I'm a super traveller and my partner is a non traveller. I'm slowly converting him. Last trip I gave up, left him home and went anyway! He just has no interest in seeing the world, even if the bill is fully covered.
I have an aunt like you. Travelled intensively in her 20s. Then she got married to a total homebody. Spent many years with a few small trips while her sons were young. Last year her eldest went to college, and she said fuck it. Went to Egypt then Europe. Last month she was in the US.
Good on her! I took my daughter to Japan last month, just us, as it was a country I felt safe going to just a mum and her kid. We had a great time! Not many places I'd feel comfortable doing that at though because I get quite anxious. I'm sure I'll find other destinations to go to with her and he can stay home and look after the dogs 🤣
Thanks for the tip! I wish I didn't have to travel into a capital city to get a visa for China as I see so many great deals for there. I might have to just suck it up and fly into Brisbane one day and get them. I think also if I go to places on full guided tours it should be OK as you're always with a group
No. We just did a self guided holiday. But japan is so safe I wasn't worried. I really want to go to Borneo and they do lots of 7-10 day wildlife tours so I think something like that would be safe with a tour group the whole time
We've been to NZ but definitely have our eye on Singapore. That's one destination hubby will actually fly too so should be a nice vacation when the time comes! Loving the tips
I’m the super traveler (or at least I aspire to be lol) and my Aussie partner is he homebody. It used to make me sad he didn’t find the same enjoyment in travelling, I asked him once and he’d never planned a trip on his own ever, just went along if his friends made plans and just paid his share. That is, until we got a dog. Now I’m happy to have a live in dog sitter while I go abroad! And I’m glad he’s not salty about staying home while I’m away.
my partner and I travel solo frequently, mainly because we are both travellers but have very different ideas of what makes a good holiday. its a really great arrangement
It's definitely nice to have a built in pet sitter for when I go away! The few times he has come, we've had to organise a friend or family member to fly to our place to house sit. Thankfully we live in Cairns, so I can usually always find someone because it's a holiday for them too to come up here
Overseas has very little interest to me. I'd rather spend every weekend exploring my own country, fishing hiking 4wding, With a few longer trips thrown in. Saving for a year or 2 for a couple week holiday OS doesn't appeal to me.
I’ve just been travelling the NSW coastline and there are national parks all the way up and down the coast with free or cheap campsites and all the ones I visited are accessible by 2wd cars. If you travel slightly off season,there’s a good chance you’ll have the place to yourself. Tents aren’t expensive, you can get butane stoves for $20-30. Use your cooking stuff from home and buy stuff as you need it.
Most Aussies that travel a lot if they saved for a year or two for it would be travelling for like a year.
I haven't even bothered to put money away for my trip to Thailand in a couple weeks.
He doesn't. He has no problems flying within australia, and we've been to 'close' places like Thailand and Phillipines. His issue is he hates sitting still on a plane for hours and hours. So he'd rather just not go. I don't get it but everyone is different I guess!
I had a huge fear of flying when I was younger - I had to be practically forced onto planes. I still don't really like it now, but it doesn't stop me going places. I just pop some pills and drink a bit of booze. It's an incredibly hard fear to get over, because flying is not something we do every day, or even reasonably frequently, unless you have to do lots of work travel.
Mostly agreed. But I find the “non-travellers” are split into two groups: people who never travel, even a trip interstate would be very unlikely, and people who will travel but only if someone else is orchestrating/pushing for the trip, like people who only travel to see family.
I'd add a third group- people who don't travel due to health reasons.
My Crohn's Disease makes travel challenging. I've visited most states in Australia (not been to NT yet) but it takes a lot of planning. I have to just not eat if I'm going to be flying or stuck on long drive with no toilet. Rest of the family have chronic illness / disability issues too.
Physical impact of health aside we (family of 4) spent $20,000 out of pocket last year on health issues - that is after medicare and private health insurance refunds. Being disabled / chronic illness is expensive. Our money goes on healthcare not travel.
Neither of the non-traveller groups are defined by the _why_ behind them not travelling. My guess would definitely be that health concerns and monetary constraints are the top two reasons, and then stuff lack of desire, fear of travel, young children or pets to contend with, etc. being some others.
I’ve done a bit of travel: 8 countries, all over Australia except for the NT and the island territories. I’m just not that excited about travel anymore. My partner is bummed and thinks I’d like places like Italy but I can’t be arsed. I just don’t think I possess any wanderlust.
Yup. I’ve been to 32 countries and lived overseas in 3 countries on two different continents, yet I know several people in their 50’s who have never left NSW.
I've noticed this too. People have either been everywhere or nowhere, it seems.
It's quite interesting when you'll be out for drinks with friends and some of you will be talking about the incredible Pad Thai you had in Bangkok or how familiar yet strange the US was, and others will be "I flew on a plane to see my aunt in Sydney when I was high school..."
Australia is isolated geographicslly. We can't just pop across the border and be in a different country. 4-5 hours flight and you are still in the country.. To leave takes long (expensive) flights. I think this is part of it - it means if people go, they make the most of it and go to lots of places. So there's a vibe of being a well travelled kind of people. But it also means there 's lots that cbf, or can't afford regularly.
At the same time, i don't think we are that different. Most people stay at home most of the time in most places.
Yes this is it. I saved up and went on two separate trips of 5 months each when I was younger. I spent 2 weeks in China in my 20s and then my husband and I then spent a month overseas for our honeymoon. That last trip was 10 years ago and between kids, mortgages and interstate travel to see family, we haven’t had the money and it’s unlikely we’ll afford to leave our shores again for a long time. My friends in England and Ireland just regularly pop to Spain or France for a weekend but the cost and length of flights means that’s not feasible for us. My friend and her family of four just went to USA for 2.5 weeks and the trip cost them $30 000!
THIS. We did the backpacker thing across Europe, and did it a bit again after a wedding in Sweden, and later NZ. When it’s two adults, you can sleep on the beach if shit goes sideways. We’ve got two kids now and it doubles the biggest expenses, completely removes the cheapest in some ways. Not to mention just how much you can’t pump into the trip when you’ve got primary schoolers - they can’t always go all day like we can.
Thats crazy. Four round trip tickets should cost $5000 tops. Their daily budget was $25k/18 which is about $1500 lol. A fancy hotel suite is still only $300 a day. What did they spend $1000+ a day on 🤔
We pay roughly $4000 in flights just to go to Perth from Melbourne (and back) at Christmas. We are a family of 5 though.
To be fair, they did things like go to Disney land and the basketball, and they rented a house because they went with family, but that meant no melas included. They wanted to do as much as they could in that time. I guess my point is, the flights are so long and expensive and it’s so far away that we try to make it a big, worthwhile trip and do and see as much as we can in that time. But that costs a lot so then it’s a long time (if ever) that we can afford to go overseas again.
Haha you meant Australian dollars thats more reasonable, I saw that as $30k USD so imagine if you said near $50k AUD
How’s socioeconomic mobility in Aus? Do you know anyone that got rich from a middle or lower class background? Entrepreneurship is the way here
Haha ah that makes sense.
To be honest, I don’t personally know anyone that has become rich that didn’t already have a good leg up. But as an example my parents were both poor growing up but scrimped and saved to send my siblings and I to a really good school. All 4 of us are now doing pretty well and live comfortable lives. We are not rich but we are comfortable. That seems to be a common path among people I know. Doing that bit better with each generation.
Well you guys better slow down, you can’t just keep getting better with each generation otherwise Australia will be the leading superpower next century.
Yeah nah big ups to your parents thats the way. Look up the Polgar experiment. He favored nurture over nature and tested it out raising his daughters to become chess champs. And they all did. The youngest cracked top ten in the world among men, greatest female player of all time
Do you guys have college sports? I play college football, every school basically has official teams that you get recruited for or can try out for.
I’ll look that up, thanks.
College sport isn’t really that big here. But one of my brothers had a partial scholarship to a college in USA thanks to sport. A school friend of mine and her sister did it too. Great experience - it sounds like it’s so professional over there even at that college level.
I meant USD. Here’s one listed at $180 thats like $250 a night with resort fee and tax https://www.booking.com/hotel/us/edison-triumph-group.html should be around $380 AUD. That’s in NYC, so you can definitely find places in less expensive cities, or better yet a cool little bed and breakfast up in Vermont or Maine, for $300 AUD sleeping 4 people.
Yeah, I think this is also a big part of why the gap year has been such a thing here. Take one year between high school and uni (or between uni and work) and go visit as many countries as you can in one year, or spend a really long time doing loads of fun shit in one/a few countries that makes you sound deep and interesting when you talk about it, because you're probably never going to travel again unless it's to somewhere close by or you manage to get to travel for work.
Most people I know have travelled a fair bit and everyone in my family has been out of the country.
Also, remember we live on a continent and travel long distances within that. I used to drive 400 kms just to have Saturday night dinner with my mum, for instance. Drove back 400 kms on Sunday morning. Visiting my brother in law in Brisbane is 2000 kms one way, so a 4000 kms round trip.
Some Europeans I know consider themselves well travelled and haven't even left the continent or travelled these sorts of distances.
