hehe, go figure; I have been to 11 countries and have never owned a passport.
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Never owned a passport, never been out of country unless Aruba and Canada counts. Other more immediate needs take precedence over travel. I would like to eventually go to New Zealand, Scotland, England, and Ireland but realistically I probably never will. The cost is too high for me to justify the expenditure of funds.
FH
I doubt that roleplayers are much more likely than most people to have passports. Moreso than average, because nerdy types are probably more likely to travel than small-town folk who rarely leave their town.
Leaving America is pretty expensive, since you have to go by plane if you want to visit anywhere much more exotic than another state. As such, less wealthy people won't be able to afford to go anywhere they need a passport for. Compare that to Europe where you can drive to another country. Americans are also more likely to be of the opinion that their country is the best country in the world, and as such would be less likely to want to travel to other, "lesser" countries.
Lastly, the population density of Europe means that public transport is better and more commonly used than America, and therefore not everyone drives; as such they may get a passport as a photo ID if they are more likely to spend their money on a holiday than on a car.
I've got a passport because I used to travel to Europe all the time up until 2002. I've traveled outside the U.S. extensively, mainly because as a little kid growing up in Germany, one of the businesses my family owned was a travel agency and my mom always got to go on heavily discounted trips.
To be honest, there are so many incredible places to explore in North America, and traveling outside the U.S. can be very expensive--that's probably the main reason many Americans do not travel abroad. It's not like Europe, where you're usually only an hour or two away from a neighboring country.
My favorite non-U.S. vacation place--Croatian Adriatic coast--Tucepi. The place I would like to go visit at length the most--Canada (I've only been to Windsor there and I want to explore the whole country)
Americans are also more likely to be of the opinion that their country is the best country in the world, and as such would be less likely to want to travel to other, "lesser" countries.
Hmmmm....wow.... Every country has their jerks and Americans do have a reputation for being a bit loud and too casual when abroad, but you're painting with a pretty broad brush there, dude. I think Americans overall are a bit ignorant of non-U.S. cultures and geography compared to other nations, but this widespread superior attitude may just be because the few bad apples tend to discolor the rest of the good ones in the basket.
I never needed a passport when I was traveling courtesy of Uncle Sam. Military Orders and NATO agreements got me where I needed to go. When I was in Sarajevo, my team and I did go by the embassy to get passports, so I am the proud owner of a passport issued in Sarajevo with nary a stamp in it.
I still have my passport, though the picture is 16 years old...I look freaky with short hair.
For the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.
Someday, I plan to return to the land of my birth (Italy) and soak in and absorb all that Mediterranean sunshine, food and wine. My wonderful man o' mine's mother is Portuguese, and he wants to visit the land of her birth, the Azores. And I'd like to go to Japan and the Caribbean...
The best travel experience that I've ever had was when my dad got a family leave release when we were stationed overseas (his brother, my uncle, had died :-( ). The customs agent checked over his release paperwork and said, "Welcome home." Such a small thing, but after we left customs my dad said, "You know, after all the travelling that I've done, that's the first time a customs agent has said that." Mind you, Dad had been in the Air Force for a good 15+ years at that point.
Of course, the last time I went through the airport, I got the "special" treatment, courtesy of post-9/11 security.
I spent 2 years in Brazil, so I have a passport and visa. Other then that I have only been to Canada. Let me say though, Brazil is a beutiful country. It is the size of the continental US and has about half the population. Plenty of open space if that is your thing. I would like to go back with less to do so I could do some more sight seeing. Especially I would like to go up north as before I spent my time in San Palo and Parana, and can you believe it was night both times I flew over the Amazons, oh well.
