Only 4% of Americans owned a passport in 1990

[the artist known az]

He forgot we were living in Regan/Bush's America in 1990. Most of America didn't have disposable income on a passport let alone going to other countries

 

[old pig]

where did you see this stat?

doesn’t sound plausible

even I had a passport back then

 

[darius19]

I also think the idea of travelling as a hobby / personal growth thing is pretty new to this generation (last 10-15 years)

 

[east]

one reason was that requiring passports to travel is a recent development (don't care enough to look up what year tho lol). historically passports were used by euro governments to keep skilled workers from leaving, think about which way traffic went over the berlin wall.

Traveling was kinda expensive back than
You literally had to go thru travel agents

^ this is another reason

back in the day, travel agents were the only ppl with access to SABRE, which meant they could jack up the price of vacations. then in 80s the company behind it made it public, first on aol, then to the whole internet. travel agencies as a sector quickly collapsed. i think real estate agents are gonna suffer the same fate next with their multiple listing services becoming easier for us to access.

 

[Amerikan Melanin]

Best thing I ever did was go on a trip out the country at 20. 1st drove to Canada, then flew to Mexico. Changed my world view quick.

I haven’t touched Africa yet but it’s coming.

 

[sayyestothis]

I grew up in America so I already know that it's a diverse country. Passports being extremely uncommon at one point is just foreign to me. I'm 23 so there's that also.

THIS...

 

[datnigDASTARDLY]

As a military brat who had a passport back then...social media clout chasing didn't exist obviously. Seeing an American overseas without a uniform was a rare and sometimes dangerous occurrence.

America is also diverse enough to not really need to travel to other countries like that, plus all the main attractions didn't need a passport anyway.

 

[old pig]

Seeing an American overseas without a uniform was a rare and sometimes dangerous occurrence.

how/why?

what countries?

 

[Kuwka_Atcha_Ratcha]

Both of y’all missing the point here. I was in London at 3. Yes people traveled. Yes the world traveled. Americans obviously didn’t travel too far cause only 4% had passports.

When I said the internet, that’s because of ALL of it. Long before social media, people had Expedia and Travelocity and all that. Before Facebook, you had airlines with all prices listed on every flight in the world, on a website. Do you know how fukking hard it was to find that info in 1990? Either you called every airline personally or hired an agent. Wasn’t no $39 flight to Miami. Wasn’t a $39 flight anywhere. You know how we can search for hotels in a 50mile radius and see inside and they all have to compete with each other right in your living room? Yea. 90s didn’t have that.

Not only the cheap Spirit flights, and $100 Airbnb’s, but the visuals. You can see Brazil, France, Italy. You don’t need a brochure. You don’t need a friend who been to tell you. I can go on YouTube and search any and every part of at city in the world. Get tips how to do it and where to stay. Book it myself. And even hit Groupon for a discount.


Nah everything I said was facts.

I was traveling in the 90s this isn't even an excuse, you'd go to the travel agent and they'd have books with destinations. Like I said how was it the rest of the world was traveling ?

 

[Kuwka_Atcha_Ratcha]

He forgot we were living in Regan/Bush's America in 1990. Most of America didn't have disposable income on a passport let alone going to other countries

Majority of Americans in 2021 still don't own a passport

 

[Kuwka_Atcha_Ratcha]

one reason was that requiring passports to travel is a recent development (don't care enough to look up what year tho lol). historically passports were used by euro governments to keep skilled workers from leaving, think about which way traffic went over the berlin wall.

^ this is another reason

back in the day, travel agents were the only ppl with access to SABRE, which meant they could jack up the price of vacations. then in 80s the company behind it made it public, first on aol, then to the whole internet. travel agencies as a sector quickly collapsed. i think real estate agents are gonna suffer the same fate next with their multiple listing services becoming easier for us to access.

So why is it people in poor countries like Jamaica were traveling more than Americans

 

[the artist known az]

Majority of Americans in 2021 still don't own a passport

It isn't 4%

 

[datnigDASTARDLY]

how/why?

what countries?

I was 10 or so, and was in Panama during that whole Noriega shyt. It was not good to be an American at that time

 

[Primetime21]

Majority of Americans in 2021 still don't own a passport

The majority of Chinese people in 2021 dont own a passport. Yall gotta stop thinking that the world is Europe. Some people travel and thats cool, others don’t (for whatever reason) and thats cool too. I’ve been to other countries and met locals that have never left their city. Just the coli tries to turn this into an elitist thing.

 

[the artist known az]

The majority of Chinese people in 2021 dont own a passport. Yall gotta stop thinking that the world is Europe. Some people travel and thats cool, others don’t (for whatever reason) and thats cool too. I’ve been to other countries and met locals that have never left their city. Just the coli tries to turn this into an elitist thing.

Especially him