I wish I could have had a chance thus far in my life to go to another country... When I was younger my family did driving trips, but very rarely flew anywhere. This was because our trips would be done over a 3 day weekend since that is how long my parents could get away from work... When it came time for college during the summers I worked and got no time off... And now after graduating I am working and married. I have yet to even take my honeymoon and we have been married 6 months already. I am getting 1 week off (which is all the time off I can scronge for the entire year)... During that week we are using frequent flyer miles from my family and staying at a time share his family has... That is how much we can afford for our honeymoon right now... And it means we are staying within the us, no matter how much I looked at us going somewhere else... So I would say my reason for not leaving the country is money and time... When it comes down to it, living in the US, more places then not it will take a days trip to get out of the country. And if the only time you have to go anywhere is on a weekend, that doesn't work to well... I personally wish I had time and money to leave the country, but it hasn't happened yet. Hopefully eventually I will...

If having a Picasso made him happy, then good for him. If travel makes me happy, good for me. If it doesn't make you happy, you don't have to do it. I'm just saying it's not difficult if it's something you're willing to sacrifice for. If you're not willing to give up things in order to do it, then it's obviously not that important to you.

Granted I won't be making any trips back to Australia soon, but you can bet I'm saving a little every month so I can make it back. If you have the desire to go and spend time planning, you can go anywhere for relatively cheap.

And S&S, I think it's funny, too :)

Maybe it's not too expensive for him or his parents but for others. You should really consider that actually and ask him about it.

Anyway, as for travel I have 3 options for this year: a trip to an asian country (I like Japan, China, and Singapore), climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and also going to Rio for an all out party the likes of which will leave me emotionally scarred for many years to come. I'm glad I can afford it and I'm very happy that my family was able to pay for my travel growing up and hopefully others out there will have that good fortune at some point as well.

-Rudey

Nobody is saying what is and isn't good for you. You enjoy having rubbing feces all over your face and pay good money for it, well good for you. It is more about people coming and saying I can't believe other people don't do it and can't do it.

Again, given that the PCI is around $28,000, 12.1% of America lives in poverty, then it is more than OK to spend on things other than travel and I bet us Americans travel quite a bit given that our incomes are higher than Mexicans.

-Rudey

nah, you missed the point . . . there's a lot of thinly-veiled noseglancing that is connecting 'well-traveled' with 'cultured' and the benefits and bonuses that are reaped therein.

Travel is cool, and it might very well be a culturing experience for some, but I'm slightly turned by folks not getting why everyone doesn't do it. Pointing out that it can be done with some sacrifice is a neutral point in and of itself, but to apply provisos along the way that judge others for not making these sacrifices blows me away. The reasons given so far for not traveling (by those that have traveled), aside from money, are presumptious and unnecessarily negative in connotation.

I just realized I started to write this like I would write a report for a client, so I'm going to finish by saying "I puked on a girl in a bar in Kiev, like top to bottom, even on her shoes. It was so bad."

I have a reputation to uphold, kids.

Right. I mean some people also go to cheaper state schools that don't offer great educations and spend the money on travel, or they have cars instead, or live in cheaper areas, etc.. But there are many, probably the majority of Americans given average income, who don't have that choice to even make.

And did you have sex with that girl or no? Because the story is funnier if you have sex and then throw up on her.

-Rudey

I've been to almost every continents. I've never been to South America. Hoping to go there next year.

ETA: I've also skiied in every continents except for South America. (Yes, I've skiied in Africa)

That would be nice if a passport was $85. It's $55, and it takes about 4-6 weeks. But, having a passport isn't a very good indicator of travel, as you don't need one to go to Canada, Mexico, or many of the nations in the Caribbean.

I didn't start this thread to start a debate about being privileged or cultured, because travel isn't necessarily a good indicator of that. I understand completely if people cannot afford to travel very often---that wasn't my concern in starting this thread.

Since starting graduate school, I have met a lot of people who could be considered upper-middle class and have no desire whatsoever to leave their corner of the city. Why leave the country, they say, when I can go to Canal Street and get all the culture I want? (I have heard this, I swear). One of my classmates has never gone farther west than Michigan and no farther south than DC. These are all people who have had the money and time--but not the interest.

I was just interested in seeing if there was anyone who just didn't have the desire to leave the country, and their reasons behind that.

No class warfare here, okay?

Um, she was right. It is $85. It costs $55 for the passport processing fee, and another $30 for the execution of the application. That, of course, is if you're 16 or older. If you're under 15, then it's only $70 total. :D

Before anyone gets excited, here is the info direct from the US Passport Services Office: http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/fees/fees_837.html

It is $85 if you're over 16.
It is $70 if you're under 16.
It is $55 if you're renewing your passport if you were over the age of 16 when your last passport was issued.

Rob -- to me, at least, travelling is like education. I certainly don't think those who don't do it are bad people, especially when it comes down to finances or health and it's not a choice -- but I think that there are very few people who can't benefit from it in some way or another. As with people whose parents are footing the bills for their college experience, I don't really understand the animosity directed by the have-nots at the haves in terms of travel, either. I don't really care if somebody else's parents are footing the bill for them to go to Harvard, I don't really care if somebody else's parents are footing the bill for them to go to Japan, I don't really care if somebody else's parents give them a $200 a week allowance for handbags . . . and I'm not sure why anybody is so concerned that my parents are doing that for me. Which, uh, they aren't.

I don't think anybody's necessarily equating travel with culture here. We all know the people the people who go to France for the Eiffel and the Louvre and spend their whole vacation eating McDonald's and complaining about how small the Mona Lisa is and how rude French people are. "The ugly American" is funny because it's true. And I made it pretty clear that not everyone who doesn't travel is doing it because they don't think anywhere outside the U.S. is worthwhile. But come on -- we all know people like that. I certainly do. And these are the types of people who probably need to experience other cultures the most, whether that involves travelling or not.




And Rudey, I'm glad that you're so egalitarian about thinking that everybody should have the experience of travelling. It's too bad you don't feel the same way about sailing.

It went up in 2002. When I got my passport in 2000, it was only $60. That's where the confusion lies. Supposedly they increased the fees after the formation of Homeland Security. I still doubt, however, that people cancel travel plans because of passport fees.

You can bet I won't lose this passport! :eek:

Edited to make clearer for the functionally illiterate

Actually the sailing remark you constantly bring up is a joke. It is a joke that appeared in an article by the Georgetown Lampoon on popped collars. That article was also posted on Greekchat. Perhaps you forgot or maybe you just like the idea of redundancy. Who knows? Hopefully this answered any doubts you might have.

Anyway, Munchkin yes there are people who don't want to travel. I don't understand why anyone would want to go to a bad school or to go to a school built around sports and kegs of MGD. Maybe it's an American thing. Who knows? Now I tend not to care much for people who have resources and don't use them and are lazy but those are just my personal preferences. Those that don't have the resources are, I bet, the majority of those who don't travel outside the US though.

-Rudey

Yeah, it went up a lot in 2002. I went in at the end of 2002 to get my passport renewed only to learn that it wasn't renewable since my last one was issued 3 months before my 16th birthday (I should've just waited 3 months!). I was in shock when I was informed it would be $85!

Why must you scoff at MGD? :(