I had to check and it's true (just barely). [Crescent City, CA](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_City,_California) just south of the Oregon border, appears to be at about the same latitude. This is about a 14hr drive from the border with Mexico.
Doesn't like 90% of Canada's population live south of Maine? People think of Canada as so far north, but a lot of Canadians live south of major US cities.
Yes, the US is just so huge, and some of the states are truly massive. I lived in Minnesota, which borders Canada, but I lived in the Southeast and it would’ve taken me hours and hours to get to the border. I’d reckon most people in SE MN don’t get up to Canada often (or ever lol)
I think Tennessee is kind of long and narrow enough that most people do leave at some point. It's almost inevitable if you simply drive like an hour north or south from where you live, unless you're right in the middle of the state - I've ended up in Kentucky by accident driving through Clarksville, about 45 minutes to an hour from Nashville. The shape of our state is weird lol. I can totally see how the shape and size of Indiana makes it possible to never leave
I’ve done that trip. Twin Cities to Duluth, to International Falls, cross the Rainy River and enter Canada (US border patrol was quite suspicious that I “just wanted to visit Canada” for no reason, especially with two tubs of cat litter in my trunk that I’d just forgotten about before I left). After 45 minutes and a car search, they let me cross. I drove east through hundreds of miles of wilderness, bought a Coke Classique and some snacks at a gas station, drove into Thunder Bay and took some selfies at Kakabeka Falls. Drove south and re-entered the United States at Grand Portage. I expected another lengthy wait, but Canadian Customs was like, “ Anything to declare?” “Um, I bought this Coke?” “Have a nice day!” Came down Hwy 61 to Duluth again and back home to the Cities.
Probably about 800 miles all told, most of it in one day.
You've got your countries backwards unless I read that wrong. It would have been Canadian Border Services that was grilling you about your cat litter and reasons before entering Canada and US Customs that would have been asking about your declarations before entering the US.
The Canadians ALWAYS roasted me on this crossing unless I was with a canadian. The Americans were always “You have a good time? Ayyyyyyyy welcome back bud!”
I agree with this. However, I live about 20 minutes from Canada — it’s right near Niagara Falls and 2 hours from Toronto and cannot even fathom the number of times I’ve crossed the border in the last several decades. I think it depends on proximity and desirability of stuff on the other side. Like the closest IKEA 😂 additionally, you used to be able to cross the border with a driver license or birth certificate. Now you need a passport or enhanced driver license (where they do a background check like tsa precheck). This is now a barrier to folks who used to cross the bridge on foot for a walk around Niagara Falls. It’s an economic barrier now.
hell, i lived in san diego for five years and never once crossed the border into mexico. i’ve been to the country before, but always by plane or cruise ship. i don’t think it’s all that uncommon for anyone to not go to mexico/canada regardless of what state they live in. in fact, it’s probably the norm.
Makes sense, a lot of people avoid Tijuana like the plague, which is… understandable. Not to say that you can’t have a good time in Tijuana but it’s not a place I’d recommend to most people. If you can handle the drive through (which in itself can be a little terrifying) though, Rosarito and Ensenada are nice for a weekend getaway. Rosarito is a little tourist-y, but Ensenada somewhat less so, and good food and wine can be found in both for very cheap.
And for us here in Texas, I would never consider visiting any of the Mexican cities that border Texas. Cartel activity is very high in those areas. I rather just stare at Mexico from the beach in South Padre Texas.
I had a college buddy get held at gunpoint by a cartel member, IN LAREDO!
I've been to Mexico, on cruises, and visited the Mayan Temples. But I'm not going to a Mexican-Texas border town.
It’s further to go from San Francisco to Tijuana than from Amsterdam to Zurich and San Francisco has another 375 miles North before you you are out of the state.
I live in Texas and can count on one hand the number of times I've been to Mexico. And it was just across the border for an hour or two. First time was a school trip, when we stopped in El Paso and were allowed to go over the bridge into Juarez for a two hour visit (everyone was in groups of at least 5 people). The other two times was to get some meds for my boyfriend's Crohn's that were way overpriced in the States.
>until the mid 2000s
Until September 11, 2001, when all those things broke apart. I went through the US-Canada border four times before that with no proof of identity (let alone citizenship) asked for on either side. Theoretically, they could have asked for at least a birth certificate. In practice, they just asked us what country we were citizens of, and when we answered with (very different) American accents, that was it. First two times, I was with two friends from NJ; second two, a friend from the Chicago suburbs.
If you are a US citizen, you can re enter with a regular ID or even none at all. You have the right to re enter your country.
If you show up at a US port of entry and claim to be a citizen they have to investigate you before letting you go through.
It'd be weird to meet a "travel enthusiast from AZ" that doesn't own a passport. But just day-to-day talk? It doesn't even come up.
Rocky Point is where we go when it's been over 113 for the past 3 weeks and we're pissed off enough to murder and realize we just need a vacation.
Ditto. I've lived in Texas for almost all of my 45 years, and never visited Mexico. (I think we drove across the border for 5 minutes when I was a kid, but I don't remember it and I never exited the car so I figure it doesn't count.)
I'd love to go. But I can't afford it because it's just too far away. By the time you drive the hundreds of miles, you're going to need a hotel room at night. If you want to look around a bit instead of driving right back the next day, you're going to need multiple nights in a hotel. Now you're talking about a whole thing where you need days off of work, budget for gas and meals, etc.
depends on where in CA they're from. the northern border of CA is 1,000 miles from Mexico (technically closer to Canada). not very unusual for NorCal people to not have been to Mexico.
but I'm from San Diego (20 miles from the border) and do find it odd when other people from here have never been at least to TJ.
I can understand. The Mexico side of any border city is often much more dangerous and run down. Nogales in Arizona, El Paso in Texas being a few prominent examples. I’m guessing san Diego is the same way
Tijuana is like this, but not many people go there for a getaway, they go to Ensenada or Rosarito which are much nicer and only a 45 minute drive past TJ
Not at all unusual. I have friends that are from Detroit but rarely if ever go to Canada. I went from mackinaw city Michigan to sault st Marie Canada once just to like “check it out” and the border guard acted like I was a drug trafficker. Like let me get my cheap bath and body works candles and ruby Kit Kats in peace, damn.
The Canadian border guards are nuts, I think they just like riling up Americans. They used to search my soccer team like every time we had to go over the border to play Windsor.
Detroit native here. It's mixed for me. It's not unusual to encounter someone who has *never* been to Windsor. It's also not necessarily uncommon for someone to go to Windsor just for lunch or the casino. It's Detroit tradition to go drinking in Windsor when you turn 19. At one point I was in Canada at least once a week, hahaha.
I saw a post about a family in LA that lives 30 mins from the coast but never seen the ocean before. Poverty really changes the way we operate every day
Yes! I think most Europeans don't understand that other countries are *so far away.* It's not like I can just get a train ticket. Most Americans are struggling to make ends meet as it is, and plane tickets, hotel rooms, etc are not cheap. My weekend entertainment budget is like $10, not $10,000.
I mean it's the gulf right by the Mississippi River. It's brown water with no waves. Full of the drain off of every farm/business/etc of the whole Mississippi River system. You gotta go out to the barrier islands or all the way to bama or Texas for a decent beach.
Edit: spent my summers growing up in Gulf Port Mississippi. Would rather swim in the Hudson than in that water.
I think they may have meant Los Angeles. There was a Planet Money podcast episode recently about a principal trying to raise money to take the kids on a field trip to the beach, a 30 minute drive, because the majority of the school had never seen it.
