Why Don’t Americans Consider Traveling Abroad More?

According to recent studies, Europeans are most likely to travel abroad and they do it quite often. They are closely followed by people from developed Asian countries like South Korea, Japan, and China who opened their appetite for international travels in the past decades and will likely continue to visit as many countries as they can afford.

Unfortunately, only 10-12% of Americans travel outside the United States at least once in their lifetime, according to data and statistics from the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI). Here are the main reasons why people from this country still fear traveling abroad.

The United States is self-sufficient

When asked about why they aren’t keen on going abroad even if they could afford it, most Americans answered that their country is big enough to provide everything they ever want in a holiday. With thousands of natural parks, astonishing buildings, beautiful beaches, and iconic roads, you won’t get easily bored in the United States.

And, since it is so big, you’ll most likely find another interesting corner to visit and explore each holiday.

They are focused more on possessions than experiences

Although consumerism may have deeper roots than the average American buyer, many people in the country still put more price on personal assets rather than experiences.

They work hard all their lives to be able to afford the biggest house, the newest car, and the latest pieces of tech, and they would even get into huge debt just to maintain this lifestyle based on extreme consumerism. Americans would rather invest in a good and affordable jack to keep their motorcycle in the garage instead of taking it for a trip around the state.

By comparison, Europeans seem to have gotten over the hype of possessions and focus more on their personal development. They are more prudent in their acquisitions and rarely take credits they can’t afford.

They aren’t keen on driving the latest cars, especially with heavy traffic in all major cities. Their houses aren’t the biggest because they don’t see the reason for owning five bedrooms and four bathrooms if they share the house with their pets alone.

On the other hand, Europeans tend to focus more on what life has to offer them in terms of experiences, and one way to improve themselves as human beings is to know as much as possible about surrounding countries, cultures, and people.

Life is more expensive in the States

There is no surprise that America lacks a universal healthcare system that allows people to worry less about their health if something bad would ever happen. In addition, the educational system is more expensive and creates huge debts for those who do graduate in the end.

In fact, everything seems to cost more here, so, often enough, people need to take a second job just to be able to afford rent, food on their plates, and money for medication. Subsequently, having a second job means less free time to pursue their dreams and desires.

They lack the energy

Another thing people outside the United States can’t seem to get used to is the long distances between everything. It takes at least one hour to commute one way to your job or school, which means you’ll have to wake up earlier and spend time in traffic.

While the average European spends 20-30 minutes in traffic to get to work, Americans are used to driving for 40-50 minutes at the very least to reach their destination.

With one and a half hours spent driving daily, on average, it comes as no surprise that most Americans won’t have enough time and energy to spend with their families. This only puts additional pressure on people, creating stressful situations, and leading to a lack of desire of doing anything at all during the weekends or holidays.

As a result, most Americans over the age of 35 prefer spending their free days working around the house or relaxing in their gardens than picking up their traveling gear and heading to the nearest airport for a city break.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.