Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not from here. 2 hours to Buffalo to the west, about the same to the Thousand Islands to the east.
The bf's siblings all do various amounts of winter stints in Florida. The sons might just not have ever had the interest. BF hitchhiked all over Canada and then Europe when he was 20 and 21, and hasn't left Canada since. He is 71 now.
But I lived less than 400 miles all my life from Canada, and I didn't come up until I was 59, even though I had traveled farther distances south and west. Nobody ever told us you guys were here!
There are probably people who lived in Buffalo all their lives who have never crossed the border. I have a current coworker originally from Buffalo who last visited Canada in 2006 when he was 13 with his mom! He had no desire to cross the border again after that. It's actually a more common thing with us Americans probably because the US is already so big with so many things to see. I've known people at or close to retirement age who have never left the US before. Granted transportation was not as easy or affordable way back in the day so it is understandable. Somewhere I read, up to 40% of Americans don't hold passports or passport cards. That's probably not true for Canadians but Canada is also a very large country with lots to see so I can see how some Canadians just don't have the desire to go south of their border. Then with some French Canadians, especially unilingual Francophones in Quebec, it's a matter of a language barrier that keeps them from visiting the US.
There are probably people who lived in Buffalo all their lives who have never crossed the border. I have a current coworker originally from Buffalo who last visited Canada in 2006 when he was 13 with his mom! He had no desire to cross the border again after that. It's actually a more common thing with us Americans probably because the US is already so big with so many things to see. I've known people at or close to retirement age who have never left the US before. Granted transportation was not as easy or affordable way back in the day so it is understandable. Somewhere I read, up to 40% of Americans don't hold passports or passport cards. That's probably not true for Canadians but Canada is also a very large country with lots to see so I can see how some Canadians just don't have the desire to go south of their border. Then with some French Canadians, especially unilingual Francophones in Quebec, it's a matter of a language barrier that keeps them from visiting the US.
Yes the vast majority of Americans never leave the US. Canada has always " won " in this regard, because it is easier for Canadians, to pop over the border. That said, even before 911, Canadians percentage wise did hold more passports, when passports weren't required to visit the US.
I'm not surprised that some southern Ontarian's haven't been to Buffalo, but kind of surprised that people in Buffalo don't go to Toronto fairly often. No offence to Buffalo, but....
Here in Vancouver, Seattle and Vancouver are on a more equal footing as it were. So there is interest in people visiting both.
Not sure if they still do this, but years ago, businesses in Blaine would have two cash drawers. One for USD and one for CAD.
It is rare to find someone in Vancouver who hasn't been to Seattle and common to find someone in Seattle who has been to Vancouver.
As for French Canadians. I doubt that a language barrier stops them from travelling. Does not speaking French stop people from visiting Quebec or France? It hasn't stopped Quebeckers from visiting British Columbia or the rest of the world.
I think the dynamics on the west coast are just different.
For people in Seattle, many know Vancouver and Victoria. Many cross border friendships etc.
You see a lot of Washington State, Oregon and California plates driving around Vancouver, especially in tourist season.
Many Americans do cruises out of Vancouver, like it and come back.
For people here in Vancouver it's an easy drive to Seattle, but many drive to Portland, San Fran, Palm Springs, and LA. I've done it many, many times. It's also a short flight.
Everyone's circumstances are different. My travels are quite different than those of my siblings, but then I had the freedom to do so.
My grandparents were world travellers, and as I kid I loved watching their home movies and slides. Grandpa was a camera buff, so there were a lot of them! I think that influenced me a lot.
Went on my first out of country trip by myself at age 17.
It is probably more that way in the eastern border states, as well. We in the northern half of NJ are influenced most by that huge city across the river just to the east of us In fact, other cities in the USA don't seem like "real" cities, until, of course, we might actually visit them.
I remember visiting my niece outside Boston and going in to Boston itself for an event. Her friend was with us, and as we approached, I exclaimed, "What a cute little city!" Her friend seemed put out at my honest remark lol. Such is the NYC perspective.
My point is that with "The City" next door (and where I worked for forty years).and all of the rest of NY State between us and the border, NJ did not have the same awareness and relationship with Canada, as, say, "upstate" people or those in Vermont or Maine.
