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0 pointsdustinmoris9y ago0 comments

As an European who speaks 3 languages I can agree to that. I live in London and even though British people may not speak as many languages as the average continental European person, but most Europeans and especially British people have literally traveled the world.

I don't even mean that Europeans travel more because they jump a few European borders. Most European people I know have taken a whole year out after university to travel the entire planet, trying to see and experience as much as possible, from far Africa, to Asia and even America. I travel a lot myself and whenever I cross continents I always tend to meet the same people: Europeans (English, Swedish, Germans, French, etc.) and Australians. I rarely meet an American. Mostly I came across Canadians in South and Central America, but that was it.

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_delirium9y ago

> Most European people I know have taken a whole year out after university to travel the entire planet,

This is not true of most European people I know. Yes, some people do it, but it's a very small percentage of the population, concentrated among the wealthier part. Even in the UK it's only a small part of the population that does it, never mind in poorer countries like Greece. I do think the majority of Scandinavians I know have done the "gap year" trip, but not the majority of British, Polish, French, Spanish, or Greeks.

My view of what's normal in the UK, though, may be different because I don't live in London.

rogy9y ago

This is totally untrue. As someone from the north of england, now living in London I would say <5% of people I went to school with took a 'gap year'.

In London I would put that number closer to 25%, but that says more about the type of people that move to London than it does about Europeans in general.

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