Alberta-U.S. travel down but not as sharply as the rest of Canada. Is it politics? Pragmatism? Peer pressure?

It's been well documented by now that Canadians have been travelling to the United States less since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, but a further breakdown of the data reveals Alberta has seen smaller declines than the rest of the country.

Air travel through Alberta's major airports, in particular, has been less affected than at airports in the rest of Canada.

And while Alberta-U.S. travel by land is down quite a bit, the declines are still less pronounced than what's been seen at border crossings in other provinces.

These trends come as no surprise to David Rast.

He's a psychology professor at the University of Alberta who studies leadership, social influences and group behaviour. He's also an American who has been living outside of the United States for the past 13 years.

"Every time I go back to the states, I feel less and less like I'm an American and less and less like I belong there," he said.

Rast has a trip planned to the U.S. this month and understands the mixed feelings many Canadian residents now have about travelling to a country widely seen, until recently, as a friend and ally.

"I am also apprehensive about going to the U.S. and have thought about cancelling my trip, but it's been planned for quite a while, so we're just kind of continuing with it," he said.

"But we have had some people who were going with us who have backed out."

That dichotomy has played out in millions of Canadians' travel decisions this year and, statistically speaking, those in Alberta appear to have leaned more toward going than not going when compared with the rest of the country.

We don't know exactly why, but Rast believes political viewpoints likely play a big role — as they do in so many aspects of our beliefs and decision-making.

Other Albertans who have made their own travel decisions this year figured other factors are at play, as well.

Alberta's oilpatch does have close ties to Texas, for instance, and business trips might be less likely to be cancelled than personal vacations. The geography of Alberta also means spur-of-the-moment trips to the United States are harder than they are in other parts of the country, and those trips are easier to cancel than long-planned vacations.

Safety concerns also play a role, and those worries can be especially pronounced for those who don't follow binary gender norms.