New Zealand Family React to Things Americans Do That Confuse The Rest Of The World (NO PASSPORTS?!) 

Uh, yeah, us Americans love to travel just as much as any other nation. Imagine though, having access to 47 countries - most larger than many European countries - that you can drive to without needing a passport, and 49 that you can fly to without needing a passport. Also, imagine all those countries speak your language, use your same currency, have the same laws (generally speaking), same electrical outlets, drive on the same side of the road, but have VASTLY different geography, very different cultures, different architecture, different restaurants/stores, different accents/dialects, different weather/climates ranging from arctic to tropical, deserts to rain forests, and wildlife of all manner from moose to manatees, bears to alligators, humming birds to giant condors. America is huge, not only in land mass, but culture and experiences, too. We are 50 nations united under one flag, one supreme law of the land. Many of us never travel outside of the US, because there's so much to explore and do right here within our boarders. I myself have only been to two places outside the US: Canada, and the British Virgin Islands. No desire to go to Mexico. I'd love to visit New Zealand, as my brother studied abroad in your fine country, and said it was quite the experience (he even went skydiving while visiting y'all, to really take in the sights). I'd also love to visit Japan, Germany, England, and Czechoslovakia (or whatever they call themselves these days... Czech Republic?). The reason I want to visit those places is because of their historical significance, which I find fascinating. However, travel to Europe or Asia is very expensive - at least it is for me. I'm plenty happy to explore the US, and keep my travel expenses low. There is more to see and do here than I could ever do in a lifetime of vacation (holiday, as some of you call it). Maybe some day when I have more income, I'll visit a country across the oceans. For now, I'm glad the internet brings the world to me, limited as it may be, but still better than no exposure at all. 🙂

The vacation day thing....this is why we like to celebrate EVERYTHING!!!🤣🤣🤣 Cuz we need a BREAK 😂

I'm a 91 year old great-grandmother. I want to tell you how much I enjoy watching your programs all the time (sometimes more than once!!). Thank you for bringing joy into my life. xoxoxo PS - I'll have to wait for my "next time around" to get to visit NZ, but I will!!!

The USA has everything from the Arctic to tropical islands. We can go to two oceans, many large lakes, deserts, semi-tropical areas to temperate climates, mountains with fantastic ski resorts, prairies, vast forested wilderness areas... you name it, we have it. Plus, everyone in every region speaks the same language and has more or less the same customs and yet different cultural experiences. I've been to several other countries and am always glad to get home.

I think one reason also that we don't travel overseas as much is because our country is so diverse that we can visit very different cultures and landscapes right here. I've been to 43 of the 50 states and still feel there is so much of my country to see!

The Passport thing always annoys me as an American… there are 330 million of us, so 42% that have passports which is nearly 139 million people. And it is not a simple process to get a passport and it can cost $140 with extra surcharge. I mean plus the country is huge so traveling domestically in one of the most ecologically and culturally diverse nations on Earth without having to leave your country is sometimes just easier and cheaper.. And we do use the Metric system in engineering (I work as an Aerospace Engineer) Oh and we recently raised Tobacco age to 21 which I’m okay with but the drinking age annoys me… you can be drafted, vote, serve on a jury, be charged as an adult but you can’t have a beer is dumb

The first time I took my cat to the vet, I had to get my phone out to figure out how much she weighed because I didn't know how much 47 grams was. She was 3 days old, btw. When we moved from the east coast to the west coast, we took 15 days and stopped every time I spotted a historical marker. We saw everything but Arctic tundra and a rainforest. I currently live in the southeast, and iced drinks are a must.

In some US states, like Pennsylvania you don't pay sales tax on "necessities" such as groceries, clothing, shoes, or soap. Also in the US, you don't normally tip at a fast food chain, only where you are served your food by a waitress or waiter.

The US is so big that we have pretty much every type of terrain here at home. From Louisiana I can go to Arkansas to be in the mountains, Texas to see the desert. And our own gulf coast to be in the tropics. We even have places where people gather and speak primarily their native languages.

