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is it normal for british people to not really go abroad much?
i mean, obviously some do, but i keep talking to people who have never been in another country and don't plan to do anything about that anytime soon. have YOU been abroad at all/much? views etc?
thanks
You must live in an area jammed with desperately unadventurous people.
That said, I met someone the other day who had only left Dorset twice.
Yes, DORSET and TWICE.
He was in his 40s. Suffice to say he was a prize tit.
i do live in south wales....
they're practically globetrotters compared to the troglodytes in N.Wales.
yeah tell me about it
my housemate is from north wales. she doesn't own a passport, the furthest away she's been was london once when she was in school, and that was a bit much for her. i will make her come to norway sometime though.
get out of my country shithead
hey, fuck you
oi!
I've been to foreign-lands loads of times!
oh, you
I haven't been abroad much.
Can't really be bothered with it. I've still got loads of Engerland and Scotchland and Whales to discover. I'll do them first, then think about looking elsewhere.
Cheers.
yeah but you're not going to do that any sooner just cause you go somewhere else as well
Maybe.
But also if I spend money on weekends exploring places in the UK, then I won't save up for 'foreign' as quickly.
I can't be arsed with organising things and I feel much more comfortable being in places where I sort-of know what's going on, which for me means Britain. I have no desire really to see 'abroad'. I'm not sure what I'd get other than a reduced bank balance, some pretty pictures of a mountain that I'll never look at and a story about shitting in a strange toilet.
KiK nicked your login?
He stole my whole schtick about three years ago.
i think it's unfortunate - and yeah it often coincides with a somewhat narrow world view
but if they're a person of modest wants and are happy with that so be it.
there's also a lot of people whose only interaction with abroad is on naff, semi-English-anyway package holidays, resorts where the only thing to eat is chicken and chips. maybe it's not that different...
oh god how smugly superior does that look?
if someone wants to stay here all the time, fine. it's just there's so much to see and experience all around the world. 'sa bit sad really :/
I don't go abroad all that much 'cos it costs money and I don't have money to spend on it.
I mean I've gone to Spain twice, France three or four times and Germany once but I think that's pretty much it. I know quite a few people who pretty much never go on holidays 'cos they can't afford it/money gets prioritised for other things.
I suspect it's more common than you probably assume.
I've got a map of Europe at home.
It's got Great Britain and Ireland, and then just a vast expanse of land with the legend HERE BE BEASTIES
Well that's ludicrous. They're from NYC.
...
I always get odd looks when I tell people going on holiday isn't really my bag. It's the whole having to organise your own break thing that gets me - surely part of the holiday is that you're not caused stress by its planning. And then there's the post break malaise.
No, I'd have to be going somewhere actually mental to be able to justify that.
I've lived abroad
so yes.
where?
Australia
did you see any of those spiders?
I let a redback walk on my hand
that count?
eww
are you coming to WALES for that music festival next month?
Possibly.
sell it.
ok
it's a month from today, it's awesome, it's cheap, and i'll be there!
yeah. Ok then.
:)
good stuff!
I met a 32 year old
last week who has never had a passport. I don't understand it, sure there's plenty to do here but aren't these people at all curious abut other cultures? If I didn't get out of London every couple of months I'd go insane.
i've been on holiday 4 times this year.
it was a world record for me.
i prefer being at home tho.
where to?
france italy hungary sri lanka
everybody talk about POP MUSIC!
I've never been to Wales, Scotland or Ireland...
...
i've been to all, and i'm foreign
Yeah...
