To travel is to take a journey into yourself.

Doing a little research on something else, I was bored enough to read a narrow-minded American’s opinion of visit to England, which pissed me off somewhat.  Here are some real facts about Americans;

64% of Americans do not own a passport.

In states such as; Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina only about 25% of US citizens own a valid passport.

When most Americans visit another country it’s to either Mexico or Canada.

Annually, less than 5% of Americans travel overseas.

More than half of all Americans have never been outside of America.

Most Americans have not been to more than 5 US states.

Many Americans have never been more than 100 miles from where they were born.

The commonest complaints of Americans visiting England are;

• ‘the bacon is terrible…’
• ‘few ethnicities are represented in London cuisine…’
• ‘there is no Mexican or Latin American food in Britain…’
• ‘British people are cold and hard to befriend…’
• ‘the London subway is unreliable…’
• ‘the British are obsessed with the Queen and Royal Family…’
• ‘it always rains in England…’
• ‘the English drive on the wrong side of the road…’
• ‘British cars are undrivable…’
• ‘free healthcare is such a stupid idea…’
• ‘British TV sucks…’
• ‘refrigerators and washing machines are very small…’
• ‘there’s no dress code…’
• ‘black people are just people…’
• ‘they eat with their forks upside down…’

I’ve travelled all over the world, I’ve worked, lived, and had many vacations in the United States, I have some close friends in America, and none of the above surprises me one little bit.  American culture is so in-your-face and all-pervasive, (you only had to watch the recent Oscars ceremony to realise that), that all Americans think the rest of the world is just like America ~ trust me, it isn’t.

In addition, working Americans are allowed and take so few vacation days, (average 10 days a year), that the idea of visiting some of the great cultural sites in Europe just never crosses their minds.

The whole world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a single page.  ~  Saint Augustine

Which is why it does not surprise me that;

• Middle America elected Donald Trump as their President.
• Americans are obsessed with social media like Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook.
• More than 80% of Americans believe in conspiracy theories, and that the Government has kept secrets about UFOs.
• More than 85% of Americans believe in one or more of; aliens, flying saucers, angels, astrology, extra-sensory-perception, Big Foot, ghosts, reincarnation, the healing power of crystals, witchcraft, that they can win money in Las Vegas casinos, and that winning the lottery is a viable financial plan.
• Over 75% of Californians believe that more than 25% of Americans are Gay or Lesbian, (the true figure is 3.5% of Americans are LGBT).
• 25% of Americans believe in creation theory and that the Earth is the centre of the universe.
• 25% of Americans believe they won their Independence from a country other than Great Britain.
• All Americans feel they need a planned and fixed itinerary before setting off on their travels.

A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.  ~  Lao Tzu

To a well-travelled, well-read, and well-educated Englishman like me, it’s very sad that most Americans are like a Monday morning quarterback ~ they think they can talk a good game, but mostly they talk bullshit.  Actually, it’s worse than that, most Americans think their opinions matter to others.  They need to get out into the world a bit more.

And in England, ‘Trump’ is still another word for ‘Fart’.

Have a nice day.

~

jack collier

jackcollier7@talktalk.net