I used to tutor French high school kids who are spending their summer in the US. This was in a big city on the East Coast. Every summer, every new kid, would always either be mad about the ice or laugh about it in their first week. Then, after they had spent a week sweating in an American Summer, they stopped joking about the ice and embraced it. It gets hot here. Europeans definitely don't understand it and even when I lived in Australia a lot of people refuse to believe that it gets really hot here. We invented ice makers and air conditioning for a reason.

I love that you sit down and do this as a family! World needs more family time!

I was an over the road truck driver for two years and drove into and through all of the US except Alaska, Hawaii and Florida. My most memorable experience was driving west on I 84 along the Columbia river head towards Portland Oregon watching the sun go down slowly and beautifully in to the mountains ahead of me while jamming to Metallica's "For whom the bell tolls" at 66 mph (100+ kph). Magical just magical......

We have an enormous country with so much to see and experience from deserts to oceans, mountains to rain forests. We have so much to explore right here that is fascinating, historical, and beautiful. We can travel for weeks and still be within our boundaries and never have to show a passport.

The ice thing is partly due to the heat, especially in the southern states. Having a huge iced tea is so refreshing as it's so incredibly hot for 3/4 of the year in most of the southern states.

Travel and passports - let me put it this way. Travel from New York City to Eupora Mississippi and you aren't just in a different state, you are in a different universe. The number of national and state parks available nationwide means you can learn about the United States for decades without needing a passport. I've been to Europe and Australia (never made it to NZ though I wanted to), but I figure I have decades left learning about good old home. If you ever make it here, go to Yellowstone. Take at least a week, maybe 2 weeks. It's a huge park. Then drive for 2 days south to Arches and the Grand Canyon area. You'll see why so many from the US never leave the country.

I have had a passport since I was 15 years old and have travelled to 30 countries and 5 continents. The US is so large and not everyone has had the same opportunities. Love watching your family!

As an American I’m shocked about the peanut butter thing. It’s so good and has a lot of protein.

Thank you for actually learning about us vs bashing the things you don't understand. It means a lot.

I used to live a mile or so from a state line. One state charged sales tax on food and the other didn’t. I did all my grocery shopping in the state I didn’t live in. I always thought that a little strange. Saved money

Most restaurants will adjust the soft drink machines such that the syrup mixture is a little rich, so when you add crushed ice, and it melts a little, it tastes about the same as a bottled drink. If you taste the drink directly from the dispenser without ice you will notice it is a little strong.

Watching your comments about the ice... here, we generally keep the soda cold before it is consumed, so you don't have to worry about the ice melting right away. I've often thought when watching y'all eating American foods and commenting on the soda taste, if you had it really cold (refrigerate the cans and then add ice) you would get a very different taste experience because the soda's taste (and mouth feel) is designed to be drunk very cold. Here, if you get a soda at a restaurant, it has been chilled before you add the ice. There are people here who will order a drink with "no ice" not because they don't like the cold, but because it is already cold and they just want more soda in the cup. Just want to say.. I really enjoy your videos. Sharing like this helps us all appreciate each other more.

A huge chunk of why some Americans don't use much vacation time is that some offices employ a minimal quantity of people, so going on vacation requires your department to become understaffed as a result, and thus your absence results in a full-on inconvenience for your co-workers. This results in a sense of guilt if you're away for more than a day or two. Heck, because of this, everyone at my work (a software company that sells worldwide and takes in 10's of millions of dollars per year but only has a total staff of

There are so many wonderful things to see in our own enormous country, that I think that's another reason why there is less international travel. Time is a big issue though.

This video keeps showing in my recommendations and I finally decided to check it out. This was fun to watch and I learned things about other countries that I was unaware of. Thanks for the interesting content and reactions.

When your country is as huge and awesome with so much to see as America, it only makes sense that you wouldn't travel internationally.

