Have you traveled (specifically - vacationed) out of your home country?

[creekland]

This came up in a conversation not too long ago and I'm curious to see what our mix of Hive experiences is.  ALL votes are private - no one can see how you voted.

 

I'm only interested in vacation travel - not work imposed travel (vacations added on to work is fine).

 

I'm also only interested in what you've done while you've been old enough to really remember and were involved in the decision - not when you were three (or similar).

 

Whatever country you are living in now counts.  It doesn't matter if you lived in another one in ages past.  Well, if you recently moved (like within the past year or two), answer based upon what your plans are or will be, not what has been in that short period of time.

Edited August 7, 2017 by creekland

[Arctic Bunny]

I picked I travel internationally and enjoy it, but would edit that to say that finances stop us from doing any travel as much as we would like.

[desertstrawberry5]

i have travelled out of the country in the past, and will in the future, but have not in recent years for financial reasons. 

 

Edit: My passport is expired and my family members do not have them. we travelled on military IDs, and before they were as necessary as they are now. We will get up to date passports soon so that we can at least go to Mexico. It's a day trip from here. 

Edited August 6, 2017 by desertstrawberry5

[solascriptura]

Most often, our vacations are out of the country in order to visit family. I also love to visit Canada.

[creekland]

I didn't have a choice in the last question, so I just chose the second choice. I won't travel internationally for health reasons, which totally sucks. 😡☹ï¸

 

Thanks for pointing that out.  I added another option.  If you want to, you can delete your vote and vote again - your choice.   :grouphug: for the travel restriction.

[Caclcoca]

Before we had children, my husband and I traveled internationally a little.  Since children, the finances have not agreed with leaving the country.  My passport is expired.  I have wanderlust though, and I long to take my children to another country.  I would love for them to have passports.  

[MistyMountain]

I only did a day trip to the two border countries when we lived near them not an extended trip. We did a day trip to Quebec when camping in NY near the border and a day trip to Tijuana when living in San Diego. We did travel through Canada but it was not vacationing. You did not need a passport for Canada when we went so I have never had a passport.

Edited August 6, 2017 by MistyMountain

[Lady Florida.]

It's been many years since I traveled outside the country but I hope to again someday before it's too late for me. I've been to several Caribbean islands on a cruise (in the days before cruises took you to their own private islands), England (twice), Wales, Ireland (the Repubilc, not Northern), and Belgium. I don't currently have a passport and haven't had one since before 9/11.

Edited August 6, 2017 by Lady Florida.

[Carol in Cal.]

I used to vacation outside of the US sometimes.  I would like to do it again, but it has been quite a while, my passport has expired and anyway I have no immediate plans to do so.

[luuknam]

Not a huge fan of the answer choices... like, I live in the US, less than an hour from the border, but I've never been on vacation in Canada... now, we flew out of Toronto because it was cheaper than flying out of the US, and we've been to Niagara Falls, ON, twice, but just for a couple of hours tops or so. My current passport has been used for vacation abroad only once... my previous passport I don't think I've ever used for vacation abroad... I used it for my year as an exchange student in Thailand, and to move to the US... oh, I guess I did use it once to go on vacation to NL just before it expired. Both vacations to NL were mostly about visiting my parents. It was expired for almost 10 years before I got a new one, because we didn't have the money to go abroad anyway. For Canada, I don't use my passport... that's what my green card is for (okay, it's not "what it's for", but it suffices). I used the green card for Canada when I was sent to Canada a few times as a truck driver (back when we lived in TX). I've been to quite a number of European countries, but that was back when I lived in NL and was on my parents' passport as a kid, or when I had a European Identity card or w/e... not on a passport. 

[creekland]

I am no sure why it matters where people vacation.... 

 

Who says it has to matter? :lol:  I'm curious about preferences - and to see if they match (or come close) to things I've heard in everyday conversation - or not.  The Hive sometimes correlates and sometimes is vastly different.  Creekland often has her curiosity stirred.  ;)

[Loowit]

I have traveled the Canada a few times.  The first few when I was younger didn't require a passport to cross the border.  My 6th grade class took a trip to Victoria, BC for a week and I also went with my parents.  I went once in college with DH and some friends, but we were about an hour from the border in college.  DH and I also took a trip for our anniversary to Victoria, but passports weren't required then either.  Last year we decided to go on a cruise that left port out of Vancouver, BC so I had to get a passport.  DH already had one because he travels for work.  My kids don't have passports, but I would like to get them for them sometime in the next year because I would like to take a vacation into Canada with them.  At some point DH and I would also like to travel to Ireland and visit his relatives there, but that is probably a number of years away.

