. One might be able to understand why Americans choose the flight with a lower cost.
Finally, I think that cost is a major factor in why Americans are not traveling overseas especially in the current economic environment. The official unemployment rate stands at 10.2%, but according to the New York Times, the broader unemployment rate is 17.5% in October 2009. With that many Americans out of work, there is definite reason to say that at this point in time, cost is more than a minor factor in why Americans are not traveling overseas.
The most that you can say about the cost argument is that depends on where in the U.S. you are starting from, what time of the year travel is occuring, where you are traveling to, and how many people are going on the trip. Only after those facts are known can one determine if cost will be factor, but for the majority of Americans, cost is a major factor due to having mortgages, credit card bills, car payments, and families to take with them on travel.
The second problem I have with Matt’s analysis is when he discusses cultural ignorance. The words “cultural ignorance” is used in a subjective manner and is not clearly defined by Matt. He criticizes the U.S. media and politicians for influencing Americans opinion of travel and goes on to use a quote by Bill O’Reilly, a conservative news commentator. I seriously doubt the majority of Americans care what Bill O’Reilly says and would not agree that O’Reilly’s opinions represent what the majority of Americans think. I also find it odd that Matt mentions Politicians as painting the world as a scary place, yet I would say the current Administration lead by President Obama is doing now more than ever to reach out to those places deemed as “scary” and “full of terrorists” by giving policy speeches in the Middle East, becoming engaged with European governments, negoiating with Iran, and traveling to Africa.
I do want to focus on the cultural ignorance argument and just how subjective this phrase is. Matt cites that education budgets are being slashed for world history, that the entire history of the world has to be covered in one year , and less humanities classes are being offered. While I think it is important for these types of classes to be offered, let me give some other examples of being “cultured” for you to think about. How about the American who speaks and learns multiple foreign languages? How about the American who has many friends from different countries and backgrounds but those friends live in U.S.? How about the American who goes to various areas in their city such as “Little Italy”, “Chinatown”, or “Little Somalia” to stay connected with people that share a common background? How about the American that lived in a country for months or years but now has a family or job in the U.S. ? How about the American who has family that immigrated to America and still celebrates their family’s background? The point is that there are multiple ways to be “cultured” without always having to travel to another country.
The third issue I have is Matt’s analysis of geographic size. He states,
“It’s not that America’s size makes travel prohibitive, its size is important because people feel there is no reason to leave. We don’t need to travel to “big scary places” when we have deserts, tropical islands, mountains, endless summer, wilderness, snow, and more. Every landscape can be found within America’s large borders.”
I highly doubt this is the line of reasoning Americans use when they visit the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Hawaii, or the Rocky Mountains. People go to those places because they want to not because they are afraid of traveling outside the U.S. He also completely discounts the cost factor and maybe people want to enjoy what they have near them.Try telling a person in Colorado that they should go somewhere else to enjoy the mountains when they are within driving distance of the Rockies. Try telling a person from Minnesota that they should not enjoy their cabin on the lake for rest and relaxation.
I actually got quite a chuckle when Matt gave his example of his friend from Iowa. I happen to be originally from Iowa and have done my own significant traveling outside of the U.S. His example does not represent what all Iowans think of traveling and is merely an example. I bet that you could probably find examples of what Matt’s friend experienced with their co-workers with people in other countries saying to their own friends and co-workers “Why do you need to go to such and such place, when there is such and such here.”
The fourth issue I have is around the vacation time issue. Matt acknowledges the choice that Americans have made to focus on work and money, however, I am not sure where he gets his examples of travel being viewed as weak in the corporate environment. He states,
“It’s a sign that your work isn’t important, you aren’t a team player, or you are lazy. Workers are made to feel guilty about leaving their co-workers and responsibilities behind.”
I have worked for a consulting firm and currently work for a major health care payer. The management and leadership messages have always encouraged using your vacation and scheduling time off. No where in those messages were workers called out for not being a team player or being lazy. Matt goes on to point out that there is a growing trend of only taking a week of vacation at a time. Perhaps the reason there is a growing trend to take only 1 week of vacation is because currently Americans can not afford to take 2 weeks off in row due to financial and personal obligations.
My final issue with the post is that it lacks a call to action. Matt provides no recommendations to improve something he thinks is a problem. He does imply that education budgets need to be increased and humanities classes do need to continue to be offered, but I would have liked to see Matt make a few recommendations on how Americans could be become less “culturally ignorant” or some steps he feels the country needs to take. It would have been interesting to see what he would find acceptable to the perceived problem of “cultural ignorance” and if traveling overseas would have been his preferred recommendation. His article lacks recommendations and weakens the points he was trying to make.
