The last time I was in NYC I went to Astoria Queens to visit a friend. After hanging out in a bar, I decided to make my way back to my hotel at around 2:30 a.m.. Asked one of the bouncers where to find the closest subway entrance and he motions to a cabbie and says take this man back into Manhattan, it's on me just tip the driver and we will be cool. He seemed to think that the subway at 2 a.m. wasn't a good idea. I took his advice.
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Americans and Our Lack of Culture
- Thread starter MMMariah
- Start date
The last time I was in NYC I went to Astoria Queens to visit a friend. After hanging out in a bar, I decided to make my way back to my hotel at around 2:30 a.m.. Asked one of the bouncers where to find the closest subway entrance and he motions to a cabbie and says take this man back into Manhattan, it's on me just tip the driver and we will be cool. He seemed to think that the subway at 2 a.m. wasn't a good idea. I took his advice.
Mr. Daystar
In a bell tower, watching you through cross hairs.
Fucking post of the decade.
So lets look at this from another angle. How many work a day Europeans travel? I'm not talking about the rich & famous, I'm talking about the people who work for a living. Probably not that many. Are they less cultured?
You didn't, which is why I prefaced my post with this statement:
Maybe it is you that are "fucking defensive and taking shit outta context."
That's because it's not, unless you're traveling with someone that's from NY and doesn't look like someone that's never been in a train before. But I would say that traveling through any city, especially at night, without someone that's a native of said city is never a good idea.
SabrinaDeep
Official Checked Star Member
That's where you are wrong. A lot of people in Europe travel and that's also a direct consequence of thousands of years of history. Travelling is part of the European culture. Without Europeans travelling, for example, there wouldn't be the USA as we know it. Or the world, even. Europeans have always traveled. I also would like to remind those who talk about passports that although the number of passports in Europe is much much bigger than the number of passports in the US, there is no need, currently, for a passport to travel among European countries which together with the geographic structure of Europe itself makes it easier for European to make that experience abroad. In 2 hours flight you can reach any european destination from any european starting point.
Anyway, outbound trips stats (4 years old) per world region:
Americas (pop. 950M) 17%
Europe (pop. 745M) 52%
http://www.enduringwanderlust.com/who-travels-the-most/
I've walked the route of the Bataan Death March and been to both A-bomb sites of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the latter as an 8th grade field trip.
I went from "those motherfuckers" to "holy shit, we got our payback."
I went from "those motherfuckers" to "holy shit, we got our payback."
When i was in the military and deployed in i think Germany (i think that it was actually just a 5 day layover i dont remember) a group of guys took a 2 day trip and went on like a several hour drive to go to Paris. They just got a rental car, split the cost and bam off they went. In the US i imagine that kind of behavior is similar to how my roommate +a few friends will go from SoCal to Vegas on Saturday morning and come back late Sunday evening. I didnt actually go on that trip from Germany to Paris with the guys, i stayed back at the base and rode go-carts hehe. But anyways, your average American going to Europe probably has to get vacation time for that, but somewhere nearby in the US they can do on their days off. I wonder if Europeans do the same thing though on just their days off?
It is also possible to travel to Russia from England via train and visit about seven other countries in the process, for those so inclined and have the time. Much more convenient for Europeans to broaden their horizons.
Ohh yah i forgot about their bullet train system. I'm more familiar with the Japanese bullet train system, i've never bothered to figure out how extensive the European system is.
Exactly my point. You can have a four hour flight and not leave the country in the U.S.. From where I live in Michigan it's a longer distance to go New Orleans than it is from London to Rome. So how are these numbers not slanted? I'm sure that quite a few Europeans travel to a different country on occasion but it's the same thing as me going to fucking Ohio. Neither one is much of a feat and it doesn't make them any more cultured than me. We joke about Rhode Island being such a tiny state but it's larger than three or four European "countries". Hell you cant leave your house without "traveling abroad". I have been out of the country a dozen times. It wasn't that big of a deal and it didn't make me more cultured. At the end of the day the fact remains that travel does not equal culture.
Ace Bandage
The one and only.