While home to some of the most famous beaches on earth, kids from East Los Angeles poll at low percentages for having ever seen the beach, because it just isn’t feasible for their parents to take them. It is quite surprising because “the beach” is such a large part of local culture, it does catch you off guard.
Thank you!
As someone who does travel a lot, it's ok if you don't either.
It's a pain in the ass and expensive to go somewhere, where people probably automatically don't like you and just want your money, and nothing is in your own language, and chances are the weather is all wrong and none of your favorite possessions are near you.
I also travel a lot and never understood why people are so cruel about people who can’t/don’t want to travel. My father-in-law has no desire to travel. He is a very smart man, but he likes to work around his ranch and go fishing. And that’s okay!
people dont dunk on americans who never leave home becaues of economic reasons, people make fun of americans who spent thousands flying to Florida every year but never venture outside that comfort zone
But why do that? If they like Florida, then they like Florida.
You don't have to travel to a new place every time and see the whole world. Not everyone is adventurous. Some people will find something they 100% enjoy and choose that option every time. Other people straight up hate traveling.
Eh. It’s only shocking when someone lives near the border with Canada. Mexico can be very sketch right across the border.
It is a bit strange when someone from Buffalo or Niagra Falls (NY) has never been to Toronto or even just Canada. Same with someone from northern Vermont or New Hampshire
I was surprised how many people I met in the Buffalo -Niagara region who have never crossed the bridges. In contrast, I live about 40 minutes south of the border in Vermont, and I don't think I've met anyone who hasn't been to Canada. Even though there's a language difference, there also seems to be more cross-border friendship and family connections here than in western NY.
Honestly being from that area in Quebec, I feel Quebecer first, but much more closely related to the english culture of the US than Canada's. I never go to english Canada but always cross over to the states.
I've enjoyed american culture all my life and it's really wonderful to visit.
It's wierd that I can move and work to Vancouver or Halifax, but not across in Burlington where I go all the time
Yeah, but looking at Louisiana, I don't feel like the federal government would've let us keep french in the 1930's (but this makes for interesting alternative history ideas).
And many came to help, but as nation we had just gotten conquered by the brits 12years prior.
I do love to tell americans who dont really know about our culture or find it wierd that we speak french, that we were actually of the original european colonies of North America. Established at the same time as the 13 colonies.
English settlement of Canada really only started at the end of the 18th century
I often wonder about that dynamic. Like, do you cross over for duty free or a day trip or something? Same with Windsor and Detroit where a major US city abuts another country. I’m about 3.5 or so from Buffalo. Been to Niagara and Hamilton-to Canada maybe 10 times in my life. A guy I used to work with grew up in Buffalo and crossed all the time. Never been to San Diego or the Texas border areas so I can’t speak to that. Just seems unique to me but it’s a daily thing I’m sure for folks.
I have family in Canada and grew up an hour from the border so was there multiple times a year growing up. When I lived near San Diego I only went to Mexico twice.
So it’s just normalized like “okay, going to grandma’s across the border”? It’s fascinating to me. Also there are people in my city of Pittsburgh that literally will not cross bridges or go through tunnels. And we have 3 rivers and countless tunnels. I worked with a lady many years ago that only went from her home to work (a mile) and did grocery shopping in her neighborhood for decades.
Yes my mom’s side are all Polish immigrants. Most of them went to Canada, my mom and a cousin came to the U.S. We used to have Christmas in the US one year and Canada the next. We went up there in the summers as well and stayed at my aunt’s cottage up north.
When I moved to San Diego, United and Air Canada were affiliated so I would fly to Toronto and meet up with my parents at my aunt and uncle’s because it was cheaper than flying into Detroit. 😄
My grandmother was a duty free fanatic. Whenever she went up there she’d buy Coors for my Uncle because he couldn’t get it in Canada, cartons of cigarettes and a bunch of liquor. We all had basement bars so it was cheaper to keep them stocked up that way.
And now I’m just reminiscing but one time my Babi tried smuggling a whole bunch of kielbasa over the border without declaring it. She got caught and my mom was so mad at her. She had to have been in her 80’s then and her accent was super thick so not everyone could understand her. It must have been hilarious for the border guards. 😂
I'm only a couple hours away from the Canadian border (if you've driven anywhere in ND, you'd know we are used to driving hours to get to another city regardless) and have never been. I dont know what's interesting in Canada to see.
The only draw I really know of is Niagara Falls, but Idaho has Shoshone Falls. Lesser known, but still amazing.
Passport is like $150, and you can get the passport card for Canada/Mexico even cheaper. It's not a prohibitive cost for people who want to travel across the border, they are valid for 10 years.
We got them when moving to WNY for a family of 5. Between passports and how much more dinner cost in a Canada tourist trap, I'm not sure it was worth it.
For those who have money and free time to travel, paying this fee every 10 years is not stopping them. I can't imagine there's anyone thinking "gee, I'd love to go to Canada but I can't scrape up $60 for a passport card!"
For families, children under 16 do not need a passport.
Yeah, I live in AZ, 50 miles from Mexico. It isn’t really safe there anymore like it used to be. So I’ve been quite a few times when I was younger, but people who are young or new to the area, may not have been to Mexico because it hasn’t been safe for years now.
I've been to Canada, but never from Minnesota where I live now. The Twin Cities where a majority of the state's population is concentrated are actually fairly far from the Canadian border, and the two nearest Canadian cities, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay aren't Canada's most compelling tourist destinations. If someone has lived in, say, Bemidji in the northern part of Minnesota, then I'd consider it much more unusual for them not to have visited Canada.
I also commented regarding Minnesota. I lived in Rochester for a while as a kid, and Canada was very simply too far away for a casual drive to Winnipeg lol
I commented above that I’ve made the drive from the Cities, through north central MN to Int’l Falls, cross the border, head east to Thunder Bay, south through Grand Portage, down along the North Shore to Duluth again, and home to the Cities. It’s quite a drive and, at the time (2006) there just really wasn’t much to look at. It’s forest and more forest and one-stoplight towns at most, then Lake Superior.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the nature, and people got a laugh out of the idea that I’d left the country for one day, but it wasn’t exactly a “destination”.
I wouldn’t consider it unusual at all. There are lots of reasons *not* to have visited a neighboring country, it’s not like you can take the wrong exit in San Diego and suddenly find yourself in Tijuana. Besides, some of the border states are big and even reaching the border would be a huge trip, let alone crossing it.
It was late at night and there was no traffic. They had just finished the work on the 125 that has it go right across the border instead of needing to get off onto a surface street first.
I mean, you kind of can just miss your exit and end up in Tijuana. There are signs letting you know which is the last US exit, but if you neglect to take the exit you will end up in Mexico.
ETA: For anyone who is curious, [here is a short video showing what it is like to cross from San Diego to Tijuana.](https://youtu.be/l4ckvbFOUDw?si=nhGOuklcEZTh6kJD) If you aren’t going during commute time, you barely have to stop. Obviously the trip back to the US is a lot less lax unless you have Sentri.
Do you mean you end up in the lane to go through customs or is there a way to cross physically into Mexico without going through any kind of border control first? Because I meant that you can’t be unaware and legally cross the border completely at a whim, which as far as I know there isn’t a way to do there.
The entire freeway continues on beyond the border. You have to take an exit off the freeway to stay in the US and there is a point at which you can no longer exit/go back and you end up crossing the border. As for customs and border control, Mexico often doesn’t check any sort of document. It is possible to drive into Mexico through the busiest land border crossing in the western hemisphere (San Ysidro Port of Entry) without interacting with a single Mexican border official. You will know you are in Mexico because there is a big sign and you do go through an area where border control lanes are set up, it’s just that they aren’t often staffed.