[mommyoffive]

Who says it has to matter? :lol:  I'm curious about preferences - and to see if they match (or come close) to things I've heard in everyday conversation - or not.  The Hive sometimes correlates and sometimes is vastly different.  Creekland often has her curiosity stirred.   ;)

 

Let us know after awhile what you heard in your conversations. 

[Guest]

I will say this: though I have liked the international travel I have done, and plan to do more in my lifetime, I don't do remotely as much as I would like to for multiple reasons. Chiefly finances, but also having a willing travel companion (DH doesn't want to; my daughter does, but then that generally comes back to finances), the ability to be far away for long (don't want to fly to Europe, only to hurry back in five days), and lastly my comfort level and confidence related to navigating a foreign country on my own (which comes back to having a travel companion).

 

I also have a tension in general wherein I simultaneously like new experiences and also am aprehensive when I don't really have the lay of the land. I'm very good with things that are well planned, but kinda terrible at winging it as a situation unfolds.

[Lanny]

We would travel a lot more, if we had a lot more income.  We live in Colombia, so we are close to everywhere in the Americas (North and South), and about 9 (?) hours from Europe. We all have valid passports. DD has 2, because she is a Dual Citizen.  There's a raffle in the drug store. The winner can select a car, something else, or a trip for 3 to Orlando.  I signed up for Orlando.  Nonstop Orlando...     Only the lack of funds is preventing us from traveling more often. 

 

OT: Something many people who do not travel do not understand is that travel can be very stressful.  It's nice to come back to your own house and your own bed, no matter how wonderful the vacation was. 

[SKL]

Finances are a big deal.  I couldn't really travel until I had paid off my student loans.  Now I'm in a now-or-never phase and we try to make 2 trips per year.

 

I just bought a scratch-off map for my kids to record where all they've traveled.  It's fun for us.  :)

[luuknam]

How am I the only person within an hour or two from the border?

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I have never traveled out of the US and I have never had a passport. 

 

Both of my children have active passports and have traveled internationally.

 

 

ETA: Now that I think about it, DH and I are the only ones in either of our families to have never vacationed outside the US.

Edited August 6, 2017 by Scoutermom

[Guest]

How am I the only person within an hour or two from the border?

The US is dang big? 😉 We can go to Canada with what I consider relative ease, but it's still a solid 8 hours or more.

[OneStepAtATime]

Your poll doesn't really represent why I don't travel more.  Yes, finances are certainly an issue but also, the rest of my family doesn't travel well and I don't like traveling much all by myself.

[Jane in NC]

Hmmm...won't let me vote.  Is that because I am leaving the last question blank or is it just not my day?

 

Like Creekland, I share a love of travel.  Vacations are always a priority for us. Our trips out of the country were fewer when my son was younger and we were focused on saving money for college, etc. 

 

I grew up closer to the Canadian border though.  It was common for us to vacation or shop in Canada--back in the day before passports were needed.

[Mabelen]

How am I the only person within an hour or two from the border?

I do live actually about 30-45 minutes from the southern border. I didn't pick that answer because the only time I went through that border was when I lived in Europe and came to the U.S. for a vacation. We included a 3 day stay Mexico, but that was well before the drug cartels got cozy there.

 

I do vacation sometimes abroad, but the vacation part is always a small part of family visits. My family is in Spain, my husband's close family is in two different continents. If we had more disposable income, or if my family had more disposable income and visited us sometimes, we would schedule more vacations overseas unrelated to family visits.

[Butter]

I debated which answer for the first question.  I do live just over two hours from the border (Mexico), but I've never been to Mexico so I just went with I live in a large country.  My MIL lives in Ireland and her family is in England.  So, out of country travel for us is to visit family.  (I went to Canada a few times, but they were all pre-passport needed.)

[Bootsie]

most people in the US don't even live within an hour or two of the border of their STATE, let alone an international border. I live near the OH/IN but it's 4 hours to get to the opposite border. North/south it's at least 2 hrs but probably more like three or so the other way. Some other states are large enough that it's a full days drive feomenone end to the other.

About 2/3 of the US population live within 100 miles of a US land or coastal border.  Many of those living on the coastal borders, are going to be within a 100 miles of another state.   Given that, I would think that most people in the US do live within a two hour drive of another state or country.

[mamaraby]

I had a passport, but it expired. I traveled to Europe once for work and that's my only international trip. We don't vacation anywhere let alone internationally because of finances. I sent my kids to summer camp. That was the extent of my vacation funds.