P.S. The people ARE as nice as stories say they are
Well, I must add that if you get a chance to travel do it. I am able to add depth and color to my gming because I have been many places and lived in several other cultures. Much of what you would see in Europe can be seen in the US, but some things you just cannot see here. The US has pleanty of old style villages and Canada has some good ones also, but you just won't see a walled city like Rothenburg, not sure of spelling. You can see some cool fortifications from the Revolution and the Civil War or War Between the States, but as far as I know you cannot see a preserved bombed out castle like they have in Hidelburg, great festival there btw, or many palaces like in Austria with hidden rooms and doors. You can pick up little things like how dark castles and palaces really were and how they lit them with giant chandeliers of candles and lots of mirrors set at various angles to reflect more light, some of these are fake spy places also. Some of my soldier buddys who were from New England said much of Europe looked just like home to them. Europeans are quite different though in attitudes and culture; if you live over there for a couple years like I did you will be amazed how good it is to get back home and how loads of cultural pressure that has built up just drains away. Over there you are an outsider and are generally considered unpredictable. You probably wont notice it being there a week on vacation on a tour or some such. Adding this sort of thing to your game, the sense of always being watched; older folk quietly hustling kids out of sight, arguements suddenly stopping when your pc's arrive, contrived politeness, this is the stuff I noticed and added to my game. Ever been on a train with your buddies minding your own business and had a riot start between the younger crowd who is against you and the older crowd, who is for you, about you being in there country defending it. I have, we quietly slipped out and left them to it, but is burned in my memory. heh and they thought we were dangerous. One last thing; if you go places you can do an easy bit of research for you game; stop and little mom and pop eating places and take notes on the menue; get a take home menu if you can; and try some of the food and drink; this was always a good time for me and will improve your game taverns immensely; almost all European places that are tavern like have a themed crowd; many of them do darts and back a local soccer team; they have special tables for regulars; some dont even cater to outsiders, in your game - adventurers.
The problems of geographic spread and our limited vacation time are also exacerbated if you've got multiple pulls on your vacation. Sure, I'd love to visit another country, but I also want to visit my parents for Christmas. The distance of the latter is enough to cross most of Europe, even though we're in the same country (no matter what the Texas separatists claim :P ).
Have a passport, though its likely expired by now. I lived in South America (Chile, specifically) for a couple of years but that is the extent of my international travel. I haven't even been to Canada. I would love to visit Japan--and in fact the plan is formulated to go someday, though such a trip will likely include a translator as I'd be somewhat shy of going to a place and having to rely on THEM to speak MY language. Not too interested in European travel...but I would love to see New Zealand.
I have, however done significant travel in the U.S. and am constantly looking for reasons to see more of it. Next on my wish list of locations to spend time are Chicago and New York, oh and another trip to Washington DC, since the first time I barely got a chance to leave the Smithsonian (though I did get a hot dog from a street vendor there--one of those metal pushcarts with the umbrella, so the trip wasn't a total loss).
Well, so far not to many peeps have chimed in that they as roleplayers have passports so I am thinking 90% is way high. I guess we are just the tired and poor huddled masses yearning to roll dice - at home :)
With the price of gas going the way it is, there might not even be very much internal U.S. travel this year.
(I know Europeans pay a lot more for gasoline than Americans, but you also don't have to drive as far and can just hop a bus or train if you need to go somewhere--not usually an option in many U.S. cities)
I burn through a passport ever six or seven years, because I fill the old one up. I've been to over 100 countries now, and knock more off the list every year. Yeah, I love to travel :-) I lived in Norway for a couple of years, waaaaay back when, and "went native" while I was there, so I got to see The ugly American more times than I care to remember.
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I have one (my second). I took a semester in England as a college student so I had to have one then (and ran all around the UK). My wife and I had to get new ones two years ago when we finally took a much belated (8 years belated) honeymoon to England and Ireland. The standing joke we will do Italy and Greece for our 16 year aniversary.
I am curious what is meant by the ugly Americans in Norway. If you want to travel cheap you can always work for a travel agency; the peeps I know who do that travel everywhere. I work for a Japanese company and people from my work travel the US and Asia a few times a year and sometimes Europe on company business. Might be an idea for those of you out there who want to travel and save money; not easy to take spouses, but you can usually take a few days early or afterwards to look around.
I am curious what is meant by the ugly Americans in Norway.
It wasn't Norway-specific, nor did it refer to any one specific person or incident. "The Ugly American" is a general term for tourists from our country who go to another country and in general act like total asshats. They are loud, obnoxious, demand everyone speak their dialect of English, refusing to even learn the simplest of languages, wear American flag clothing around and parade their patriotism in the most inappropriate places, and in general act like arrogant SOBs to anyone they come across who won't take their dollars and give them exactly what they want. It's amazing that more of our European cousins don't cut us out of the will (and Australian, too, they really don't like Yank tourists down there much) for the way some of our citizenry act when outside our borders.
