Re: [OT] Completely off-topic re: travelling

Allan Goodall schrieb:
> Folks in Europe tend to forget that between Canada, the
> US, and Mexico there'sa whole continent over here that's much bigger
than
> Europe. There's a lot to see over here! You could spend an entire
vacation in > New York ... 

Quite true. And pretty off-topic, but in a friendly enough tone so
far.

Just a contribution from the other side of the pond. I do have a
passport, but only because I have travelled rather far afield. With
European unification, I wouldn't need it for most places I could drive
to. And any European country has enough attractions to keep you busy
for weeks (well, maybe not Liechtenstein). 

Europeans travel into foreign countries more than Americans, but mostly
because their countries are smaller. When Americans go in-country to
Florida, California or Hawaii to enjoy the sun, Europeans go to the
foreign places of Greece, Spain or Italy. Many go for the culture, too,
but others just want those places to be like home, but with better
weather. My Uncle had a restaurant in Spain and made good business
sellling Germans Sausages and Kraut. And this is not a peculiarly
German trait. He had neighbours who did simlar business with Swedes and
Britons.

As to danger. In most civilised places, travelling is quite safe. To a
fair degree, it's the effect of news media that report only on ugly
incidents that make people apprehensive of travelling. Quite a lot of
Europeans have the impression that the US is a place of gun-cracy
cowboys and inner-city gangs.

Greetings