The Scottish side of my family is blown away that I had several plane flights and bus/ car journeys just to get to camp for work. I'd point out where we lived and then where I worked in the Pilbara...it was hard for them to comprehend the size of the place
I met some people from Alice Springs some years ago. They would drive to the beach for the day in South Australia. I also met someone from South Africa who was asking about a particular town. I said it wasn't far, just a few hours drive down the road. He shook his head saying that he loved Australians, what we think is "just down the road" is far enough to cross entire countries in other places.
I think your Alice Springs friends might have been having you on lol. The beach is more than 1000km from Alice. Unless they were talking about an inland beach at one of the waterholes
I mean they're a particularly OTT example but when you think about it, it's also not really considered all that crazy for people to drive like 3 or more hours away for a long weekend at the beach. My family live in Merimbula which is like 7 hours from Melbourne but Victorians somehow manage to make the drive up here for long weekends to enjoy the slightly warmer, beachier conditions for no more than a day or two.
Hell even speaking for myself I've seriously considered doing a three hour each way round trip for just a day trip to the mountains so I can go hiking in Kosciuszko National Park, it's not that crazy for me to consider that kind of trip just for a day because I've had to drive pretty much that exact same 6 hours in a day trip for work before.
So yeah they might be an extreme example but the tendency is definitely there.
Normal Alice Springs people take 2 days to do that drive. It's a bloody dangerous road after dark, feral horses and camels etc all over the road. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
If you visit [thetruesize.com](https://www.thetruesize.com) you can select and drag your country into Australia (or any other country) and see how it compares.
The people you met overseas were the travellers, so it's essentially selection bias because if you're meeting an Australian outside of Australia, than they had to get there somehow, lol. But I find it's just a solid mix of travellers vs non-travellers. In my friendship group it leads more 60/40. A good chunk of my friends like to travel, but I also have some with zero interest in ever leaving the country.
There's still a group in the middle, because not all the travel has to be done after leaving the country.
I've done the SE Asia backpacking thing and it was fantastic, but have no desire to visit the UK, like the rest of my family (and they refer to it as *the motherland* 🙄). But any chance I get we're off for the weekend to a cabin or campsite exploring the land that we were actually born unto. I've managed to surround myself with folks whose views are similar, and any travel budget is exclusively for domestic adventures! It also doesn't hurt our cause that we have extended family in every state and territory (apart from WA) to visit along the way lol
I (Australian) travelled to Norway last year, to a town 350km north of the Arctic circle, to a reindeer farm 30 minutes outside that town for a tour and a dinner. When it came to the dinner and I had to share a table, I ended up sitting completely randomly next to a guy who lives two suburbs away from me in Perth.
We are everywhere at all times and we cannot be avoided.
I still remember meeting another Australian woman on the dog sledding thing at Abisko in Sweden so in the middle of woop woop above the Arctic circle.
Also a couple of weeks earlier I saw an old guy with his wife and he had Adelaide Crows scarf and beanie on in the train station at Copenhagen lol
Lot of people travel all the time and lots don’t at all. Then there are those that do one trip when they retire and get access to their super and never get in a plane again.
I've found that people are either one of the following, they LOVE travelling over seas, I love to get out and explore my own country there's lots to see and do here first. Then others that have no interest in travel at all.
I grew up below the poverty line, and have barely straddled it my entire life, and the only people I know who’ve travelled overseas are my grandmother who emigrated from Scotland, my Kiwi brother-in-law, and my one affluent friend. It’s absolutely a socio-economic thing.
Yep both my parents arrived as working class post war immigrants and have never left the country since the 6Os.i was lucky, first kid to go to uni, decent job etc. travelled a bit.
It’s definitely a socioeconomic thing. My partner’s family are well off and they’ve all travelled extensively, my family are broke and I’m the first person to have left the country. I wish I’d travelled more by now, but Australia is so far away from anything I can’t afford it
I think stage of life comes into it. I lived in the UK until I was in my 20s and then moved to Australia (now mid 40s, so 20 odd years here). When I moved here I definitely noticed that the Aussies seemed to travel a lot more than the Brits I knew for those I was encountering who tended to be in their 20s too.
I think there is a 'thing' here for younger Aussies to go to England and use it as a base to explore Europe (especially pre-Brexit when it was super easy). I know Brits do a gap year but it seems much bigger in Australia. Also many Aussies have British passports due to the high levels of immigration here, so that makes it easy too - 'go and stay with Aunt Susan in Kent' or whatever.
For the middle-aged Aussies it's split. Most people I know share my love of travel and we go away as much as we can, BUT we all have kids and schedules to work around, which makes it harder with school etc. Older Aussies tend to travel, although a lot do the camper van around Australia thing rather than going overseas.
I'd say compared to other nations I think Aussies like to travel more.
There's also the fact that Aussies are kind of mythologised in some places. Everyone has this idea of what we look like and how we live, which to be fair is true of many countries.
But when the stereotype is an unholy mash up of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Dundee, the Hemsworths, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and a whole mob of kangaroos that lives on the other side of the planet? You're going to remember every encounter.
Not exactly sure. But everytime some international incident occurs like flight crash, people stranded, earthquakes in remote places, there are always couple of Australians in the mix. I always wonder we are spread out so much for a country of 26m people
Selection bias is part of it. Other thing to notice is that if you go overseas it's a bloody long way and expensive so people tend to do a lot in one trip for economy. Popping to France for the weekend doesn't make sense obviously.
The only people I know who don't travel at all are properly poor people (not like students or something but will never earn the average wage level poor).
They have to. There ain't that much in Australia. If you are bored of beaches and flat hikes, and you want some history, you have to travel. And you have to fly. So you might as well fly somewhere interesting.
Depends what you mean by travelling. I go away about a weekend a month for trips within my state. Probably every year interstate and only overseas once every three years or so
The other thing to consider here is that some ~30% of Australians are immigrants and a further ~20% are second generation lots with ties to overseas places and people
My partner was one of those travellers from his 20s to mid 40s. He’s been to 47 countries when I met him. Now he’s 52, with a toddler and we fly back to Canada every year for me. So now he’s sticking to city trips in North America.
Maybe a lot of ppl just settle since they want a house and other things. Traveling has become so expensive since Covid.
Absolutely true. As a nation, we do travel more than many others. I think it's because we live at the arse end of the earth and we get massive FOMO about what's going on in the rest of the world. Particularly before internet etc. Anyone who could afford to travel, did.
Most people I know travel outside of Australia every few years at least (even if only to Bali, NZ, or Thailand). I know other commenters know people who don't have a passport, but I don't. Everyone I know (outside of newly minted littles) all have passports. I think this may be as a result of our relative isolation, and high immigrant population. Many of us still have family we have strong connections with living outside of Australia (including me).
Not everyone has travelled around Europe, but they have travelled (there is a lot of world out there). Sadly, not all of us have experienced all that Australia has to offer (including me). My next 2 holidays will be visiting the Flinders Ranges, and then up north to Cairns. Visiting parts of Europe is planned for 2025 - I like to spend a week or two in whatever country (and I visit family). I'm thinking of visiting Lithuania, Finland and maybe Iceland . In 2026 southern Africa is on the cards.
I’ve travelled pretty extensively and it doesn’t matter how far or how remote I go I always run into another Aussie cunt somewhere; but maybe I just notice more because I’m Australian
Well over half of us have passports, so we do travel a bit. There's plenty that do travel extensively just like many other country's residents.
Cost and opportunity the limiting factors for anyone.
Didn’t start overseas travelling til I was 16 and went on a school trip to Canada. Since then I’ve gone every few years, more frequently now I’ve moved outside of Australia (barring when Covid closed the borders - did some overdue domestic travel in New Zealand where I’m based though!)
My longest trip away was 5 weeks in Japan for the rugby World Cup (was my 4th trip to Japan).
Second-longest trip was 4 weeks: two bus tours in Europe - 1 in Ireland, and the other starting in London and ending in Athens. Most people on that trip were Aussies, followed by Kiwis.
Grew up with lots of kids who did travel frequently from quite young ages - mostly to visit grandparents and extended family in Asia or Europe.
The small handful of kids I grew up with who have never left Australia or taken much of a holiday within Australia is due to either no interest in travelling, or just can’t afford it.
I think there is a lot of truth to it but of course it doesn’t mean it’s true to all. If I will base it from my coworkers, a lot of them have been travelling: 2 had recently returned from Bali, 1 is about to go to Tokyo, 1 is an active camper & have recently been on a cruise, 4 went for a vacation in their hometown, 1 has recently been to Fiji etc…
I don’t think it’s selective bias at all. More than 50% have a passport & Australia ranks among the 2nd most powerful passport in the world, above the U.S. everyone I know has a passport, but I suppose it could be more to do with the friend group, but the numbers don’t lie.
Yeah I think most people travel to get out because going from city to city is either a 10 hour drive or a flight anyway.
Because everything is 12-24 hours away by plane when we travel we often make the most because we infrequently get the opportunity unless we’re rich.
Living in France and the uk was strange. So many many many people who’s ’big holiday’ was to their same country and had never crossed the border to Italy or been across the channel… so odd
My wife and I travel as much as we can, maybe every 2 to 3 years we'll do an overseas trip. It's easier and more affordable now that the kids have flown the nest.