Although, according to this fascinating article, we're not the only ones any longer: http://www.poppolitics.com/articles/2001-05-08-american.shtml
Ugly Americans are certainly annoying, but every country has their jerks. I think it's particularly embarassing for the more "cosmopolitan" Americans to see other Americans abroad, acting like they're at Wal-mart.
However, I've found that many Europeans who visit the U.S. are very likely to have their views colored by stereotypes of U.S. culture, which our own mass media promolgates. They think there are bodies littering the streets of drug-infested areas, all the cops are likely to shoot you or beat you up like Rodney King, there's car chases everywhere and everyone carries a gun.
I also think Americans are generally more outgoing and friendly with strangers. Speaking from my personal experience only, I've found Europeans to be more stand-offish and formal at first (until you get to know them and they get to know you, then they're just as friendly-if not more so-than Americans).
Customer service is also much better in the U.S. than in Europe. Perhaps some of the reasons some Americans turn into "ugly Americans" abroad might be because they are not used to dealing with sullen waiters, obnoxious cab drivers, and bored public officials all the time. These Americans never get to know the "real" people in Europe because they only ever see those Europeans who deal with tourists all the time and have a blase' attitude towards them. My wife noticed this, she said that in my hometown in Germany, which is not a touristy area, the service was better and the people were more friendly towards her than when we went to "tourist" sites.
Just my own theories based on my own personal anecdotal evidence here, don't jump my case if you don't agree with me. Your experience may differ.
I always enjoyed going to visit Germany, for once I hit the ground and got past the Customs counter with my U.S. passport, I was just another German. No one knew I was an American.
However, one day I was at the main train station in Frankfurt waiting to catch an ICE train to Koeln when an American approached me out of the blue and asked me to help him find his connecting train schedule on the round pillar they're posted on. He spoke to me politely, but in American English.
I helped him and then I wondered how in the world he picked me out as an American among a crowd of mostly Germans. My clothes were normal, I thought--black leather jacket, dark Henley shirt, blue jeans. I asked him. He said:
"You're wearing Hi-tek hiking boots with jeans. Only Americans do that. Plus, if you didn't understand me, I'd figure you'd let me know pretty quick. Germans only wear hiking boots with shorts."
Pretty observant guy, he was. I'm sure there are some Germans who wear hiking boots with jeans, but still....
If you are looking for Ugly Americans you need go no further than Windsor, Canada a town smack dab in my own backyard. It could be argued that Detroit's sister city brought some of this on itself, what with all the full-nude strip bars and building the earliest casinos in the region, and the fact that every ninteen-year-old in the metro area heads over the border to get drunk their first-time, but still its pretty nuts the way people act.
For example: While on a date a few years back with a short-haired Canadian girl we were walking through a riverside park area with the usual assortment of park walkers when all of the sudden this oversized pick-up with Michigan plates rolls through on the street next to us. It was pretty much every bad stereotype rolled into one; music blaring, Hemi engine revving, tires sqealing, and to top it off some obviously drunk jerk hanging out the window screaming "F- you, Canadians!"
Needless to say I was a bit mortified, so as they careened into the distance, with the people in the park still a bit shocked, I yelled out as loud and in as wounded a tone as I could manage: "But I'm not Canadian!" -much to the amusement of those present.
Thank you. Thank you. I'm here all week.
GGG
If you are looking for Ugly Americans you need go no further than Windsor, Canada a town smack dab in my own backyard. GGG
I love Windsor, it's the only place in Canada I've ever visited (so far). So clean and safe, especially compared to Detroit. My friends and I took over a bar there once on a mid-afternoon weekday outing and spent three hours smoking Cuban cigars and drinking Labatt's Blue. We tipped the waiter like $50 U.S. between us for keeping those Blues coming. His comment: "I love Americans."
I love Windsor, it's the only place in Canada I've ever visited (so far). So clean and safe, especially compared to Detroit.
Yeah, it's probably all the guns and car chases.
;) GGG
::I'm just burning, doing the Neutron Dance::
I've always had a passport, even while in the Navy, due to 3/4 of my family being in Thailand. My Mother was Thai so we went to Thailand a lot. I haven't been back since 2000 - should think of a trip back.
