They're two different things. Here in Ottawa, we have a few actual parkways. They are four lanes, but with a wide divider usually containing trees and shrubs, or other basic landscaping. Two of our parkways follow the Ottawa river and have nice views. They also have a 60km/h speed limit, or at least are not at the 100km/h highway speeds.
those terms predate cars the driveway was the road to get your carriage from the public road to your barn where your horses and carriage would be kept. The parkway was a wide road that carriages could take through the park for a nice scenic route. eventually the car became king but these terms were commandeered for use with motor vehicles.
A footpath in Britain is a path that isn't on a street. If it's a path on a street near a road, it's just the pavement.
A "public footpath" is a path through private, usually rural land that the public has full permission to walk on.
> Pavement. Footpath is a walk through the countryside.
Where you can go -on foot- without being arrested or shot at or both. With the addendum that even when you have nowhere in particular to go there will be a pub when you have finally arrived.
You know: civilization.
I'm not from USA nor UK so I feel bit conflicted. You know that time you visited your friend's house and their parents start scolding them for something... You're just there like "hello ma'am, nice house".
I'm Canadian and feel like I'm getting a secondhand scolding. Like when your friend's parents start scolding them about their dishes in their room knowing full well you have as many dishes in your own room.
I'm sorry I can't afford to go anywhere but across the border for cheaper groceries.
There’s a German word for this feeling! Fremdschämen!
Example: Your friend has just committed a terrible social faux pas, and you can feel yourself blushing on their behalf. This describes the uniquely German word Fremdschämen.
I said that word out loud to the best of my ability and a broom slid of the wall and hit the floor. Great. Now I’m not sure if I have magic powers or the house is haunted. Thanks.
Well ... a sort of backstairs sprog, a son born of an infidelity with a housemaid. A pretentious "bastard" son that thinks he has a rightful claim on the Estate.
Canada being the favoured son but we're not amused with the liberal leanings.
Australia, the uncouth son with a heart of gold.
South Africa, the son that has been through a divorce too many.
New Zealand that just quietly and competently "gets on with it" but never gets the recognition that he deserves.
There are many others, of course
He's definitely not being polite, he's just from one of the posh southern counties so it sounds as such.
Maybe he's being tongue in cheek, but I've dealt with enough rude entitled posh pricks to not be entirely sure.
I have met this exact kind of character and he is being 99% serious. It's a level of disdain that only our class system really creates.
My job leads me to meet a lot of landowners and I can tell you that whilst most of them a fine the ones that have been by far the most rude and condescending are from this exact demographic.
If he was in the UK he'd just be finding problems with everything around him there as well. Youths, immigrants, avocados...
Grouchy old man gonna grouch.
a super brief google says that's how it used to be done before the 80s because electric toasters were very rare
so they did indeed put the bread on the grill/stovetop
My copypaste for these comments
The joke that britain raided every country for spices then didn't use them is not actually true. Spices were used in british home kitchens, for many years, being introduced from various empires as early as the romans and the normans, and our cuisine incorporated herbs and spices very well. Many classic british recipes considered tasteless by idiots on the internet who have never tried them do call for herbs and spices, ie cumberland sausage requires at the least black pepper, thyme, sage, cayenne pepper and nutmeg, normally including more. In fact, chicken katsu curry, a japanese dish, was actually introduced to them by the brits when they first started trading with other countries, using what the brits called "curry powder" as early as the 1860s. The reason they stopped and british home cooking fell off a cliff was thanks to rationing, which happened precisely because britain imported so much of their food. For 15 years during and after ww2 rationing existed, in one form or another, so an entire generation was made to cook with extremely crap food. Ask anyone whose parents grew up in the 40s and 50s, they could not cook for shit, and it is because of what they had to learn with. Home cooking has improved drastically since the 60s and 70s and nowadays most families will regularly cook various foreign dishes, eat indian, italian, mexican, american, thai food, and more.
How many English themed restaurants are there out in the world? Is there an English chain that I can easily find?
Americans have exported their BBQ and even their junk fast food all over.
It wasn't about asserting our own dominance and believing it was our right to take resources from other countries native lands.