I’m a barber in dallas Texas USA. -The tip thing is important, my tips make up almost half of my paychecks. - I’m almost 30 and have never had a passport , never really had the urge to travel . - we put ice in EVERYTHING. And your daughter is correct. (The more ice, the less drink which they get to keep and less money for them) -the vacation days is also true sadly. We get around 2 weeks PAID vacation per year. Everything else is not paid if we take it off .

i have just recently found your channel and really enjoy it. The children are great also! I think it is wonderful that you spend so much time with your kids and they are getting a great education outside of school!

I learn so much about New Zealand from your family. Thank you.

When talking about tips in these videos, they always just focus on restaurants. But the tipping culture goes far beyond tipping wait staff at restaurants. For instance, I always tip my hair stylist, manicurist, Uber/taxi/Park-n-go driver, hotel bell hop, valet parking attendant, gas attendant at the marina, tour guides, etc. It all absolutely adds up!!!

The ice is why our drink portions are so big! Also, soda or pop is always incredibly sweet so having the ice to water it down a little over time makes it much more refreshing. We love our ice! 😂❤

Speaking of the ice. When you are getting a cold drink like iced coffee, it can have far too much ice and not enough drink. You can ask the person taking your order for "light ice" and they will often give you a more reasonable amount. You can also ask for "no ice" if you don't want it as well.

I distinctly remember my 3rd grade math teacher telling us in 1982 that we needed to learn the metric system because the US would soon be switching to join the rest of the world. I'm still waiting...

The USA is so big, that it makes travel to other continents pretty expensive. I can go to Hawaii or New York or Puerto Rico or the USVI or National Parks for much less. We used to not need a passport to go to Canada or the USVI, but times have changed. I would love to visit my bucket list top 3 of Ireland, Italy and New Zealand, but I've got to save three times the amount of money and use all my vacation days to do it.

Why is it shocking that we don't have passports? As large as America is, the incredible diversity of the landscapes, temperatures, even customs and food, without ever leaving the country. It's only since 2001 that we had to get a passport to Canada! Oh, you can always order your drink with little ice, that should never be a problem ☺️ (worked in many restaurants)

High School football is also huge. In Texas as well as many other states as I’ve seen online, pretty much everyone attends the games in support of our athletes. We love our football 🏈

Love watching you all. The ice doesnt make it flat and thats because we add a lot. Also the soda comes from near freezing lines so its all very cold. It is very humorous the things that people find interesting, odd, or annoying about the US. Ive traveled internationally alot as well as been to most states here and its true we have so many cultures inside our country and going from Seattle to Miami is like going from London to Tibet in distance...

One fact that surprises foreigners is we don’t pee standing or sitting, we pee doing a handstand

The ice in the drinks are partially why our drink cups are so large! And honestly, the pop doesn't get watered down very quickly. And when it does, most places offer free refills and you're good to go. The ice keeps the drink cold for a lot longer.

American here! I use the metric system when I cook/bake. It's easier to remember recipes, etc, and you always get the same outcome when baking. ❤

what a fun family, thanks for sharing your videos.. It is nice to get a peek into a family from across the world and seemingly getting to know them.. like a neighbor & friend only in another country.. :))

You can always ask for no ice or easy on the ice when getting a drink. Also, when refilling, you are usually doing it yourself so you can get as much or little ice as you want. And mix flavors or whatever. I use the drink lids for bigger sauce (ketchup)dishes. 😉

Yes!! The reason our cup sizes are so big and we have free refills is because our drinks are full of ice! I think you guys are the first I've seen that connected the dots on that. And yes, between how huge and diverse the US is and how expensive it is to travel overseas, a lot of people don't need or want a passport. Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to traveling abroad is all of the in-country travel required first to even go somewhere else. Someone living in a rural part of the country may have to drive 3+ hours to the nearest commercial airport, then fly a few hours to the coast, then catch a connecting flight all before even leaving American soil. It can be very time consuming and expensive.

The ice thing also explains the size differences in the cup. I don't know about the rest of the world but in America the soda does not come out of the machines very cold. You need the ice to bring it to a drinkable temperature.

