Need

Well lets say if this is true:
Most solo travellers are not American.

You could interpret the data as
Americans fear solo travel
or
Americans enjoy travelling with friends and family

pinniped

Or you could just interpret it as most travelers are not American.

Since I travel solo often, I'm often seated next to another solo traveler. True in most premium cabin configurations, as well as RJs in any cabin...and occasionally you just run into a poor bloke who get stuck in a middle seat. If a gripping fear of traveling alone was a "thing", you think at least some of these people would have a story about how they overcame their fear. Or are still dealing with it but got sent on a business trip with no choice and are visibly terrified.

Yet this is never the case. People are pretty chill, sometimes like to chat a bit about where they're going or what they're doing, and the topic of navigating through an airport, through ground transportation, and to a hotel without someone else to navigate them never comes up.

I'm sure there are a few people so paralyzed by this fear that they'd never allow themselves to get forced into this position to begin with. But these are most likely people terrified of flying in general, or perhaps terrified of international destinations in general, and it's unrelated to whether someone is there to guide them through it.

Cloudship

So what does an American look like then?

wolf72

Dude,

Linkin Park once sang.."in the end, it doesn't even matter."

Toshbaf

Travel with 1 or 2 others is better when taking taxis because it spread out the costs. Solo travel encourages taking the bus.

Redhead

American female here. I enjoy solo travel and have done it for many years in many counties. Now that I'm a mom I don't get to do it much any more. But I really enjoy my solo dinners out when on a biz trip.

krazykanuck

I prefer travelling alone, as a Canadian living in the US. Many of my friends have expressed views of wanting to go places, but don't want to go alone. I just go. 2 years ago I did a trip to Russia with 5 others. Never again, what a pain. It was fun regardless but what a pain. The one girl that lost her phone, and then her passport. The other girl that barely wanted to eat local food and beelined for US chains. And so on...

Going to Morocco solo in November, going back to Japan solo in January, and couldn't be more excited. I don't even want to invite anybody else along!

Canarsie

I do not know anything about Brooklyn — not even its neighborhoods.Gesundheit.

fredman

I don't see it as 'fear', I have traveled many a place alone, but I also find I
like it better when I can share that experience with someone close to me.

cbn42

I have a colleague from Canada, born and raised there, only moved to the US when she joined our workplace. No one could tell she was raised in Canada until she told us, several months after starting. Several of us spoke to her on a daily basis and couldn't detect anything.

The variation in regional accents around the US is far larger than the gap between the US and Canada. I don't think anyone could consistently and reliably detect the difference between a US and Canadian accent. Of course some, like a Boston or deep south accent, are easy to detect, but many aren't.

Cloudship

Part of the reason, I think, also includes the fact that Americans in general, when they thing abut vacation, tend to think getting away from cities, not necessarily going to them. I know that is not a direct correlation between single and group travel, but I think it might impact the situation in that when Americans do travel overseas, they tend to being doing it specifically because it is a "shared" experience, such as a honeymoon, romantic trip, or family exploration. I am curious as to people's anecdotal experience with larger group travel. Do you tend to see most Americans traveling as a couple or larger groups?

Tizzette

I find looking back that my most fondly remembered trips are the few I've had traveling solo. If you are used to taking care of everybody else, a few days free to suit yourself are really precious.

pinniped

My anecdotes: whenever I see large group travel outside the U.S., they're usually *not* American. That seems popular among Japanese and other Asian cultures.

That sounds like the most wholly unappealing way to travel, as you have to move at the pace of the slowest member of the herd.

I've done a couple group trips...both while I was a student...and the best times we had were the unplanned days when we were free to roam and do our own thing.

Of all the Americans I know who travel frequently, I don't know any who like group tours. Even my in-laws, in their 70s, prefer to arrange their own travel.

cbn42

I agree with this, Americans generally don't travel in large groups. That tends to be mostly Asians. However, Americans often don't travel solo either. Americans tend to travel with family or friends, usually 2-4 in a group.

My theory is that when people in a country start to travel, they first do it in large groups on organized tours. Americans did that several decades ago when international travel became affordable. Chinese people, many of whom are starting to be able to travel for the first time, are doing that now. In a few decades, once the Chinese are more comfortable with the idea of traveling internationally, they will start to plan their own travel.

Solo travel is the next step in this progression. Seasoned travelers, who have taken a few trips abroad and are comfortable taking care of themselves, will be most likely to travel solo.

lhrsfo

This sums it up. Part of the great joy of travel is discussing what we've seen over dinner. Without my wife there, it loses so much.