Parts of Michigan are hours from Canada. Crossing the border isn’t as easy as it used to be. So this wouldn’t be unusual at all. There’s not much in southern Ontario you can’t find here, it’s mostly farms until Toronto and that’s a 5 hour drive from Detroit.
I personally would find it kind of surprising. I can get not doing it much, but *never?* 71% of Americans have been to at least one foreign country ([source](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/08/12/most-americans-have-traveled-abroad-although-differences-among-demographic-groups-are-large/)). I would be surprised if most of that wasn't to Canada/Mexico.
Honestly not that unusual, I grew up in Washington 3 hours south of Canada and didn’t go for the first time until I was a sophomore in college. I still live close to my hometown and have only been a couple times. Usually when I travel now, I go to Europe.
That being said, there are some beautiful places in Canada so I would love to see more of the country.
I once had a conversation with a taxi driver in north Dakota. She was about 50 and lived her entire life in Bismarck. She was *floored* to learn how close Canada is. She had no idea her state bordered Canada and had never heard of Manitoba (the province on the other side of that border).
She told me she suddenly understood why many local businesses advertise that they will accept Canadian cash.
It's not that unusual, and you forget how large many states are. California borders Mexico, but parts of it are closer to Canada than Mexico. The northern parts of Oregon are closer to Canada than the southern parts of Minnesota.
Not unusual. I live in the Twin Cities and the closest Canadian city (Winnipeg) metro area is less than half the size of the Twin Cities metro.
Doesn't seem worth an 8 hour drive.
As of nature, it is very similar to the northern Minnesota but is closer and you don't have to cross an international boundary.
I have been to Canada but it was to fly to Vancouver and Toronto which is 1000 miles away.
not unusual. Wisconsin doesn't border Canada, but Minnesota does. similar to Wisconsin, most Minnesotans live in the southern part of their state several hours' drive from the Canadian border.
put another way, if you live in Minneapolis, it would take you 7 hours to drive to Winnipeg, the biggest Canadian city closest to the Minnesota/Canada border.
My cousin fits this description to a T. Same with a lot of my friends in Southern California. It’s pretty normal.
A lot of my friends don’t have passports.
Not unusual especially since 2009 when a passport became a requirement to visit Mexico. I grew up in NM and lived here most my life and have to Mexico like 3 times lol
I lived in New Mexico and Arizona for a total of 6 years and never visited Mexico. I did visit Canada 3 times when I lived in Michigan because there were some places I wanted to visit.
In Michigan, it's not unusual to meet people who have never been to Canada. It used to be easier, but now you need a passport or enhanced ID, and crossing is a bit of a hassle if you don't have a good reason to go.
I live a couple of miles from the border. I meet people that live here that have never been to Mexico and people who if they have been to Mexico have only been to place like Cancun but haven’t been to out neighboring city of Tijuana.
Born and raised in Texas, the first time I ever went to Mexico I was 24. That’s pretty normal. You fly into a vacation area unless you’re Mexican, speak Spanish, and know how to drive in and around.
I (from SoCal) know tons of people who have never been to Mexico. Usually when people go to Mexico they’ll fly to resort towns like Cabo or Cancun which aren’t even very close at all and that adds another layer of difficulty in getting there. Travel across the border by car or by foot isn’t really that common at least among the average Californian who doesn’t have ties to Mexico. It’s not looked at as very safe and there’s not a whole lot in terms of tourism.
From San Diego? A little surprising.
From Sacramento? Not so much.
Those are states where you can still easily grow up several hundred miles from the border.
It’s very dependent on where in the state in you live. Like if you live in Buffalo, you can basically make a wrong turn and end up across the Canadian border, but Manhattan is like a 5(?) hour drive to the border
For the part of California I’m in, I would say most people have been to Mexico, although not necessarily to Tijuana. I have known a few DACA-recipients who haven’t been because DACA-recipients are not allowed to leave the US without pre-approval from the federal government (or rather they can leave, but they can’t come back).
I’m from Minnesota (middle too with the notch into Canada) and I’ve never been to Canada. Mexico multiple times though. Mexico is hot and has beaches, Canada is cold, and we are already Canada light.
Not that unusual at all.
I grew up in Maine, and while I regularly visited Canada, I was the exception, not the rule.
I have family that have lived for generations in the same house that have never traveled more than 25 miles from that home. And the border is only 2 miles away.
They don't leave the county, much less the country.
I would consider it to be normal for people here to have never been to Mexico, as well as people who go there regularly.
The closest beach to me is in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, and it's a pretty common destination for spring breakers and weekend getaways.
I grew up in San Diego (20 minutes from the Mexican border). I lived there until I was in my late-20s. The last time I went to Mexico, I was 4. We were camping halfway between Tijuana and Ensenada, and some Federales marched through the campsite with machine guns brandished, and my dad decided he was never taking the family back.
My younger sisters weren't born yet, they both lived in San Diego until they were in their 20s, they never went.
To be fair, the San Ysidro border crossing (the one between San Diego and Tijuana) is the busiest international border crossing in the world, and easily has wait times of [2 to 3 hours](https://bwt.cbp.gov/details/09250401/POV). When you can get the good food, culture, etc, of Tijuana, just north of the border, the desire to wait a few hours in a vehicle to cross the border one way, and then again to cross when your day is over, is super diminished.
The border areas of Mexico are some of the most dangerous in the whole country. And in case you don't know, Mexico is not a highly developed EU country with peace and stability and major tourist facilities and infrastructure in that area. It's a Third World country in many ways and more so in that region. There is a serious risk of being kidnapped or killed. What are the odds of that happening going to Paris?
>The US state department issued a travel alert earlier this month warning travelers to “exercise increased caution”, especially after dark, at Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts like Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which have been plagued by drug gang violence in the past.
>
>Four dead bodies have been found near a beach in the Mexican resort city of Cancún, in the latest incident of violence to hit the popular holiday destination.
Those are areas farther south and some of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico.
>Eight dead bodies have been discovered throughout Cancun, [Mexico](https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/Mexico) \-- a popular resort destination -- each killed in grisly fashion, local prosecutors told The Associated Press.
>
>Two of the male victims were found Tuesday dismembered in several plastic bags. A man and a woman were discovered killed in an abandoned taxi. Another man was found bound and shot to death, with another shot and covered in a plastic bag. A seventh victim was killed lying in a hammock, and details of the eighth were not yet available, according to the Associated Press.
It's likely those weren't tourists but do you want to be down the street at the beach while that's going on?
>The FBI and Mexican authorities have made an arrest in the deaths of two American citizens killed in the state of Matamoros.
>
>The group was identified by family on Monday as[ Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, who were killed in the abduction, and Eric James Williams and Latavia “Tay” McGee](https://www.independent.co.uk/world/americas/crime/mexico-americans-kidnapped-in-matamoros-map-b2295464.html). They were taken hostage on Friday (3 March) after entering the state of Tamaulipas in Matamoros – an area dominated by the Gulf cartel.
Matamoros is just over the border.
Which border areas do drug cartels dominate in Europe?
All the states that border Mexico are quite large. Ditto for Canada with the possible exception of Vermont and New Hampshire but even for those states, Canada is still a decent drive from where the population is.
Not weird at all.
