William & Kate's visit to New York

[editorathome]

This thread has gone waaaaay OT...

[cordtx]

Crap, Kate ate something ^^

[Hester]

Geez, what's all this American bashing today? What do Americans have anything to do with Kate's unworldliness?  

As someone who has traveled over 20 countries since 18 and over 20 states within the U.S., I think it's very understandable why Ameircans travel outside of the U.S. less than Europeans. Most European countries are no more than the size of a state in the U.S. Some are even smaller. Driving an hour or two, some Europeans would be in another country. It takes 5.5 hours to fly from coast to coast within the U.S. For 5.5 hours, I can fly to anywhere within Europe from London. The U.S. is a huge land mass and has very diverse landscape. We have a bit of everything:

Tropical Islands - Hawaii
Sunny sand beaches - all along south Atlantic coast, Gulf states (Miami/Key West), Pacific coast (Santa Monica, Huntington Beach aka Surf City)
Mountains - From Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to Granite Cliffs of Yosemite National Park in California
Glacier - Alaska, Glacier National Park in Montana
Desert landscape - Death Valley National Park in California
Unique rocky landscape - Grand Canyon National Park and Antelope Canyon in Arizona, Monument Valley, Bryce and Zion National Parks in Utah
Historical cities (and with best food to boot) - New York, San Francisco, New Orleans etc.
Museums - The Metropolitan Museum in NYC, National Gallery of Art in DC, Chicago Institute of Art, Getty Museums in So. Cal., De Young Museum in San Francisco

Americans don't need to travel to anywhere else for any sceneries or for any seasons. We have it right here. I've visited most of national parks mentioned above and they're magnificent. A lot of Americans choose to pack up an RV and drive somewhere. It's cheaper and more convenient. It's completely understandable. Some of us like traveling outside for different cultures and more historical sites/cities, but we really don't need to travel outside for sunny vacations like Brits do.    

There are lots of considerations - fuel is cheap in the US, so that would explain so much domestic travel by car on holiday. Australia also has insanely wonderful beaches and sunshine and food, and yet they travel constantly. But the distance thing seriously doesn't wash - Australians are the end of the earth. We spend 21 hours on a plane regularly to go to Europe, and 18 hours to fly to the US. It's no big disincentive to travel. There are definitely other, historic and cultural factors at play!

[royalsareajoke]

Geez, what's all this American bashing today? What do Americans have anything to do with Kate's unworldliness?  

As someone who has traveled over 20 countries since 18 and over 20 states within the U.S., I think it's very understandable why Ameircans travel outside of the U.S. less than Europeans. Most European countries are no more than the size of a state in the U.S. Some are even smaller. Driving an hour or two, some Europeans would be in another country. It takes 5.5 hours to fly from coast to coast within the U.S. For 5.5 hours, I can fly to anywhere within Europe from London. The U.S. is a huge land mass and has very diverse landscape. We have a bit of everything:

Tropical Islands - Hawaii
Sunny sand beaches - all along south Atlantic coast, Gulf states (Miami/Key West), Pacific coast (Santa Monica, Huntington Beach aka Surf City)
Mountains - From Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to Granite Cliffs of Yosemite National Park in California
Glacier - Alaska, Glacier National Park in Montana
Desert landscape - Death Valley National Park in California
Unique rocky landscape - Grand Canyon National Park and Antelope Canyon in Arizona, Monument Valley, Bryce and Zion National Parks in Utah
Historical cities (and with best food to boot) - New York, San Francisco, New Orleans etc.
Museums - The Metropolitan Museum in NYC, National Gallery of Art in DC, Chicago Institute of Art, Getty Museums in So. Cal., De Young Museum in San Francisco

Americans don't need to travel to anywhere else for any sceneries or for any seasons. We have it right here. I've visited most of national parks mentioned above and they're magnificent. A lot of Americans choose to pack up an RV and drive somewhere. It's cheaper and more convenient. It's completely understandable. Some of us like traveling outside for different cultures and more historical sites/cities, but we really don't need to travel outside for sunny vacations like Brits do.    

There are lots of considerations - fuel is cheap in the US, so that would explain so much domestic travel by car on holiday. Australia also has insanely wonderful beaches and sunshine and food, and yet they travel constantly. But the distance thing seriously doesn't wash - Australians are the end of the earth. We spend 21 hours on a plane regularly to go to Europe, and 18 hours to fly to the US. It's no big disincentive to travel. There are definitely other, historic and cultural factors at play!

OK....waaaaaaaaaaaaaay off topic but  fuel is cheap in the US ?? Hester, if you think fuel is cheap here I really don't want to know what it costs you where you live

[royalsareajoke]

Crap, Kate ate something ^^

I really detest seeing pictures or videos of people eating...personal thing but ....   She's absolutely totally revolting at her 'best' and this just takes it to a whole new level...

[Laprincess]

OK....waaaaaaaaaaaaaay off topic but  fuel is cheap in the US ?? Hester, if you think fuel is cheap here I really don't want to know what it costs you where you live

I can back up Hester on this, fuel is much more expensive in Europe. If I calculate it right, it's more than two times as high as the U.S. It's 1.43 Euros per liter, which is 0.2642 gallon. That makes it 5.4 Euros, or about $7, per gallon.

[lothwen]

Geez, what's all this American bashing today? What do Americans have anything to do with Kate's unworldliness?  