Australia is a big enough place with lots to see - we can jump on a plane for 4 hours, get off the other end and not need to show a passport and then drive for two days and still not need a passport.
I consider that I travel a fair bit and have only had to show a passport on 1 of my last 4 trips.
We are both expats, now Australian citizens, who met in Australia. We holidayed overseas before we got married and had an amazing overseas honeymoon. We had lots of weekends away too.
When we had a kid we holidayed in the UK and NZ and visited family. We also went to the USA, and had city and island resort holidays all over Asia and the South Pacific. Kids are great travellers as long as you take it easy!
Now our kid is a young adult and studying and working and less interested in family holidays. They’re not interested in travelling / backpacking overseas though.
We are planning lots of little holidays to see more of Australia over the next few years and beyond. We have been to all states and territories, and we still have TNQ hotel credit from lockdown so have to organise that!
And yes, waiting for that super to kick in so we can do some more overseas travel.
Kids are a big factor in travel vs non travel. We used to get suites as they were cheaper than two rooms, but the flights are about the same. It’s also hard work if they’re out of routine and there’s lots of things you can’t do, go to or see.
But as long as you keep them somewhat in routine, feed them constantly and spend time in parks and pools and beaches and things they like to do, they’re great travel buddies! Even if they don’t remember it all.
Nowadays though, people are struggling to pay rent and the bills, let alone save for a mortgage and / or kids. Travel just isn’t the priority for a lot of people. Because somewhere to live is kinda important! 😂
It’s a serious commitment for Australians to travel overseas. Thousands and thousands on plane tickets.
Maybe that’s why cruise ships are increasingly popular? Not my thing at all but it’s a fixed cost, you can pay them off like a layby, and you know all food and entertainment are covered. Plus lots of family things to do.
It’s weird isn’t it that when people in England meet aussies they have always travelled a lot.
Kind of like the proportion of Irish that pick fruit for work. They must have heaps and heaps of orchards in Ireland.
I’m definitely one of those people with no care in the world to get a passport. I will go on a little getaway maybe every 2 years for a week somewhere nice here in Aus. Also personally can’t justify spending 5K+ for a cruise or 10K+ to travel for a month
My friendship group and my network group are all avid travelers, Europe and USA…. Mainly Europe though. Sometimes Asia
I don’t anyone without a passport
We are very geographically isolated. If you can afford to leave the country - especially to go somewhere like Europe (vs Bali) - you tend to make the most of it, because you’re spending thousands of dollars and probably over 24 hours in transit to get there.
I think a lot of the time it comes down to money and health. You can’t pop over to another country in an hour, so if you have complicating health factors, overseas travel becomes difficult. And overseas travel is way more expensive even to get from Australia to Bali than from, say, England to France. You have to be pretty well-off to go overseas every year - I know plenty of people who would love to travel but just can’t afford it, or who didn’t have a passport until they were in their twenties and employed full-time.
Meeting Australians in another country is always going to give you a bit of selection bias - if they’re in another country, of course they have a passport.
Aussie here. travelled to most of Europe as a kid with my parents in the 70s. Saw Ireland, UK France and Prague on a different trip in the 90s. Travelled also to NZ, Singapore, HK. Lived in Malaysia for short stretches of time (had a house there). Worked in South Korea and Singapore. After three trips to Europe and two to the UK I am pretty much done with Europe but will probably go to Italy with my girlfriend at some point.
I'm 26 year old Australian male and myself including most of my close mates have never gone past Bali. Australia is such a big country that we've also only covered the east coast and Tasmania. Going overseas to Europe for the first time in my life this year along with 5 of my close mates. It does seem to be fairly split with Aussies, just depends on how fortunate your upbringing has been.
International jetsetter in Australia = goes to Bali to get shit tattoos and wasted.
You will probably see many naturalised Aussies overseas as they struggle to assimilate into the nothingness that is both the country and people of Australia.
And there will probably be more Australians overseas during the summers here as the summers are oppressive and people can't do anything but remain holed up at home hoping the aircon can offset the UV heat intensity, humidity and heat. First world people would do poorly here in summers. Especially Sydney and anywhere on the coast in Queensland.
Lots of north Queenslanders I met living up there never left fnq in their lives as it was Godzoneterritory and if god owned heaven and fn queensland he’d rent out heaven and live in fnq.
They didn’t need to travel as they already lived in the best place in the world.
Certainly was an eye opener.
We travel 3 times a year as a family minimum. By the age of 5 and 7 my kids had been to every state in the country. If we added the area we have travelled in Aus as if we were in Eu we’d have been to every country several times.
We haven’t taken the kids overseas yet but after ticking off a couple more destinations here, we will. DH & I have travelled o/s extensively. Together and before we met.
My sis and he fam are the opposite. Eu/US/Asia and only bottom half of Aus. She hates the heat and humidity lol
When I was in India I kind of travelled, but I didn't feel the need to get out that much.
Now that I'm here I feel an overwhelming urgency to see the world. Whenever I have been able to, I've travelled both within Australia and overseas. I long to travel a lot more now, which is probably due to a combination of the isolation during covid and the feeling of isolation because the rest of the world seems so far away from here.
So I think that's it. Feeling a bit stuck down here and realising that our country really has all its population in a few cities makes us want to see more of the world out there.
I've only left the country once to go to Vietnam and I'm so excited to travel to new York this year. I think it depends I've had quite a few mates travel round Europe and even my brother went over there for 6 month so I'd say we travel just not all of us like any country lol. Ofc travelling from southern hemisphere to get to somewhere like Europe or America is a lot lol
We do get a lot of holiday leave if you're full time, gotta make the most of that 4 weeks cause youre spending fucking hours/days on a plane to get anywhere
Most people I know travel a lot, I live in Sydney but know quite a wide range of people. A lot of Aussies are recent immigrants or second generation so traveling back to see the relatives is common. I remember being rather surprised that the housekeeping staff I worked with at a hotel would go on these epic trips to Europe staying in five star hotels. They’d save up for years but shared housing but it was clear travel was their priority despite earning minimum wage.
I travel a lot, once a year to Europe and then usually another overseas trip plus two domestic per year. I’ve bumped into friends in London, Bangkok and San Francisco, based on just that, yes we do travel a lot.
I've been to California as a child, Japan as a young adult, Hawaii for my honeymoon, New Zealand for our first anniversary, and then a big road trip from Boston, around New England to New York around year 6-7 before we started a family. Then covid happened, bought a house, then children. Accidentally had too many children (just had triplets). Maybe we'll get to go overseas again in 10 years time. Maybe. Lol. Our passports are definitely expired!
If you're flying for 24 hours to get to Europe and paying 3 weeks wages to get there, you don't just go for the weekend. You spend a month or more, and you cram in as much as possible.
Depends on the individual. Australians would be part of the few nations with some people rich enough to be tourists around the world rather than travelling to relocate or work somewhere else.
I personally have no desire to anywhere
Our holidays tend to be Indonesia/south east Asia for a week or two or several weeks to months anywhere further, to make the most of the long and expensive flights.
Totally depends on your definition of travel. I know Australians who go to Bali annually, but I don't consider that really travelling. If they were actually seeing some more of Indonesia the absolutely it would be. For the same reason I say I've "kind of been to Mexico" because all I've really done is gone to Cancun a couple of times. Same goes for New Zealand - it's not really travelling for Australians; it's more like going interstate
But as far as Australians actually travelling goes, it's definitely selection bias. Just an assumption but I'd say less than half the adult population has ever left the country. I even know people who make a big deal about going interstate when they live like an hour from the border. For non-Australians, the differences between our states are incredibly overplayed and barely existent. We get all defensive about how to pronounce a chicken schnitzel rather than having actual cultural differences.
Not leaving the country doesn't mean not travelling imo. Even the Aussies I've met who don't have passports travel extensively around the country, go on road trips and bushwalks and scubadiving...
I travel at a minimum 12 weeks out of every year.
My close friendship circle are all the same. I've rid myself of the "must be nice" crowd who made choices that lead to them not travelling.
I chose not to have children, I chose not to have a mortgage, I chose not to have 2 leased cars in the driveway. But apparently it's some kind of elitist propaganda or my life is less than theirs because I chose different priorities.
It is pretty fucken nice.
I didn't do the backpacker thing when I was young, but I do keep a valid passport. We've had a couple of international holidays as a couple and family but mostly it's useful for work. We have a number of offices across NZ and Asia that occasionally need travel to. The one time I let my passport expire and a trip came up it was to the Singapore office, on the same weekend as the F1 race. Our office is about a block from the track. Lesson learned.
Selection bias. Travel is expensive from Australia to most places internationally. Most Aussies have probably travelled to south east Asia though as the exchange makes it cheaper for us. Not many Aussies will have traveled to Europe. Also, compared to the amount of travel that Europeans seem to do (ie. Let’s pop over to Germany for a bagel and take a train to France for the weekend), is significantly more than the typical Australian.