[luuknam]

most people in the US don't even live within an hour or two of the border of their STATE, let alone an international border.

 

 

Um, not convinced that's true (just imagine coloring areas in as wide as on the map below around the borders of each state... almost everybody would live within 100 miles from another state (yes, I know 100!=2 hours... I can't find a map with hours). Now, I don't think half live within 2 hours of an international border (unless you count the coastal borders), but even if you subtract those, you can see that there are a number of major cities within 100 miles from the land borders (and realistically, in many places you could live more than 100 miles from the border and still live within 2 hours from the border):

 

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights-governments-100-mile-border-zone-map

 

PS using this map because it's the first one I found with relevant (and irrelevant) border areas colored in... ignore the politics. 

[SKL]

How am I the only person within an hour or two from the border?

 

The Great Lakes - the nearest bridges to Canada are kinda far on both sides.  (If you mean driving time.)

 

Also - no offense to Canadians, but when you live close enough to drive to the next country, to me it doesn't feel like international travel.  Especially since you didn't even need a passport to cross over until recently.  :)

[regentrude]

Immigrant here. We travel regularly to our country of origin to visit family.

When we lived there, we traveled frequently to other countries.

However, very often it is not possible to separate vacation and business travel. If DH goes for a conference, and we come along, is that business or vacation? If he lives in another country temporarily  for work and we come along, what is that?

Edited August 6, 2017 by regentrude

[SKL]

OK I was thinking w/in 2 hours of another country's border.  That would change the answer for many.

[luuknam]

OK I was thinking w/in 2 hours of another country's border.  That would change the answer for many.

 

 

No, I think that's what was meant - within 2 hours of Canada/Mexico (for people in the US), or within 2 hours from the US (if Canadian), or within 2 hours of quite a number of countries if Russian, or w/e. 

[SKL]

I should probably add that when my kids were little, up to age 4, I didn't travel internationally because I didn't have their US passports yet.  They needed a bunch of immigration oriented paperwork to be done, and although it may have been legal to travel before that was all done, I didn't feel comfortable doing so.  So during those years, we limited our travels to driving within the US borders.

[LMD]

I have been overseas twice, I live in Australia. My passport is expired now. We're home bodies, travel isn't a priority for us right now. There are only a couple of places that we would be interested in seeing.

[bluemongoose]

I traveled internationally before settling down to have a family. It is now too expensive for all of us to go, I'd love to though!

[RootAnn]

The third option doesn't have a choice for those of us who do travel, does it? (Makes it hard to answer the poll, although obviously a lot of people have figured out how to do it.)  :hat:

[Word Nerd]

I previously lived overseas and took several other out-of-country trips. My passport is expired now though. International travel isn't in the budget for us now and I can't be away from my job for very long anyway.

[creekland]

Let us know after awhile what you heard in your conversations. 

 

The conversation was based upon this:

 

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/04/off-the-grid-why-americans-travel-domestic-instead-1.html

 

And reasons that came up in the conversation more or less matched the choices I gave as options.  I expected finances to be the biggest issue.  Others thought differently - including sheer distance (except for those living near a border), etc.  They noted it was easier to travel elsewhere if one lived in smaller countries making it more akin to traveling to different states here.  That's entirely possible, of course.  I was mainly curious as to how much was finances.

 

The current passport question was to see how closely we matched stats - knowing most on here are in the US.  I suspect our stats to be higher since I want to include everyone, but how much higher?

 

Also - no offense to Canadians, but when you live close enough to drive to the next country, to me it doesn't feel like international travel.  Especially since you didn't even need a passport to cross over until recently.  :)

 

Having grown up on the Canadian border and going there often annually - not easy to count how often TBH - it's tough for me to consider Canada a foreign country.  ;)  It is one though - folks around where I live now remind me of that.

 

Immigrant here. We travel regularly to our country of origin to visit family.

When we lived there, we traveled frequently to other countries.

However, very often it is not possible to separate vacation and business travel. If DH goes for a conference, and we come along, is that business or vacation? If he lives in another country temporarily  for work and we come along, what is that?

 

I mentioned that vacations added to work were fine?   :confused1:  I think it's really common to add extra time to work to create a vacation.

 

The third option doesn't have a choice for those of us who do travel, does it? (Makes it hard to answer the poll, although obviously a lot of people have figured out how to do it.)  :hat:

 

Three of the last four choices offered were intended so everyone could answer the poll (since I know folks have to answer every question even if they're not in "the" category the question is about).  The last option was an add on I didn't think about when creating the poll.