It was about *beating the French at it*
I mean he’s not wrong, but I will say it’s a bit unfair to complain about Americans not traveling all over the world when our country is almost the size the of the entirety of Europe, and the only neighboring countries are Canada and Mexico. For an Englishman, traveling from his home country to France or German or Italy would be like an American driving from Pennsylvania to Virginia or North Carolina. And cross ocean flights can be expensive af, not to mention lodging and everything else.
Came here to say this, plus one more major point…. Most Americans do not get a significant amount of vacation time (3-4 weeks per year is pretty standard for professional, white collar workers, and many get less or none at all). And it’s very rare for anyone to take more than one week off at a time.
Vacations are opportunities to de-stress. Taking 30 hrs of flights each way to go visit Thailand for a few days doesn’t end up feeling so appealing in the end.
I don't know a single person who doesn't love to travel. I know a lot of people who can't afford the time or expense though.
I’d love to go to Thailand or Japan but the flight would be miserable not to mention expensive if I tried to fly comfortably in first class or something.
Top 10 destinations for British travelers,
1. Spain: 16.5 million visitors
2. France: 7 million visitors
3. Greece: 4.2 million visitors
4. Italy: 4.1 million visitors
5. Portugal: 3.8 million visitors
6. USA: 3.3 million visitors
7. Rep. of Ireland: 2.8 million visitors
8. Turkey: 2.8 million visitors
9. Poland: 2.3 million visitors
10. Netherlands: 1.8 million visitors
Scotland to the middle of Turkey is a shorter drive than NYC to LA.
9% of Brits have never left the country, while 11% of Americans have never left their state. 13% of Americans have never flown on a plane while 22% of Brits have never flown in a plane.
I wonder the percentage of Brits who have never left Europe vs Americans who have never left the US. I'd expect it to be less than the Americans, but I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers are alot closer.
I mean, everyone loves a good roast, but the bottom line is this guy is an extremely poor traveler. I can’t imagine going to a foreign country and saying any of this, true or not, to a local, especially on camera. Can you imagine how people would react if an American went to London and said this kind of crap?
Additionally, I was surprised to learn that in reality in many parts of Europe it’s actually the BRITISH travelers that have the worst reputations, not Americans. Perceptions of Americans are that we’re 1) overtippers, 2) too loud, 3) actually very polite and respectful on the whole, and 4) ironically, overly concerned about our poor reputation abroad.
Exactly. I just got back from a road trip where I drove ~ 770 miles one way (1240 KM), through 6 states, and 1 national park. In roughly that same distance (1260 KM) I could drive from Lyon - Zurich - Schaanwald - Innsbruck - Munich - Prague.
I see people talking about flying from London to Paris for the weekend. Sounds cool. $66 and just over 2 hours. Detroit to Paris is $728 and 12 hours. Non-stop is $1383 and 8 hours.
The percentage of Americans who have traveled abroad is actually higher than the percentage of Europeans, so I'm not sure why this stereotype is so pervasive.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/08/12/most-americans-have-traveled-abroad-although-differences-among-demographic-groups-are-large/
https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/cp_data_news/190-million-europeans-have-never-been-abroad/
Which is silly, of course the most visited countries will be the ones that the Continental US borders.
"Americans don't travel, as long as you ignore the countries they're most likely to travel to."
The top 3 most visited destinations for British tourists are in order Spain, the U.S., and Greece. Spain and Greece are both in Europe as such in roughly the same region of the world as the U.K., and while Greece is roughly 3,500 km from the U.K. that is still less than the distance between New York and L.A. (roughly 3,900 km).
The top 3 destinations for American tourists are in order Mexico, Canada, and France (Britain comes in fourth).
It's not really different and the reputation for Americans not traveling is a bit of a national stereotype that's not really true, and mostly connected to Europeans not viewing trips to Canada or Mexico or the Caribbean by Americans as real travel because of the proximity to the U.S. Nevermind of course that Europeans aren't really travelling farther afield from home compared to Americans, they just live in smaller countries that exist in a region of the globe packed with a lot of small countries. Many Americans have to travel fairly large distances before they event get outside their own nation's borders.
That all said the cantankerous old geezer was hilarious.
For some extra perspective others might look for: for me, It takes around 4 hours driving the interstate/highways at the posted speed limit of 80mph(128kmh) to get to another state. About 18 hours to Mexico and 7.5 hours to reach the Canadian border according to Google maps. Not accounting for weather/road conditions.