When the ambient temperature is in 3 digits, ice in your drink is necessary.

I had a pen friend from Scotland and I was shocked that he had 6 weeks of vacation time and he worked for the underground rail system. I've never had a job that offered more than two weeks of vacation time starting out. I have 15 days at my current job and I've been there 4 years.

One reason why we don’t vacation outside our country, is because there are so many diverse incredible places to go to here. World travel is a luxury that not many of us have.

This was the first I've seen of your videos. I really enjoyed it and I think it's awesome you include your family ❤

I love watching your videos. Your family is so loving and fun!

When I was younger, before 9/11 happened we could travel to SOME countries without a passport, too. I've been all over Mexico and Canada both without a passport as a teenager. They have since tightened up security and now require a passport lol. So yeah, really my family didn't get them until early 00s.

The hardest part about the drug commercials is figuring out if all the side effects listed is worth the trade to fix whatever your have.

I am from Michigan and I love your sons shirt 😄😄😄

on the metric system, atleast here in texas, we learn it as well and it is used in medicine & science (and sodas for some reason), the u.s. customary system is used for more every measurements, like cooking, travel, and describing your height/weight. the issue for us is converting between the two systems and most people lack of frames of reference for some measurements.

Customer service is notorious for a lack of use of vacation. I averaged about half my alloted time simply because upper management tended to make people feel bad for taking time off. So glad to have moved on to better things.

The problem with taking vacation days is that it seems like a punishment when you return. The work piles up and sometimes tasks are given to you that nobody else wants. That’s why I usually work even when I’m on vacation. It makes the work manageable when you return.

I have seen the SNAFU that is applying the metic system to US infrastructures. Working in highway construction, the plans for some bridges we were building were in metric. The whole company had to buy new tape measures and then remember how mm and cm work. You'd be surprised how hard it is for some people to remember its in 10ths. The project took longer than needed because all the companies that make beams are working in imperial, so they had to do conversions and make special setups to make everything the way it was supposed to be. It didnt seem that hard to me, but after seeing the whole thing start to finish, it is actually way yougher than anyone gives it credit for.

Don't feel shy about asking for no ice at an American restaurant. I have sensitive teeth so I request my drinks with no ice most of the time. But on the other hand, when a drink is super sugary (as a lot of drinks are here), the ice can be nice to water it down a little bit and make it actually palatable.

We use the metric system. Everything is labelled in imperial and metric units, and we seamlessly switch between systems depending on context. For example if you go to the grocery store you will buy bottles of soda in liters, but cans of soda in ounces, and bottles of water in gallons. If you are looking to buy aspirin (or other medication) it will be sold by the milligram while you might buy hamburger by the pound, and the airport limits your bags to 45 kilograms. Bank clocks that show time and temperature will show Fahrenheit and Celsius. In sports track and field uses meters and football uses yards, and we hit baseballs hundreds of feet, but we drive miles. If you work in science or engineering fields you will be well versed in metric, but still use a mix of units. For example in meteorology temperatures at the surface are in Fahrenheit but temperatures above the surface are in Celsius. Pressure at the surface (for altimeter settings) is in inches but constant pressure surfaces are in millibars and heights in meters. If you're a mechanic you might use wrenches and sockets measured in millimeters. There are countless examples like this in every day American life where we use both systems of units without an issue.

One of the reasons a lot of people from the United States do not take many vacation days is not everyone gets paid vacation. If you take time off it can be at your own expense and many in the US simply cannot afford not to work. I have seen employers only give 5 days vacation to employees in the past especially starting out in some retail places. Some jobs do not even offer it.

My hubby and I love to travel...so we both have passports. Traveling is a little more difficult when you have dogs. I love hearing about other countries and their culture. I have to say....I loved visiting Israel....but it was tough not having ice on hot days!

Two vacation weeks was a starter allowance at my job. It gradually grew over 20 years to 27 vacation days a year.

I'm 60 now and have been to every state and national park! I felt I left my soul in Alaska, on my first trip & I've been back 6 times! Highly recommended! I've never had a passport!