To simply boil down the issue of why Americans don’t travel overseas to a subjective term such as “cultural ignorance” is pretty hard to do for such a complex issue. The issue goes beyond cost, geographic size, and subjective terms like “cultural ignorance”. Additionally, there are multiple ways to be “cultured” without having to travel. Right or wrong, in general, Americans have made choices to have careers, buy houses and cars, start families, visit family in different U.S. cities and states, and pursue their personal goals earlier on in life than their peers in other parts of the world. Americans choices forces them to travel in a different way. Matt has made a choice to do long term travel now instead of having the above stated obligations. Neither choice is more right or wrong – it is a personal choice made by the individual. There are advantages and disadvantages to each choice.
I do want to thank Matt for bringing this issue back up. I think it is important issue to discuss, however, I have to disagree with his analysis. Personally, I think the reason Americans do not travel overseas is complex and involves many factors. It is not possible to nail this issue down to one factor as Matt has attempted to do. Some of it has to do with desire to travel and where to travel. Some of it has to do with cost which is tied to financial obligations and some of it has to personal obligations such as activities that kids are involved in. Additionally, I think that many Americans want to travel, but have made choices, which forces them to travel later in life. Finally, while I think there is a small amount of “cultural ignorance” (whatever that term actually means), I think that its just that – a small minority of people not realizing there’s a world outside of where they live.
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Nice analytical post. Thanks for writing!
I’d say the two main causes are the lack of vacation time and money. With most Americans having only two weeks vacation, most are not willing to go far. They have things at home they’d rather take care then crossing the globe. Unfortunate, but true.
Come on Tim, you’re a consultant you know that the root of any question or problem this big is “complex and involves many factors” But you also know that you have to be able to boil it down to 1-5 steps at the highest level, and devolve from there…
And PS your cost arguments are just as illogical as his, if there are that many people traveling outside the US in, then their costs are multiplied by the same factors. How about we roll “cultural ignorance” into a higher level category – cultural differences. Money or not Americans in general are not as inclined to travel internationally.
Ross,
My cost estimates were merely examples…not meant to generalize across the board. My point is that cost is one of those things that has many other relevant factors and might be issue for someone while at the same time it might not be that much factor for someone else. My main point – was american’s lack of traveling is more than just “cultural ignorance”.
Thanks for stopping by…hope all is well at ACN.
Tim
The site has been on my Google reader list for several months. Keep up the good stuff. When are the D90 and lens reviews coming? I’m toiling our what lenses to pick up for mine, I’ve got the kit and and the 55-200mm torn between the 18-200m and the 70-300mm (full frame)
Just keeping busy delivering High Performance. How’s life in the Big 4?
Hey Ross,
yeah I’ve been kind of busy the last 2 months…I would like to get a review up. I’m in my “post” big4 life now. In January 2009, I joined a Fortune 20 healthcare payer. It has been interesting but I’m already thinking of my next “adventure”.
As for your lens choice, I have the 18-200. I love it. but while i was in China, I found myself wanting a 300mm zoom lens. I think it depends on the shots you like taking. The 18-200 is a good jack of all trades lens. The 70-300 is good for long distance shots. I think I am going to pick up a 70-300 lens next. but that’s just me.
I really enjoyed reading your analysis and it’s dead on. I’m an American who was in the military for a long time and traveled in a number of countries, much of which was paid for by myself once I was stationed overseas (i.e. going to China while being stationed in Japan, etc). Now that I am out of the military and live in the U.S., although I am “very” inclined to travel overseas, a number of factors persuade me to think otherwise and cost is the numero uno of them all. For instance, in my case, I think that it is too expensive to travel overseas and a trip to Moscow over Christmas that I was very interested in would cost me approximately $3,000.00 or more once all of the costs get factored in. This also goes for many other destinations in Europe and elsewhere overseas. It’s even a big expense to travel within the borders of the United States. Tonight, I priced a trip to Seattle, Washington and it was in the neighborhood of what it would cost for me to travel to Amsterdam. Here, we don’t have Ryanair for a pound a trip that Europeans have. We also don’t have the close geographic country borders found on most continents except for the ones in the south bordering Mexico and in the North bordering Canada. I also feel that spending so much money for a diversion really makes me feel guilty when I see so many people around me, many of whom have recently gone bankrupt due to the bad economy. In my mind, it’s just not the right thing for me to do at the moment. In addition, there are also other factors which I take into account as well such as attacks on Americans and other westerners in foreign countries such as the fairly recent one in Mombay at a very elite hotel in which some people died in Al Quada style. When I looked up what that meant, the manner in which they died really quenched some of my desire to travel overseas. And believe me, “many” people do not like Americans abroad and I’ve met many of them. So who needs the stress of that when you want to take a break from work and relax. Another issue is the current state of airline travel such as overbookings with resulting missed flights, long delays, multiple layovers spaced so close together, that the whole trip is filled with anxiety, etc, which I have been subjected to in the past couple of years, and frankly I’m tired of. The list could go on and on, but hopefully, people can get the picture: a staycation here in the U.S. such as a day or two in New York City to see the Christmas lights has become my preferred mode of travel with the most stressful aspect being walking down the street to the Amtrak station–at least for now.
Thanks for the comment Anne!