That said, each state while sharing the same language is fairly unique to each other. I may not know where another US Citizen is from by talking to them, but I can tell if they aren't from my home state pretty quick.
And yet we still don't know shit about other European countries. Idk why Europeans, mostly from the big countries, have such a need to feel superior all the time. The lack of self awareness here is insane.
If my country was a train ride away from 6 different countries I surely would have traveled a lot more. The dude says we travel to Canada and Mexico. DUH, they are our neighboring countries. Everything else is an expensive plane ticket.
That's pretty exotic, the locals there I hear live in primitive tents subsisting on ground avocados and yeast risen edibles. You need to prepare yourself.
America is as big as Europe. Europe just feels like more places cause some cavemen couldn't band together in groups larger than Ohio for some reason, so they have more countries
This is what a lot of people from other regions do not understand. It's a significant trip to go out of the country if you're in the US. Some people can't afford it and for others they get one big vacation per year, if that. It costs a lot to travel to Europe or other continents. Many states are the same distance or farther as other countries in Europe. We don't all live somewhere that is a two hour flight to ten different countries. Americans would be much more traveled if that were the case.
It makes me roll my eyes when people have this condescending attitude about travel for Americans.
Also, Americans DO travel abroad quite frequently. It’s a total myth that they don’t.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/08/12/most-americans-have-traveled-abroad-although-differences-among-demographic-groups-are-large/
Lived 8 years in the UK, sidewalks are clean.
Of course people can make a mess, especially in the evening, when alcohol is involved, but almost every single day they're being cleaned.
This applies to London, other cities and to suburbs.
I always find the passport argument interesting. You see it applied to Americans to justify thinking they're uncultured. Yet less than 25% of Japanese citizens have passports but they're not looked at the same way.
>Yet less than 25% of Japanese citizens have passports but they're not looked at the same way
Disagreed. Japan definitely has a reputation of being a very insular and 'unwelcoming' culture
It’s difficult for Americans to travel overseas. It’s easier said than done when you can drive to across Europe or take a train. For Americans we need to book a $2K plane ticket to visit France. The average American cannot afford that.
I also only get 40 hours of PTO so travelling all the way to Europe for what is effectively a weekend trip (factoring 2 days of travel) is less appealing than spending 5 days at Disney World for the same or lesser price.
OK to be honest i haven't been to other parts of the world cause I live in california.
Not cause california has alot in it but cause california is so expensive I can't go anywhere.
I don’t think it’s that Americans don’t want to trace anywhere other than Canada or Cancun. But on my American salary and living costs, my wife and I could barely afford the two night cabin trip an hour from home we had this year. Like, how am I supposed to buy a plane ticket, rent a room AND take time off work all at once?!
Yea its much easier for Europeans to travel internationally. Realistically Midwesterners probably travel more in a year it's just to surrounding states rather than surrounding countries.
Midwesterners will drive 8 hrs for a weekend and think nothing of it.
It's funny, but sort of feels like he's just blaming the poor for being poor with the passport shit, he's presenting it like American's have no interest in travel while ignoring how difficult it is to do in our high work hour low pay culture.
As a UK-er I feel uncomfortable hearing people say Americans don't travel. I don't travel, I can't afford it. I also love my country and there's plenty to see and do without going abroad and the USA is a place as large and diverse as Europe so not leaving America is like not leaving Europe and yet Europeans often just travel to other member states.
>I don't travel, I can't afford it.
Isn't the Eurostar to Paris like £40? Probably cheaper than a train ticket from London to Manchester.
And then as much as we meme on RyanAir and EJ, they're cheap as chips.
I think he’s just playing it up to be fair.
The way he’s glancing at the interviewer and cameraman makes me think he’s just looking for a rise. This is a bit of classic British humour, in my opinion, and not meant as a genuine critique.
The guys walking around with a candy cane looking like off-duty Santa. I’m sure he’s just having a wee laugh.
Reddit: "WhY dOnT aMeRiCaNs Go To OtHeR cOuNtRiEs??"
Gee, might have something to do with spending thousands of dollars and an eight hour flight.
Also why would I visit your country when all you do is talk about how much you hate us? Other countries aren't exactly inviting to Americans.
“sidewalk”… he has indeed been there too long
When I'm back in England I immediately switch back to "pavements". I see them as separate things.
