# Common for Europeans to never travel from their country to other European countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233 "2023-04-26T22:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/21 "2023-04-27T22:27:36Z")
actually, there are people that have never went more than 70 miles in any direction from where they were born in the us … ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2023, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/22 "2023-04-27T22:40:57Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > We once had a grad student from Newfoundland who had never, before coming to Montreal, been outside of his province, which I found astonishing. I’ll the percentage of Canadians who have never left Canada is rather low. When I was in Labrador last summer, I was talking to a fishing guide who’s wife is from an island in Newfoundland that is connected to another island by a ferry. One time, when he was visiting her family, he took the ferry over to the other island to check it out. When he got back, a bunch of his in-laws asked what it was like because they had never been there ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/23 "2023-04-27T23:47:34Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Although they visited Philly at least once a year, she told me that she gone to Manhattan exactly once in her entire life. The Brooklynite only going to Manhattan once in her life is maybe a little extreme - but lots of outer borough people rarely go to Manhattan. Not because they’re afraid to or something - they just don’t have any reason to. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/24 "2023-04-28T00:32:42Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Same here, but I think that mine came back 1953. I _think_, because he never talked about it either. Nobody ever did, no idea where I got that date in my mind from. But if it was so (and there is nobody left to confirm or refute it) then he must have been one of the evil ones. You know what I mean. No. The Soviets kept huge numbers of German and Italian prisoners of way for up to 10 years after the war ended simply as a labour force, to help address a huge labour shortage caused by their own losses. They felt entitled to do this because there own war losses were, of course, inflicted by the Axis invasion. Not all POWs were kept so long but a great many were, and SFAIK decisions about how would be repatriated earlier and who later were, for the most part, not based on judgments about individual guilt. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/25 "2023-04-28T15:14:57Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > The Soviets kept huge numbers of German and Italian prisoners of way for up to 10 years after the war ended simply as a labour force, to help address a huge labour shortage caused by their own losses. They felt entitled to do this because there own war losses were, of course, inflicted by the Axis invasion. They also did that with Japanese POWs as well, even though the Japanese hadn’t invaded them. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/26 "2023-04-28T18:39:51Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > The Brooklynite only going to Manhattan once in her life is maybe a little extreme - but lots of outer borough people rarely go to Manhattan. Not because they’re afraid to or something - they just don’t have any reason to. Apparently, Manhattan these days is just not what it used to be in terms of underground music and what not. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/27 "2023-04-28T19:00:41Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I frequently meet people in the US that have never left their home state I had a coworker like that. Vacations were spent at his family cabin “up north.” Wisconsin is only 45 minutes away, but he had never been there. A most incurious sort, he felt no need to have a passport. He talked of a fishing trip to Canada, but dropped it when he found out one needs a passport or passport card to visit. He finally left the state when his adult daughter graduated from college and got a job teaching in Montana. He helped her move, and when he returned told me it was the first time he had ever left Minnesota. He was in his mid-50s at the time. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/28 "2023-04-28T21:03:05Z")
And the converse is true. There was an episode of _Sex and the City_ about “Manhattan Man.” > _I hate the country. I haven’t left Manhattan in 10 years._ > And you’re proud of that? > _Everything you want is right here._ > _Culture, food, the Park, cabs at 3:00 a.m. Why leave?_ > Perhaps to experience a world outside Manhattan. > _There is no world outside Manhattan._ I’d unwittingly set Miranda up on a date with Manhattan Guy. A genetically mutant strain of single men that fed on Zabar’s… …and midnight shows at the Angelica. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/29 "2023-04-28T21:17:02Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > There is no world outside Manhattan. The New Yorker made a cover from that: > **[View of the World from 9th Avenue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_of_the_World_from_9th_Avenue)** > > View of the World from 9th Avenue (sometimes A Parochial New Yorker's View of the World, A New Yorker's View of the World or simply View of the World) is a 1976 illustration by Saul Steinberg that served as the cover of the March 29, 1976, edition of The New Yorker. The work presents the view from Manhattan of the rest of the world showing Manhattan as the center of the world. The work of art is an artistic representation of distorted self-importance relative to one's true place in the world. > ... ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/30 "2023-04-28T21:58:38Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Apparently, Manhattan these days is just not what it used to be in terms of underground music and what not. Not so much that Manhattan isn’t what it used to be as the other boroughs now also have the music and whatnot. And there always were many people who only went into Manhattan to work - once they didn’t have to do that , for whatever reason ( retirement, new job WFH) they stopped going to Manhattan. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/31 "2023-04-30T16:36:50Z")
I’d be very surprised to meet an Irish person who had never been outside Ireland for any reason, whether for work or for fun. I’m sure they exist but it would be really unusual. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/32 "2023-04-30T18:19:18Z")