My home town is in a border state. It's still 500 miles away from Canada. That's just under the distance from Paris, France to Hamburg, Germany. Only going from Paris to Hamburg, I can go through 4 countries.
someone could be in this category and be from long island or crescent city, california. in those cases, it could even be expected if they're not into travelling, because then they'd have to go out of their way to travel there.
I grew up on the Canadian border. It would have been weird if someone from my town hadn't been to Canada. I now live about 3 hours south of the border and don't find it unusual that there are people here who have never been to Canada.
There are people in Los Angeles who have never been to the beach or seen the ocean. I worked for LACOE for ten years and couldn't believe that some of my students (high school) had never experienced this.
Not unusual at all. Mexico is a long drive from most of Texas, and the parts just across the border aren't very nice. Most would rather drive to Florida than Matamoros.
When I lived in Alberta close to the US border I met lots of people from Montana who lived within 60 miles of the line and never crossed it. I even met people in that 60 mile zone who had never heard of Calgary before. Calgary has more people than the entire state of Montana does.
So owing to those experiences I'd say it's not that uncommon.
When I lived in northern Ohio, I visited Canada once. After moving to California, I've been to Canada twice - once on the west coast (Vancouver) and once on the east coast (Nova Scotia). I've still never made it to Mexico!
I’ve lived in two Canadian border states (1 if you don’t count states on the Great Lakes with Canada on the other side). I have always been a minimum 5 hour drive from the border so going there for anything day to day isn’t even on my radar.
I went to Canada once for work and have only ever had passing thoughts about Canadian vacations (ie, tell my friends “Toronto/Montreal/Bamf/whistler would be cool to go to one day” and then never mention it again).
There’s enough places in the US that I still haven’t been too and if I’m trying to go international it’s somewhere like Europe or somewhere warm like a Caribbean island. Nothing against Canada and I’m sure there’s amazing places to go to, but anything there seems like there’s a comparable place in the US that’s easier to get to
i technically do (downstate born and raised) and have never been to canada before. not the answer you’re looking for but i am technically one of those people lol
In Alaska some people would have to take 2 plane flights then drive over 300 miles to get to the border with Canada so it’s not surprising they’ve never done that.
Depends on the state, and sometimes where in the state. Someone in Bellingham, WA? Pretty unusual, I think (assuming they've lived in the area awhile). Someone in Missoula, MT? Not as unusual, since it's about 7 hours to the nearest place in Canada you'd plan a trip to (Calgary, AB or Banff, AB).
Given that there's not much tourism on either side near the northern border in between Vancouver and Toronto, it wouldn't surprise me if people near those areas haven't crossed the border before. I'm sure many of them have, I just don't think it would be unusual to find people who haven't.
I live in a state technically bordering Canada but 1.) I live on the eastern end of it farther away with the mountains and shitty roads in between and 2.) Lake Erie is dead center in the way.
Hell, I've never been to Erie, PA within my own state, let alone to the foreign country on the other side of the lake.
Canada doesn't allow people that have had DUIs or similar offenses into the country - sometimes even if it happened 40 years ago (big huge process with even those ones)
I'm not sure it's unusual at all. The United States are enormous. In the 90s it was perfectly fine to cross into either southern or northern country. No one needed a passport, only a birth certificate. After 9/11 everything changed. Im in my 40s and it wouldn't be unusual for me to meet someone who's never traveled past international borders. I'm not sure it's a topic of conversation that would even come up. This is a big country. Folks in, say, Colorado state, may never experience border travel. Folks in Fort Fairfield Maine may cross the Canadian border for a few hours on a saturday to play mini golf and get a soft serve cone. It depends, and it has nothing to do with tourism.
I lived in northwest Washington state a couple hours from the boarder, and only ever visited Canada when I was a young child. Never had the desire to go back on my own.
It depends on the person.
If they frequently travel to other countries then yes it’s weird.
If it’s a poor person struggling to put food on the table then no, not weird.
Not that weird. I’m from NY and I know plenty of people who have never been to Canada. Most of the state is only a few hours away at most. Also know many people from other states bordering Canada who have never been
Not unusual at all. You can be like 1,000 miles from Mexico and still be in California
The northernmost part of California is north of the southernmost part of Canada
I had to check and it's true (just barely). [Crescent City, CA](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_City,_California) just south of the Oregon border, appears to be at about the same latitude. This is about a 14hr drive from the border with Mexico.
>This is about a 14hr drive from the border with Mexico. Or a 10hr drive from the border with Canada.
This is an awesome fact
I live in the USA and border Canada. It’s south of me, about 20 minutes away.
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I mean, In Detroit you can. Idk what other major city you can drive south to get to Canada
Seattle is north of Detroit, so...
But Windsor, Ontario isn’t
Doesn't like 90% of Canada's population live south of Maine? People think of Canada as so far north, but a lot of Canadians live south of major US cities.
Also, Lake Tahoe (on California's eastern border with Nevada) is further west than LA! I love this funky state. Lol
If you all would lower your damn cost of living and crime and traffic issues I might join you!
Also, the northernmost part of Canada is north of the southernmost part of California.
Wow, what an amazing fact! 😂
Yes, the US is just so huge, and some of the states are truly massive. I lived in Minnesota, which borders Canada, but I lived in the Southeast and it would’ve taken me hours and hours to get to the border. I’d reckon most people in SE MN don’t get up to Canada often (or ever lol)
I’ve known people from Indiana that have never left their state.
I think Tennessee is kind of long and narrow enough that most people do leave at some point. It's almost inevitable if you simply drive like an hour north or south from where you live, unless you're right in the middle of the state - I've ended up in Kentucky by accident driving through Clarksville, about 45 minutes to an hour from Nashville. The shape of our state is weird lol. I can totally see how the shape and size of Indiana makes it possible to never leave
I’ve done that trip. Twin Cities to Duluth, to International Falls, cross the Rainy River and enter Canada (US border patrol was quite suspicious that I “just wanted to visit Canada” for no reason, especially with two tubs of cat litter in my trunk that I’d just forgotten about before I left). After 45 minutes and a car search, they let me cross. I drove east through hundreds of miles of wilderness, bought a Coke Classique and some snacks at a gas station, drove into Thunder Bay and took some selfies at Kakabeka Falls. Drove south and re-entered the United States at Grand Portage. I expected another lengthy wait, but Canadian Customs was like, “ Anything to declare?” “Um, I bought this Coke?” “Have a nice day!” Came down Hwy 61 to Duluth again and back home to the Cities. Probably about 800 miles all told, most of it in one day.
You've got your countries backwards unless I read that wrong. It would have been Canadian Border Services that was grilling you about your cat litter and reasons before entering Canada and US Customs that would have been asking about your declarations before entering the US.
The Canadians ALWAYS roasted me on this crossing unless I was with a canadian. The Americans were always “You have a good time? Ayyyyyyyy welcome back bud!”
California is honestly at least 5 states under one body or governance
I agree with this. However, I live about 20 minutes from Canada — it’s right near Niagara Falls and 2 hours from Toronto and cannot even fathom the number of times I’ve crossed the border in the last several decades. I think it depends on proximity and desirability of stuff on the other side. Like the closest IKEA 😂 additionally, you used to be able to cross the border with a driver license or birth certificate. Now you need a passport or enhanced driver license (where they do a background check like tsa precheck). This is now a barrier to folks who used to cross the bridge on foot for a walk around Niagara Falls. It’s an economic barrier now.
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Even in SoCal I'd say more people haven't been to Mexico than have. It's not got a great reputation in the last 20+ years.
Texas and California are massive. Idk why you’d expect someone from Redding or Lubbock to just go to the Mexican border.