I'd rather visit all the wonderful places that our country has to offer. America is expansive, and there's plenty to do here. I had the best deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's in Chicago, IL. I had the best clam chowder at Nervous Nellie's in Fort Myers, FL, the best lobster at Lobster Shack at Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and the best sushi at Izumi in Kirkland, Washington. I even tried (and disliked) gumbo in New Orleans, Louisiana. I've hiked Chimney tops and dozens of other trails at the Great Smokey Mountain National Park in Tennessee. I went white water rafting on the Gauley River in West Virginia. I spent two weeks in D.C. and visited all the Smithsonian museums and as many other museums and art galleries as I possibly could, pretty much all day, every day. I've watched a football game on the field at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I've played in the sand at Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan, swam in the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico, hiked the Grand Canyon (find something comparable to that), and watched my beloved Boilermakers play in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena California. I've also been to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing (Indianapolis 500) in my home state every year since I was 4 years old.
Traveling to other countries might be something I do when I'm older (read retired). But right now I'm content to try and do everything in my home country first. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Traveling to other countries might be something I do when I'm older (read retired). But right now I'm content to try and do everything in my home country first. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
agree with you but another issue is you have on your mind only some limited choices of countries to go, cuntries you already know less or more. why not try visiting countries you have never been or heard of?
Not strictly true. I had a hour flight from London to Moscow.
BlkHawk
Closed Account
SabrinaDeep
Official Checked Star Member
I should have said European Union.
Not all of the trains in europe are good. not all are bullet trains either. Ive taken the train all over and had great experiences and very bad ones. Some have no food or water on them at all, some have decent food cars. some blast a horn every 10 minutes to keep sheep off the track like in Switzerland and most of Scandinavia.
I find it interesting how defensive some of you get as if its insulting to say that traveling broadens horizons. I would hardly use the slogan "Stay put! You'll be better for it!" or think anyone else would for that matter.
I go to places I've never heard of all the time and it's one of my favorite ways to travel. When I travel I rarely dine in places that are fancy because that's not getting the true experience of the place you're visiting. I prefer street foods over restaurants in some place. In Italy when I drove from Rome to Sicily along the Amalfi coast there were little roadside stands where they had a grill and cold drinks with fresh fruit. So you'd get a plate of fresh sausage with asparagus and mushrooms with a piece of bread and sliced orange that was incredible. That to me is ideal, not sitting in some restaurant. Don't get me wrong, I do eat in restaurants. I take the train and subway. I walk mostly if I can. I went to fucking Montreal in February this year for christ's sake because I thought it sounded like an adventure.
So you can talk shit and call me an elitist but that's bullshit. I am anything but. I won't apologize for liking nice things but I am not driven by them. I have an interest in the unknown, which is something people with little creativity know nothing about.
I find it interesting how defensive some of you get as if its insulting to say that traveling broadens horizons. I would hardly use the slogan "Stay put! You'll be better for it!" or think anyone else would for that matter.
I go to places I've never heard of all the time and it's one of my favorite ways to travel. When I travel I rarely dine in places that are fancy because that's not getting the true experience of the place you're visiting. I prefer street foods over restaurants in some place. In Italy when I drove from Rome to Sicily along the Amalfi coast there were little roadside stands where they had a grill and cold drinks with fresh fruit. So you'd get a plate of fresh sausage with asparagus and mushrooms with a piece of bread and sliced orange that was incredible. That to me is ideal, not sitting in some restaurant. Don't get me wrong, I do eat in restaurants. I take the train and subway. I walk mostly if I can. I went to fucking Montreal in February this year for christ's sake because I thought it sounded like an adventure.
So you can talk shit and call me an elitist but that's bullshit. I am anything but. I won't apologize for liking nice things but I am not driven by them. I have an interest in the unknown, which is something people with little creativity know nothing about.
xfire
New Twitter/X @cxffreeman
There are almost double the number of states in the U.S. as there are countries in the E.U., I'm content to check the ones in my own backyard off before hopping over to Europe. Floating the Neches river may not sound as exotic as doing the same thing on some river in Italy or Germany but the fishing is pretty damn good.
You can drive to Montreal. Hang out on St Catherines street . after a few Molsons and listening to some French Canadian babes speak You'll swear you are in Paris .
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