quicko: going overseas

I can't vouch for credibility here as I found this in mX, but even if it's sweepingly inaccurate with just a grain of truth I still think I'd call it noteworthy:

"Half of young Australians have visited Asia in the past three to four years. Next popular has been the Pacific (32 percent), Europe (29 percent) and the Americas (24 percent)."

Half! Of young Australians! In Asia! In the last three to four years! Not just an adventuresome handful, not middle aged people with money to travel, not just their own continent and not just sometime before in life. Half of young Australians have visited Asia in the past three to four years. I told you they travel!

I really don't think it's a pack of journalistic lies. Maybe one or two, but all in all my experience here has really born this out. Almost everyone has been to Asia, most several times. Thailand, Fiji and Vietnam are all popular destinations, though Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia certainly have their fair share of guests as well.

And not only that, most people I meet have been to America, or at least think they have. LA and Vegas obviously don't count, though most people haven't quite realized this yet. I'm a bit more lenient with them if they've made it to New York as well, though of course they only actually qualify if they've hit Boston or the Midwest.

If they've been to America, though, they've lived in Europe, probably London. This is lovely and amusing to chat about, but it still floors me what a shockingly high percentage of Australians will have lived at least a year or more of their lives abroad. Sure, you could say I'm one to talk, but I don't represent anything remotely resembling an American majority, unless you're talking about the fact that I'm female. But most Australians live abroad for even more than a year. Like three or five or eight or nine. And they tend to come back. To teach English.