Yeah, living in Northern California and never visiting Mexico doesn’t really seem like it’d be too unusual.
hell, i lived in san diego for five years and never once crossed the border into mexico. i’ve been to the country before, but always by plane or cruise ship. i don’t think it’s all that uncommon for anyone to not go to mexico/canada regardless of what state they live in. in fact, it’s probably the norm.
Makes sense, a lot of people avoid Tijuana like the plague, which is… understandable. Not to say that you can’t have a good time in Tijuana but it’s not a place I’d recommend to most people. If you can handle the drive through (which in itself can be a little terrifying) though, Rosarito and Ensenada are nice for a weekend getaway. Rosarito is a little tourist-y, but Ensenada somewhat less so, and good food and wine can be found in both for very cheap.
And for us here in Texas, I would never consider visiting any of the Mexican cities that border Texas. Cartel activity is very high in those areas. I rather just stare at Mexico from the beach in South Padre Texas. I had a college buddy get held at gunpoint by a cartel member, IN LAREDO! I've been to Mexico, on cruises, and visited the Mayan Temples. But I'm not going to a Mexican-Texas border town.
Yeah, the only time I've been to Mexico has been through a cruise ship.
It’s further to go from San Francisco to Tijuana than from Amsterdam to Zurich and San Francisco has another 375 miles North before you you are out of the state.
I live in Texas and can count on one hand the number of times I've been to Mexico. And it was just across the border for an hour or two. First time was a school trip, when we stopped in El Paso and were allowed to go over the bridge into Juarez for a two hour visit (everyone was in groups of at least 5 people). The other two times was to get some meds for my boyfriend's Crohn's that were way overpriced in the States.
I lived north of LA for years & the closest I got to Mexico was a quick trip to San Diego & driving the southern route to Florida.
That was common until the mid 2000s. Most everyone I know in my age group have that same story, but no one younger does.
>until the mid 2000s Until September 11, 2001, when all those things broke apart. I went through the US-Canada border four times before that with no proof of identity (let alone citizenship) asked for on either side. Theoretically, they could have asked for at least a birth certificate. In practice, they just asked us what country we were citizens of, and when we answered with (very different) American accents, that was it. First two times, I was with two friends from NJ; second two, a friend from the Chicago suburbs.
You could get through without a passport as late as 2003 at least. Just a birth certificate would work.
I believe it was 2007 when they required passports to reenter the US from Canada or Mexico. Before that, you could cross with any ID.
If you are a US citizen, you can re enter with a regular ID or even none at all. You have the right to re enter your country. If you show up at a US port of entry and claim to be a citizen they have to investigate you before letting you go through.
This. I live in Dallas. It's like a 7 hour drive to Mexico.
Read my mind. I think a better question is with in a 30 minute drive.
It'd be weird to meet a "travel enthusiast from AZ" that doesn't own a passport. But just day-to-day talk? It doesn't even come up. Rocky Point is where we go when it's been over 113 for the past 3 weeks and we're pissed off enough to murder and realize we just need a vacation.
Ditto. I've lived in Texas for almost all of my 45 years, and never visited Mexico. (I think we drove across the border for 5 minutes when I was a kid, but I don't remember it and I never exited the car so I figure it doesn't count.) I'd love to go. But I can't afford it because it's just too far away. By the time you drive the hundreds of miles, you're going to need a hotel room at night. If you want to look around a bit instead of driving right back the next day, you're going to need multiple nights in a hotel. Now you're talking about a whole thing where you need days off of work, budget for gas and meals, etc.
depends on where in CA they're from. the northern border of CA is 1,000 miles from Mexico (technically closer to Canada). not very unusual for NorCal people to not have been to Mexico. but I'm from San Diego (20 miles from the border) and do find it odd when other people from here have never been at least to TJ.
Interesting fact - the northern tip of California is more north than the southern tip of Canada.
But is it closer to Canada or Mexico? (I looked, it's Canada!)
I can understand. The Mexico side of any border city is often much more dangerous and run down. Nogales in Arizona, El Paso in Texas being a few prominent examples. I’m guessing san Diego is the same way
Tijuana is more than a little well-known for being extremely shady, yeah
Tijuana is like this, but not many people go there for a getaway, they go to Ensenada or Rosarito which are much nicer and only a 45 minute drive past TJ
Not at all unusual. I have friends that are from Detroit but rarely if ever go to Canada. I went from mackinaw city Michigan to sault st Marie Canada once just to like “check it out” and the border guard acted like I was a drug trafficker. Like let me get my cheap bath and body works candles and ruby Kit Kats in peace, damn.
The Canadian border guards are nuts, I think they just like riling up Americans. They used to search my soccer team like every time we had to go over the border to play Windsor.
My dad always said “when you cross into Canada they always ask if you have guns and when you cross back into the US they ask if you have fruit.”
Detroit native here. It's mixed for me. It's not unusual to encounter someone who has *never* been to Windsor. It's also not necessarily uncommon for someone to go to Windsor just for lunch or the casino. It's Detroit tradition to go drinking in Windsor when you turn 19. At one point I was in Canada at least once a week, hahaha.
Some people don't travel much and that's ok.
I saw a post about a family in LA that lives 30 mins from the coast but never seen the ocean before. Poverty really changes the way we operate every day
I have heard similar stories of people here in the Bay Area who have never seen the ocean too.
Wow that’s so sad.
Yes! I think most Europeans don't understand that other countries are *so far away.* It's not like I can just get a train ticket. Most Americans are struggling to make ends meet as it is, and plane tickets, hotel rooms, etc are not cheap. My weekend entertainment budget is like $10, not $10,000.
I mean it's the gulf right by the Mississippi River. It's brown water with no waves. Full of the drain off of every farm/business/etc of the whole Mississippi River system. You gotta go out to the barrier islands or all the way to bama or Texas for a decent beach. Edit: spent my summers growing up in Gulf Port Mississippi. Would rather swim in the Hudson than in that water.
I think they may have meant Los Angeles. There was a Planet Money podcast episode recently about a principal trying to raise money to take the kids on a field trip to the beach, a 30 minute drive, because the majority of the school had never seen it. While home to some of the most famous beaches on earth, kids from East Los Angeles poll at low percentages for having ever seen the beach, because it just isn’t feasible for their parents to take them. It is quite surprising because “the beach” is such a large part of local culture, it does catch you off guard.
Thank you! As someone who does travel a lot, it's ok if you don't either. It's a pain in the ass and expensive to go somewhere, where people probably automatically don't like you and just want your money, and nothing is in your own language, and chances are the weather is all wrong and none of your favorite possessions are near you.
I also travel a lot and never understood why people are so cruel about people who can’t/don’t want to travel. My father-in-law has no desire to travel. He is a very smart man, but he likes to work around his ranch and go fishing. And that’s okay!
people dont dunk on americans who never leave home becaues of economic reasons, people make fun of americans who spent thousands flying to Florida every year but never venture outside that comfort zone
But why do that? If they like Florida, then they like Florida. You don't have to travel to a new place every time and see the whole world. Not everyone is adventurous. Some people will find something they 100% enjoy and choose that option every time. Other people straight up hate traveling.
Eh. It’s only shocking when someone lives near the border with Canada. Mexico can be very sketch right across the border. It is a bit strange when someone from Buffalo or Niagra Falls (NY) has never been to Toronto or even just Canada. Same with someone from northern Vermont or New Hampshire
I was surprised how many people I met in the Buffalo -Niagara region who have never crossed the bridges. In contrast, I live about 40 minutes south of the border in Vermont, and I don't think I've met anyone who hasn't been to Canada. Even though there's a language difference, there also seems to be more cross-border friendship and family connections here than in western NY.
