The main purpose of The World by Road Expedition is to try and educate others about our experiences and show people a view of the world that they may have not seen. This got me thinking, and thinking specifically about how many people travel in America and where they travel to. In my previous travels, I have always been amazed at the number of people I meet from other countries. The people I meet are also not just visiting for a week or two, they are actually traveling. Maybe it is related to the activities that I do, or the places Steve S. and I have been, but by and large, we really don’t seem to meet many other Americans who are out there traveling. So, exactly what percentage of Americans decide to leave the US and travel, and what does this say about us as a society?
According to the Economist’s publication The World in 2006, which was published in December, 2005, only about 20 percent of Americans have a valid U.S. passport. That seemed like a pretty small number, so I decided to do some further research. Currently, the U.S. population is estimated to be about 295 million people. Between 1994 and 2004 the U.S. State Department issued a total of 78.2 million passports. Given that some of these passports may have been issued for a 5 year period, expired, or issued as a result of name changes, etc. it is estimated that there are currently about 54 million individuals with valid U.S. passports. If we only consider the adult population in the U.S. (88.9%) that leaves us with a population of roughly 262.3 million adults over the age of 18. Therefore, the estimated percentage of adults in the U.S. who currently have a valid passport is, as the Economist pointed out, approximately 20 percent.
OK, so we now know how many people have a valid U.S. passport, but how many of these individuals actually use them? According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, roughly 24.5 million Americans traveled abroad in 2003. This does not include travel to Canada and Mexico, which for some Americans is readily accessible. Of those who traveled abroad, approximately 19.7 million traveled for leisure and/or visiting friends and relatives. Therefore, only about one third of the individuals with valid U.S. passports, or approximately 7.5 percent of adults in America, traveled overseas in 2003 and the vast majority of these individuals traveled to Western Europe and the Caribbean.
Obviously there are external factors that affect one’s ability to travel, with time and financial resources being two of the main barriers to international travel. Americans do, in comparison, enjoy less vacation time than citizens of other western nations. For example, Americans receive an average of 13 vacation days per year compared to 25 in Japan and Canada, 28 in the U.K., 35 in Germany and 42 in Italy. The number of valid passports as a percentage of overall population is also significantly higher in these countries, but this may be a result of the close proximity of neighboring countries in Europe, however, it is estimated that over 40 percent of Canadians have valid passports. Still, given that there are some barriers to international travel, I find it interesting that such a small percentage of Americans actually travel abroad.
The fact that only about 7.5 percent of the population actually leaves in any given year may be an indicator of some larger cultural issues. True, America is a geographically large and diverse country and one could spend a lifetime just traveling and experiencing the diversity our own country has to offer. Additionally, some may argue that there is really no need to leave America given the media coverage of other parts of the world, the congregation of many other world cultures in major cities throughout the U.S., and the feeling that “we have all we could ever want†right here in the good old USA, but the world still has such a tremendous amount to offer us.
I am not going to draw conclusions and say that people who do not travel are more ignorant than those who do. The mere fact of traveling to another country does not necessarily make one any less ignorant about what is going on in the world around them. However, traveling with the right purpose can enrich us and increase our understanding of people with whom we share the world with, ultimately leading to greater peace. This type of traveling involves venturing out without preconceived ideas of what a certain country or a culture may hold. If we allow ourselves to be open-minded and stick to the premise that the world has something to teach us, we can each take away certain things from all cultures that appeal to us personally. This just might help us to better understand that people are different and other customs, beliefs and ways of life should be embraced and respected.
This is one of the main goals of The World by Road Expedition and one that we hope to spread as we travel. In the end though, we will be sharing our experiences and hopefully they will inspire others to create experiences of their own. The view we all receive of the outside world is filtered by numerous different individuals and organizations, each with their own individual agendas and opinions. The only way to truly gain a greater understanding in any situation is through personal experience. Lonely Planet is continuing to promote the importance of travel and the life-changing effect it can have on people, our nation and the world through its National Passport Month Campaign. As the campaign slogan states: “Do something great for your country. Leave.†This is a truly worthwhile initiative, especially given the position of America in the world today and our foreign policy influence.