I remember living in England getting the "Don't show/wear/do ANYTHING that yells I'M AN AMERICAN" speech from my dad. "The second you leave this base, YOU ARE ON FOREIGN SOIL and YOU ARE A REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR COUNTRY, and I expect you to behave appropriately."
A lesson that was pretty quickly absorbed by a ten-year old, I'll have you know, especially when we were over there during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. They blacked out all the signs to the bases, the base was in a 24-hour lockdown and we got a class session on how to look for suspicious activities and terrorist bombs (underneath cars) in school. We always dressed nicely, didn't wear anything with flags on it and were always polite.
It still amazes me that the vast majority of Americans think we can get away with being total asshats while abroad. Geez...
Wow this one is off, off, off topic. Interesting thought. I don't think that gamers are more likely to travel than anyone else. As someone who lives and works in a tourist town, I've met "ugly" everones: from Brits that don't tip, to Koreans that leave a trail of cigarette butts, to Germans that cut in line at the ski lift. As for the ugly Americans that, depends on circumstance; for a while we booked alot of Americans for weddings, and I noticed two things: first anyone getting married is "ugly" and, second the big city Americans are the the most difficult, pain in ass, weddings to work, always and everytime, I'd rather work 5 Japanese lunch tours, than deal with a bride from New York. On the other hand for every New York bride I've met there a Texan that tips great and is always polite. Now that oil is 70$ plus and 9/11 has poured cold water on international tours, I get to put up with ugly from Canadians. Maybe ugly is more to do with the fact that the ugly people are on vacation, and less than where they are from. So to any of you guys traveling, be nice to that poor bastard in the nametag thats cleaning/cooking/carring bags/sevring/taking reservations because chances are that five+ people have already been mean to him/her that day.
I think it's a very American thing to tip; it's not considered mandatory in the UK. If you want to reward someone for good service you might tip them, or let them keep the change, but they wouldn't be offended; a little disappointed, maybe.
It's not rude to not tip someone here, is what I think I'm grasping at. It's not saying "You did a terrible job and I'm not paying you", it's saying, "Okay the price is £5 I am paying £5 here you go"
Yeah your right about the culture difference on tips, its not part of the Brit system, but guess what UK hotel/restaurant workers are paid more, way more! Because tipping is an assumed part of the North American hospitality system, waiters wages are tip dependant. It is common that waiters have to pay a percent of the tips to the kitchen and bartenders, based on their nights sales. One night while I worked kitchen some poor bastard waiter had a table with a 400 Cdn$ tab that left no tip, based on his "sale" he had to payout 30 Cdn$ out of his own pocket for the privilage of serving these lovely Brits. Almost every waiter at the Hotel hates the Brit tourists. Since I've left the kitchen to work groundskeeping, my new loathing is for the asians, especially the Koreans; they seem to treat the Canadian Rockies as their own personal ashtrays and garbage dumps, I could easily spend my day following around a Korean bus tour picking up cigarette butts and candy wrappers; it is not uncommon to see these guys walk right past an ash can to flick a cigareete butt into the hedge. The tourist bussiness is always a catch-22 when the tourist don't come your out of work and when they do come, they wreck the place. It could be worse I guess, I could work in housekeeping, I won't even tell you the maid's horror stories.
I *used to* work in housekeeping as a maid. I promised myself that if I ever got that kind of job again I would have really reached rock bottom.
*shudders*
Hairy bathtubs, odd smells and stains...
*shudders*
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Hhhmm... when I read the subject line, I thought "Ok, this thread is not for you (non american)". But it is a really interesting read so far. :-)
I am german and so many of the things mentioned in here made me think. Several points (in no particular order):
- Politeness/ customer service: Yes, people here complain all the time that service mentality is worse than (often mentioned here) e.g. in the U.S.A.
I have to confirm farewell2kings' wife's observation, though: I had a visitor from Austria at my place. I showed her some of the places that are supposed to be tourist places, and yes: service was worse than usual, we were treated less polite than usual, and the prices were higher. Compare e.g. restaurants at San Francisco's Fisherman's wharf to other restaurants in the city. There is a definite difference in customers aimed at, and service offered (let's call it "mass service").
