# How old were you when you first left the country? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 19, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119 "2020-04-19T12:45:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/141 "2020-05-08T18:48:51Z")
1. Vacationing in Maine we drove up to St. Andrews-By-The-Sea. The next time I left the United States was when we visited the United Nations in NYC. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/142 "2020-06-08T09:36:26Z")
10, LA to San Diego and then to Tijuana. I remember the radio stations starting with X and someone named Xico (maybe [this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xicot%C3%A9ncatl_Leyva_Mortera)?) running for some political position with flyers that looked something like MÉ **XICO** MÉ **XICO** MÉ **XICO** (The accent mark may not have actually been there. It might have also been all lower case.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/143 "2020-06-08T10:36:12Z")
I have barely travelled anywhere. Because my parents knew that our Dad was getting sick, we were running out of time to have a proper family holiday, so they saved up for a trip to Fiji, which we took in August 1980 when I was 10. That was my first time in a jet plane, first time overseas, first time in the North Island of New Zealand (a stopover in Auckland, I’m from the southern part of the South Island), and first time experiencing a different culture. After that I didn’t go anywhere else until I moved to Australia at age 30, where I’ve been ever since. So I’ve never left the southern hemisphere, and never been over a land border because the three countries I have visited are all island nations. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/144 "2020-06-08T15:10:04Z")
30 to a US territory (Puerto Rico), 31 to an actual foreign country (Canada). Both trips courtesy of Uncle Sam. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/145 "2020-06-08T15:17:57Z")
8th grade my French class had a trip to Quebec City. 12th grade went to Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/146 "2020-06-08T16:20:54Z")
11-15. I don’t remember exactly when, but I went on a ski trip to Mt. St. Anne in Quebec with my dad and sister. It was kind of an extension of our occasional trip to Vermont from NJ. At 16 I toured Scandinavia with a wind ensemble. That was my first ‘overseas’ trip. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/147 "2020-06-09T21:16:35Z")
I was born in Madrid on the 10th of December, my parents went with me to spend Christmas with my German grandparents, so I must have been just under two weeks old. Going abroad is easier in Europe, it is often closer than in the USA. The languages vary more here, though. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/148 "2020-06-10T00:25:07Z")
Over 18, so no protection for being a minor, when I crossed to Mexico to bring back a big bag of fireworks. Didn’t get caught. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Also lucky. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/149 "2020-06-10T18:29:56Z")
Well technically I was under a month old since I was born in Germany and then moved to US but I picked 3-10 because once establishing there it was few years before trips to Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/150 "2020-06-11T06:13:19Z")
About eight years old, I think. We drove down to Ensenada in Baja. It was the first time I’d ever been outside of California as well. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119/151 "2020-06-11T19:06:55Z")
16, I think. Went with some other high school students on a hella-cheap tour of parts of Europe via a group that catered to teenagers on learning tours. Got to see much of Spain (loved Torremolinos and Sevilla, didn’t care a lick for Cordoba or Madrid), parts of France (Paris can go fuck itself), and much of London (most amazing city in the entire damn world). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-were-you-when-you-first-left-the-country/852119.md?page=7)