I know a woman in Vermont whose son had a baby with a woman over the border. Their relationship ended, but the custody/visitation battle across a country border is a nightmare.
During the COVID shutdown, I read a story about two towns, one in Maine, one in NB, connected by a small bridge. People had families on both sides, normally visited and shopped across the border, and now all they could do was wave to each other across the water.
My daughter's best friend lives in Buffalo, and his family is back and forth all the time. I understand some Canadians go to Buffalo for outlet shopping, too.
So, there are similar situations likely all along the border.
Cannot rep you again, Fusion! Thanks for the sincerely thoughtful response. You're absolutely right that I cannot go back and question the choice I made. That by the way is known as a "sunk cost" in microeconomics, a cost incurred in the past that cannot be recovered. It's funny that we've all probably incurred many of these throughout our lifetimes and its the notable ones that stick in our minds. And yes, Canada is definitely a country that greatly values skills and knowledge. I think the more educated, skillful, and talented one is, the more competitive he/she will be. For instance, look at Rick Leary, the current CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). He started off as a token attendant at our transit system in Boston, worked his way up, was my boss's boss for a number of years, obtained three degrees including one from prestigious Harvard, moved to Canada to help run the York Region Transit Authority, and is now doing quite well running the TTC. On top of that, after living in Canada for 10 years, Leary in 2019 gained something that should be as valuable as platinum - Canadian citizenship! (No word on whether he dropped his American citizenship) So where there's a will, there's a way as they say.
I remember visiting my niece outside Boston and going in to Boston itself for an event. Her friend was with us, and as we approached, I exclaimed, "What a cute little city!" .
You're too kind. At the end of my freshman year in college, the chair of our department called for a convocation of all freshmen majors, of which many were metro New Yorkers. Our chair first asked something in the lines of "So now that you've lived in Boston for a year, what did you think of it?' to which all of the New Yorkers went "Boston is BORING!" Well a few years later, a friend invited me to his apartment where his roommate, a native Torontonian, told us that he found Toronto boring and that Boston was more exciting than Toronto to which my friend and I both clamored "Boston is BORING!" to him. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
Yes the vast majority of Americans never leave the US. Canada has always " won " in this regard, because it is easier for Canadians, to pop over the border. That said, even before 911, Canadians percentage wise did hold more passports, when passports weren't required to visit the US.
I'm not surprised that some southern Ontarian's haven't been to Buffalo, but kind of surprised that people in Buffalo don't go to Toronto fairly often. No offence to Buffalo, but....
Here in Vancouver, Seattle and Vancouver are on a more equal footing as it were. So there is interest in people visiting both.
Part of the problem is, when you get there, what is there?
Nat, you in Vancouver can easily find an exciting, vibrant city just two hours at most, south of you: Seattle. Seattle is a great city; I've visited, and I hope to return some day. The market is fun (yes, the flying fish, but so much more), the monorail is fun even if you don't need to take it, and I recall many brewpubs with a lot of tasty beers. And it has a music store that stocks all kinds of folk music instruments and sheets, which I happily patronized.
Buffalo is no Seattle, but when I lived in Toronto, I never felt compelled to visit. There was nothing there to attract me--I'm not a Bills or Sabres fan, and it seemed senseless to go there for shopping to save a couple of bucks when you're spending twice that on the gas to get there. Still, it could get you on the New York Thruway, which would take you to New York City--a ten-hour trip from Buffalo. In other words, you went to Buffalo to get someplace else.
But where I am located, the US border is indeed just an hour south. And when I cross it, all I find is Sweetgrass, Montana. A sleepy little town that exists mainly because of the border. Like Coutts, Alberta, just across the border, the main industry is customs brokerage companies. There's no outlet shopping, no nightlife, no concert venues, no reason to visit. Just like Coutts.
An hour south of there is Shelby, Montana. A town this time, but with little to offer the Canadian visitor beyond a truck stop that offers a place to gas up.
An hour south of Shelby is Great Falls, Montana. That's a city, with rush hours (I got caught in one), and real restaurants with table service, and an international airport, and plenty of shopping options. It is a nice and friendly city, with much to enjoy, but it rarely gets the attractions that Seattle--or even Buffalo--does. Oh sure, I guess it has a Wal-Mart and a Target with lower prices than home, but it will never host the Rolling Stones or Aerosmith, the way Seattle can. And are those savings at Wal-Mart etc. worth the six hours of driving and the consequent cost of gas and duties when I return home?
