Not Enough Americans are Traveling
*For some reason, the most recent statistical information regarding passport ownership dates back to 2018 so I’ll be looking for new info to update this post*
According to Census and State Department data, 21.4 million passports were issued in 2016, which is the most ever. That means that 42% of Americans hold a passport, a growth of 15% since 2007 - this is outstanding news! We’re making progress but compared to the European Union and Australia, Americans are behind when it comes to traveling overseas. Perhaps that’s because we have a big country that’s worth exploring in itself. America the beautiful, I get it. But the the Europeans and Aussies could say the same about their countries. Why is it that Americans won’t cross country borders? Narrow minded? Travel expenses? Many other cultures encourage a gap year & study abroad. Why is this not custom to American students? What would be the reason why America seems to be coming up short on passport ownership?
Travel aversion, not to be confused with hodophobia (fear of travel), is a condition experienced by people that dislike or disapprove of traveling. People who abstain from travel may see traveling more as a chore than as a leisure. Travel-averse people feel well enough at home, and do not see the point in traveling. I met a man from Louisiana, and I will never forget this, who straight up told me he had no desire to leave the state never mind the country. Didn’t see what all the fuss was about. “You can see that shit on TV”. To each their own, but I couldn’t help but feel bad for this guy. How can he not be curious? Not even about places that hold more sentimental value — like where his family heritage is rooted from? I can somewhat understand hodophobia but I will never understand travel aversion.
Cultural and geographical diversity. I wouldn’t say the US does a great job in putting and emphasis on learning about the cultures outside of the US. An example of this would be language.. In the US public school system, you’re not required to take a language course until high school where elementary school students in Europe are being taught a language different from their own. This is why a lot of people you meet outside the US are bilingual. Another example would be the idea that America is a melting pot with many different cultures and and ethnicities among our own streets that we can experience. Because of this, some people may think “then why bother leaving”?
Another reason why Americans find themselves staying within our borders is because of fear or stereotypes towards countries outside the US, sometimes causing us to feel indifferent about going there. A great example of this.. Mexico. Our president has done a fabulous job at classifying the country of Mexico as a land of drug lords and rapists. “It’s dangerous there, I’ll get robbed” is the common thought. The media pushes these fabricated stereotypes that falsely identify countries as places that we should avoid. I think people forget that Mexico holds fascinating ancient history and serves up some pretty delicious food; it’s worth the visit! A stereotype about India would be “I don’t want to go there, it smells there”. I mean, come on people.. it smells in New Jersey too! And have you ever even been to India to actually know it smells? Or are you just assuming that it does because they use curry in their cooking? These are overblown images and stereotypes that are pushed by the media and by TV shows that negatively influence Americans into thinking a visit to this country isn’t worth their time.
Americans receive an average of 14 vacation days from their employer and studies show that on average most of us only use 10 of those days. Research done by Expedia suggests the most common reason why people couldn’t take full advantage of their vacation time was because “work got in the way”. In Europe, workers are granted at least 6 weeks PAID vacation.. where, here in America, we’ll take whatever we can get which is usually on average 2 weeks out of 52! Which - hold on - where can you even go for 2 weeks?! Take into consideration travel time to get to your destination. So instead of 14 days, now you’re really only getting to spend 12 days in this country. And 12 days is just NOT ENOUGH time to get the full experience and visit more than one major city! The US is the ONLY country out of 20 of the most advanced economies that doesn’t require workers to have paid time off. This may be the main contributing factor to the pattern of Americans not going on a vacation - we can’t afford to take off work and not get paid while paying out of pocket for a trip. We almost feel guilty about rewarding ourselves these measly 2 weeks off from work because there’s bills to pay and work that needs to be done. Of course, cost of travel doesn’t always have to be major but for those with lower household incomes, it’s hard to prioritize travel when you’re struggling to get by.
In my time overseas, I realized that it’s popular and highly encouraged for Europeans and Aussies to study abroad or take a year off between college and career path to travel. This idea is not custom to Americans. This is because the US emphasizes making money over taking leisure time. Once you graduate college, people are looking to get right to work to pay off student loans. Research from US Travel recorded that the average age for leisure travel is 47 years old. Why wait so long? My idea is, if you’re going to be working so diligently you should reward yourself for your efforts.. who’s to say you’ll even reach 47 years old!
These are all reasons why America seems to be coming up short on passport ownership. In time, the percentages should rise and we could be on the same playing field as our friends in Europe and Australia. We owe it ourselves to discover what else is out there in the world!
— If you’re someone reading this who doesn’t own a passport, feel free to leave a comment section down below! Even people who do have one - do you use it as often as you’d like to? Whether it be finances, no interest to travel, can’t get time off work or any other reason that springs to mind. No judgement from me! I’m just curious and doing my own little research :)