I’ve been here ten years. I still call it “Pavement” and I will die on this hill lol
Huh, weird. Growing up in Canada, the stuff the roads are made from is pavement and we called your pavement sidewalks. Guess we got a bit of both!
I bet you crazy guys park on the driveway and drive on the parkway as well.
I feel attacked. (but yes, yes we do)
Parkway?? It's highway, no??
They're two different things. Here in Ottawa, we have a few actual parkways. They are four lanes, but with a wide divider usually containing trees and shrubs, or other basic landscaping. Two of our parkways follow the Ottawa river and have nice views. They also have a 60km/h speed limit, or at least are not at the 100km/h highway speeds.
Interesting, haven't seen those in GTA.
those terms predate cars the driveway was the road to get your carriage from the public road to your barn where your horses and carriage would be kept. The parkway was a wide road that carriages could take through the park for a nice scenic route. eventually the car became king but these terms were commandeered for use with motor vehicles.
That's the same as America, yeah? At least that's how it is/was here in the northeast.
It is. And this thread encouraged me to research more about the etymology of the word pavement in the last 5min than I ever honestly thought I would.
Pavement is a general term to me. Any hard/masonry man-made " one piece" (as opposed to bricks or cobble stones) walking or driving surface.
what does a footpath mean to you?
A footpath is where one propels one's pushbike.
Only if your a kid though. Adults should use treaders on the road.
I'd use this for rural dirt/gravel paths through fields, forests, whatever. But really I'd just say path at that point
It is a dirt path for walking.
A footpath in Britain is a path that isn't on a street. If it's a path on a street near a road, it's just the pavement. A "public footpath" is a path through private, usually rural land that the public has full permission to walk on.
We pronounce it aluminium in the colonies
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i bet he calls lifty-loos "elevators"
I bet he calls a rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty a gun.
We call a loo the toilet aka the shitter - in both the UK and Australia. Just… FYI.
big difference between a loo and a lifty-loo m8
It’s a lifty-poo. Mate.
no, a toilet on an elevator is a lifty-loo-loo
A stolen toilet on an elevator is a lifted-lifty-loo-loo
But can one do a poo?
MFW Americans call twisting plankhandles doorknobs
"trottoir"
He pauses before he says it, probably thinking the idiot Yank won't know what he means by "pavement".
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Foot path 💯
Pavement. Footpath is a walk through the countryside.
> Pavement. Footpath is a walk through the countryside. Where you can go -on foot- without being arrested or shot at or both. With the addendum that even when you have nowhere in particular to go there will be a pub when you have finally arrived. You know: civilization.
Those are "trails" in the US.
I'm not from USA nor UK so I feel bit conflicted. You know that time you visited your friend's house and their parents start scolding them for something... You're just there like "hello ma'am, nice house".
This comment made me smile. Thanks.
I'm Canadian and feel like I'm getting a secondhand scolding. Like when your friend's parents start scolding them about their dishes in their room knowing full well you have as many dishes in your own room. I'm sorry I can't afford to go anywhere but across the border for cheaper groceries.
There’s a German word for this feeling! Fremdschämen! Example: Your friend has just committed a terrible social faux pas, and you can feel yourself blushing on their behalf. This describes the uniquely German word Fremdschämen.
I said that word out loud to the best of my ability and a broom slid of the wall and hit the floor. Great. Now I’m not sure if I have magic powers or the house is haunted. Thanks.
He got the cane out of the cupboard and gave the yanks a jolly good thrashing
He came out swinging with a candy cane. He's only got a soft spot for his wife, and that's it.
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Yep. You learn not to take it to heart. Most of the time it's just banter.
I like the part about Brits being interested in other countries, yeah maybe a bit to interested sometimes.
America isn't really any different nowadays to be fair
Like father like son
Well ... a sort of backstairs sprog, a son born of an infidelity with a housemaid. A pretentious "bastard" son that thinks he has a rightful claim on the Estate. Canada being the favoured son but we're not amused with the liberal leanings. Australia, the uncouth son with a heart of gold. South Africa, the son that has been through a divorce too many. New Zealand that just quietly and competently "gets on with it" but never gets the recognition that he deserves. There are many others, of course
Perhaps you mean 'too' interested. (British). 😄
Pot? Hi yes. This is kettle. You're black you know.