...I will go, one day. Just there are other places I'd like to go before.
no it's not that common here
think of how many Americans have never left the USA. My granny only left the UK once to go to Ireland. I've been to like most of the countries in Europe.
i would say that the us and the uk is a tad different though
us is like 30 countries in one. uk is an island off the coast of europe.
hmmm yeah but I can think of only one person who's never left the UK
how dare you!!!
at least i didn't say that you ARE european
oh horror of horrors
I'm not the best travelled
I'm supposed to be going to Dublin, Stockholm and Salzburg in the next four months or so and I feel a little guilty at the prospect of flying that often, especially for short breaks. Plus, I'm perpetually skint.
i'm always going to end up skint anyway so might as well have some fun before that happens
Well yeah
but I'm perpetually skint because of fun stuff I do here. I've never been one for planning that far ahead and I'd need a domestic fun embargo to run for a while before I could book anything
Planes are terrifying.
I'm not sure if I could ever get on a plane again actually, which is really depressing.
Some people do stuff, whilst other people don't.
NEXT WEEK - why some people like some stuff, whilst others aren't so keen on it.
With Moses Kiptanui
I might watch that.
Or I might not.
I dont think its that bad personally
but I rarely meet british people who can speak a second language. Which is really bad I think.
in some sense yes
but, and i don't mean this in a snobbish way, it is the most common language in the world so we require other languages less so than other people...
furthermore, having music/ film/ tv etc mostly originating from america, and to a lesser extent britain, means that english is just 'there' more often for other countries, so it's easier to pick up.
if that makes sense
definitely
i was learning french for six years and can't speak it for shit, would have been a lot different if i actually heard it used on a regular basis. then again a lot of countries don't get the whole film/tv/music thing as much as we do, as it'll all be dubbed and more of the music, i imagine, will be local
though hardly surprising
i find it more depressing that a lot of people i talk to have such a bad understanding of what other languages even just as a concept, really are. like that they're not just made up secondary languages for people who are too stupid to learn english, for example.
"as beautiful" yes, it's just about experiencing something different from what you're used to though innit
I would say going to, say, Southern France or somewhere
is more of a similar experience for me than staying on a Hebridean island or something like that...
exactly - why see one and not the other?
to harp on about the uk and ireland when you're not well-travelled is pretty odd
to go on about the rest of the world when you've only been outside london twice is a bit obnoxious
that said, the one thing travelling to certain parts of the world can offer that the uk can't is a completely different cultural experience
^
And I don't really get the need to 'see' the world, in some sort of box-ticking sense, anyway. You'll never manage to see all of it and the act of seeing something doesn't do anything to you in itself anyway. I've only ever been abroad to either see someone or do something pretty specific, not just so I can say I saw that place.
what do you mean it doesn't "do anything to you"?
Being well-travelled isn't in itself a virtue
the way that some people suggest that it is. Going abroad can be as inconsequential and vacuous as refusing to ever go away.
That isn't to say going abroad is pointless or that well-travlled people are wankers though.
oh right
agreed
I don't think people literally mean 'to see'...
...like if I'd say "did you 'see' the Girls gig at the Lexington yesterday...it's a broader sense of the word. I dunno, do people actually travel in the box-ticking sense? Sure, people will reel of lists afterwards of places they've visited in a competitive way. Maybe there is something to it, but those people are pretty empty people.
we all say that but it's a load of bollocks
nope
I just disagree with 'Parts of the UK & Ireland are as beautiful as anywhere in the world'.
there is and it's mine
cheers
Indeed.
There isn't anything Britain like the Pyramids. Or indeed the White Desert.
Clare? seriously. THAT'S the example you have for Ireland?
fucking hell.
Parts of Scotland are stunning. Parts of Devon too.
It depends what you want to see of course. But both London and Scotland are places that people from all over the world come in droves to because they presumably think there's something there that's comparable with what they could see anywhere else.
I'd agree with Kik here...
i've been around the world and I-I-I would say that parts of the west coast of Scotland and the western isles are unparallelled in their beauty.
and i would say that for the norwegian coast, because of my roots and sentimentality etc
as well as it being genuinely stunning obvs.
Ireland is abroad.
for people here. so...
I'm not sure if I have ever known anyone who hasn't been abroad.
Maybe, but they weren't shouting about it.
