It’s ridiculous that fewer than 30 percent of Americans even own a passport. That’s right, I said it: it is, in fact, ridiculous. It has been some time since my last column of such preface, but as an homage to those readers of the past, and because I still have a good rant left in me, I’ll say it one more time: it’s ridiculous that so few Americans own passports and even fewer have actually ever left the country.
At a British comedy club recently I heard a joke that hinged on this fact that less than 30 percent of Americans own passports. Though I can be as pessimistic about American ignorance as most people, this number seemed impossible to believe.
So I checked it.
According to an article in “USA Today,” 74 million Americans owned passports as of spring 2007. Though that is actually a good number of people, when you realize that there are a little over 304 million people that live in the United States, this number becomes much smaller. The percentage works out to about 24 percent with these numbers.
This is, of course, an old statistic, but most estimates put the current rate up by only a couple of percentages points. The other ridiculous thing to note from this statistic is that having 24 percent is record-breaking. The article probably rightly suggests that this is due to the increased immigration regulations between Canada and the United States.
Plus, Canada hardly counts as a foreign country, anyway.
As an American who is living in London this semester and has spent his free time traveling across England, Scotland, Ireland and mainland Europe, I can honestly say that it is truly sad how few Americans have traveled.
My recent trip across the highlands of Scotland has made this more apparent than ever. We got to see the great castle in Edinburgh, drink fine Scottish whiskey: Scotch: in traditional pubs, wander through streets that are full of history, search for Nessie on the great and beautiful Loch Ness, try to figure out the public buses, fear getting attacked by our hostel employee, take long train rides across the British countryside and generally learn about a whole different culture.
With so few Americans really and truly knowing what it is like to live and get around in a foreign country, it’s no wonder others think we are arrogant pricks. It is hard to defend our nation to weary foreigners when confronted with such startling statistics.
And, really, it is embarrassing to think that a country which arguably holds the most influence internationally out of any country in the world has so few citizens that have actually seen that world about which they are creating policies.
Of course, it is expensive to travel. Not everyone can afford to take romantic vacations across Europe, see the Great Wall of China or hunt for kangaroos in Australia. But there are certainly more than 26 percent of Americans who can afford to travel at some point in their lives.
Also, to be fair, the United States is very large and further away from most foreign countries than Europe for example. Although traveling around the United States is interesting, important and educational, it is not an adequate substitute for seeing at least part of the world.
On average, more than 70 percent of Europeans and between 60 and 70 percent of Australians have passports. Maybe more Americans should step out of our protected bubble and see something really new for a change. If I have done nothing else, then I hope that every person reading this will seriously consider traveling abroad whenever they get the chance. You will not regret it, and neither will the rest of the world.
JL • Aug 17, 2010 at 11:26 am
Derek’s article is particularly relevant for a college newspaper. The steep travel (and time) expenses for Americans are mitigated by being a student — living overseas is the same price (or less) that students are somehow paying anyway in the form of tuition. Whitman is one of the few schools that won’t force students to cover the difference between the cost of the program they’re studying with and a Whitman semester if the Whitman semester is more expensive than the program. If students are paying for it anyway, why not take the adventure?
spencer • May 8, 2010 at 10:40 am
This is so insanely classist.
Wim Mulder • Dec 7, 2009 at 11:43 am
You make some very good arguments about Americans and their travelling habits. I am an international student from the Netherlands and have been studying here for about 2,5 years now. I think Europeans are more accustomed to adapting to different environments. For example: in school we have to learn at least 2 and most of the times 3 foreign languages to begin with. This is mostly out of necessity, you can’t drive for more than a few hours without entering a country that speaks a different language than you do. I do think that it instills an appreciation of cultures though.
Although I love the United States and its diverse landscapes, there is nothing like going to another part of the world and seeing and experiencing for yourself the things that other people might only get to see on TV.
Here’s an important thing to think about though. I have noticed that Americans don’t get a lot of time off. If you get 2 weeks of vacation time in a year, when you start out in a job you’re considered lucky. What can you really do in two weeks? Before you’re adjusted to the climate and time zone change you already have to leave again. In the Netherlands we get at least 5 weeks of vacation a year, and I have no doubt that it is similar in the rest of Europe. People here don’t seem to understand that in order to be productive you have to have plenty of time for relaxation as well. I’ve heard stories where people were discouraged from taking vacation days and their boss made them feel guilty for wanting to leave for a few days. From my experience this is exactly the opposite in the Netherlands and people are actively encouraged to take vacation because a rested employee is a happy employee and a more productive employee. This to me is completely common sense, and could even be backed up by statistics: Europeans are more productive than Americans.
America is a beautiful country, but there is so much more to the world than the United States. I would definitely encourage anyone to go out and see as much places as you can. Travelling doesn’t have to be expensive, although with the current exchange rate between the euro and the dollar it is not very beneficial for Americans. There are always ways to find cheap alternatives though.
Oh, and what is the deal with having to wait for US passports for almost a 100 days? I get my passport 2 days after I request it, is it really that hard to print one?
Henry G. Tabard • Dec 22, 2009 at 1:12 am
Mr. Thurber,
Plus, Canada hardly counts as a foreign country, anyway.