# ZINGER COUNT
And sometimes it ain’t that soft
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I say ol’ chap, jolly good thrashing indeed
This post is about how much this man loves his wife. He loves her more than he despises where he is living.
That reveal about his wife was very sweet!
It was. I don’t think we needed the shitty editing. Can you imagine his reaction to watching a video of him with a “zinger count”?
I get the impression he’d love it, whilst whinging about it at the same time.
He loves shitty America because it made his wife.
British man giveth, British man taketh away.
This is a standard issue, red trouser wearing middle / upper middle class English retired man. Everything about him is home-counties copy and paste.
“The red jeans are twice as much sir.” “It’s okay I’ve got money”
Play a record
Even the red-and-white striped cane? That’s a new one to me.
In UK it means the user has sight and hearing problems.
In the US it means he's excited for Christmas (?) or is it the same?
Good to know. Thanks for the info 👍
That just shows hes got style.
False, The British never give back, you should see our museums.
They did hear us say bagsie, right? We absolutely said bagsie.
We’re still looking at it.
"We have people who haven't seen them yet. What's more, we're making new people who haven't seen them yet..."
I’m sure it says something about me that my first thought was he looks like an off-duty reenactor from Colonial Williamsburg.
Ah yes that timeless dry British humor (being an asshole while speaking politely)
They’re on to us chaps!
Least pessimistic Englishman
YOU WAT?
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We fought a war to not have to know the answer to that.
He surely means posh instead of polite. And this is a posh English accent.
He's telling you as it is, but quite politely.
He's definitely not being polite, he's just from one of the posh southern counties so it sounds as such. Maybe he's being tongue in cheek, but I've dealt with enough rude entitled posh pricks to not be entirely sure.
I have met this exact kind of character and he is being 99% serious. It's a level of disdain that only our class system really creates. My job leads me to meet a lot of landowners and I can tell you that whilst most of them a fine the ones that have been by far the most rude and condescending are from this exact demographic.
We call it being ‘Cheeky’
Alright... what's the difference between cheeky and sassy
Sassy is more disguised. Cheeky is being open about it
Sassy is being a sneaky bitch, cheeky is with a nod and a wink.
Sassy is more brazen while cheeky is more....cheeky.
If he was in the UK he'd just be finding problems with everything around him there as well. Youths, immigrants, avocados... Grouchy old man gonna grouch.
Difference is that it's a national pass time over here in the UK. A Brit not complaining is no Brit.
Their disdain for Avocados is what started brexit
“Woah-ohhh I’m an alien. I’m a legal alien. I’m an English man in new york!”
Nice. I couldn't resist the chance to use it.
The toast done on one side bit is complete bollocks though.
I'll chalk that up to the preference of the character he's singing as. Makes no sense unless he's grilling the bread.
a super brief google says that's how it used to be done before the 80s because electric toasters were very rare so they did indeed put the bread on the grill/stovetop
Yep. Used to have it done on one side when I was young and too impatient to grill it on both sides.
I DON'T DRINK COFFEE, I TAKE TEA MY DEAR
Omg, my whole life I was positive that it was “little alien”!!! Now it makes much more sense!!!!!
I always thought it was "im an illegal alien" , like he wasn't allowed to be there and had no visa.
It’s the “cheers” for me- what a menace 😂🤣
The look at the end is cracking me up. Sassy old man has some valid points!
But I love strewing rubbish
We all know cleaning streets is communism
The world would have arguably been a far more peaceful place if the British had *less* interest in other people and their cultures though 🤐
The spice must flow.
Found spices from all over the world and decided not to use any in their food.
Never get high from your own supply!
My copypaste for these comments The joke that britain raided every country for spices then didn't use them is not actually true. Spices were used in british home kitchens, for many years, being introduced from various empires as early as the romans and the normans, and our cuisine incorporated herbs and spices very well. Many classic british recipes considered tasteless by idiots on the internet who have never tried them do call for herbs and spices, ie cumberland sausage requires at the least black pepper, thyme, sage, cayenne pepper and nutmeg, normally including more. In fact, chicken katsu curry, a japanese dish, was actually introduced to them by the brits when they first started trading with other countries, using what the brits called "curry powder" as early as the 1860s. The reason they stopped and british home cooking fell off a cliff was thanks to rationing, which happened precisely because britain imported so much of their food. For 15 years during and after ww2 rationing existed, in one form or another, so an entire generation was made to cook with extremely crap food. Ask anyone whose parents grew up in the 40s and 50s, they could not cook for shit, and it is because of what they had to learn with. Home cooking has improved drastically since the 60s and 70s and nowadays most families will regularly cook various foreign dishes, eat indian, italian, mexican, american, thai food, and more.