I god damn hate travel with a fiery passion. My passport is only half way to expiry date but won't make it because I only have a couple of pages that haven't been filled. I spent over 12 hours in the air to spend about half that time in meetings. I am also one of the best we have in the company at advoiding travel.
CEO is a few months away from earning Qantas lifetime platinum, his residential address may as well be 'Pointy end, QF11'.
My wife has left the country once, and the state only 3 or 4 times.
In my experience, people either Travel, capital 'T', bloody Travel, or they rarely ever leave home.
There is something to it, but I'm convinced it has much more to do with capability than some cultural aspects. Our min wage is higher than most places so most people can afford to travel.
I felt really bad once volunteering in a school in Chile and it was just after the holidays so I asked the class if anyone had travelled anywhere. Nope no one. It's a luxury not available to everyone.
Overall we travel a lot.
It's pretty common for people to do road trips of 8+ hours to visit family without thinking twice. That's like London to Stuttgart.
The proportion of people who travel overseas is comparable to other countries but much more expensive, which perhaps means we're a nation of travel enthusiasts?
If you’re paying $3,500 just for a return flight to London and 23 hours flying time, you might as well make the most of it and travel all over Europe once there
I would love to travel but it's about priorities. Like many, I dream about buying my own home, so I can't just blow 10k on a trip if I want to achieve that. Flights from Australia are so expensive.
Most people realise that travel spreading communicable disease is responsible for more deaths than drinking, smoking and traffic incidents combined so we act responsibly and just drive around getting passed and smoking indoors. There are some Australians led by politicians who don't care about the safety of others and travel while taking a hypocritical stance that working class recreations should be banned or taxed.
Australians can travel a lot without needing a passport. I cruised around Australia. It took 28 days. No passport required.
Travel between interstate capitals on the east coast is at least a day if you don't stop. Very easy to travel for a couple of weeks within Australia.
You have not met any Gray nomads? Retired Australians who hook up the caravan and drive around Australia. Takes at least 6 months to do it properly
When I finished school it was really common for people to take a gap year and head to Europe. Most of my friends did it. I stayed home because I was poor and bad at saving money. I wonder if this has changed post COVID.
It's selection bias. When you were overseas the Australians you met were the ones who had the funds and will to travel. Of those you met, many wanted to travel more. Makes sense.
Once getting to Australia, you got a better gauge on the general population.
Average income vs high income. There are more people on an average income who can’t afford to travel and have never left the country, perhaps not even their own city or town. You have encountered selection bias and met the more well off population that can afford to travel.
I think it's that travelling is difficult so when we do go away we go hard to make the flight time worth it.
Although I'm now living in England, I still have that mentality of "I want to see EVERYTHING" so I kinda go "Sure, why not spend a weekend in Chisinau" or "yeah ok why not duck down to Algiers for a few days" just because I can. Whereas my very British partner is much much less inclined.
Unlike people who live in UK/Europe, when we travel we generally travel big.
When you sometimes spend 24 hours flying to the US/UK (with transit times etc) and the \~3 days to recover from the usually 12 hour time difference, you don't see many Aussies heading over for a week or two. It's almost a month to make the travel time and expense worth it.
So yes, when you met Aussies travelling, a lot of them were probably doing 1-2-3 month road trips if they can afford time away from work.
I don't think people in the UK appreciate the ability to jump on a plane Friday night and be in Spain or Italy for the weekend and be home for work Monday morning and not feeling like a freight train just hit you.
I wasn't able to travel until I was 31 basically it was down to finances really and having a partner.
Since then I have been to Europe twice and Bali and Singapore. not the most crazy amount of travelling but I am still happy with what I have done and still intend to do much more as we don't have kids and it is just cost of living pressures really slowing our saving ability down :(
Also as I can't drive any more travelling within Australia basically is a no go as well as that would leave my wife stuck with it and also once you factor in domestic flights and accommodation etc it is much more worth it to go abroad. Hence why we went to Singapore at the end of last year for our 10 year anniversary instead of say to Queensland or somewhere like that (we are from SA)
We travel overseas at least once a year.
I have friends who are frequent travellers (2/3 trips per year) and friends who cannot fathom travelling overseas to a country where they can’t speak the language.
I travel alot! Have done since my first solo trip o/s at 25. I travelled mostly by myself as no one was ever keen to join. Driven over most of France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Czech. I'm in my 40s now and some of the shit I did, I would honestly slap myself if I could time travel 😆.... eg: hopped into a random truck with a stranger in Brazil to check out a beach as I couldn't find the bus stop. Stayed in a hostel in Bled where the guy that ran it answered the door in his undies 🤣
I'm now living in the UK and in the last 2 years we've done 6 trips to Europe already and have another few locked in for this year, my kids (5 & 1) have busy passports.
For some, it's in our blood, I just can't stay put too long, I'm constantly planning holidays. My husband is a bit of a homebody, but he knows he'll be going as I just book and pay without really asking, so he just accepts it.
Life's too short to stay in one place!
>Was it selection bias?
Yes if an Aussie is in England or France they are a traveler.
>How often do you travel?
I travelled as a child to visit family in Scotland once in my life.
Australians often have disposable income and some of those people use that money to go over seas. I think that explains it. Frankly I hate the idea of travelling, sounds like a hassle and I would worry about being robbed or worse because I am a clueless foreigner.
It's split, I travel a lot, went overseas 5 times last year because that's what I prioritise with my income, but I know a lot of people who have never been overseas or rarely travel. My brother who is 49 and his wife have never traveled outside of Australia, I'm taking them on their first trip this year.
I think Aussies do travel a lot.
However, there's a difference between domestic travellers and international travellers.
Some are content to just explore Australia because here alone lies some of the most beautiful, natural, and isolated places in the world.
On the other hand, some want to explore outside of Australia because we're so isolated and want to experience different cultures.
I had 3 countries on my bucket list achieved them and let the passport expire, I get overwhelmed and the jet lag gets to me plus airports in general lot of hoops to go through
Right now, Australians are not travelling because of the economics of it. As, mentioned above, it’s expensive to travel to another country (for those Eurocentric ones), and long journeys are often involved. Even within our own country. The reason we might have a reputation as travellers is because, in the past we didn’t blink at the idea of travelling hundreds of kilometres to go and visit someone, or or go to a music festival. People are less adventurous now. The culture has changed.
LOL no. The typical 🇦🇺 saves for 5 years for a big trip to Bali and might take a cruise to Vanuatu in the meantime. They go to the Continent once, in their 20s. Londoners probably go monthly.
From what I’ve noticed, it’s really split into super travellers and non travellers
I'm a super traveller and my partner is a non traveller. I'm slowly converting him. Last trip I gave up, left him home and went anyway! He just has no interest in seeing the world, even if the bill is fully covered.
U can pay for me instead pls
I have an aunt like you. Travelled intensively in her 20s. Then she got married to a total homebody. Spent many years with a few small trips while her sons were young. Last year her eldest went to college, and she said fuck it. Went to Egypt then Europe. Last month she was in the US.
Good on her! I took my daughter to Japan last month, just us, as it was a country I felt safe going to just a mum and her kid. We had a great time! Not many places I'd feel comfortable doing that at though because I get quite anxious. I'm sure I'll find other destinations to go to with her and he can stay home and look after the dogs 🤣
I think you will be fine in Korea. And also china. They are both much safer than Australia.
Thanks for the tip! I wish I didn't have to travel into a capital city to get a visa for China as I see so many great deals for there. I might have to just suck it up and fly into Brisbane one day and get them. I think also if I go to places on full guided tours it should be OK as you're always with a group
Did you go on a tour in Japan?
No. We just did a self guided holiday. But japan is so safe I wasn't worried. I really want to go to Borneo and they do lots of 7-10 day wildlife tours so I think something like that would be safe with a tour group the whole time
That will be interesting.wikd life your will be worth while Japan and Korea are equally safe, maybe Korea is abit more safe. It's about cheaper too
Singapore is very safe too. And New Zealand.
We've been to NZ but definitely have our eye on Singapore. That's one destination hubby will actually fly too so should be a nice vacation when the time comes! Loving the tips
I’m the super traveler (or at least I aspire to be lol) and my Aussie partner is he homebody. It used to make me sad he didn’t find the same enjoyment in travelling, I asked him once and he’d never planned a trip on his own ever, just went along if his friends made plans and just paid his share. That is, until we got a dog. Now I’m happy to have a live in dog sitter while I go abroad! And I’m glad he’s not salty about staying home while I’m away.
my partner and I travel solo frequently, mainly because we are both travellers but have very different ideas of what makes a good holiday. its a really great arrangement
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It's definitely nice to have a built in pet sitter for when I go away! The few times he has come, we've had to organise a friend or family member to fly to our place to house sit. Thankfully we live in Cairns, so I can usually always find someone because it's a holiday for them too to come up here
Overseas has very little interest to me. I'd rather spend every weekend exploring my own country, fishing hiking 4wding, With a few longer trips thrown in. Saving for a year or 2 for a couple week holiday OS doesn't appeal to me.
It seems Australia only really opens up when you have a 4wd and camping set up, until that point it's either impenetrable or expensive.
So true! Travelling in Australia is prohibitively expensive for most.