When I told my English-born doctor that I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole grain bread for breakfast most days, he shook his head and sighed, "So American."

Very smart little girl. She caught on to that soda business trick lol. But always feel free to order your drinks without ice. Many here do too.

I enjoy your videos. Your family is great!!

The US has so much to explore without needing a passport. My western state of Utah is nearly 220,000 square kilometers in size (about 85,000 square miles). We're landlocked, but still have a salt water lake if you really want salty water. (Watch out for brine flies, they bite.) You can choose between mountains, lakes, rivers, desert, caves, hot springs, dinosaur fossils, amazing rock formations and more in a 7-8 hour drive north to south. We get snow in winter with great skiing and other winter sports. Summers are hot and dry. Growing up, my family's big vacation of the year was going camping at the Little Sahara Sand Dunes in central Utah. We didn't have the money to take big trips and it was fun playing on the sand dunes and cooking on a campfire. This is just one state, and the others offer even more kinds of scenery. You could spend a lifetime exploring just the US.

When you think about all of the people in other countries who visit the US and WHY they come here, it’s because of all the incredible places they have seen in movies and videos and they want to experience them first hand. Just watching your lovely family react to US videos and listen as you plan for a trip here proves this point: Americans want to see these places too! I live just north of Boston and am just as interested in visiting out National Parks, Monuments, mountains, rivers and lakes, famous cities as you are. I have been fortunate to have traveled to many places outside of the US but still look for opportunities to travel within our own borders to see the same things everyone else wants to see.

love you guys! so wholesome

When writing New Years’ Day as 20230101 has become a common practice for naming computer files and the American military uses this method. It makes sorting easy.

I’m 58 and never had a passport. I’ve traveled from the east coast to the west coast - no small feat by car. So many things to see and do here. There are still places I’d love to visit in the USA.

I'm American and I don't remember how I found your channel but I love to get the different points of view, please keep doing what you do.

What a nice family! I love your videos.

The larger beverage sizes directly corelates to the larger amount of ice in drinks. Also Americans on average tend to be larger individuals than other nations. What a lot of people tend to overlook in this obvious statement is that having more mass necessitates a larger intake of fluids to stay properly hydrated as humans are about 60% water. Added Ice not only helps cool internal body temperatures but also aids in balancing the amount of meaningful hydration occurring and the in-take of sugary beverages.

The drink size one was good. I worked at a Burger King in high school and we had French Foreign Exchange Teachers come teach for like two months at our school. They came in one day and casually ordered the Large and when I handed them those massive cups they damn near had a heart attack haha.

I’m an American with a worn out passport and who speaks three languages. I also live in the “middle” of the country. There are tons of us without passports, yes, but tons of us with them too. I love traveling both the world and my own country equally!

They forgot to mention Canada's football is just like ours and there is no sales tax on food you buy at the grocery stores in a lot of states. Also most jobs are 40 hour's a week and you can get a month off for vacation but you have to be employed for years to build it up.

Us uses the imperial system mostly but does use the metric system in trade, commerce, medicine, science, electronics, military and international affairs.

I ordered something online from California and was charged state, city, and county sales tax. It was freaking insane. My dad never took vacation days because they were also his sick days.

Hi from Florida! My brother, who has worked abroad in Australia and Europe says the little ice that comes in beverages is frustrating. Once he asked for extra ice and was brought only one ice cube! In the US if you ask for extra ice you're brought a whole glass of ice.

Americans love ice so much, most of our refrigerators have ice makers built into them so you can get fresh ice whenever you want it.

I can see mountains, prairie lands, rain forests, deserts, rivers, lakes swamps, beautiful rock formations, some of the deepest and most beautiful canyons, some of the most beautiful beaches and also rugged shorelines in the world!And that’s on top of some of the most vibrant cities and quaint towns anywhere. Do t need to leave my country and Don’t need a passport either!!