As someone who has traveled over 20 countries since 18 and over 20 states within the U.S., I think it's very understandable why Ameircans travel outside of the U.S. less than Europeans. Most European countries are no more than the size of a state in the U.S. Some are even smaller. Driving an hour or two, some Europeans would be in another country. It takes 5.5 hours to fly from coast to coast within the U.S. For 5.5 hours, I can fly to anywhere within Europe from London. The U.S. is a huge land mass and has very diverse landscape. We have a bit of everything:

Tropical Islands - Hawaii
Sunny sand beaches - all along south Atlantic coast, Gulf states (Miami/Key West), Pacific coast (Santa Monica, Huntington Beach aka Surf City)
Mountains - From Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to Granite Cliffs of Yosemite National Park in California
Glacier - Alaska, Glacier National Park in Montana
Desert landscape - Death Valley National Park in California
Unique rocky landscape - Grand Canyon National Park and Antelope Canyon in Arizona, Monument Valley, Bryce and Zion National Parks in Utah
Historical cities (and with best food to boot) - New York, San Francisco, New Orleans etc.
Museums - The Metropolitan Museum in NYC, National Gallery of Art in DC, Chicago Institute of Art, Getty Museums in So. Cal., De Young Museum in San Francisco

Americans don't need to travel to anywhere else for any sceneries or for any seasons. We have it right here. I've visited most of national parks mentioned above and they're magnificent. A lot of Americans choose to pack up an RV and drive somewhere. It's cheaper and more convenient. It's completely understandable. Some of us like traveling outside for different cultures and more historical sites/cities, but we really don't need to travel outside for sunny vacations like Brits do.    

There are lots of considerations - fuel is cheap in the US, so that would explain so much domestic travel by car on holiday. Australia also has insanely wonderful beaches and sunshine and food, and yet they travel constantly. But the distance thing seriously doesn't wash - Australians are the end of the earth. We spend 21 hours on a plane regularly to go to Europe, and 18 hours to fly to the US. It's no big disincentive to travel. There are definitely other, historic and cultural factors at play!

OK....waaaaaaaaaaaaaay off topic but  fuel is cheap in the US ?? Hester, if you think fuel is cheap here I really don't want to know what it costs you where you live

The most expensive gas prices, currently, is in Norway, where it's $2.08/liter.  So that's $8.32 a gallon. On average, people in the US are paying $0.79/liter.

There are only 25 countries where the price of gas is cheaper than it is in the US, and most of those are in either the Middle East, or Central America.

[royalsareajoke]

OMG........you guys.    I had absolutely no idea that fuel cost that much in other countries.....no idea whatsoever Thanks for your answers...it's absolutely astounding to me....

[periwinkle]

Fuel is so revoltingly cheap here. I wish it were more expensive yes you heard right. It might incentivize us to actually do something about better mass transit options and better designed cities. Sorry off topic.

[Hester]

OK....waaaaaaaaaaaaaay off topic but  fuel is cheap in the US ?? Hester, if you think fuel is cheap here I really don't want to know what it costs you where you live

I can back up Hester on this, fuel is much more expensive in Europe. If I calculate it right, it's more than two times as high as the U.S. It's 1.43 Euros per liter, which is 0.2642 gallon. That makes it 5.4 Euros, or about $7, per gallon.

Yep - $7.50 plus a gallon in Australia ...

[chrys]

I loved that it was so different in the US.  I was deeply, deeply fascinated by my neighbours, the way they used gas-powered equipment.  I loved to use garden machinery (I wasn't exactly the type to use it back home),  that had a gas engine - lawn mower, strimmer, chainsaw, leaf blower (god, I hate leaf blowers).  You fill them up like a car!  Use engine oil, gears, pull starter motors!  Brrroom brrrroom!  You can walk around with a gas bomb (fuel tank) on the end of the equipment, unsupervised and no one calls the police!  I was constantly thrilled at the novelty of it.  

You can keep bombs (containers of fuel for your equipment) at your home or in your vehicle!  As a Brit, I knew that this meant I would instantly combust in a fire ball, or die of fume inhalation and I felt shifty when I did store fuel as I didn't have experience of it.  I don't remember whether the regulations in the US about handling gas are as strict as they are in the UK, but, in my experience, Americans handle gas much more.  

Now, I think walking around a lawn with a mower with big electric cable, criss-crossing and stepping over it, is dangerous.  

Oh, yes, I remember loving filling vehicle gas tanks because of the low price.   That's why we have smaller cars in the UK/Europe (another reason being the smaller distances to drive),  I believe.

[royalsareajoke]

I loved that it was so different in the US.  I was deeply, deeply fascinated by my neighbours, the way they used gas-powered equipment.  I loved to use garden machinery (I wasn't exactly they type to use it back home),  that had a gas engine - lawn mower, strimmer, chainsaw, leaf blower (god, I hate leaf blowers).  You fill them up like a car!  Use engine oil, gears, pull starter motors!  Brrroom brrrroom!  You can walk around with a gas bomb (fuel tank) on the end of the equipment, unsupervised and no one calls the police!  I was constantly thrilled at the novelty of it.  

You can keep bombs (containers of fuel for your equipment) at your home or in your vehicle!  As a Brit, I knew that this meant I would instantly combust in a fire ball, or die of fume inhalation and I felt shifty when I did store fuel as I didn't have experience of it.  I don't remember whether the regulations in the US about handling gas are as strict as they are in the UK, but, in my experience, they Americans handle gas much more.  

Now, I think walking around a lawn with a mower with big electric cable, criss-crossing and stepping over it, is dangerous.  

Oh, yes, I remember loving filling vehicle gas tanks because of the low price.   That's why we have smaller cars in the UK/Europe (another reason being the smaller distances to drive),  I believe.

It's so much fun to read your posts....loving the different viewpoints....  

[chrys]

Aw, thanks, royalsareajoke.  Yes, vive la difference! 

[cordtx]

Wait, what lawn equipment we use in the US is a gas bomb?

[chrys]

See what I mean?  So cool about it.  Say it again!