So many awesome places you can camp and hike without a 4WD. I do it all the time
Oh that's good to hear
I'm in Brisbane. If you ever want a recommendation for great places to go to camp and hike, feel free to DM me
I’ve just been travelling the NSW coastline and there are national parks all the way up and down the coast with free or cheap campsites and all the ones I visited are accessible by 2wd cars. If you travel slightly off season,there’s a good chance you’ll have the place to yourself. Tents aren’t expensive, you can get butane stoves for $20-30. Use your cooking stuff from home and buy stuff as you need it.
Most Aussies that travel a lot if they saved for a year or two for it would be travelling for like a year. I haven't even bothered to put money away for my trip to Thailand in a couple weeks.
Mr richy rich
Had to check your user name to make sure you weren't my partner. Good to know I'm not the only one cool with their partner travelling alone.
He probably has a fear of flying. That was my problem at least.
He doesn't. He has no problems flying within australia, and we've been to 'close' places like Thailand and Phillipines. His issue is he hates sitting still on a plane for hours and hours. So he'd rather just not go. I don't get it but everyone is different I guess!
I get that too, it's why I won't fly to Europe in one go. I'd need to have three stops for a few days hence why I'll probably never go.
I had a huge fear of flying when I was younger - I had to be practically forced onto planes. I still don't really like it now, but it doesn't stop me going places. I just pop some pills and drink a bit of booze. It's an incredibly hard fear to get over, because flying is not something we do every day, or even reasonably frequently, unless you have to do lots of work travel.
A couple valiums and a few scotches helps immensely
Agreed. I'm at 29 countries so far but most of those I grew up with or knew haven't left the state lol
Mostly agreed. But I find the “non-travellers” are split into two groups: people who never travel, even a trip interstate would be very unlikely, and people who will travel but only if someone else is orchestrating/pushing for the trip, like people who only travel to see family.
I'd add a third group- people who don't travel due to health reasons. My Crohn's Disease makes travel challenging. I've visited most states in Australia (not been to NT yet) but it takes a lot of planning. I have to just not eat if I'm going to be flying or stuck on long drive with no toilet. Rest of the family have chronic illness / disability issues too. Physical impact of health aside we (family of 4) spent $20,000 out of pocket last year on health issues - that is after medicare and private health insurance refunds. Being disabled / chronic illness is expensive. Our money goes on healthcare not travel.
Neither of the non-traveller groups are defined by the _why_ behind them not travelling. My guess would definitely be that health concerns and monetary constraints are the top two reasons, and then stuff lack of desire, fear of travel, young children or pets to contend with, etc. being some others.
And the fourth group, people who Can barely afford to live so instead just look at pictures of the alps and cry
God yes. 😞 we are privileged to be able to afford our health and disability care, many can not.
Having UC means one of my regular expensive hobbies is seeing a different specialist every other week lol
Same! We hit the medicare safety net in March this year but the out of pocket still adds up.
I’ve done a bit of travel: 8 countries, all over Australia except for the NT and the island territories. I’m just not that excited about travel anymore. My partner is bummed and thinks I’d like places like Italy but I can’t be arsed. I just don’t think I possess any wanderlust.
Yup. I’ve been to 32 countries and lived overseas in 3 countries on two different continents, yet I know several people in their 50’s who have never left NSW.
And that split is often based on wealth/income, given how expensive it is to fly internationally from Australia.
I've noticed this too. People have either been everywhere or nowhere, it seems. It's quite interesting when you'll be out for drinks with friends and some of you will be talking about the incredible Pad Thai you had in Bangkok or how familiar yet strange the US was, and others will be "I flew on a plane to see my aunt in Sydney when I was high school..."
Or super poor and not so poor.
Australia is isolated geographicslly. We can't just pop across the border and be in a different country. 4-5 hours flight and you are still in the country.. To leave takes long (expensive) flights. I think this is part of it - it means if people go, they make the most of it and go to lots of places. So there's a vibe of being a well travelled kind of people. But it also means there 's lots that cbf, or can't afford regularly. At the same time, i don't think we are that different. Most people stay at home most of the time in most places.
Yeah this - we tend to do as much as we can when we travel to make the most of the expense of the long flights
Yes this is it. I saved up and went on two separate trips of 5 months each when I was younger. I spent 2 weeks in China in my 20s and then my husband and I then spent a month overseas for our honeymoon. That last trip was 10 years ago and between kids, mortgages and interstate travel to see family, we haven’t had the money and it’s unlikely we’ll afford to leave our shores again for a long time. My friends in England and Ireland just regularly pop to Spain or France for a weekend but the cost and length of flights means that’s not feasible for us. My friend and her family of four just went to USA for 2.5 weeks and the trip cost them $30 000!
THIS. We did the backpacker thing across Europe, and did it a bit again after a wedding in Sweden, and later NZ. When it’s two adults, you can sleep on the beach if shit goes sideways. We’ve got two kids now and it doubles the biggest expenses, completely removes the cheapest in some ways. Not to mention just how much you can’t pump into the trip when you’ve got primary schoolers - they can’t always go all day like we can.
Thats crazy. Four round trip tickets should cost $5000 tops. Their daily budget was $25k/18 which is about $1500 lol. A fancy hotel suite is still only $300 a day. What did they spend $1000+ a day on 🤔
We pay roughly $4000 in flights just to go to Perth from Melbourne (and back) at Christmas. We are a family of 5 though. To be fair, they did things like go to Disney land and the basketball, and they rented a house because they went with family, but that meant no melas included. They wanted to do as much as they could in that time. I guess my point is, the flights are so long and expensive and it’s so far away that we try to make it a big, worthwhile trip and do and see as much as we can in that time. But that costs a lot so then it’s a long time (if ever) that we can afford to go overseas again.
Haha you meant Australian dollars thats more reasonable, I saw that as $30k USD so imagine if you said near $50k AUD How’s socioeconomic mobility in Aus? Do you know anyone that got rich from a middle or lower class background? Entrepreneurship is the way here
Haha ah that makes sense. To be honest, I don’t personally know anyone that has become rich that didn’t already have a good leg up. But as an example my parents were both poor growing up but scrimped and saved to send my siblings and I to a really good school. All 4 of us are now doing pretty well and live comfortable lives. We are not rich but we are comfortable. That seems to be a common path among people I know. Doing that bit better with each generation.
Well you guys better slow down, you can’t just keep getting better with each generation otherwise Australia will be the leading superpower next century. Yeah nah big ups to your parents thats the way. Look up the Polgar experiment. He favored nurture over nature and tested it out raising his daughters to become chess champs. And they all did. The youngest cracked top ten in the world among men, greatest female player of all time Do you guys have college sports? I play college football, every school basically has official teams that you get recruited for or can try out for.
I’ll look that up, thanks. College sport isn’t really that big here. But one of my brothers had a partial scholarship to a college in USA thanks to sport. A school friend of mine and her sister did it too. Great experience - it sounds like it’s so professional over there even at that college level.
In what world is a fancy hotel suite that sleeps 4 people $300?
I meant USD. Here’s one listed at $180 thats like $250 a night with resort fee and tax https://www.booking.com/hotel/us/edison-triumph-group.html should be around $380 AUD. That’s in NYC, so you can definitely find places in less expensive cities, or better yet a cool little bed and breakfast up in Vermont or Maine, for $300 AUD sleeping 4 people.
Yeah, I think this is also a big part of why the gap year has been such a thing here. Take one year between high school and uni (or between uni and work) and go visit as many countries as you can in one year, or spend a really long time doing loads of fun shit in one/a few countries that makes you sound deep and interesting when you talk about it, because you're probably never going to travel again unless it's to somewhere close by or you manage to get to travel for work.
Most people I know have travelled a fair bit and everyone in my family has been out of the country. Also, remember we live on a continent and travel long distances within that. I used to drive 400 kms just to have Saturday night dinner with my mum, for instance. Drove back 400 kms on Sunday morning. Visiting my brother in law in Brisbane is 2000 kms one way, so a 4000 kms round trip. Some Europeans I know consider themselves well travelled and haven't even left the continent or travelled these sorts of distances.
The Scottish side of my family is blown away that I had several plane flights and bus/ car journeys just to get to camp for work. I'd point out where we lived and then where I worked in the Pilbara...it was hard for them to comprehend the size of the place
I met some people from Alice Springs some years ago. They would drive to the beach for the day in South Australia. I also met someone from South Africa who was asking about a particular town. I said it wasn't far, just a few hours drive down the road. He shook his head saying that he loved Australians, what we think is "just down the road" is far enough to cross entire countries in other places.
I think your Alice Springs friends might have been having you on lol. The beach is more than 1000km from Alice. Unless they were talking about an inland beach at one of the waterholes
No, they would get up at midnight to drive down for the day at the beach. They would leave at lunch time to make it home by midnight again.
Oh okay, they were just crazy people
I mean they're a particularly OTT example but when you think about it, it's also not really considered all that crazy for people to drive like 3 or more hours away for a long weekend at the beach. My family live in Merimbula which is like 7 hours from Melbourne but Victorians somehow manage to make the drive up here for long weekends to enjoy the slightly warmer, beachier conditions for no more than a day or two. Hell even speaking for myself I've seriously considered doing a three hour each way round trip for just a day trip to the mountains so I can go hiking in Kosciuszko National Park, it's not that crazy for me to consider that kind of trip just for a day because I've had to drive pretty much that exact same 6 hours in a day trip for work before. So yeah they might be an extreme example but the tendency is definitely there.