[creekland]

FWIW... so far my thoughts seem to be correct for the Hive.   :coolgleamA:   More of us have passports than "usual" stats - using them for international travel - and finances tend to be the stopping point for the majority who would like to do some (or more).

 

NOTE:  No other response or way of thinking or things one enjoys is wrong(!), I just wanted to see how my online friends measured up to some local folks (not many of whom travel internationally - some wish they could - others have no desire - passport ownership tends to match the stats given in the article).  We're all different with travel, and that's ok.

[Matryoshka]

I wasn't sure to pick 'often' or 'sometimes' for how often I travel.  It's usually at least a few years between trips - I think that's more sometimes than often?  If we picked my whole family, it would be more often - both dds 19 have been abroad this year, but without me. Boo.  Finances are a constraint; we've only gone abroad as a whole family once (and once more with almost everyone - me & kids went and stayed mostly with family; dh stayed home).

 

I just found out I'll be going abroad next year (but just me), and for free!  I'm going to accompany my friend as a chaperone on an international exchange trip to Spain. :D

 

Our family always tries to keep our passports current.  Even if we don't go anywhere super-often, it's nice to feel like we can. :)

About 2/3 of the US population live within 100 miles of a US land or coastal border.  Many of those living on the coastal borders, are going to be within a 100 miles of another state.   Given that, I would think that most people in the US do live within a two hour drive of another state or country.

 

 

It is an interesting question, I'm not sure whether more than half of the US live within 100 miles of another state or country.  Thinking about the most populous cities in the US:

 

New York City: yes

Los Angeles: no

Chicago: yes

Houston: no (close ?)

Phoenix: no 

 

I would say, though, for the question at hand, the coast shouldn't count as a border, because you can't drive across it to get to another country to visit.  Practically all of Florida is within 100 miles of the coast, but most people in Florida live more than 100 miles away from the nearest US state, and no one in Florida can drive to another country in a couple of hours.

[heartlikealion]

I don't know how to vote exactly on the last one. I would travel again if I could.

 

Yes, I have traveled outside of the country. My passport expired so I would need a new one. I don't currently travel because of finances, dh has hang ups with airplanes, would be hectic with toddler imo, and I suppose potential issues with dh getting enough time off work? 

 

When I traveled I was about to enter my senior year of high school. I went with one sister and my parents to Europe. Everyone in my family had been to Europe previously except me. Yes, I remember it, but it was also kind of a blur. We went to too many places in a short period (France, Ireland, The Netherlands, England, and Germany. I think I was the only one that went to Germany that visit. I rode a train by myself and met up with a German high school friend for a day or so. She had gone to my American high school) and I was jet lagged. I was a bit sour during the trip because my family didn't really want to do certain things with me "we've done that." I walked up the Arch of Triumph all by myself. I also only speak English so had to rely heavily on others (my dad and sister speak French). And I never got used to any currency. My sister had some money and I was like, "hey, I need some money to go to the bathroom" :laugh:  Because you know, a lot of places you have to pay.

[creekland]

I would say, though, for the question at hand, the coast shouldn't count as a border, because you can't drive across it to get to another country to visit.  Practically all of Florida is within 100 miles of the coast, but most people in Florida live more than 100 miles away from the nearest US state, and no one in Florida can drive to another country in a couple of hours.

 

:iagree:  The coast only counts for smaller island countries near others - as in the Caribbean.  It certainly doesn't make it easier to go to a different country if one has to cross an ocean (or the Great Lakes) first!

 

I grew up a mile from Canada (and that mile was a river, but there was a bridge).  It was super common for kids in my area to have been out of country (to Canada) but not to another state.  The closest state border (VT) was about 3 hours.  Our school did many field trips to Canada.  Now that passports or enhanced driver's licenses are needed even fewer folks "back home" cross the border, but it's certainly easier in some areas than others.  Of course, there have always been some who had no desire to cross the border for one reason or another too, but still, it's easier - similar to smaller countries.

[BarbecueMom]

I've been outside the U.S. once - honeymoon in Cancun (FIL set it up and paid for it, otherwise we would not have had a honeymoon at all). You didn't need a passport back then, and I've never had one. It was fine. Just going back to our apartment and doing nothing for a week would have been fine too.

 

I have zero desire to travel. Flying and driving are just different types of hell.

[creekland]

I don't know how to vote exactly on the last one. I would travel again if I could.

 

Yes, I have traveled outside of the country. My passport expired so I would need a new one. I don't currently travel because of finances, dh has hang ups with airplanes, would be hectic with toddler imo, and I suppose potential issues with dh getting enough time off work? 