- Attitude towards americans in Europe:
This is a difficult topic, and lately (politically) even more difficult than it used to be. I can only speak for what I perceive in my country. Due to Germany's past, people here think VERY different in comparision to americans:
1. Patriotism is something being scorned here, or at least something looked very suspiciously upon. Exaggerated patriotism here led to two world wars, so by now people just cannot understand that people can be so proud of their nation. People here have a way more rational attitude towards their country. (and again: I am just talking in general). Different opinions about the necessity of a gulf war didn't reduce these differences in any way.
2. Some people mentioned that to most americans europeans seem to be "stiff", reserved etc. On the other hand most people here consider americans to be very friendly towards foreigners. People here wouldn't ask a foreigner "How are you doing?". If they do so, though, they mean this question literal. For that reason some people complain about americans' "superficialty". And of course people here attach their own standards to other people. It is normal here to learn two to three foreign languages in school. So people here might forget now or then that there are countries that can live quite well with one or two languages. ;-)
I think basically it is just a matter of different traditions.
You wouldn't expect a japanese or an indian guy to behave the exact way as an american does. It is not that different with europeans and americans, despite many common historic roots.
- Vacations:
I guess it is a bit of everything. If you live in a country that engulfs most climate zones and is half a continent's size, if you grow up in a (mostly) mono lingual country, you might not feel much of a longing for visiting Europe. Even if you want to leave the U.S., there are so many american countries to visit. Finally the connection to Europe seems to gradually fade. Many americans trace their origins to Europe, but with each generation this connection weakens. I chatted to an american. She told me proudly that most of the people in her town were from Germany. But two or three generations ago they "unlearned" speaking german, and in another two generations there will be hardly someone caring where their roots are.
- Vacations 2: People in Germany have about 25 days of holidays per year. That is some difference I guess. Besides especially germans seem to be infamous for their vacation habits. I thnk I read something that germans save the most money for their vacations. And although there are only about 80 million germans, they are "world travelling champions" for years (no joke, there are people who calculate something like that).
- Finally passports:
It is not just the smaller countries in Europe. Most E.U. countries can be travelled to without passport. You need an i.d. card, though. And every german citizen is supposed to have at least an i.d. card. So passports are basically only needed for travelling to non E.U. countries.
- One more last comment:
I don't think that people here consider the U.S. to be a ghetto or something like that. People here don't just watch C.S.I., they also watched e.g. "Prince of Bel Air". ;-) (they also watched A-Team, though, and cannot grasp that you can freely buy weapons without weapon licence, same as americans wonder about "Autobahnen" without speed limits. ;-) ).
I was once in B.C./ Canada and once in San Francisco. Each time I informed myself about where to watch out and kept my eyes open. Neither did I shy away from using public transportation or moving in San Francisco by foot most of the time, nor did I ever regret to get to know many americans there. Both vacations were two of the most rewarding experiences I made so far.
Ok. I rambled on for too long. But maybe some of this helped.
Greetings,
Günther
P.S.
In Canada I had a hard time to persuade a canadian that I wasn't a dutch, because "you are tall and blonde, you must be dutch". So I think that this american guy in Frankfurt just might have been lucky. ;-)
I also met this old man in Canada at the tourist information office in Calgary. He spoke remarkably well german and told us that he was born in Austria. He asked where we were from. Upon answering, he told us that his father had been killed close to my home city in the start of May 1945.
There it is again: history and its effects to today.
I use my passport all of the time - I commute internationally for work (not a big deal really a lot of Dubai based sales reps do).
But I love to travel beyond work as well, highlights have been:
Cambodia - My highest recommendation! Especially for gamers. I crawled around in the same ruins the used as a backdrop for Tomb Raider a couple years before Angelina Jolie got there.
Burma - the Bagan, Inle Lake, the temples, the ruins, and the feel of the place is different from any photos I am used to seeing. I mean Chinese style, Thai style you see in museums in movies - Burma has elements of both of those places (and India) but is its own unique deal.
China - The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Terra Cotta Warriors, Temple of Heaven, Guilin and Yan Shouo, and on an on, there i no end ot the wonder.
Nepal - The countryside, the old temples and palaces, the people and traditions.
Tibet - (Technically part of China I know - but it really does have a different feel), The Potala Palace, the Temples and Monasteries - te sheer quantity of temples and monasteries, te landscape, yaks, the people and native attire, the markets.