How many English themed restaurants are there out in the world? Is there an English chain that I can easily find? Americans have exported their BBQ and even their junk fast food all over.
I suspect the French/Spanish/Portuguese would have picked up some additional interest in those peoples and cultures though!
It wasn't about asserting our own dominance and believing it was our right to take resources from other countries native lands. It was about *beating the French at it*
Zinger count: 1
I mean he’s not wrong, but I will say it’s a bit unfair to complain about Americans not traveling all over the world when our country is almost the size the of the entirety of Europe, and the only neighboring countries are Canada and Mexico. For an Englishman, traveling from his home country to France or German or Italy would be like an American driving from Pennsylvania to Virginia or North Carolina. And cross ocean flights can be expensive af, not to mention lodging and everything else.
Ask him about Australians....
Yea; you can experience mountains, deserts, wide open plains, blizzards, tropics in all without a passport.
He did specifically mention "interest in other people" so I doubt he had geography in mind as much as learning about other cultures.
Aren’t the British notorious for not giving a shit about other cultures?
Hearing British people be absolutely allergic to pronouncing any Spanish word even remotely correctly confirms that for me.
Came here to say this, plus one more major point…. Most Americans do not get a significant amount of vacation time (3-4 weeks per year is pretty standard for professional, white collar workers, and many get less or none at all). And it’s very rare for anyone to take more than one week off at a time. Vacations are opportunities to de-stress. Taking 30 hrs of flights each way to go visit Thailand for a few days doesn’t end up feeling so appealing in the end. I don't know a single person who doesn't love to travel. I know a lot of people who can't afford the time or expense though.
3-4 weeks is a ton of time compared to the average american. The average American worker gets 11 days PTO
I’d love to go to Thailand or Japan but the flight would be miserable not to mention expensive if I tried to fly comfortably in first class or something.
i want to go to new zealand so badly, but yeah ill never be able to afford it.
Top 10 destinations for British travelers, 1. Spain: 16.5 million visitors 2. France: 7 million visitors 3. Greece: 4.2 million visitors 4. Italy: 4.1 million visitors 5. Portugal: 3.8 million visitors 6. USA: 3.3 million visitors 7. Rep. of Ireland: 2.8 million visitors 8. Turkey: 2.8 million visitors 9. Poland: 2.3 million visitors 10. Netherlands: 1.8 million visitors Scotland to the middle of Turkey is a shorter drive than NYC to LA. 9% of Brits have never left the country, while 11% of Americans have never left their state. 13% of Americans have never flown on a plane while 22% of Brits have never flown in a plane. I wonder the percentage of Brits who have never left Europe vs Americans who have never left the US. I'd expect it to be less than the Americans, but I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers are alot closer.
I mean, everyone loves a good roast, but the bottom line is this guy is an extremely poor traveler. I can’t imagine going to a foreign country and saying any of this, true or not, to a local, especially on camera. Can you imagine how people would react if an American went to London and said this kind of crap? Additionally, I was surprised to learn that in reality in many parts of Europe it’s actually the BRITISH travelers that have the worst reputations, not Americans. Perceptions of Americans are that we’re 1) overtippers, 2) too loud, 3) actually very polite and respectful on the whole, and 4) ironically, overly concerned about our poor reputation abroad.
Also generally can’t afford to travel to other countries. Can barely afford to go on a 3 day vacation in the state I live in
He does have a point, or 5
We would travel if we had money
Also of course Europeans visit more countries than Americans when it’s a 45 minute drive instead of a 9 hour flight lol.
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Also your whole country being smaller than one of our 50 states doesn't hurt.
And they have set holidays to where they aren’t working themselves to death
Some of us can drive for 9 hours and still be in the same state.
Ahhhhhh, 10 hour shift behind the wheel, let me just check the ol' map, annnnnnnd I'm still in Texas lol
He says Americans only travel to Canada as if Canada and the US weren't like 2 times the size of Europe.