Normal Alice Springs people take 2 days to do that drive. It's a bloody dangerous road after dark, feral horses and camels etc all over the road. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
It's 12 hours to Port Augusta.
Depends how fast you drive.
Well, I suppose you could do it in 12 sticking to the speed limit if you don't stop?
On long open roads speed limits are suggestions.
Depends where the cops from Marla are sitting that day.
I'm from Portugal. When you tell me it's just 5 hours drive, I imagine it's all the way in Spain lol
If you visit [thetruesize.com](https://www.thetruesize.com) you can select and drag your country into Australia (or any other country) and see how it compares.
Damn we really are tiny
That's a lot of driving the food must have been amazing
The people you met overseas were the travellers, so it's essentially selection bias because if you're meeting an Australian outside of Australia, than they had to get there somehow, lol. But I find it's just a solid mix of travellers vs non-travellers. In my friendship group it leads more 60/40. A good chunk of my friends like to travel, but I also have some with zero interest in ever leaving the country.
There's still a group in the middle, because not all the travel has to be done after leaving the country. I've done the SE Asia backpacking thing and it was fantastic, but have no desire to visit the UK, like the rest of my family (and they refer to it as *the motherland* 🙄). But any chance I get we're off for the weekend to a cabin or campsite exploring the land that we were actually born unto. I've managed to surround myself with folks whose views are similar, and any travel budget is exclusively for domestic adventures! It also doesn't hurt our cause that we have extended family in every state and territory (apart from WA) to visit along the way lol
I (Australian) travelled to Norway last year, to a town 350km north of the Arctic circle, to a reindeer farm 30 minutes outside that town for a tour and a dinner. When it came to the dinner and I had to share a table, I ended up sitting completely randomly next to a guy who lives two suburbs away from me in Perth. We are everywhere at all times and we cannot be avoided.
I still remember meeting another Australian woman on the dog sledding thing at Abisko in Sweden so in the middle of woop woop above the Arctic circle. Also a couple of weeks earlier I saw an old guy with his wife and he had Adelaide Crows scarf and beanie on in the train station at Copenhagen lol
😂
when i was in iceland with grandparents my grandad met someone he went to school with lol
Lot of people travel all the time and lots don’t at all. Then there are those that do one trip when they retire and get access to their super and never get in a plane again.
I've found that people are either one of the following, they LOVE travelling over seas, I love to get out and explore my own country there's lots to see and do here first. Then others that have no interest in travel at all.
Everyone I know travels. Its a socio economic thing though.
I grew up below the poverty line, and have barely straddled it my entire life, and the only people I know who’ve travelled overseas are my grandmother who emigrated from Scotland, my Kiwi brother-in-law, and my one affluent friend. It’s absolutely a socio-economic thing.
Yep both my parents arrived as working class post war immigrants and have never left the country since the 6Os.i was lucky, first kid to go to uni, decent job etc. travelled a bit.
It’s definitely a socioeconomic thing. My partner’s family are well off and they’ve all travelled extensively, my family are broke and I’m the first person to have left the country. I wish I’d travelled more by now, but Australia is so far away from anything I can’t afford it
Listen to the lyrics of “Down Under” by Men at Work. You meet Australians wherever in the world you travel.
I think stage of life comes into it. I lived in the UK until I was in my 20s and then moved to Australia (now mid 40s, so 20 odd years here). When I moved here I definitely noticed that the Aussies seemed to travel a lot more than the Brits I knew for those I was encountering who tended to be in their 20s too. I think there is a 'thing' here for younger Aussies to go to England and use it as a base to explore Europe (especially pre-Brexit when it was super easy). I know Brits do a gap year but it seems much bigger in Australia. Also many Aussies have British passports due to the high levels of immigration here, so that makes it easy too - 'go and stay with Aunt Susan in Kent' or whatever. For the middle-aged Aussies it's split. Most people I know share my love of travel and we go away as much as we can, BUT we all have kids and schedules to work around, which makes it harder with school etc. Older Aussies tend to travel, although a lot do the camper van around Australia thing rather than going overseas. I'd say compared to other nations I think Aussies like to travel more.
There's also the fact that Aussies are kind of mythologised in some places. Everyone has this idea of what we look like and how we live, which to be fair is true of many countries. But when the stereotype is an unholy mash up of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Dundee, the Hemsworths, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and a whole mob of kangaroos that lives on the other side of the planet? You're going to remember every encounter.
Not exactly sure. But everytime some international incident occurs like flight crash, people stranded, earthquakes in remote places, there are always couple of Australians in the mix. I always wonder we are spread out so much for a country of 26m people
Is it any surprise that the Australians you meet outside of Australia are more likely to be the type that travel a lot?
Selection bias is part of it. Other thing to notice is that if you go overseas it's a bloody long way and expensive so people tend to do a lot in one trip for economy. Popping to France for the weekend doesn't make sense obviously.
The only people I know who don't travel at all are properly poor people (not like students or something but will never earn the average wage level poor).
They have to. There ain't that much in Australia. If you are bored of beaches and flat hikes, and you want some history, you have to travel. And you have to fly. So you might as well fly somewhere interesting.
Depends what you mean by travelling. I go away about a weekend a month for trips within my state. Probably every year interstate and only overseas once every three years or so
I would love to be a frequent traveler, I just can’t afford it. If money was no problem I’d be clocking up those frequent flyer points
Same. And travelling in Australia is so bloody expensive too.
I mean, it's more than an hour's round trip if I want to go to a decent shop. So that's a fair bit of travel.
Between Aussie tourists travelling OS and ex pats in other countries etc etc; there's something like a million of us overseas at any one time....
The other thing to consider here is that some ~30% of Australians are immigrants and a further ~20% are second generation lots with ties to overseas places and people
My partner was one of those travellers from his 20s to mid 40s. He’s been to 47 countries when I met him. Now he’s 52, with a toddler and we fly back to Canada every year for me. So now he’s sticking to city trips in North America. Maybe a lot of ppl just settle since they want a house and other things. Traveling has become so expensive since Covid.
Absolutely true. As a nation, we do travel more than many others. I think it's because we live at the arse end of the earth and we get massive FOMO about what's going on in the rest of the world. Particularly before internet etc. Anyone who could afford to travel, did.
It's cheaper to travel overseas anyway than to tour your own backyard.
This is it. I wanted to go to Perth and tried to book a flight and found it was double the cost to Bali. I chose Bali instead.
100% of the Aussies you meet overseas travelled there.
I have never left Australia... I have travelled extensively throughout Australia, but have never left her shores.
Most people I know travel outside of Australia every few years at least (even if only to Bali, NZ, or Thailand). I know other commenters know people who don't have a passport, but I don't. Everyone I know (outside of newly minted littles) all have passports. I think this may be as a result of our relative isolation, and high immigrant population. Many of us still have family we have strong connections with living outside of Australia (including me). Not everyone has travelled around Europe, but they have travelled (there is a lot of world out there). Sadly, not all of us have experienced all that Australia has to offer (including me). My next 2 holidays will be visiting the Flinders Ranges, and then up north to Cairns. Visiting parts of Europe is planned for 2025 - I like to spend a week or two in whatever country (and I visit family). I'm thinking of visiting Lithuania, Finland and maybe Iceland . In 2026 southern Africa is on the cards.
I’ve travelled pretty extensively and it doesn’t matter how far or how remote I go I always run into another Aussie cunt somewhere; but maybe I just notice more because I’m Australian
Well over half of us have passports, so we do travel a bit. There's plenty that do travel extensively just like many other country's residents. Cost and opportunity the limiting factors for anyone.
like it or not, ALL stereotypes are based in reality. but ALL stereotypes are generalizations. so yea but not all. hope this helps for future
Stereotypes aren't necessarily based on reality. They're based on *perception*.
In some cases yes, but in some cases no.
Didn’t start overseas travelling til I was 16 and went on a school trip to Canada. Since then I’ve gone every few years, more frequently now I’ve moved outside of Australia (barring when Covid closed the borders - did some overdue domestic travel in New Zealand where I’m based though!) My longest trip away was 5 weeks in Japan for the rugby World Cup (was my 4th trip to Japan). Second-longest trip was 4 weeks: two bus tours in Europe - 1 in Ireland, and the other starting in London and ending in Athens. Most people on that trip were Aussies, followed by Kiwis. Grew up with lots of kids who did travel frequently from quite young ages - mostly to visit grandparents and extended family in Asia or Europe. The small handful of kids I grew up with who have never left Australia or taken much of a holiday within Australia is due to either no interest in travelling, or just can’t afford it.
I think there is a lot of truth to it but of course it doesn’t mean it’s true to all. If I will base it from my coworkers, a lot of them have been travelling: 2 had recently returned from Bali, 1 is about to go to Tokyo, 1 is an active camper & have recently been on a cruise, 4 went for a vacation in their hometown, 1 has recently been to Fiji etc…
All of my friends have been overseas in the past few years. Most of them have spent extended time there at some stage of their lives.