The question remains, "When you get there, what is there?" In my case, there's very little.
Part of the problem is, when you get there, what is there?
Nat, you in Vancouver can easily find an exciting, vibrant city just two hours at most, south of you: Seattle. Seattle is a great city; I've visited, and I hope to return some day. The market is fun (yes, the flying fish, but so much more), the monorail is fun even if you don't need to take it, and I recall many brewpubs with a lot of tasty beers. And it has a music store that stocks all kinds of folk music instruments and sheets, which I happily patronized.
Buffalo is no Seattle, but when I lived in Toronto, I never felt compelled to visit. There was nothing there to attract me--I'm not a Bills or Sabres fan, and it seemed senseless to go there for shopping to save a couple of bucks when you're spending twice that on the gas to get there. Still, it could get you on the New York Thruway, which would take you to New York City--a ten-hour trip from Buffalo. In other words, you went to Buffalo to get someplace else.
But where I am located, the US border is indeed just an hour south. And when I cross it, all I find is Sweetgrass, Montana. A sleepy little town that exists mainly because of the border. Like Coutts, Alberta, just across the border, the main industry is customs brokerage companies. There's no outlet shopping, no nightlife, no concert venues, no reason to visit. Just like Coutts.
An hour south of there is Shelby, Montana. A town this time, but with little to offer the Canadian visitor beyond a truck stop that offers a place to gas up.
An hour south of Shelby is Great Falls, Montana. That's a city, with rush hours (I got caught in one), and real restaurants with table service, and an international airport, and plenty of shopping options. It is a nice and friendly city, with much to enjoy, but it rarely gets the attractions that Seattle--or even Buffalo--does. Oh sure, I guess it has a Wal-Mart and a Target with lower prices than home, but it will never host the Rolling Stones or Aerosmith, the way Seattle can. And are those savings at Wal-Mart etc. worth the six hours of driving and the consequent cost of gas and duties when I return home?
The question remains, "When you get there, what is there?" In my case, there's very little.
Beautifully put.
Yes, Vancouverites know that it's great having a vibrant city close by to visit. Seattle has just the right amount of feeling foreign that you know you've been somewhere.
I'm sure Seattlelites feel the same about Vancouver.
Popping across the border as we all know, used to be so easy. Rarely asked for ID, just what citizenship we were and how long we would be.
In the " old " days, when bars were closed here on Sunday, many went down to Blaine and Bellingham, for the afternoon. Bellingham is a nice town to visit as well.
Fair exchange though. We used their Sundays, and the young Americans used our lower drinking age. Both good reasons to visit LOL
You pay your rent and car insurance, and show up at the office on time. What makes life so complicated?
For one thing, you must change immediately to a Canadian cellphone plan, to avoid expensive roaming charges every time you call the U.S.
Canadians pay a noticeably higher rate for online merchandise, and many U.S. online merchants don't even accept Canadian customers. Sometimes you get all the way to submitting your order, only to be rejected when you start typing in your postal code. Notice on the cover of most books and magazines, that the Canadian price is at least a dollar higher than the American price.
You will have to change to Canadian credit cards, to avoid U.S. card exchange fees on everything you buy. If your U.S. vehicle is not paid off, you cannot drive it into Canada to live. The dealer is afraid you'll steal it. You have to either pay it off, or sell it before moving to Canada. And a Canadian car dealer won't sell you another if you don't have credit established in Canada. You must convert all your savings and investments into Canadian dollars. And change to Canadian insurance. You may not be able to rent housing without established Canadian credit.
You know how Americans are always saying that immigrants are taking their jobs? Well, at least many of them come because they're desperately poor or fleeing violence. But when you as an American move to Canada, you're seen by Canadians as having even less justification, you're just coming there for frivolous reasons, and to take their jobs.
You have to adjust to the Metric system for all temperatures, weather precipitation, weights, distances, speed limits, and remembering that Canadians measure fuel economy in "Kiloliters per Kilometer" (or some such thing) which means that in their system, higher numbers mean LOWER vehicle fuel economy, while lower numbers mean HIGHER fuel economy.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