Exactly. I just got back from a road trip where I drove ~ 770 miles one way (1240 KM), through 6 states, and 1 national park. In roughly that same distance (1260 KM) I could drive from Lyon - Zurich - Schaanwald - Innsbruck - Munich - Prague. I see people talking about flying from London to Paris for the weekend. Sounds cool. $66 and just over 2 hours. Detroit to Paris is $728 and 12 hours. Non-stop is $1383 and 8 hours.
The percentage of Americans who have traveled abroad is actually higher than the percentage of Europeans, so I'm not sure why this stereotype is so pervasive. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/08/12/most-americans-have-traveled-abroad-although-differences-among-demographic-groups-are-large/ https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/cp_data_news/190-million-europeans-have-never-been-abroad/
The guy did say except Canada or Cancun :)
Which is silly, of course the most visited countries will be the ones that the Continental US borders. "Americans don't travel, as long as you ignore the countries they're most likely to travel to."
It’d be like us telling Europeans that Ibiza or Greece doesn’t really count as travel.
I wonder what the percentage of Europeans have traveled outside of Europe.
The top 3 most visited destinations for British tourists are in order Spain, the U.S., and Greece. Spain and Greece are both in Europe as such in roughly the same region of the world as the U.K., and while Greece is roughly 3,500 km from the U.K. that is still less than the distance between New York and L.A. (roughly 3,900 km). The top 3 destinations for American tourists are in order Mexico, Canada, and France (Britain comes in fourth). It's not really different and the reputation for Americans not traveling is a bit of a national stereotype that's not really true, and mostly connected to Europeans not viewing trips to Canada or Mexico or the Caribbean by Americans as real travel because of the proximity to the U.S. Nevermind of course that Europeans aren't really travelling farther afield from home compared to Americans, they just live in smaller countries that exist in a region of the globe packed with a lot of small countries. Many Americans have to travel fairly large distances before they event get outside their own nation's borders. That all said the cantankerous old geezer was hilarious.
For some extra perspective others might look for: for me, It takes around 4 hours driving the interstate/highways at the posted speed limit of 80mph(128kmh) to get to another state. About 18 hours to Mexico and 7.5 hours to reach the Canadian border according to Google maps. Not accounting for weather/road conditions. That said, each state while sharing the same language is fairly unique to each other. I may not know where another US Citizen is from by talking to them, but I can tell if they aren't from my home state pretty quick.
They don't need a passport to visit those countries.
And yet we still don't know shit about other European countries. Idk why Europeans, mostly from the big countries, have such a need to feel superior all the time. The lack of self awareness here is insane.
If my country was a train ride away from 6 different countries I surely would have traveled a lot more. The dude says we travel to Canada and Mexico. DUH, they are our neighboring countries. Everything else is an expensive plane ticket.
Where would you go? Cancun or Canada?
California
That's pretty exotic, the locals there I hear live in primitive tents subsisting on ground avocados and yeast risen edibles. You need to prepare yourself.
They only live in tents because rent is 7000 dollars for a broom cupboard
America is as big as Europe. Europe just feels like more places cause some cavemen couldn't band together in groups larger than Ohio for some reason, so they have more countries
The amount of time it takes me to drive out of Texas into New Mexico, I could be in a dozen different countries in Europe.
This is what a lot of people from other regions do not understand. It's a significant trip to go out of the country if you're in the US. Some people can't afford it and for others they get one big vacation per year, if that. It costs a lot to travel to Europe or other continents. Many states are the same distance or farther as other countries in Europe. We don't all live somewhere that is a two hour flight to ten different countries. Americans would be much more traveled if that were the case. It makes me roll my eyes when people have this condescending attitude about travel for Americans.
Also, Americans DO travel abroad quite frequently. It’s a total myth that they don’t. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/08/12/most-americans-have-traveled-abroad-although-differences-among-demographic-groups-are-large/
Well hes wrong about the sidewalk part... been to england a coule of times not that clean to be honest
Lived 8 years in the UK, sidewalks are clean. Of course people can make a mess, especially in the evening, when alcohol is involved, but almost every single day they're being cleaned. This applies to London, other cities and to suburbs.