Czech people love to travel. Living in Prague, I’ve known lots of of people who have been well beyond Europe: a honeymoon in Cuba, a tourist trip to Mauritius, a work holiday to Alaska, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, you name it. Lots of people I know have been to Asian countries. You can get reasonably priced tickets to go there. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/33 "2023-05-03T02:34:12Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > > [@DPRK](#): > > > > Apparently, Manhattan these days is just not what it used to be in terms of underground music and what not. > > Not so much that Manhattan isn’t what it used to be as the other boroughs now also have the music and whatnot. And there always were many people who only went into Manhattan to work - once they didn’t have to do that , for whatever reason ( retirement, new job WFH) they stopped going to Manhattan. I don’t know if Manhattan isn’t what it used to be or I’m not. I can see Manhattan from my window and my office is a 10 minute ferry ride away, but I almost never go into the city anymore. Mostly because I have to pick the kids up from school. Also most of our Manhattan friends have moved away. But even back in the day, there were always people I worked with who I guess just found Manhattan terrifying and/or confusing and would dart off to the train, bus, or ferry home first chance they could. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/34 "2023-05-03T03:10:10Z")
Interesting…the link given by @UDS1 upstairs says that 18% of Irish citizens have never visited another EU country (that included the UK at the time the survey was taken). I suppose some of them might have traveled to a non-EU country such as Canada, Australia, or the US, but that still seems like a pretty fair chunk of Ireland’s population that hasn’t been out of the 26 counties. People do tend to sort themselves demographically and geographically; maybe there are groups of people in Ireland (and similar countries) where travel outside the country is absolutely standard, and others where it isn’t, and rarely the twain shall meet. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/35 "2023-05-03T03:28:02Z")
I would approach this data with a measure of caution. If the question was phrased in terms of “travel” or “tourism”, it may be that people who e.g. go from Ireland to Northern Ireland do not think of themselves as “travelling”, “going abroad”, “visiting another country”, etc. And there are probably other areas in Europe where similar considerations might apply. But, yeah, in every country there probably is a cohort that doesn’t travel very much, either domestically or to other countries. And if you’re not in that cohort it may be largely invisible to you, or at least it may be bigger than you think. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/36 "2023-05-06T12:09:17Z")
I think the people suggesting there are very different groups of people- those who consider travel normal and those who stay put- who rarely meet have it right. I’ve certainly met a few adults who have almost never left the county they were born in, in England, including some now deceased relatives and a few co-workers at a cleaning job. It was something that came up a lot at second job in a college in a deprived area in Cornwall, which involved some work with local school kids and their parents, trying to increase university applications from the kids who would benefit from that. The number one question asked by parents at the university uptake events was ‘Can my child do [course] without leaving Cornwall?’, with a bit of ‘But will my child be able to get a job in [profession] in Cornwall?’ thrown in, and if the answer wasn’t a yes, they would encourage the kids not to sign up. I would have been very surprised if many of those parents had ever left Great Britain. There was actually a slightly startling survey done at one of the local schools near the college which found that somewhere around 15% of the 10-12 year old kids there had never been to the seaside. This is on a penisula, for thise unfamiliar with British geography, so the sea was less than 5 miles away in one direction, less than 15 miles in the opposite direction. I’ve previously occasionally worked with other charity groups dealing with similar kids in other areas, who had never left their home city, but they’re generally from very poor demographics who don’t mix much outside their community, so it would be very easy for those not in that community to not be aware that they exist. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/37 "2023-05-06T13:21:27Z")
I think we have to be careful not to confuse “has never been to a specific nearby place” with “doesn’t travel”. I live within a few miles of a beach and I am certain I have neighbors who have never been there. But that has little to do with travel in general - no doubt some don’t enjoy swimming, others prefer pools to beaches, and lots prefer Long Island beaches to NYC beaches. ---
**Author:** ![Blindmellowjelly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindmellowjelly/32/13920_2.png) [@Blindmellowjelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blindmellowjelly)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2023, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/38 "2023-05-07T03:52:06Z")
My BRD exchange family was making many trips to their relatives in the DDR. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2023, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/39 "2023-05-07T08:54:40Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > The Soviets kept huge numbers of German and Italian prisoners of way for up to 10 years after the war ended simply as a labour force The UK held on to at least the German prisoners for a couple of years for the same reason. By the end, they were offered the option to stay on if they wished, as (I think) the Italians had been, and quite a few did. > **[German prisoners of war in the United Kingdom](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_prisoners_of_war_in_the_United_Kingdom)** > > Large numbers of German prisoners of war were held in Britain between the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 and late 1948. Their numbers reached a peak of around 400,000 in 1946, and then began to fall when repatriation began. The experiences of these prisoners differed in certain important respects from those of captured German servicemen held by other nations. The treatment of the captives, though strict, was generally humane, and fewer prisoners died in British captivity In... ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2023, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233/40 "2023-05-07T09:05:15Z")
The kids had never left the town- we checked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-for-europeans-to-never-travel-from-their-country-to-other-european-countries/983233.md?page=3)