I just came to learn that only 7 per cent of Americans actually hold a passport - why so insular?
Answer:
No, green card holders would not be 'Americans' but residents.
However, I haven't used my passport since I had kids and started traveling less. As a result, my passport has expired. We've been to Mexico, Canada and Hawaii often, and in about half of the 50 states, but I haven't taken them overseas and don't work in a traveling job. So I would show up as not having a passport, as would they. Yet I have been to England, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, the Bahamas, Turkey, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, Kenya, China, Hong Kong, Tai Pai and Russia (off the top of my head) and don't consider myself insular. Children below a certain age probably wouldn't have a passport here, because you have to travel a long way to get out of our country, unlike in Europe, for example. Older people may be beyond traveling at this point. So it is those in the middle who realistically should be looked at, and with a country as large as ours, you can travel to quite varied and distant spots without one.
Now that Canada and Mexico will require them, I suspect you will see that number jump, however.
i have a passport. I know Americans don't need a passport, to some friendly countries such as Singapore.. although that might have recently changed
i forgot..it's not the passport you need to enter another country, but the visa.. which is in the passport...
that or american's really dont like having a national id bar code on them at all times.
Until recently you could travel to Canada and Mexico without a passport. This essentially allowed you to travel on most of north America without a passport. (A larger span than all of Europe) Traveling oversees is very expensive and most Americans can't afford to do this often if ever.
Nope not really the average American will travel all over in the US but not necessarily go out of the country. Why should we go elsewhere when the US offers us all different kinds of travel opportunities, beautiful scenery, good accomodations and everyone(well, mostly) speaks english!!
Yeah I know I heard that a few years ago by my university lecturer and I couldnt believe it, they just prefer to travel within America and they dont care about other countries I guess
They are a very insular nation. Saying that, the americans I have met outside the US are much more aware of world issues and different cultures. Much easier to get on with.
well, to be honest ( and I'm English UK ) if your country had such diversity in both cultural and geographic terms, then why would you?
I mean, it's got everything anybody could ever want. The place is so vast that it would take a lifetime to really appreciate all that it has to offer.
Imagine, being able to sunbath in Florida in the morning, then be whisked off in the afternoon to visit the Grand Canyon, then later go skiing up in the mountains; all this AND being fed some of the worlds greatest culinary delights the world has to offer.
Basically we are talking Paradise. And lets face it, you wouldn't want to leave that would you?
Yes, but look at the size of the USA. It is like most of Europe being one country. In time, how many Europeans will need passports? All the Brits going to the Costa del Sol for their annual dose of sun won't need to queue up at the post office for their passsport application.
The USA is a diverse country, much misunderstood by the rest of the world. There is a whole lot more here than the Big Apple and Disneyland. So you see, we don't really need passports here. We can do most of the travelling we need without all the formality. In fact, as passport applications in Europe fall, American applications will rise as they are now required for travel to Canada, Mexico and the Carribean
Its actually 20 percent of Americans that have a passport. But, immigrants probably make up a large percentage of that 20.
I think a lot of Americans think that America is the only place they ever need to see.Oddly fierce patriotism,bordering on fanaticism.
Yes that is correct, however, with the new travel laws such as not being able to go on a cruise with out one, more and more Americans are getting them. The real reasons most people don't have one is 1. They do not like the government controlling them and a passport gives the government control. 2. Until recently, they did not have to have a passport to go on a cruise to the Caribbean. 3. Travel to Canada and Mexico does not require a Passport. 4. most Americana's do not travel anywhere they cannot take their car. They like their freedom to go where they want at any time without the government telling them what they can and cannot do too much.
Wrong. Americans most frequently travel to nations that do not require a passport....Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands and a whole host of Caribbean island nations. Up until now, documents such as an American Drivers License or Birth Certificate were all that was required.
Until recently you didn't need a passport to get to and from Mexico and Canada. I've been to both on several occasions and I don't have one. Even now, unless you're going in a plane you still don't need a passport to get to or from Mexico or Canada. All you need is a state ID or a birth certificate if you're too young to have an ID. So, despite what those stats imply, there's a very good chance many Americans have, in fact, been beyond our borders.
With the rampant Anti-Americanism expressed online, I wouldn't be surprised if most Americans don't want a passport. Why would you want to travel to a country where the only thing you know about it is the people you've encountered online completely and utterly hate you, your accent and apparently all the circumstances of your birth?
I can appreciate why Americans don't need to leave their own country but there is the rest of the world out there.
I wonder if they think that the US really is the best and there is no need to go and experience other cultures or countries?
Lots of times I've heard that Americans think the British are inbred - but we have a 5th of the population of the whole of America on this little island. They have just never bothered to find out the facts for themselves. Why should they go abroad? What else is out there apart from America, eh? Oh - apart from little countries like Iraq that need quashing so they can make sure of a good cheap oil supply. Granted, a lot of Americans think Bush is an idiot, but there must have been quite a few voting for him.
A lot of Americans don't travel outside the country. When there are so many diverse things to see and do in the U.S., why spend the money and headache to go abroad? A person could literally spend a lifetime exploring the U.S. and still not see it all.
You obviously haven't travelled to the states, and travelled outside the main population areas.I spent a lot of time over there ,If you go outside the big cities, you ll find out why not many Americans hold passports, Iv been to towns where people think its huge thrill just to go down the road, or perhaps to the state capitol.. Most Americans are highly parhrocrial and have little of no knowledge or interest in what goes on outside their local area.. Most would have trouble finding Iraq or Afghanistan on map , oh most would have probs finding any European city.
i have to agree with the majority of the answers so far. the U.S. is so large that to really see it all would take at least a lifetime of continuous travel. since most americans have to work to live, we tend to stay in the us for our meager vacation time visiting local sites and family. not to mention we probably feel more secure in our own country. only the rich can travel, very few americans can even afford to go outside the country even if a visa is'nt required.
Because all of the illegal immigrants sucking the financial life out of Americans, only a select few have the money to leave the US, so only those select few need passpots.
I agree with some posters and not with others. Many of us would like to be able to afford to travel worlwide and see other cultures but on the other hand , the USA has alot to offer. Just travel BEYOND the confines of a major city or travel WEST of the Mississippi and see for yourself.
Sorry to interject with west of the mississippi but I have chatted with people on the East Coast who have no desire to leave the East Coast yet travel worlwide because there is "nothing to see" out West.
Most of us Brits are really well travelled folk, international jet-setters.That's why we have passports. I wonder how many of us would bother if we didn't need to go to Spain for a bit of summer sun. Or to France for cheap booze. Belgium for roll-ups. Alps for a bit of skiing and the rest to follow football.
All this and more is available inside the USA.
There is a very small amount of travellers from UK that travel to absorb a new cultural experience, as creeping globalisation means that individual customs have been diluted to a uniformly predictable level.(there are still some gems on some long haul destinations, though). They don't need to go outside of America, have you seen the size of the place? Give them a break.
Considering the fact that most Americans watch newscasts and in those newscasts Americans are not viewed in a pleasant light in the World, add to this the fact that a lot of American companies have moved overseas thus contributing to a lack of monies to spend on such trips and you can maybe understand why. Besides, with the influx of everyone coming here (most are illegal) all I have to do is go 20 miles down the road to the weekend flea market and see why I do not travel outside the United States.
The immigration information post by website user , MyTend.com not guarantee correctness