I'm telling you straight out that my experiences are perfectly normal here, and that that is something about which I am better informed than you are.
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Maybe it's a matter of social strata or go-ability of some folks? You mentioned a chalet or popping over to Rome. I'm middle class and I don't know anybody with a chalet. While I do know some folks who pop around the country/state with some ease, that's not the norm here.
Maybe plane tickets are cheaper in the EU? It'll cost me $1000 per person to get to someplace significant, and I'm in a major city.
There's also logistics of family. My friend who pops around the state quite a bit is hauling 2 kids + wife. Me, I got a wife and dog, and since the dog can't come with, an hour drive, means +2 hours drain on the time we can be away unless I can wrangle somebody to let the dog out. Plus the wife is spendy, so going somewhere means shopping. Not going somewhere means saving money. Result is, in my family culture, staying put is the norm.
I have no idea of what's normal for people in the UK or EU. I imagine a mix. Mobile people like Morrus, and rather "fixed" people. Odds are good, Morrus's social circle is more people like himself (obviously by virtue of what you're saying, but I'm also thinking of filtering).
I would imagine, for anybody who does travel freely, that they don't see any barriers to it, and thus might not be aware or even imagine that anybody else might have barriers to travel.