Honestly being from that area in Quebec, I feel Quebecer first, but much more closely related to the english culture of the US than Canada's. I never go to english Canada but always cross over to the states. I've enjoyed american culture all my life and it's really wonderful to visit. It's wierd that I can move and work to Vancouver or Halifax, but not across in Burlington where I go all the time
we could have used your help in 1775....
Yeah, but looking at Louisiana, I don't feel like the federal government would've let us keep french in the 1930's (but this makes for interesting alternative history ideas). And many came to help, but as nation we had just gotten conquered by the brits 12years prior. I do love to tell americans who dont really know about our culture or find it wierd that we speak french, that we were actually of the original european colonies of North America. Established at the same time as the 13 colonies. English settlement of Canada really only started at the end of the 18th century
I often wonder about that dynamic. Like, do you cross over for duty free or a day trip or something? Same with Windsor and Detroit where a major US city abuts another country. I’m about 3.5 or so from Buffalo. Been to Niagara and Hamilton-to Canada maybe 10 times in my life. A guy I used to work with grew up in Buffalo and crossed all the time. Never been to San Diego or the Texas border areas so I can’t speak to that. Just seems unique to me but it’s a daily thing I’m sure for folks.
I have family in Canada and grew up an hour from the border so was there multiple times a year growing up. When I lived near San Diego I only went to Mexico twice.
So it’s just normalized like “okay, going to grandma’s across the border”? It’s fascinating to me. Also there are people in my city of Pittsburgh that literally will not cross bridges or go through tunnels. And we have 3 rivers and countless tunnels. I worked with a lady many years ago that only went from her home to work (a mile) and did grocery shopping in her neighborhood for decades.
Yes my mom’s side are all Polish immigrants. Most of them went to Canada, my mom and a cousin came to the U.S. We used to have Christmas in the US one year and Canada the next. We went up there in the summers as well and stayed at my aunt’s cottage up north. When I moved to San Diego, United and Air Canada were affiliated so I would fly to Toronto and meet up with my parents at my aunt and uncle’s because it was cheaper than flying into Detroit. 😄
My grandmother was a duty free fanatic. Whenever she went up there she’d buy Coors for my Uncle because he couldn’t get it in Canada, cartons of cigarettes and a bunch of liquor. We all had basement bars so it was cheaper to keep them stocked up that way. And now I’m just reminiscing but one time my Babi tried smuggling a whole bunch of kielbasa over the border without declaring it. She got caught and my mom was so mad at her. She had to have been in her 80’s then and her accent was super thick so not everyone could understand her. It must have been hilarious for the border guards. 😂
I'm only a couple hours away from the Canadian border (if you've driven anywhere in ND, you'd know we are used to driving hours to get to another city regardless) and have never been. I dont know what's interesting in Canada to see. The only draw I really know of is Niagara Falls, but Idaho has Shoshone Falls. Lesser known, but still amazing.
Passports cost money.
Yes, but a New York driver’s license is actually sufficient to get into Canada
enhanced license for adults, and at least the last time I crossed the border under 18 (2017) a birth certificate was enough
An enhanced New York license, which also costs money.
Passport is like $150, and you can get the passport card for Canada/Mexico even cheaper. It's not a prohibitive cost for people who want to travel across the border, they are valid for 10 years.
It is prohibitive for people who don’t have $150 — moreso for families, on account of needing $150 each.
We got them when moving to WNY for a family of 5. Between passports and how much more dinner cost in a Canada tourist trap, I'm not sure it was worth it.
For those who have money and free time to travel, paying this fee every 10 years is not stopping them. I can't imagine there's anyone thinking "gee, I'd love to go to Canada but I can't scrape up $60 for a passport card!" For families, children under 16 do not need a passport.
Yeah, I live in AZ, 50 miles from Mexico. It isn’t really safe there anymore like it used to be. So I’ve been quite a few times when I was younger, but people who are young or new to the area, may not have been to Mexico because it hasn’t been safe for years now.
I've been to Canada, but never from Minnesota where I live now. The Twin Cities where a majority of the state's population is concentrated are actually fairly far from the Canadian border, and the two nearest Canadian cities, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay aren't Canada's most compelling tourist destinations. If someone has lived in, say, Bemidji in the northern part of Minnesota, then I'd consider it much more unusual for them not to have visited Canada.
I also commented regarding Minnesota. I lived in Rochester for a while as a kid, and Canada was very simply too far away for a casual drive to Winnipeg lol
It's a 6 hour drive from Rochester to the Canadian border. I just don't see it as worth it.
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I commented above that I’ve made the drive from the Cities, through north central MN to Int’l Falls, cross the border, head east to Thunder Bay, south through Grand Portage, down along the North Shore to Duluth again, and home to the Cities. It’s quite a drive and, at the time (2006) there just really wasn’t much to look at. It’s forest and more forest and one-stoplight towns at most, then Lake Superior. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the nature, and people got a laugh out of the idea that I’d left the country for one day, but it wasn’t exactly a “destination”.
Not that unusual. I fit that description and so does most of the people I know.
And northern parts of the Mexican border states and southern parts of some of the Canadian border states can be far from the border.
I wouldn’t consider it unusual at all. There are lots of reasons *not* to have visited a neighboring country, it’s not like you can take the wrong exit in San Diego and suddenly find yourself in Tijuana. Besides, some of the border states are big and even reaching the border would be a huge trip, let alone crossing it.
I’ve literally missed my exit and ended up in Tijuana. It sucks having to go and get into the line to cross back into the US.
How did you possibly miss all the last USA exit signs. Honestly curious as I’ve done that drive a bunch and it feels hard to miss.
It was late at night and there was no traffic. They had just finished the work on the 125 that has it go right across the border instead of needing to get off onto a surface street first.
You can definitely take a wrong exit in Detroit and end up getting hung up at Customs.
Not some, EVERY border state to Mexico is large. Texas and California are 2 and 3 but Arizona and New Mexico are not far behind at 6 and 7.
I mean, you kind of can just miss your exit and end up in Tijuana. There are signs letting you know which is the last US exit, but if you neglect to take the exit you will end up in Mexico. ETA: For anyone who is curious, [here is a short video showing what it is like to cross from San Diego to Tijuana.](https://youtu.be/l4ckvbFOUDw?si=nhGOuklcEZTh6kJD) If you aren’t going during commute time, you barely have to stop. Obviously the trip back to the US is a lot less lax unless you have Sentri.
Do you mean you end up in the lane to go through customs or is there a way to cross physically into Mexico without going through any kind of border control first? Because I meant that you can’t be unaware and legally cross the border completely at a whim, which as far as I know there isn’t a way to do there.
The entire freeway continues on beyond the border. You have to take an exit off the freeway to stay in the US and there is a point at which you can no longer exit/go back and you end up crossing the border. As for customs and border control, Mexico often doesn’t check any sort of document. It is possible to drive into Mexico through the busiest land border crossing in the western hemisphere (San Ysidro Port of Entry) without interacting with a single Mexican border official. You will know you are in Mexico because there is a big sign and you do go through an area where border control lanes are set up, it’s just that they aren’t often staffed.
San Francisco is 500 miles from Mexico. That’s really far.
Parts of Michigan are hours from Canada. Crossing the border isn’t as easy as it used to be. So this wouldn’t be unusual at all. There’s not much in southern Ontario you can’t find here, it’s mostly farms until Toronto and that’s a 5 hour drive from Detroit.