Passports are expensive, you can be denied and have to pay again to attempt to get it again, plus most of us cannot afford vacations outside the country. Couple that with short vacations (making us choose to either have short vacations or extend the vacation without pay), we usually choose to vacation inside the country. And as for ice, it isn't mandatory. I always request either less ice or no ice when I order. It is a bit of extra hassle, but once you get used to it, it's fine.

I will tell you the primary reason I haven’t been out of the country is that there are just so many places to see here in the States. I’m 42 and I’ve been to 30 states in my life, but that is mainly because I’ve gone back to the same states many times to visit other cities. I’m going to Florida in December for my 11th time. I’ve been to New York and Connecticut several times because I have family that live there, so a lot of my vacation has been spent there visiting family. As far as college football, yes I am a huge fan as I’ve been most of my life. Tomorrow is one of the biggest games of the year with LSU and Alabama playing in Baton Rouge at Tiger Stadium. So as we say here in Louisiana, GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!!

The ice in the cups explains why our cups are so much bigger, because we hope the extra space will actually have beverage instead of frozen water. Then again, asking for "no ice" is an option too, if you don't like watery drinks.

One note even though it is late. I worked in food service when the change was made to self-service soda. What was found was people on average put more than twice as much ice in their cup than the restaurant did when they prepared them and acroos the industry restaurants used less soda even though people could have all they wanted. Ironically people often comlained when the drink was prepared behind the counter that too much ice was used to give them less soda.

We put ice because it’s so hot here for 1/2 the year that we have to drink really cold drinks to survive the high heat&humidity. We have temperatures up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit or higher with heat index which is around 43 degrees Celsius

Another factor to understand on passports is that, until recently, someone with a valid American ID could often travel to other closely-aligned countries, like Canada, without needing a passport. My parents had traveled to several countries without ever needing one.

Before I even begin this video. This is one of the things I like about your channel. Things we take as normal are not normal everywhere. It is interesting to see what we do that seems odd to you. Looking forward to this one.

I just love this family!

Yeah, the vacation thing is a chronic problem we have. In the US if companies had their way, we would get no vacation time at all. Right now there's a lot of debate going on about employee wellness and mental health, so maybe someday we'll have up three weeks every year, but the way we'll be allowed to take them is one week at a time at most. Most employers do not allow employees to take off more than one week at a time and even then it's often a battle to get that one week off.

I always thought the month/day/year system was for the sake of locating files faster. Think about it: the outer numbers representing the month and the year are going to be the first ones you read. If you’re trying to find a file by date, it’s easier to find the year and then the month before looking for the specific day. Our eyes scan linearly, so we’re always going to see the middle second whether we’re going from left to right or right to left.

We often ask for no ice in our to go cups at the drive through as the fountain machine serves the drinks cold anyway.

The drinks coming out of the fountain machines usually account for the ice so they make them a bit stronger so that when the ice melts it still taste good. Thats how a Mcdonalds coke filled with ice still taste ok after its half gone and melted.

I'm a retired nurse but I almost never took a vacation . I would of loved too but it was so hard to take my days off. Love your show

Hi, guys! I was a little taken aback with the take on peanut butter in the US. I've had Vegemite on toast (blech!) and I'll take PB any day of the week! Cheers!

I live in the east coast, I can go to the ocean or to the mountains in half hour , going to the desert takes me about an hour. I don’t need to go farther to experience different areas

I hate ice in my drinks! You won’t have any problem asking for no or light ice - it’s pretty common. Also, I recommend skipping the franchise restaurants if you can. Those are the places where you’re most likely to get ridiculously huge portions. Ask about the best mom & pop local places. You might pay a little more but you’ll get a better sampling of local cuisine.

You can order drinks with "light ice" or "no ice".

Your comment on those in the midwest going to New York is very accurate. This summer my family's traveling from the midwest (Iowa) to the east coast (Carolinas) to show our daughter the ocean for the first time. Our drive is around 18hrs, and will be the biggest trip as a family by far!

I always keep a few vacation days on the books to use if I get sick

I LOVE how big that boys eyes got when he saw that Burger!! He wants to give it a go!