Why do Americans not travel more internationally ?

Larry,

I think you're on the mark here and I agree the classic US thinking is
short sighted. In fact, I looked up the actual statistics and the
reality seems to support your viewpoint.

Americans make about 60 million trips overseas each year. Total
population is about 295,000,000 and so the maximum percentage of
Americans who travel overseas in any given year is a tad over 20%.
That means at least 8 out of 10 Americans are clueless about the rest
of the world except when they travel to EPCOT at Disney World to visit
the World Showcase.

On the other hand, Australians make about 3.3 million trips overseas
each year. Total population is about 20,000,000 and so the maximum
percentage of Australians who travel overseas in any given year is
about 16.5 percent. So even adjusting for ratio, Australians are less
likely to travel overseas in a given year than Americans. With that in
mind and using Australian classic thinking combined with my anecdotal
observations, one can determine that most Australians are very insular,
don't know anything about other countries, including their own country
as they readily avoid living or traveling beyond a few immediate
coastal areas, and even though US Foreign Policy is marked by numerous
'stuff ups', the Australian government allows Washington to dictate
it's own foreign policy. Dumb & Dumber, eh?

Also, Australia is one of the most xenophobic countries in the world,
right behind North Korea. That might sound outlandish (especially for
Americans that still a foggy remembrance of Crocodile Dundee), but
Australia does not want anybody to visit their country. We know this
because the Australian immigration service requires everybody,
including Americans, Europeans, and even Canadians with those sweet
Maple Leaf flags to obtain visa's (prior to travel and at $20 a pop)
just for the privilege of visiting their down under Shangri-la & former
penal colony. The ONLY exception is for Kiwi's and that's because they
have a cool name and only travel deep into the outback where there's
just a handful of Australian government employees who are desperate to
see a foreigner or any human being for that matter.

Mark