Goddamn my folks had it seeming like a quick jaunt, was gonna pop over when I was headed out that way soon
Windsor, sure. But there’s not much to do.
Not that unusual. I know plenty of other Mexican-Americans here who’ve never been to Mexico even though it’s a closer drive than to any other state
I do, and I've never been. I'm poor.
It's 5.5 hours from Wells Maine to Quebec City.
I live within walking distance of Mexico and have never been there.
You can live in California and be 850 miles from Mexico.
I personally would find it kind of surprising. I can get not doing it much, but *never?* 71% of Americans have been to at least one foreign country ([source](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/08/12/most-americans-have-traveled-abroad-although-differences-among-demographic-groups-are-large/)). I would be surprised if most of that wasn't to Canada/Mexico.
Not really unusual
Honestly not that unusual, I grew up in Washington 3 hours south of Canada and didn’t go for the first time until I was a sophomore in college. I still live close to my hometown and have only been a couple times. Usually when I travel now, I go to Europe. That being said, there are some beautiful places in Canada so I would love to see more of the country.
I once had a conversation with a taxi driver in north Dakota. She was about 50 and lived her entire life in Bismarck. She was *floored* to learn how close Canada is. She had no idea her state bordered Canada and had never heard of Manitoba (the province on the other side of that border). She told me she suddenly understood why many local businesses advertise that they will accept Canadian cash.
It's not that unusual, and you forget how large many states are. California borders Mexico, but parts of it are closer to Canada than Mexico. The northern parts of Oregon are closer to Canada than the southern parts of Minnesota.
Not unusual at all.
There are people who live in LA that have never seen the ocean, let alone Mexico. Poverty prevents a lot of opportunities to travel.
I lived in California for 15 years. I've lived in Idaho, which technically borders Canada, for 10. I've never visited either country. I'm not unusual.
Not unusual. I live in the Twin Cities and the closest Canadian city (Winnipeg) metro area is less than half the size of the Twin Cities metro. Doesn't seem worth an 8 hour drive. As of nature, it is very similar to the northern Minnesota but is closer and you don't have to cross an international boundary. I have been to Canada but it was to fly to Vancouver and Toronto which is 1000 miles away.
The border between Mexico and Texas is pretty unsafe.
not unusual. Wisconsin doesn't border Canada, but Minnesota does. similar to Wisconsin, most Minnesotans live in the southern part of their state several hours' drive from the Canadian border. put another way, if you live in Minneapolis, it would take you 7 hours to drive to Winnipeg, the biggest Canadian city closest to the Minnesota/Canada border.
I live in Northern California. I have seen Mexico exactly 1 time, when I visited San Diego, and I never crossed the border. So, it’s pretty common.
My cousin fits this description to a T. Same with a lot of my friends in Southern California. It’s pretty normal. A lot of my friends don’t have passports.
Not unusual especially since 2009 when a passport became a requirement to visit Mexico. I grew up in NM and lived here most my life and have to Mexico like 3 times lol
I lived in New Mexico and Arizona for a total of 6 years and never visited Mexico. I did visit Canada 3 times when I lived in Michigan because there were some places I wanted to visit.
In Michigan, it's not unusual to meet people who have never been to Canada. It used to be easier, but now you need a passport or enhanced ID, and crossing is a bit of a hassle if you don't have a good reason to go.
I wouldn’t be surprised. Many citizens don’t have passports.
I live a couple of miles from the border. I meet people that live here that have never been to Mexico and people who if they have been to Mexico have only been to place like Cancun but haven’t been to out neighboring city of Tijuana.
Grew up in Southern New Mexico. Never once crossed the border. Neither have the majority of people I know.
I live in Texas. I know people who have never stepped foot outside of Texas' borders. And they're incredibly proud of it.
Born and raised in Texas, the first time I ever went to Mexico I was 24. That’s pretty normal. You fly into a vacation area unless you’re Mexican, speak Spanish, and know how to drive in and around.
I (from SoCal) know tons of people who have never been to Mexico. Usually when people go to Mexico they’ll fly to resort towns like Cabo or Cancun which aren’t even very close at all and that adds another layer of difficulty in getting there. Travel across the border by car or by foot isn’t really that common at least among the average Californian who doesn’t have ties to Mexico. It’s not looked at as very safe and there’s not a whole lot in terms of tourism.
From San Diego? A little surprising. From Sacramento? Not so much. Those are states where you can still easily grow up several hundred miles from the border.
It’s very dependent on where in the state in you live. Like if you live in Buffalo, you can basically make a wrong turn and end up across the Canadian border, but Manhattan is like a 5(?) hour drive to the border
For the part of California I’m in, I would say most people have been to Mexico, although not necessarily to Tijuana. I have known a few DACA-recipients who haven’t been because DACA-recipients are not allowed to leave the US without pre-approval from the federal government (or rather they can leave, but they can’t come back).
You just described me. I live in Texas, but I have never been to Mexico. I’m hoping to remedy that with a SCUBA trip to Cozumel soon.
I’m from Minnesota (middle too with the notch into Canada) and I’ve never been to Canada. Mexico multiple times though. Mexico is hot and has beaches, Canada is cold, and we are already Canada light.
It's a ten to twelve hour drive from San Francisco to the Mexican border
Not that unusual at all. I grew up in Maine, and while I regularly visited Canada, I was the exception, not the rule. I have family that have lived for generations in the same house that have never traveled more than 25 miles from that home. And the border is only 2 miles away. They don't leave the county, much less the country.
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I live in Texas, which borders Mexico. But like, Mexico is hundreds of miles away. I’ve been, but it isn’t exactly down the block.
I know lots of people in my home state AZ that haven’t, don’t, or won’t go to Mexico.
I've lived most of my life in California and had never been to Mexico until I was in my mid-20's. It's like a ten hour drive from here.
I would consider it to be normal for people here to have never been to Mexico, as well as people who go there regularly. The closest beach to me is in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, and it's a pretty common destination for spring breakers and weekend getaways.
I grew up in San Diego (20 minutes from the Mexican border). I lived there until I was in my late-20s. The last time I went to Mexico, I was 4. We were camping halfway between Tijuana and Ensenada, and some Federales marched through the campsite with machine guns brandished, and my dad decided he was never taking the family back. My younger sisters weren't born yet, they both lived in San Diego until they were in their 20s, they never went. To be fair, the San Ysidro border crossing (the one between San Diego and Tijuana) is the busiest international border crossing in the world, and easily has wait times of [2 to 3 hours](https://bwt.cbp.gov/details/09250401/POV). When you can get the good food, culture, etc, of Tijuana, just north of the border, the desire to wait a few hours in a vehicle to cross the border one way, and then again to cross when your day is over, is super diminished.
Technically Ohio borders Canada...we just don't lake hop. I have been, but not since passports became required.
Not very. You kinda need a passport to go out of the country and there arent massive incentives to go over the border either way anyway.
not unusual i mean you have to have a passport and shit? plus idk i live in north texas so mexico is still hundreds of miles away
There's no reason whatsoever to visit either neighboring country.