I would have thought Brits are fairly well travelled
Me, I'd much rather a holiday abroad than a festival in the UK
i find it weird myself. but coming from a middle class family
with money to go on holiday, it was the norm when i was a kid to go to Spain/France/Italy/Greece/US. Plus visiting family in the UK also.
So it's something that I've always done, it's quite normal to me. I suppose for a lot of people it's financially difficult and maybe something they're also not bothered to do.
At the moment I still have the desire to go places, just unfortunately money is a bit of an object for me so am not able to at the moment, bar weekend trips with Ryanair maybe. but with saving I will go to America for a long holiday and I do want to explore as much of the planet as I can.
As much as I haven't seen of the British Isles (though i've seen a bit, though the Lake District has so far eluded me), there are so many more exciting, different places to see, I want to go and see them.
anyway, yeah weird. like when you meet someone who can't swim.
I CANT SWIM YOU BITCH
so. weird.
I was too tall for the learner pool
Tragically, I'm not making this up.
aw! i did do a lol.
you should learn now! swimming is great!
Yeah my sister learnt as an adult
I probably should give it a go.
good luck!
it can be pretty demanding but mostly pays off. what are you moving there for?
I didn't get a passport until 2002.
Prior to that I had been to India aged 5 with my mum and been to France with my uncle and his family aged 11.
But I never really saw the point of holidays and going away anywhere since it cost a lot of money and I wanted to save my money so I could buy things like computer hardware or guitars or TVs or other stuff I liked that would improve my life all year round rather than for a few weeks.
Not that I have anything against going abroad and quite enjoy it now.
My parents are always fucking off...
...it's sicking. But they've probably given me enough money over the years, to be fair.
when did you go to egypt?
Don't go much
but I only go for 'something': work, friends, event, festivals.
I don't do the 'tavelling'/tourist thing or going somehwere for the sake of it.
I don't get it
maybe you should
HMM
You wouldn't
Because as lovely as E8 is
It's nice to leave it once in a while.
This wasted some time:
A list of countries I have visited in my 26 years, and the ammount of times I have been there.
England (numerous)
France x 3 (?)
Holland x 2
Germany x 2
Belgium x 1
Czech Republic x 2
Slovakia x 1
Hungary x 1
Denmark x 1
Rep of Ireland x 4 (?)
Italy x 1
Austria x 1
Tunisia x 1
Canada x 1
USA x 1
Thailand x 1
Greece x 4
My list is far far less impressive
France x 2
Germany x 2 (going again in December)
Netherlands x 2
Spain x 4
USA x 5
Poland x 1
Ireland x a million
Hong Kong x 1
Belgium x 1
Going to Israel in November.
Must try harder
look how travelled we are!! omgz. thingz.
i can't remember how many times.
but erm
England (a lot when i was young, now i live here)
Scotland x 2
Northern Ireland x a trillion
Wales x 1 (does driving through it count?)
France x a lot
Spain x a lot
USA x 4
Germany x 1 (going in Dec)
Greece x a lot (and the islands)
Kenya x 1
Italy x a lot
Holland x 1
i wish i'd gone interrailing.
erm
France x 3
Spain x 2
Switzerland x 2
Germany x 2
Holland x 3
Luxembourg x 1
Czechoslovakia x 1
Italy x 2
Vatican city x 1
Russia x 1
Lichtenstein x 1
Andorra x 1
India x 1
Belgium x loads (100=?)
Afghanistan x 1
Eire x 4
NI x 1
this is fun
England x loads
Wales x 1
france x 2
Germany x 1
Belgium x 1
Luxembourg x 1
USA x 2
Mexico x 1
Fiji x 1
New Zealand x 1
Australia x 1
Thailand x 1
Singapore x 1
Morocco x 1
Tunisia x 1
Ireland x 4
France x 40+ (Parents used to have a house there)
Germany x 20+
The Netherlands x 5
Belgium x 3
Spain x 1
Andorra x 1
Austria x 25+
Italy x 6
Switzerland x 10
Liechenstein x 1
Gibraltar x 1
Poland x 2
Hungary x 1
Czech Republic x 3
Croatia x 1
Bosnia x 1
Denmark x 3
Sweden x 1
USA X 3
Canada x 2
Thailand x 1
Vietnam x 1
Laos x 1
Mexico x 1
South Africa x 1
Namibia x 1
Morocco x 1
Kissinger ^
I'm so travelled it hurts.
