4 ms·

Thanks, I'll check that book out... I've never been out of the country.

ci5er 9y ago
A lot of Europeans take some months (up to a year or more) to backpack across various regions and get service jobs in various countries for a month or 6 weeks while living at youth hostels. Lonely Planet press has books about this for various regions of the world. When I (a USian) went backpacking across Tibet (being held up in Chengdu trying to even get to Tibet) and then Nepal with a friend of mine (also a USian) about 20 years ago, I met Tibetans (of course), Chinese (of course), a couple of Japanese, Australians and Canadians. But mostly British and continental Europeans. Call it 100~200 foreigners over about 6 weeks. Not. A. Single. American. Not one. [Yeah - I know: anecdote is not the singular of data] Comparatively - Americans don't seem to get out much. In terms of global travel, I mean...
- EADGBE 9y ago
  > Comparatively - Americans don't seem to get out much. In terms of global travel, I mean... Probably has something to do with the generic distaste the rest of the world has for the US (going back more presidents than I've been alive for). Of course, the US has a lot to offer me; before I plop down the cold hard cash to travel abroad. If I want to be frugal, or take my time, my own personal car will take me to the continual 48 (+1, technically with passport). I'll get to see more cultures than I'd like to admit, and even more varying landscape/climate. Plus all of my money works all over. It's ideal (to me).
  - ci5er 9y ago
    That makes sense. Interests vary across individuals - and certainly some people have both less a taste for the exotic and less comfort visiting places where English might not be spoken than others. And, traveling the US is great!
- deadmetheny 9y ago
  If I had to wager a guess, it would be due to international travel being a bit more difficult for Americans, what with large oceans between us and most the rest of the world. That, and the fact that the continental US itself is larger than Europe. I feel like a lot of Europeans don't really realize how vast the USA really is.
  - ci5er 9y ago
    > I feel like a lot of Europeans don't really realize how vast the USA really is. That's true! And conversely - we (Americans) don't really "get" how compact all of Western Europe is. A few years ago, I had a friend fly from Zurich to La Guardia (maybe JFK?), and when he landed he called me in Austin, Texas. He said: "I'll get a rental car now - and see you in several hours". I said: "No you won't."
    - deadmetheny 9y ago
      Very true. I was amazed at the lack of undeveloped land in western Europe, being from the Midwestern USA where most of the land is open.
    - AnimalMuppet 9y ago
      I think that at least part of the problem is that, no matter how big the country is, you print the map on the same sized piece of paper. You make the GIF for the website the same size. This blows peoples' intuitive understanding of the magnitude of the size differences between countries.
      - ci5er 9y ago
        I hadn't thought of that. I have noticed the Mercator projection leading people to think that Canada is larger than Africa, though...

A lot of Europeans take some months (up to a year or more) to backpack across various regions and get service jobs in various countries for a month or 6 weeks while living at youth hostels. Lonely Planet press has books about this for various regions of the world. When I (a USian) went backpacking across Tibet (being held up in Chengdu trying to even get to Tibet) and then Nepal with a friend of mine (also a USian) about 20 years ago, I met Tibetans (of course), Chinese (of course), a couple of Japanese, Australians and Canadians. But mostly British and continental Europeans. Call it 100~200 foreigners over about 6 weeks. Not. A. Single. American. Not one. [Yeah - I know: anecdote is not the singular of data] Comparatively - Americans don't seem to get out much. In terms of global travel, I mean...

EADGBE 9y ago
> Comparatively - Americans don't seem to get out much. In terms of global travel, I mean... Probably has something to do with the generic distaste the rest of the world has for the US (going back more presidents than I've been alive for). Of course, the US has a lot to offer me; before I plop down the cold hard cash to travel abroad. If I want to be frugal, or take my time, my own personal car will take me to the continual 48 (+1, technically with passport). I'll get to see more cultures than I'd like to admit, and even more varying landscape/climate. Plus all of my money works all over. It's ideal (to me).
- ci5er 9y ago
  That makes sense. Interests vary across individuals - and certainly some people have both less a taste for the exotic and less comfort visiting places where English might not be spoken than others. And, traveling the US is great!
deadmetheny 9y ago
If I had to wager a guess, it would be due to international travel being a bit more difficult for Americans, what with large oceans between us and most the rest of the world. That, and the fact that the continental US itself is larger than Europe. I feel like a lot of Europeans don't really realize how vast the USA really is.
- ci5er 9y ago
  > I feel like a lot of Europeans don't really realize how vast the USA really is. That's true! And conversely - we (Americans) don't really "get" how compact all of Western Europe is. A few years ago, I had a friend fly from Zurich to La Guardia (maybe JFK?), and when he landed he called me in Austin, Texas. He said: "I'll get a rental car now - and see you in several hours". I said: "No you won't."
  - deadmetheny 9y ago
    Very true. I was amazed at the lack of undeveloped land in western Europe, being from the Midwestern USA where most of the land is open.
  - AnimalMuppet 9y ago
    I think that at least part of the problem is that, no matter how big the country is, you print the map on the same sized piece of paper. You make the GIF for the website the same size. This blows peoples' intuitive understanding of the magnitude of the size differences between countries.
    - ci5er 9y ago
      I hadn't thought of that. I have noticed the Mercator projection leading people to think that Canada is larger than Africa, though...