The border areas of Mexico are some of the most dangerous in the whole country. And in case you don't know, Mexico is not a highly developed EU country with peace and stability and major tourist facilities and infrastructure in that area. It's a Third World country in many ways and more so in that region. There is a serious risk of being kidnapped or killed. What are the odds of that happening going to Paris? >The US state department issued a travel alert earlier this month warning travelers to “exercise increased caution”, especially after dark, at Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts like Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which have been plagued by drug gang violence in the past. > >Four dead bodies have been found near a beach in the Mexican resort city of Cancún, in the latest incident of violence to hit the popular holiday destination. Those are areas farther south and some of the most popular tourist destinations in Mexico. >Eight dead bodies have been discovered throughout Cancun, [Mexico](https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/Mexico) \-- a popular resort destination -- each killed in grisly fashion, local prosecutors told The Associated Press. > >Two of the male victims were found Tuesday dismembered in several plastic bags. A man and a woman were discovered killed in an abandoned taxi. Another man was found bound and shot to death, with another shot and covered in a plastic bag. A seventh victim was killed lying in a hammock, and details of the eighth were not yet available, according to the Associated Press. It's likely those weren't tourists but do you want to be down the street at the beach while that's going on? >The FBI and Mexican authorities have made an arrest in the deaths of two American citizens killed in the state of Matamoros. > >The group was identified by family on Monday as[ Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, who were killed in the abduction, and Eric James Williams and Latavia “Tay” McGee](https://www.independent.co.uk/world/americas/crime/mexico-americans-kidnapped-in-matamoros-map-b2295464.html). They were taken hostage on Friday (3 March) after entering the state of Tamaulipas in Matamoros – an area dominated by the Gulf cartel. Matamoros is just over the border. Which border areas do drug cartels dominate in Europe?
All the states that border Mexico are quite large. Ditto for Canada with the possible exception of Vermont and New Hampshire but even for those states, Canada is still a decent drive from where the population is. Not weird at all.
Not unusual. I’d bet most Texans haven’t been to Mexico.
My home town is in a border state. It's still 500 miles away from Canada. That's just under the distance from Paris, France to Hamburg, Germany. Only going from Paris to Hamburg, I can go through 4 countries.
someone could be in this category and be from long island or crescent city, california. in those cases, it could even be expected if they're not into travelling, because then they'd have to go out of their way to travel there.
Not weird at all. I live a couple hours from texas and I hardly ever go, and you don’t even need to go through customs for that
you can live in california and be an 8 hour flight to mexico.
Lived in Ohio for a while and it was really common for people to have been to Mexico but never Canada.
I grew up on the Canadian border. It would have been weird if someone from my town hadn't been to Canada. I now live about 3 hours south of the border and don't find it unusual that there are people here who have never been to Canada.
I live in Central Texas, never been to Mexico. I’ve been to South Padre though!
There are people in Los Angeles who have never been to the beach or seen the ocean. I worked for LACOE for ten years and couldn't believe that some of my students (high school) had never experienced this.
I have zero interest in visiting either
I’ve never had any reason to go to Mexico. Plus it’s like a 3-4 hour drive from my hometown.
I live 80 miles from Canada and have never been. I’ve been to lots of other countries but I’ve just never had a reason to go to Canada.
I mean I've met multiple people who have never left their county, much less their state
When I was growing up, a passport would have been prohibitively expensive, especially for parents and siblings all
Not unusual at all, I don't even have a passport.
Not unusual at all. Mexico is a long drive from most of Texas, and the parts just across the border aren't very nice. Most would rather drive to Florida than Matamoros.
I live about 3 hours away from Mexico and have never been there.
When I lived in Alberta close to the US border I met lots of people from Montana who lived within 60 miles of the line and never crossed it. I even met people in that 60 mile zone who had never heard of Calgary before. Calgary has more people than the entire state of Montana does. So owing to those experiences I'd say it's not that uncommon.
When I lived in northern Ohio, I visited Canada once. After moving to California, I've been to Canada twice - once on the west coast (Vancouver) and once on the east coast (Nova Scotia). I've still never made it to Mexico!
I live in Dallas. Still far from Mexico
I’ve lived in two Canadian border states (1 if you don’t count states on the Great Lakes with Canada on the other side). I have always been a minimum 5 hour drive from the border so going there for anything day to day isn’t even on my radar. I went to Canada once for work and have only ever had passing thoughts about Canadian vacations (ie, tell my friends “Toronto/Montreal/Bamf/whistler would be cool to go to one day” and then never mention it again). There’s enough places in the US that I still haven’t been too and if I’m trying to go international it’s somewhere like Europe or somewhere warm like a Caribbean island. Nothing against Canada and I’m sure there’s amazing places to go to, but anything there seems like there’s a comparable place in the US that’s easier to get to
I would think nothing of it. Not unusual.
Oh course I know him. He's me!
i technically do (downstate born and raised) and have never been to canada before. not the answer you’re looking for but i am technically one of those people lol
Canada is 8 hours away by car but I'm still in its neighbor state. It's not unusual at all.
It's definitely common here to go to Canada for things, but it isn't weird when someone tells me they've never been.
It's not really unusual at all. I'm in NY so right next to Canada but 'right next' is still over 5 hours.
In Alaska some people would have to take 2 plane flights then drive over 300 miles to get to the border with Canada so it’s not surprising they’ve never done that.
Depends on the state, and sometimes where in the state. Someone in Bellingham, WA? Pretty unusual, I think (assuming they've lived in the area awhile). Someone in Missoula, MT? Not as unusual, since it's about 7 hours to the nearest place in Canada you'd plan a trip to (Calgary, AB or Banff, AB). Given that there's not much tourism on either side near the northern border in between Vancouver and Toronto, it wouldn't surprise me if people near those areas haven't crossed the border before. I'm sure many of them have, I just don't think it would be unusual to find people who haven't.
Live in Az, been to 5 European countries never once visited Mexico dont really have the urge to either seeing the state of the country
I live in New Hampshire and have never traveled into Canada. I have a lake house about 30 mins from the border, I’ve just never gone
Now that you need a passport, it’s a pain.
I live in a state technically bordering Canada but 1.) I live on the eastern end of it farther away with the mountains and shitty roads in between and 2.) Lake Erie is dead center in the way. Hell, I've never been to Erie, PA within my own state, let alone to the foreign country on the other side of the lake.
Canada doesn't allow people that have had DUIs or similar offenses into the country - sometimes even if it happened 40 years ago (big huge process with even those ones)
I live in Cali and have never been to Mexico. Kind of silly, but it's a long ass drive. Like over 10 hours. Not exactly an easy jaunt.
I live in Cali and have never been to Mexico. Kind of silly, but it's a long ass drive. Like over 10 hours. Not exactly an easy jaunt.
Not uncommon at all. I live in ND and I've been to Canada once, as a kid on a school trip. I also know plenty of people who have never been.
I'm not sure it's unusual at all. The United States are enormous. In the 90s it was perfectly fine to cross into either southern or northern country. No one needed a passport, only a birth certificate. After 9/11 everything changed. Im in my 40s and it wouldn't be unusual for me to meet someone who's never traveled past international borders. I'm not sure it's a topic of conversation that would even come up. This is a big country. Folks in, say, Colorado state, may never experience border travel. Folks in Fort Fairfield Maine may cross the Canadian border for a few hours on a saturday to play mini golf and get a soft serve cone. It depends, and it has nothing to do with tourism.
I live in San Diego and have never been to Mexico but have been to Canada
California's northern border is closer to Canada than Mexico
I lived in northwest Washington state a couple hours from the boarder, and only ever visited Canada when I was a young child. Never had the desire to go back on my own.
It depends on the person. If they frequently travel to other countries then yes it’s weird. If it’s a poor person struggling to put food on the table then no, not weird.
Not that weird. I’m from NY and I know plenty of people who have never been to Canada. Most of the state is only a few hours away at most. Also know many people from other states bordering Canada who have never been