 

When I traveled I was about to enter my senior year of high school. I went with one sister and my parents to Europe. Everyone in my family had been to Europe previously except me. Yes, I remember it, but it was also kind of a blur. We went to too many places in a short period (France, Ireland, The Netherlands, England, and Germany. I think I was the only one that went to Germany that visit. I rode a train by myself and met up with a German high school friend for a day or so. She had gone to my American high school) and I was jet lagged. I was a bit sour during the trip because my family didn't really want to do certain things with me "we've done that." I walked up the Arch of Triumph all by myself. I also only speak English so had to rely heavily on others (my dad and sister speak French). And I never got used to any currency. My sister had some money and I was like, "hey, I need some money to go to the bathroom" :laugh:  Because you know, a lot of places you have to pay.

 

I tried to add another option, because yes, the added "needs" of international travel can make it more difficult to do even if one could afford it.  You'd have to decide what your #1 reason is.  The data isn't being collected for anything, so it's ok to make your "best guess."  ;)

[shawthorne44]

Um, not convinced that's true (just imagine coloring areas in as wide as on the map below around the borders of each state... almost everybody would live within 100 miles from another state (yes, I know 100!=2 hours... I can't find a map with hours). Now, I don't think half live within 2 hours of an international border (unless you count the coastal borders), but even if you subtract those, you can see that there are a number of major cities within 100 miles from the land borders (and realistically, in many places you could live more than 100 miles from the border and still live within 2 hours from the border):

 

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights-governments-100-mile-border-zone-map

 

PS using this map because it's the first one I found with relevant (and irrelevant) border areas colored in... ignore the politics. 

 

 

I'm in Texas, I'd have to drive longer than that to reach the border to the nearest state.   

If Mexico were safe to drive into to visit, we would totally do that.   We did that when I was a kid, and I loved it.   But, thanks to the corruption and drug lords and kidnappings I have no interest.   

In my case, I did international travel when I was younger and single.   Then I sat down one day and realized I'd been to more countries than states, and I'd been to California more than I'd vacationed in my own wonderful state.  So, now my focus is on local travel.   Although, even then, except for the one trip to Europe, all my international travel was for scuba diving.   

[Sarah CB]

I've been to nine different states, France, England and Cuba.

[SKL]

It's true that you can't compare US citizens to Europeans in this regard.  It's so easy to travel around Europe once you're in Europe.  :)  And you could travel for many years around the US before you saw all the interesting things here.  And also, many countries have fairly long mandatory vacations, so the whole "work gets in the way" issue isn't there to the same degree it is here.

 

I really enjoy traveling, but I also know that I'm privileged to be able to do it.  My kids and I don't have issues with it, and I have the ability to finance it.  Also I can take my work with me.  I always work when I travel, though I rarely travel for work.  :)

 

I do know some US people who don't like to travel.  I am sure there are people in other countries who don't like to travel either.  :)  Especially if you take away the option of using their passenger train system; many US people don't have convenient access to a similar mode of travel.

[rocassie]

Expenses mainly.  Most of our travel is by car.  The Canada border is within an hour so we have gone to or driven through Canada several times which is why I maintain our passports - well really the enhanced drivers' license.  When I was employed I used to have to cross the Detroit/Windsor border several times a year so my employer actually reimbursed the cost of my passport.  I'd love to travel to Europe again as well as some other international places but right now it's just to expensive for us.  Right now our vacations typically consist of camping near home.

[kiwi mum]

I couldn't answer because I live in a small country with no other countries around by land or boat. I have lived in two other countries as well (one large one small) and have always lived close to a border but it has always been a sea border with the only option being to fly out.

 

I have traveled internationally a lot, both to live and for vacations, within Australasia, Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East. My passport is currently expired and I don't plan to travel in the next five years (partly financial, partly health/care-giving responsibilities) but after that I hope to be able to start traveling again.

Edited August 6, 2017 by kiwi mum

[Bootsie]

It is an interesting question, I'm not sure whether more than half of the US live within 100 miles of another state or country.  Thinking about the most populous cities in the US:

 

New York City: yes

Los Angeles: no

Chicago: yes

Houston: no (close ?)

Phoenix: no 

 

I would say, though, for the question at hand, the coast shouldn't count as a border, because you can't drive across it to get to another country to visit.  Practically all of Florida is within 100 miles of the coast, but most people in Florida live more than 100 miles away from the nearest US state, and no one in Florida can drive to another country in a couple of hD

Downtown Houston is just over 100 miles to the Louisiana state line; it can easily be driven in under 2 hours.

[ikslo]

If it had been an option I would have voted that I have a passport, but it has expired.