
Why else do seasoned travelers ask, “Can someone meet me at the airport?”Īirports are not scary. And just 3% leave the country, a prospect of dislocation that leaves many mortified and, at some primal level relevant to Europe’s migrant crisis, unsettles even the worldliest. But Americans tend not to venture far–2 out of 3 moves end in the same county only 16% cross a state line. Census Bureau reports that in recent years, roughly every 9th person gets a new address. Now their brave, and tragic, journeys are reshaping Europe and the worldĪmericans think of themselves as a mobile people, pulling up stakes for new jobs, moving often. Rarely in modern history have so many been so desperate to flee.


SHARE Massimo Vitali for TIME Refugees wait in Nickelsdorf, Austria, on the Hungarian border, a major entry point for migrants from the Middle East.