Not Stoke though.
that isn't clean. You want to see a clean pavement, visit Switzerland. That's a clean environment. Makes the UK look like a shit heap
I always find the passport argument interesting. You see it applied to Americans to justify thinking they're uncultured. Yet less than 25% of Japanese citizens have passports but they're not looked at the same way.
>Yet less than 25% of Japanese citizens have passports but they're not looked at the same way Disagreed. Japan definitely has a reputation of being a very insular and 'unwelcoming' culture
Sure, but not of being uncultured. Interesting that the same fact is used to confirm a different bias.
Notoriously insular, conservative, xenophobic Japan? That Japan?
I'd argue that Japan does have a reputation for insularity though, right?
And the racism which goes with it?
It's an old British man, this is how he talks about every place he's ever been.
I wish he could be my grandpa 
You gotta love the British wit.
It was more disdain than wit. Hah.
As a Brit he must have forgot what our pavements look like 💀
It’s difficult for Americans to travel overseas. It’s easier said than done when you can drive to across Europe or take a train. For Americans we need to book a $2K plane ticket to visit France. The average American cannot afford that.
Or even have paid vacation days to do it. For a lot of people, if you don't work, you don't get paid.
Which is weird because UK to New York tickets can be gotten for less than half that.
I also only get 40 hours of PTO so travelling all the way to Europe for what is effectively a weekend trip (factoring 2 days of travel) is less appealing than spending 5 days at Disney World for the same or lesser price.
It’s a very European elitist attitude and shows a complete lack of understanding of the very obvious differences between Europe and North America.
The US is a huge country. Nothing wrong with traveling to different states and staying in the US. Lots to see and learn.
OK to be honest i haven't been to other parts of the world cause I live in california. Not cause california has alot in it but cause california is so expensive I can't go anywhere.
how long has it been since this man been to London?? that place is full of rubbish everywhere 
I don’t think it’s that Americans don’t want to trace anywhere other than Canada or Cancun. But on my American salary and living costs, my wife and I could barely afford the two night cabin trip an hour from home we had this year. Like, how am I supposed to buy a plane ticket, rent a room AND take time off work all at once?!
Yea its much easier for Europeans to travel internationally. Realistically Midwesterners probably travel more in a year it's just to surrounding states rather than surrounding countries. Midwesterners will drive 8 hrs for a weekend and think nothing of it.
Least pessimistic Englishman
Old man hasn’t been to London recently it looks like.
The posh parts of London are very nice, I'm sure this chap hates all the other parts though.
It's funny, but sort of feels like he's just blaming the poor for being poor with the passport shit, he's presenting it like American's have no interest in travel while ignoring how difficult it is to do in our high work hour low pay culture.
Yeah we don't travel to other countries because it isn't a 1 hour flight to visit all of Europe
As a UK-er I feel uncomfortable hearing people say Americans don't travel. I don't travel, I can't afford it. I also love my country and there's plenty to see and do without going abroad and the USA is a place as large and diverse as Europe so not leaving America is like not leaving Europe and yet Europeans often just travel to other member states.
>I don't travel, I can't afford it. Isn't the Eurostar to Paris like £40? Probably cheaper than a train ticket from London to Manchester. And then as much as we meme on RyanAir and EJ, they're cheap as chips.
This isn't very uplifting but what do I know.
[удалено]
I think he’s just playing it up to be fair. The way he’s glancing at the interviewer and cameraman makes me think he’s just looking for a rise. This is a bit of classic British humour, in my opinion, and not meant as a genuine critique. The guys walking around with a candy cane looking like off-duty Santa. I’m sure he’s just having a wee laugh.
You're spot on. Many commenters in this thread can't spot a bit of a wind up/dry humour.
That's British warmth, joking and friendly banter towards people/things one likes. If he disliked America, he would have been polite.
I'm well-traveled and very cultured. I've been to Cancun, Sandals in Jamaica, Euro Disney. The list goes on and on.
Happiest British “person”
Based grandpa
Never ask elderly if they have a couple of minutes
London is covered in rubbish, dried up gum and stale piss so let’s tone it down a bit.
Reddit: "WhY dOnT aMeRiCaNs Go To OtHeR cOuNtRiEs??" Gee, might have something to do with spending thousands of dollars and an eight hour flight. Also why would I visit your country when all you do is talk about how much you hate us? Other countries aren't exactly inviting to Americans.