…
My recent trip across the highlands of Scotland has made this more apparent than ever. We got to see the great (!) castle in Edinburgh, drink fine Scottish whiskey—Scotch—in traditional pubs (…), wander through streets that are full of history (!?), search for Nessie on the great and beautiful Loch Ness, try to figure out the public buses, fear getting attacked by our hostel employee (?), take long train rides across the British countryside and generally learn about a whole different culture (???).
Don’t quit your day job, buddy.
H.G. Tabard
Apiculturist, DGA, Sc. Whitman ’79
Derek Thurber • Dec 6, 2009 at 5:58 am
As I just accidentally clicked the submit button without finishing my comment I will continue in a second comment.
Continuing with the money: I do not have any statistics to back this claim up, so you should obviously take it with a grain of salt (and that is true with all my claims that are not supported with hard facts, by the way). But, I believe from my own experiences traveling and my own methods of traveling that a large number of people who do travel are not even within that roughly 45 percent. Many people who travel, and I very much encourage this, travel as young adults and find ways to pay for their own travel as they go. They work abroad, they get scholarships to fund study, or maybe they go with a program like the peace corp which pays for the travel expenses.
Of course, I am still not saying that everyone should, or even could travel abroad through these methods either. But I do believe there are many ways to travel and see the world without having to spend thousands of dollars. I have done it, so I know it’s possible if you just want it bad enough.
Now I would like to turn my attention for a few moments to the assertions about the need to travel abroad. I agree that the United States, by virtue of its immense size and incredibly diverse ecology allows it to be rather self sustaining. And indeed, I firmly believe this is the reason for the lack of travel from Americans and not the distance to other countries.
Take Australia, for example: it is a country that is just slightly smaller than the size as the contiguous 48 states. As I stated in my column, between 50-60 percent of Australians own a passport but Australia is actually not that close to many other countries. They are about 1,740 miles from Indonesia, one of their closest neighbors, and 2,516 miles from New Zealand. Yes, Tazmania and Papa New Guinea are closer than these two, but than again Mexico and Canada, not to mention the Caribbean islands are pretty close to the United States.
Even though Australia is a massive country with great distances between it and other countries, somehow they manage to have more than twice as many citizens with passports for international travel. All of this is not to say that Americans shouldn’t take advantage of the large size of our own country in taking vacations within its border, but it is to say that distance is not necessarily a unsurmountable obstacle.
I sense from this comment that I am now responding to, that the point upon which our disagreement hangs and is likely not going to be resolved is the claim you made that American’s inward looking natures is a benefit and has treated us well. This is an assertion that I have to whole-heartedly disagree with and for lack of a desire to write an entire other column in a comment I will not explain all my reasoning here.
What it boils down to is the fact that I believe many if not most of the major problems the United States is facing today are caused directly by the fact that most americans have so little knowledge and understanding of the rest of the world. Of course, I love my country and I think our history, our culture, our people, and our land are things to be cherished and upheld. But I also think that if more Americans understood the history, culture, people, and land of the rest of the world they would realize that there is so much more to the world than one great nation.
I doubt that this response has changed either of your opinions on this matter, but I hope that it has helped to illuminate some of the other side of the argument. I am glad that you voiced your opinions against me and encourage anyone who disagrees or agrees with my opinion to express that openly and freely in this comments space. I will likely defend my opinion as I have done here, but that is point of having freedom of speech: to create thoughtful and provoking debates which hopefully lead to more open minds and greater understanding on both sides.
Derek Thurber • Dec 6, 2009 at 5:27 am
Thank you both for your comments about my column. You both make very valid points which I believe I touched on–though admittedly very briefly–in my column and would like to address once more.
To begin with: the question of money. I understand that it is very expensive and I never made a claim that all or even most americans should travel abroad. I only said it should be more than 26 percent and according to the latest United Census on income 44.93 percent of american households earn more than 50,000 dollars a year. Not every one of those households could afford to travel abroad, but certainly more than 26 percent of them could.
D • Dec 4, 2009 at 7:43 pm
The acquisition of a passport alone costs over one hundred dollars. A round trip flight from the continental US to one of the western European countries mentioned in your article costs 800-1000 dollars, minimum. Let’s not forget that travel, with its implicit consumption of 1) money and 2) time, has always been the luxury of the upper class.
Alex Potter • Dec 3, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Derek,
As someone who has studied abroad in China, Egypt and Argentina I can honestly say that I don’t think it is very shocking how few Americans have passports or travel often outside of the country.
England is the size of Louisiana. The population of Ireland is less than Washington state. France is smaller than Texas. Austria is the size of Maine. Lets be honest, these nations are incredibly diverse but they are also incredibly tiny and packed together.
We are an immense, populous, and rich country. There are few “practical” reasons for an average American to HAVE to leave the US. I think you mistakenly understand the “worldliness” of the Europeans as a positive value choice that they made rather than the necessity of their circumstances.
Even for vacation. Northern Europeans flock like crazy to the mediterranean because their countries DON’T HAVE warm beaches. Why would Californians need to leave the country let alone their state for a nice vacation? Why would someone in Maine not go to Virginia or Florida instead of the trouble of flying internationally?
I truly love traveling and I relish my experiences abroad. But while abroad I also realized that most people are shaped by their circumstances and that the fact of my fellow Americans inward-looking natures reflects our land, our history and our success (the 20th century went a lot better for us for having lots of enemies on our borders) more than our narrow-mindedness (after all, it is the European nations like Denmark, not us, who are the most homogeneously white and having serious problems assimilating immigrants).