An unaddressed question that many people that have never been to America have is why most Americans never leave the country. This is a deep dive answer to that question and why Americans often do not even have a passport.

The most prevalent reason Americans don’t leave their home country is because it is so large with so many diverse places to visit. From New York to California, it is a 43 hour drive, almost 3000 miles. In comparison, to cross the entirety of Europe, from Russia to Spain, it is a little over 4000 miles, only about 35 hours by car. This difference is exactly why Americans don’t feel the need to leave their homes. If you were to ever get the chance to travel across America you will see how different and diverse it gets between each state, and not just in weather.

Another thing to think about when evaluating this question would be the expenses to travel from the US to another country. Unlike the people in Europe, Asia, and Africa, there isn’t a connecting piece of land to the US. In order to travel to another country (unless we are talking about Canada) then you have to either fly on an airplane or take a boat. The cost of these forms of travel are the most outrageous. A flight within the US itself are hundreds of dollars. To fly one way from New York to London it is at least $400.

Furthermore, before you can even leave the US, you need your passport, which is commonly known as one of the most annoying processes. They can cost around $200 depending on age. The whole process can take 6-8 weeks and that is if you have all the correct information. On top of that, the cost of hotels and food is another cost to add on to the total bill.