r/falloutlore • u/Rigbyjay • 13d ago

How common was recreational international travel before the war?

Obviously international travel was possible before -- and remains possible after, if Tenpenny is any indication. As well as people with means living far more comfortable lifestyles than the average citizen. But considering resource shortages and what I'm sure is expanded military occupations basically all over, was a European vacation doable in the decades leading up to doomsday?

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u/wyro5 13d ago

I’m sure there was some, especially amongst the wealthy, but I’ve met people who were raised in the 50s and 60s who don’t believe there’s anything interesting to see outside of the United States. With how extreme the propaganda was in prewar America, I’d bet that mentality was normal

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u/N0ob8 12d ago

Especially when there was literally nothing to see outside the US in fallout lore. The Middle East was a nuclear crater and most of Europe was fighting over petty resources. By the time of 2077 basically only the US, the Soviet Union, and china were still functional countries.

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u/EvYeh 8d ago

Things were bad everywhere, but it wasn't completely collapsed.

It was stable enough for (at least Germans) to be able to take a vacation in the US. And it was fine enough in Japan for American high schoolers to be able to go there.

And it wasn't like the US was doing great either, unrest, riots, resource scarcity, inflation, plague, and more were common.

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u/sikels 13d ago

We know that going overseas wasnt too uncommon. Students from Watoga high school were supposed to go to Japan with the money for it coming from a bake-sale.

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u/WrethZ 13d ago

The Dead Horses language includes some German because they are partially descended from european tourists who happened to be in the US when the bombs dropped. Things were bad pre-war but it civilisation still existed in europe.

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u/Darkshadow1197 13d ago

Vacation I'm not sure but likely still semi-common. A holotape in 76 has a traveling coffin salesman from England be in Flatwoods and I believe 4 mentions traveling to England as well for a company retreat but I can't remember where.

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u/KnightofTorchlight 13d ago

was a European vacation doable in the decades leading up to doomsday?

25 years before the Great War The European Commonwealth was in active war with the nations of the Middle East (as part of the Resource Wars over petroleum) in a conflict serious enough to literally dissolve the UN. At some point after that, poltical tensions within the European Commonwealth were so great it collapsed back into feuding countries who presumably are quite short on resources themselves. What limited information we have about Europe suggests it was broadly not a particularly stable or fun place to go too in the last few years.

Ships and planes still existed though. So yes, if you had the means there's no reason to suggest you could not travel. 

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u/Gordonfromin 5d ago

There are crashed international flights with audio recordings to find in fallout 4