[QUOTE=Westy]The other 75% (actually 87%) of US citizens. Those who don't travel. Have their reasons and excuses; some good, some fearful, some lame.
Good reasons? The USA is a huge country, a tremendously diverse country, and you don't [I]have[/I] to board a plane to get to anything in the "lower 48". There's an awful lot to see, visit, and experience. I bought my "trailer yacht" to use as a caravan when it's not in the water sailing, just to use as a home-away-from-home for some extended USA tourism.
Fearful reasons? Global terrorism and the notion that USA citizens are special targets of "the mullahs". Stories of the red-shirt riots in Bangkok. Highly publicized murders, kidnappings and the like.
Lame reasons? The water, the food, "I can't speaka the language, " they don't speak English, shakedowns from the cops or from Customs. That sort of shit.
Gunz, with forty countries stamped in your passport, you're aware of course that offshore travel can be a pain in the butt. If you have to rely on English-speaking "locals" to work with you, then you're probably aware of how much you aren't understanding of that country; if you [I]do[/I] speak the language, you had to put a lot of work into learning it. And you know that the USA is the Land of Instant Gratification. Very few Americans are willing to put in the work to learn another language, even if it did open up the world for them. I'd bet that "87%" (non-travelers) don't speak any languages but English. Well, probably a lot of them speak Spanish too. But, as I said, "they have their excuses. "
I did a good lot of offshore travel in the last ten years of my career, though not as much as you have, Gunz. Now that I'm retired, I do want to see "the wonders of the USA" before I move offshore. But I also get in some foreign travel, such as my recent DR trip, partly for "research" in the quest for my One Particular Harbor. And partly to get it on with the chicas of the world, such as the girls at Blackbeard's..[/QUOTE]You got to be kidding me except for few cities on the coasts, most of America seems like a wasteland. Boring.