Comments on: An Analysis of “Why Americans still don’t travel overseas”

By: morriswt

morriswt — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:03:17 +0000

Thanks for the comment Anne!

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:00:55 +0000

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.

By: morriswt

morriswt — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:30:43 +0000

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.

By: Ross

Ross — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:20:26 +0000

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?

By: morriswt

morriswt — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:49:11 +0000

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

By: Ross

Ross — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:43:11 +0000

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.

By: brian from nodebtworldtravel.com

brian from nodebtworldtravel.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:26:09 +0000

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.