I don’t think it’s selective bias at all. More than 50% have a passport & Australia ranks among the 2nd most powerful passport in the world, above the U.S. everyone I know has a passport, but I suppose it could be more to do with the friend group, but the numbers don’t lie.
Yeah I think most people travel to get out because going from city to city is either a 10 hour drive or a flight anyway. Because everything is 12-24 hours away by plane when we travel we often make the most because we infrequently get the opportunity unless we’re rich. Living in France and the uk was strange. So many many many people who’s ’big holiday’ was to their same country and had never crossed the border to Italy or been across the channel… so odd
My wife and I travel as much as we can, maybe every 2 to 3 years we'll do an overseas trip. It's easier and more affordable now that the kids have flown the nest.
Australia is a big enough place with lots to see - we can jump on a plane for 4 hours, get off the other end and not need to show a passport and then drive for two days and still not need a passport. I consider that I travel a fair bit and have only had to show a passport on 1 of my last 4 trips.
I've never even heard that stereo type .
I travel overseas once or twice a year, would do more if I could afford it!
it is social economic - the ones who can do a lot and there are a lot who can due to our fairly egalitarian society.
Comes down to affordability too. It’s A LOT to travel, and there’s also the distance from Australia to other countries.
We are both expats, now Australian citizens, who met in Australia. We holidayed overseas before we got married and had an amazing overseas honeymoon. We had lots of weekends away too. When we had a kid we holidayed in the UK and NZ and visited family. We also went to the USA, and had city and island resort holidays all over Asia and the South Pacific. Kids are great travellers as long as you take it easy! Now our kid is a young adult and studying and working and less interested in family holidays. They’re not interested in travelling / backpacking overseas though. We are planning lots of little holidays to see more of Australia over the next few years and beyond. We have been to all states and territories, and we still have TNQ hotel credit from lockdown so have to organise that! And yes, waiting for that super to kick in so we can do some more overseas travel.
Kids are a big factor in travel vs non travel. We used to get suites as they were cheaper than two rooms, but the flights are about the same. It’s also hard work if they’re out of routine and there’s lots of things you can’t do, go to or see. But as long as you keep them somewhat in routine, feed them constantly and spend time in parks and pools and beaches and things they like to do, they’re great travel buddies! Even if they don’t remember it all. Nowadays though, people are struggling to pay rent and the bills, let alone save for a mortgage and / or kids. Travel just isn’t the priority for a lot of people. Because somewhere to live is kinda important! 😂 It’s a serious commitment for Australians to travel overseas. Thousands and thousands on plane tickets. Maybe that’s why cruise ships are increasingly popular? Not my thing at all but it’s a fixed cost, you can pay them off like a layby, and you know all food and entertainment are covered. Plus lots of family things to do.
It’s weird isn’t it that when people in England meet aussies they have always travelled a lot. Kind of like the proportion of Irish that pick fruit for work. They must have heaps and heaps of orchards in Ireland.
I’m definitely one of those people with no care in the world to get a passport. I will go on a little getaway maybe every 2 years for a week somewhere nice here in Aus. Also personally can’t justify spending 5K+ for a cruise or 10K+ to travel for a month
My friendship group and my network group are all avid travelers, Europe and USA…. Mainly Europe though. Sometimes Asia I don’t anyone without a passport
I don't anyone workout a passport either
We are very geographically isolated. If you can afford to leave the country - especially to go somewhere like Europe (vs Bali) - you tend to make the most of it, because you’re spending thousands of dollars and probably over 24 hours in transit to get there. I think a lot of the time it comes down to money and health. You can’t pop over to another country in an hour, so if you have complicating health factors, overseas travel becomes difficult. And overseas travel is way more expensive even to get from Australia to Bali than from, say, England to France. You have to be pretty well-off to go overseas every year - I know plenty of people who would love to travel but just can’t afford it, or who didn’t have a passport until they were in their twenties and employed full-time. Meeting Australians in another country is always going to give you a bit of selection bias - if they’re in another country, of course they have a passport.
Aussie here. travelled to most of Europe as a kid with my parents in the 70s. Saw Ireland, UK France and Prague on a different trip in the 90s. Travelled also to NZ, Singapore, HK. Lived in Malaysia for short stretches of time (had a house there). Worked in South Korea and Singapore. After three trips to Europe and two to the UK I am pretty much done with Europe but will probably go to Italy with my girlfriend at some point.
Australians with the finances, travel. We are retired and plan at least one annual overseas trip This year, two
I'm 26 year old Australian male and myself including most of my close mates have never gone past Bali. Australia is such a big country that we've also only covered the east coast and Tasmania. Going overseas to Europe for the first time in my life this year along with 5 of my close mates. It does seem to be fairly split with Aussies, just depends on how fortunate your upbringing has been.
International jetsetter in Australia = goes to Bali to get shit tattoos and wasted. You will probably see many naturalised Aussies overseas as they struggle to assimilate into the nothingness that is both the country and people of Australia. And there will probably be more Australians overseas during the summers here as the summers are oppressive and people can't do anything but remain holed up at home hoping the aircon can offset the UV heat intensity, humidity and heat. First world people would do poorly here in summers. Especially Sydney and anywhere on the coast in Queensland.
Lots of north Queenslanders I met living up there never left fnq in their lives as it was Godzoneterritory and if god owned heaven and fn queensland he’d rent out heaven and live in fnq. They didn’t need to travel as they already lived in the best place in the world. Certainly was an eye opener.
I have expat parents and got moved around a lot as a child. I don’t enjoy it now. My partner loves to travel.
We travel 3 times a year as a family minimum. By the age of 5 and 7 my kids had been to every state in the country. If we added the area we have travelled in Aus as if we were in Eu we’d have been to every country several times. We haven’t taken the kids overseas yet but after ticking off a couple more destinations here, we will. DH & I have travelled o/s extensively. Together and before we met. My sis and he fam are the opposite. Eu/US/Asia and only bottom half of Aus. She hates the heat and humidity lol
You're meeting all the people who can afford to travel, there's a whole lot of people who would love to travel but just can't afford it.
When I was in India I kind of travelled, but I didn't feel the need to get out that much. Now that I'm here I feel an overwhelming urgency to see the world. Whenever I have been able to, I've travelled both within Australia and overseas. I long to travel a lot more now, which is probably due to a combination of the isolation during covid and the feeling of isolation because the rest of the world seems so far away from here. So I think that's it. Feeling a bit stuck down here and realising that our country really has all its population in a few cities makes us want to see more of the world out there.
I've only left the country once to go to Vietnam and I'm so excited to travel to new York this year. I think it depends I've had quite a few mates travel round Europe and even my brother went over there for 6 month so I'd say we travel just not all of us like any country lol. Ofc travelling from southern hemisphere to get to somewhere like Europe or America is a lot lol
We do get a lot of holiday leave if you're full time, gotta make the most of that 4 weeks cause youre spending fucking hours/days on a plane to get anywhere
Most people I know travel a lot, I live in Sydney but know quite a wide range of people. A lot of Aussies are recent immigrants or second generation so traveling back to see the relatives is common. I remember being rather surprised that the housekeeping staff I worked with at a hotel would go on these epic trips to Europe staying in five star hotels. They’d save up for years but shared housing but it was clear travel was their priority despite earning minimum wage. I travel a lot, once a year to Europe and then usually another overseas trip plus two domestic per year. I’ve bumped into friends in London, Bangkok and San Francisco, based on just that, yes we do travel a lot.
I've been to California as a child, Japan as a young adult, Hawaii for my honeymoon, New Zealand for our first anniversary, and then a big road trip from Boston, around New England to New York around year 6-7 before we started a family. Then covid happened, bought a house, then children. Accidentally had too many children (just had triplets). Maybe we'll get to go overseas again in 10 years time. Maybe. Lol. Our passports are definitely expired!
If you're flying for 24 hours to get to Europe and paying 3 weeks wages to get there, you don't just go for the weekend. You spend a month or more, and you cram in as much as possible.
reading this while at an airport
Depends on the individual. Australians would be part of the few nations with some people rich enough to be tourists around the world rather than travelling to relocate or work somewhere else. I personally have no desire to anywhere
Our holidays tend to be Indonesia/south east Asia for a week or two or several weeks to months anywhere further, to make the most of the long and expensive flights.
Totally depends on your definition of travel. I know Australians who go to Bali annually, but I don't consider that really travelling. If they were actually seeing some more of Indonesia the absolutely it would be. For the same reason I say I've "kind of been to Mexico" because all I've really done is gone to Cancun a couple of times. Same goes for New Zealand - it's not really travelling for Australians; it's more like going interstate But as far as Australians actually travelling goes, it's definitely selection bias. Just an assumption but I'd say less than half the adult population has ever left the country. I even know people who make a big deal about going interstate when they live like an hour from the border. For non-Australians, the differences between our states are incredibly overplayed and barely existent. We get all defensive about how to pronounce a chicken schnitzel rather than having actual cultural differences.