Dublin x 1
Boulogne x 1
Calais x 1
Somewhere in Spain x 1
Somewhere in Germany then a little bit of Holland x 1
With work: Cologne x 1
ok
lived in: norway, wales, egypt
been to:
denmark x lots
sweden x lots
england x lots
scotland x 2
ireland x 2
germany x 2
poland x 1
france x 1
spain x 2
greece x 4ish
egypt x 6 (before living there, as my parents and brother lived there for a while)
botswana x 1
south africa x 1
and this is not a country as such but i feel that it should count for something regardless: svalbard x 1
i've never been outside europe, mind
france x4
ireland x1
spain x1
austria x1
slovakia x1
poland x2
hungary x1
italy x1
germany x1
greece x1
cyprus x1
that's not a huge list. but there you go
let me do this
UK (lots?)
Belgium x1
France x3
Germany x2
Spain x1
Sweden x1
Denmark x1
Norway x1
Finland x1
Bangladesh x1
India x1
Dubai x1
Malaysia x2
Thailand x1
Singapore x2
Indonesia x1
Egypt x1
Syria x1
Turkey x1
Jordan x1
Israel x1
We used to live abroad.
I've travelled abroad a fair amount but not been out of Europe since aged 4. I've travelled around UK a bit.
WHat do I win?
Nothing until you have seen every inch of this glorious land,
much better than that foreign muck!
where did you live?
i've not been out of europe much but i did live in egypt for a few months so i'm hoping that counts for something.
We lived in Fiji for 3 years when I was less than a year old.
Came back when I was fourish. I don't remember any of it but there are loads of baby photos of me in a VERY foreign land. This was back when Fiji was very exotic and not just a destination on your round the world trip. All my older brothers went to school and have memories of being there. For this I am jealous.
My brother and his family now live in New Zealand.
I went to Euro-Disney for two days when I was 16, and I went to Wrexham once to watch football
Other than that I've never left England. I haven't even been on anything remotely resembling a holiday for years. I don't know how people afford it. even when I was working I never had any money, and certainly not enough to backpack round Thailand for months like everyone seems to do now...
probably not normal any more, no
but you'll still find a fair few people who don't really go abroad, and I don't think its anything to do with closed-mindedness.
I usually justify the fact that I don't travel with my financial situation, which is a load of shit - if I wanted to save for it, I could - it costs no more to take a cheap flight than it does an expensive train journey. But I find it really, really stressful travelling abroad and not knowing whats going on. So something has to be very special for it to be worth it to me.
And I really genuinely do love the UK - especially the south west.
i see
i kind of enjoy the traveling in itself y'see
I do quite well for myself, 2 passports innit.
Never really find anyone who hasn't been abroad much. Other way round really, friends have no idea about their own countries but can tell me plenty about Florida or Turkey or Magaluf or wherever is cheaper to go on a package for a forthnight than it is to B & B it around parts of the UK.
^ Why are you posted here? Eh?
where you going?
I don't...
...have a huge desire to go abroad. It doesn't make me narrow minded. It doesn't make me a cultural philistine. I just can't really be bothered.
And also, as part of a terminally middle class family I went abroad 3 times a year from the ages of 4-16. I didn't enjoy any of it, mainly because my family holidays were dreadful affairs and it put me off going. I had going abroad rammed down my throat for years and you know what the best holiday I ever had was which didn't make me cower under my pillow every night dreading it was? When we went to Bournemouth.
I also get homesick very easily.
In short. I just don't have much of a desire to do it for a variety of reasons. Just sitting on a train looking out of the window is enough for me... :)