Thailand - Nature and palaces, 5 star hotels, muay thai, the Phi Phi Islands.
Japan - The traditional buildings, the shrines, the temples, the contemporay style, the culture.
Egypt - Temple Karnak, Temple Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, the Sphinx, the Pyramids, the Citadel (an awesome fortified mosque).
Peru - Cuzco a great backpacker tourist city, lots of fun adventurers, cool churches, the Amazon jungle (complete with Jaguar, giant yellow river otters, caiman, butterflies, and the trees WOW, and of course Machu Picchu - another gamer must see.
Ecuador - The Galapagos islands, amazing diving, tag with sea lions, marine iguanas, giant tortoise, hammer head sharks, manta rays, and on and on. Quito for the churches and markets. And the sheer range of environemnts in such a small country, highlands, jungle, coast.
Guatamala - the Mayan ruins at Tikal.
Beliz - just for hanging out.
Mexico - fishing
Saudi Arabia - for work, but the scuba diving is some of the best in the world!
The United Arab Emirates - I don't think I would pick it as a travel destination, but its a pretty good place to live, and we have a lot of fun here there is some wild stuff, indoor ski resort, 7 star hotel (worlds only), great arabic restaurants.
Don't get me wrong I am a big beleiver that the US is the best place in the world. But I don't think you can really appreciate how truly special it is unless you have ventured to some other countries to contrast it with.
Travel definately informs my gaming, as well as my intrepretation of the news (and how seriously I take journalists and politicians in general). Also passing through a country is different than living aas an expatriate worker or student (having been both I think I am qualified to make the statement). I wish everyone could have one or both of those experiences.
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Most Americans only have a scant 10 days of vacation per year. This makes it less feasible to travel to very distant places.
When I went to the States, many people told me that they had few vacations (10-15 days, outside of w-e), but there were although special days, and sometimes, more than one vacation day, like for thanksgiving, giving a grand total of 20-25 days (but that you could "choose" for only 10-15 days). I haven't checked (I only worked for an internship time, so, rules were different), though.
We are also a mostly mono-lingual nation. This might help to explain why we don't leave the country as often. I know that most travel destinations are filled with English-speaking staff. However, I would feel uncomfortable expecting residents of another country to speak to me in a language that is not their own.
Besides Canada, you may find many english-speaking countries : Great-Britain (so Scotland / Wales / N. Ireland & England), Ireland, South Africa, India (mostly big cities), Australia, New Zealand, some caribean isles and countries (Jamaica being one), lots of African countries...
Also, you may find english speaking people all over Asia and Europe (and not only hotels'staff I mean).
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As someone who lives and works in a tourist town, I've met "ugly" everones: from Brits that don't tip,...
in most european countries "service (tip)" is included, and you may add a little more if you're REALLY VERY happy of the service. You may find tourists not aware of this particular habit of not including service. In fact, that's something i didn't like in the States : "Ok, I'll have this salad (8$) and a beer (2$)" ; here, in France, I would pay 10$, and leave an extra tip of 0,50 to 1$ ; in the USA, you add taxes (say 20%), then service (say 12%). It's annoying that, as a foreigner (not accustomed to that), you don't really have a way to know at the beginning of your meal what it will cost !
to Koreans that leave a trail of cigarette butts,...
proud to be french : Paris is full off cigarettes' butts (including mine ; I try to throw them in the gutter, though...)
to Germans that cut in line at the ski lift...
Yes, it's also a french specialty...
Most of the time, I don't like very much french people in foreign countries. Arrogant, dishonest, able to criticize from surnrise to sundown...
I try to avoid them.
However, I guess everybody feels the same in a foreign country : you want your fellow-people to behave nicely, so that your hosting country will regard you as trustful and valuable...
You see your fellow-people's defaults with greater accuracy.
In every country, you will find nice and mean people, stubborn and welcoming people, tolerant and racist people, be they in their own country or as tourists / foreigners.
And I really mean in EVERY country : what is different from us, what we do not understand, tends to scare us.
BTW, I own a passport, I used it several times, my last trips (past 3 years) were Praha (Czech Republic), Scotland, Myanmar, Croatia, Venezia (Italy).
I have one.