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Europeans don't need passports to travel in the European Union. They only need IDs. So it's the same.
Many Europeans live close to countries that are not in the EU. Plus, many Europeans remember the not too distant past when they DID need passports to travel just a few hours, or in some cases, minutes away. They've gotten used to the idea of getting and having and needing a passport.
Most Americans haven't had that same experience or need.
I've been a world traveler since I was a child, so I've always had a passport. That being said, as an American, hell, I've never even been to either Canada OR Mexico (in one case it's very far away, and in the other case it's too dangerous and simply doesn't appeal to me).
There are only 2 countries in central/northern Europe that are not part of the EU (Switzerland and Norway) and 0 in western/southern Europe.
OK that's two countries in central/northern Europe. Also, there's very little "water" between southern Europe and Northern Africa - and there aren't any northern African countries in the EU.
Also, you conveniently left out countries to the East of the EU which border the EU.
I count at least ten countries in very close proximity to EU countries - EU citizens would need a passport to visit these countries.
There are 27 EU countries in Europe (Croatia is joining in 3 months). You can just use your EU ID when you travel within the EU (even when you fly). The most visited places in Europe are already part of the EU or will join very soon. Almost all of them accept the Euro so no need to exchange currencies. Switzerland and Norway have decided not to join. It's their choice.
Last edited by Botev1912; 04-04-2013 at 10:57 PM..
There are 27 EU countries in Europe (Croatia is joining in 3 months). You can just use your EU ID when you travel within the EU (even when you fly). The most visited places in Europe are already part of the EU or will join very soon. Almost all of them accept the Euro so no need to exchange currencies. Switzerland and Norway have decided not to join. It's their choice.
Right. So what's your point? There are still neighboring and close countries that aren't in the EU, in which EU citizens will need passports.
And like I said, it wasn't so long ago that people living in the relatively NEW EU (which changes often because as you so succinctly pointed out, new countries are joining pretty regularly) DID need a passport to travel just a few hours in any direction.
Old habits are hard to break.
The real question is "What percentage of Europeans travel to Asia or the US or other far flung places compared to the percentage of American citizens?" Sorry, but it's a bit more difficult - and more impressive - for someone to catch a 12 hour flight half way around the world than it is for someone to hop on a train or a ferry and cross one of about 6 borders within an afternoon's leisurely drive.
Hell, every time I visit my parents five hours away I go through three states. When I lived in Germany (pre-EU), it was nothing to go to France one weekend, Belgium the next, and Poland the weekend after that. It would take me two days to drive to Canada from where I live now. And then what would I see? Something that looked a lot like Michigan.
There are 27 EU countries in Europe (Croatia is joining in 3 months). You can just use your EU ID when you travel within the EU (even when you fly). The most visited places in Europe are already part of the EU or will join very soon. Almost all of them accept the Euro so no need to exchange currencies. Switzerland and Norway have decided not to join. It's their choice.
Just to clarify things you, Botev1912, and KathrynAragon are confusing the European Union (which is just a customs agreement similar to NAFTA) with the Schengen Agreement which eliminates regular border checks. If someone was going from either Ireland or the UK to mainland Europe they would still be subjected to regular border checks even though those countries are a part of the EU. However countries such as Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway are covered as part of the Schengen Agreement despite not being part of the European Union.
I'll take a stab at this... Aside from not having 2,000 bucks to blow on a plane ticket alone (and don't give me self-righteous nonsense about how I shouldn't have bought the 500" tv instead), I'm ... just not curious about other countries. At all. Hell, I had a hell of a time in Boston just trying to figure out how the subway worked. So... Why would I pay 3000+ to have no idea what's going on around me while I look at old buildings?
And let's be honest. that's all there is to it. I've been abroad, and I can say from first-hand experience that trying to convert currencies in my head in a grocery store or ask where the bathroom is in French did not produce the sort of mystical, cross-cultural experience of transcendence, enlightenment, and universal peace-and-lovegasms that some of the people posting on here seem to think it should.
I'll take a stab at this... Aside from not having 2,000 bucks to blow on a plane ticket alone (and don't give me self-righteous nonsense about how I shouldn't have bought the 500" tv instead), I'm ... just not curious about other countries. At all. Hell, I had a hell of a time in Boston just trying to figure out how the subway worked. So... Why would I pay 3000+ to have no idea what's going on around me while I look at old buildings?
And let's be honest. that's all there is to it. I've been abroad, and I can say from first-hand experience that trying to convert currencies in my head in a grocery store or ask where the bathroom is in French did not produce the sort of mystical, cross-cultural experience of transcendence, enlightenment, and universal peace-and-lovegasms that some of the people posting on here seem to think it should.
:-)
Not to be rude, but that is some of the dumbest reasoning I have ever heard. Not helping.
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