Big countries vs. small countries

[Orius]

You got to remember that most of us travel by car unless we fly because going by train means Amtrak. And Amtrak sucks. At least that's the prevaling reputation it has.

That and American culture has glamorized the road trip to some extent. People like to get in the car and drive across the country and see the sights at their own pace.

RE: Travelling by train -- Once you get to the destination, how do you get around there? That's what's always stumped me with the idea of travelling by train.

Taxi? I've only ever ridden in a taxi in NYC and Sweden.

Don't you guys have rentals in the south? If you're planning a trip and taking the train, then rent a car for your stay for local travel. There should be some rental place around unless you're heading out to some tiny podunk town in the middle of nowhere, and Amtrak don't serve those.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Don't know what its like in other states, but in Texas, the minimum age to rent a car is 25, so that will hinder some people.

 

[Bullgrit]

Rent a car? That's like renting a woman.

Bullgrit

 

[Viking Bastard]

That and American culture has glamorized the road trip to some extent. People like to get in the car and drive across the country and see the sights at their own pace.

And Europe has glorified travelling by train. Coast-to-coast road trip of the USA (preferably in somekinda old american convertible) and travelling randomly through Europe by Interrail are both on my bucket list. I don't really want to drive around Europe and travelling around the USA in a bus has never entered the picture.

I blame media.

 

[ggroy]

One day somebody will invent and mass produce a worldwide teleportation system, which would make older bus, rail, air, etc ... travel superfluous or obsolete.

 

[El Mahdi]

My Heisenberg Compensator is in development as we speak.

 

[Morrus]

You seem to be speaking for all Europe, but in my experience (which is reasonably large, knowing hundreds of people) the majority of the sample which I know in the UK typically travel less far on a regular basis just to see friends than people I know and know of in the US.

True; admittedly I am only speaking for myself and people I know. But I know quite a lot of people too!

They travel less far to see friends because their friends tend to live closer (due to the lower rate of actual migration - people don't move so far to live). However, if friends do live more distant, in my experience it's not a particular obstacle. I have friends in Spain and the Netherlands who visit me quite casually and frequently; and I know a crapload of people who think nothing of a weekend in various European countries. Some destinations are more popular, of course (Amsterdam and various Spanish locations), but it's really not uncommon.

A lot of my family lives in Liverpool; my brother in Nottingham. Admittedly that's only a couple of hundred miles, but it's exactly the distance - "200 miles is a long way" - we're talking about here, and not thought of as an issue. We see each other all the time. Hell, I used to hop on a train by myself when I was 13 or so to visit my grandma for the night and thought nothing of it.

Certainly in my experience, this is not unusual.

Perhaps Londoners - like New Yorkers - tend to travel less due to their view that London is all one needs and anything beyond the M25 is a foreig country.

 

[nerfherder]

Perhaps Londoners - like New Yorkers - tend to travel less due to their view that London is all one needs and anything beyond the M25 is a foreig country.

Heh! That was certainly my experience when I lived there for 5 years.

 

[El Mahdi]

Rent a car? That's like renting a woman.

Bullgrit

Unless it's a rent-to-own deal...you know...like marriage

 

[drothgery]

Don't know what its like in other states, but in Texas, the minimum age to rent a car is 25, so that will hinder some people.

Minimum ages for car rental are set by the car rental companies, not by law (says someone who rented a car @ age 24 in Atlanta for a friend's wedding, though he did get charged extra for it). And generally they just charge you extra, they don't keep you from renting a car (because, for one, people under 25 do occasionally go on business trips).