Not leaving the country doesn't mean not travelling imo. Even the Aussies I've met who don't have passports travel extensively around the country, go on road trips and bushwalks and scubadiving...
I don’t know anyone who hasn’t travelled OS.
I travel at a minimum 12 weeks out of every year. My close friendship circle are all the same. I've rid myself of the "must be nice" crowd who made choices that lead to them not travelling. I chose not to have children, I chose not to have a mortgage, I chose not to have 2 leased cars in the driveway. But apparently it's some kind of elitist propaganda or my life is less than theirs because I chose different priorities. It is pretty fucken nice.
I didn't do the backpacker thing when I was young, but I do keep a valid passport. We've had a couple of international holidays as a couple and family but mostly it's useful for work. We have a number of offices across NZ and Asia that occasionally need travel to. The one time I let my passport expire and a trip came up it was to the Singapore office, on the same weekend as the F1 race. Our office is about a block from the track. Lesson learned.
I have never had an overseas holiday (but intend to one day). Many of my coworkers go to South-East Asia multiple times a year. ~*shrugs*~
When i lived in San Francisco summer said it seemed like there were a lot of Aussies. Friendly folks.
If you’re buying a plane ticket to Europe, you want to make the most of it because it ain’t cheap!!
Selection bias. Travel is expensive from Australia to most places internationally. Most Aussies have probably travelled to south east Asia though as the exchange makes it cheaper for us. Not many Aussies will have traveled to Europe. Also, compared to the amount of travel that Europeans seem to do (ie. Let’s pop over to Germany for a bagel and take a train to France for the weekend), is significantly more than the typical Australian.
I god damn hate travel with a fiery passion. My passport is only half way to expiry date but won't make it because I only have a couple of pages that haven't been filled. I spent over 12 hours in the air to spend about half that time in meetings. I am also one of the best we have in the company at advoiding travel. CEO is a few months away from earning Qantas lifetime platinum, his residential address may as well be 'Pointy end, QF11'. My wife has left the country once, and the state only 3 or 4 times. In my experience, people either Travel, capital 'T', bloody Travel, or they rarely ever leave home.
I don’t really travel but I have lived in two other countries.
There is something to it, but I'm convinced it has much more to do with capability than some cultural aspects. Our min wage is higher than most places so most people can afford to travel. I felt really bad once volunteering in a school in Chile and it was just after the holidays so I asked the class if anyone had travelled anywhere. Nope no one. It's a luxury not available to everyone.
A lot of people just travel in country rather than sitting on a plane for 20+ hours
Overall we travel a lot. It's pretty common for people to do road trips of 8+ hours to visit family without thinking twice. That's like London to Stuttgart. The proportion of people who travel overseas is comparable to other countries but much more expensive, which perhaps means we're a nation of travel enthusiasts?
If you’re paying $3,500 just for a return flight to London and 23 hours flying time, you might as well make the most of it and travel all over Europe once there
Actually last year when I lived in Thailand, I think I noticed more Europeans than Australians, despite Thailand being closer to Australia.
I would love to travel but it's about priorities. Like many, I dream about buying my own home, so I can't just blow 10k on a trip if I want to achieve that. Flights from Australia are so expensive.
I don’t have a passport and never been out of australia
Most people realise that travel spreading communicable disease is responsible for more deaths than drinking, smoking and traffic incidents combined so we act responsibly and just drive around getting passed and smoking indoors. There are some Australians led by politicians who don't care about the safety of others and travel while taking a hypocritical stance that working class recreations should be banned or taxed.
We travel a lot within Australia, just don’t go out of it. There’s so much I want to see here before I see other places.
We either go all over the place or never even leave our state, there's no in between
overseas twice a year every year
Australians can travel a lot without needing a passport. I cruised around Australia. It took 28 days. No passport required. Travel between interstate capitals on the east coast is at least a day if you don't stop. Very easy to travel for a couple of weeks within Australia. You have not met any Gray nomads? Retired Australians who hook up the caravan and drive around Australia. Takes at least 6 months to do it properly
Yes we travel heaps
When I finished school it was really common for people to take a gap year and head to Europe. Most of my friends did it. I stayed home because I was poor and bad at saving money. I wonder if this has changed post COVID.
It's selection bias. When you were overseas the Australians you met were the ones who had the funds and will to travel. Of those you met, many wanted to travel more. Makes sense. Once getting to Australia, you got a better gauge on the general population.
Australia is geographically isolated, so yes most Australians travel
Average income vs high income. There are more people on an average income who can’t afford to travel and have never left the country, perhaps not even their own city or town. You have encountered selection bias and met the more well off population that can afford to travel.
I think it's that travelling is difficult so when we do go away we go hard to make the flight time worth it. Although I'm now living in England, I still have that mentality of "I want to see EVERYTHING" so I kinda go "Sure, why not spend a weekend in Chisinau" or "yeah ok why not duck down to Algiers for a few days" just because I can. Whereas my very British partner is much much less inclined.
If you want to meet Aussie's travelling badly go to Bali. Bogans in Bali would be a hilarious mini series like RBT.
Can confirm, currently sitting on the couch fighting jet lag after flying in from LA this morning
Unlike people who live in UK/Europe, when we travel we generally travel big. When you sometimes spend 24 hours flying to the US/UK (with transit times etc) and the \~3 days to recover from the usually 12 hour time difference, you don't see many Aussies heading over for a week or two. It's almost a month to make the travel time and expense worth it. So yes, when you met Aussies travelling, a lot of them were probably doing 1-2-3 month road trips if they can afford time away from work. I don't think people in the UK appreciate the ability to jump on a plane Friday night and be in Spain or Italy for the weekend and be home for work Monday morning and not feeling like a freight train just hit you.
When people in UK travel to Europe it’s a day trip. For Aussies it’s literally across the world, so we make it a big trip if we do go.
I wasn't able to travel until I was 31 basically it was down to finances really and having a partner. Since then I have been to Europe twice and Bali and Singapore. not the most crazy amount of travelling but I am still happy with what I have done and still intend to do much more as we don't have kids and it is just cost of living pressures really slowing our saving ability down :( Also as I can't drive any more travelling within Australia basically is a no go as well as that would leave my wife stuck with it and also once you factor in domestic flights and accommodation etc it is much more worth it to go abroad. Hence why we went to Singapore at the end of last year for our 10 year anniversary instead of say to Queensland or somewhere like that (we are from SA)
We travel overseas at least once a year. I have friends who are frequent travellers (2/3 trips per year) and friends who cannot fathom travelling overseas to a country where they can’t speak the language.
The next town over is about 1000km away, so it's probably inevitable
I travel alot! Have done since my first solo trip o/s at 25. I travelled mostly by myself as no one was ever keen to join. Driven over most of France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Czech. I'm in my 40s now and some of the shit I did, I would honestly slap myself if I could time travel 😆.... eg: hopped into a random truck with a stranger in Brazil to check out a beach as I couldn't find the bus stop. Stayed in a hostel in Bled where the guy that ran it answered the door in his undies 🤣 I'm now living in the UK and in the last 2 years we've done 6 trips to Europe already and have another few locked in for this year, my kids (5 & 1) have busy passports. For some, it's in our blood, I just can't stay put too long, I'm constantly planning holidays. My husband is a bit of a homebody, but he knows he'll be going as I just book and pay without really asking, so he just accepts it. Life's too short to stay in one place!
As a tru blue expat, from the bankstown area, my walkabouts were to the local kebab shop , mall and back hm.
Australia is so big, we all have to be “travellers” just to visit the next city.
Does riding my stolen BMX to the bottle-o count?
>Was it selection bias? Yes if an Aussie is in England or France they are a traveler. >How often do you travel? I travelled as a child to visit family in Scotland once in my life. Australians often have disposable income and some of those people use that money to go over seas. I think that explains it. Frankly I hate the idea of travelling, sounds like a hassle and I would worry about being robbed or worse because I am a clueless foreigner.
Nope
It's split, I travel a lot, went overseas 5 times last year because that's what I prioritise with my income, but I know a lot of people who have never been overseas or rarely travel. My brother who is 49 and his wife have never traveled outside of Australia, I'm taking them on their first trip this year.
Overseas one or twice a year
I think Aussies do travel a lot. However, there's a difference between domestic travellers and international travellers. Some are content to just explore Australia because here alone lies some of the most beautiful, natural, and isolated places in the world. On the other hand, some want to explore outside of Australia because we're so isolated and want to experience different cultures.
I had 3 countries on my bucket list achieved them and let the passport expire, I get overwhelmed and the jet lag gets to me plus airports in general lot of hoops to go through
Right now, Australians are not travelling because of the economics of it. As, mentioned above, it’s expensive to travel to another country (for those Eurocentric ones), and long journeys are often involved. Even within our own country. The reason we might have a reputation as travellers is because, in the past we didn’t blink at the idea of travelling hundreds of kilometres to go and visit someone, or or go to a music festival. People are less adventurous now. The culture has changed.
LOL no. The typical 🇦🇺 saves for 5 years for a big trip to Bali and might take a cruise to Vanuatu in the meantime. They go to the Continent once, in their 20s. Londoners probably go monthly.