Yes. We can travel over 3000 miles and still be in the same country with about every climate. Meanwhile for a family of 4 it would cost almost $700 to get passports and involve waiting weeks. Then flying say Seattle to Paris for instance would cost about $3000 before actually doing anything there. This is in addition to the $300-$400 spent every 5-7 years on normal identity documents that you need for other purposes. This cost varies substantially state to state.
Meanwhile families here are facing drastically escalating costs especially housing and medical.
Compare that to a European who could travel 100 km on the train and be in another country.
Americans have both increased dis-incentives and less incentives to travel internationally compared to Europeans.
for a family of 4 it would cost almost $700 to get passports
You lost me there for a moment. In France, a biometric passport costs 86 € (~$100) for 18+ people, 42 € (~$49) for kids between 15-17, and 17 € (~$20) for people younger than 15. It lasts 10 years for adults, and if you renew your national ID card and passport at the same time, you only pay for one (ID card alone is 25 €, ~$29).
$700 for a family of 4 sounds insane. But if there’s no incentive, I guess I get it. I basically kept using my passport for a few decades instead of having an ID card, so it feels more natural to me.
Compare that to a European who could travel 100 km on the train and be in another country.
We don’t need a passport to go to most other European countries, fortunately.
Does it cost $3000-$5000 for a family of 4 to go anywhere you would need one and require the family to shell out an extra $700 when half the population is living hand to mouth?
No a passport is about 50 Euros if you have time to wait 6 weeks for it to be made. And you need ot as soon as you leave the EU, so Africa would be one area for example, should be aroubd 800-1000 Euros.
Now I wonder, don’t you need a passport for south and central america?
Yes. We can travel over 3000 miles and still be in the same country with about every climate. Meanwhile for a family of 4 it would cost almost $700 to get passports and involve waiting weeks. Then flying say Seattle to Paris for instance would cost about $3000 before actually doing anything there. This is in addition to the $300-$400 spent every 5-7 years on normal identity documents that you need for other purposes. This cost varies substantially state to state.
Meanwhile families here are facing drastically escalating costs especially housing and medical.
Compare that to a European who could travel 100 km on the train and be in another country.
Americans have both increased dis-incentives and less incentives to travel internationally compared to Europeans.
You lost me there for a moment. In France, a biometric passport costs 86 € (~$100) for 18+ people, 42 € (~$49) for kids between 15-17, and 17 € (~$20) for people younger than 15. It lasts 10 years for adults, and if you renew your national ID card and passport at the same time, you only pay for one (ID card alone is 25 €, ~$29).
$700 for a family of 4 sounds insane. But if there’s no incentive, I guess I get it. I basically kept using my passport for a few decades instead of having an ID card, so it feels more natural to me.
We don’t need a passport to go to most other European countries, fortunately.
I mean EU citizens can also travel similar distances in the schengen zone without a passport and just an ID card.
Does it cost $3000-$5000 for a family of 4 to go anywhere you would need one and require the family to shell out an extra $700 when half the population is living hand to mouth?
No a passport is about 50 Euros if you have time to wait 6 weeks for it to be made. And you need ot as soon as you leave the EU, so Africa would be one area for example, should be aroubd 800-1000 Euros.
Now I wonder, don’t you need a passport for south and central america?