Travel as an Education
What better education is there than travel. Surviving and delighting, striving to make deadlines, soaking up history and ways of living; encountering new cultures and landscapes; lifestyles and issues.
Others argue that they’ll wait and have a ‘trip’ later, when they retire. They prioritise their superannuation plan. They may set a goal of reaching a sufficient level of financial security and regard it as more important. They have white goods to replace, a new car, things to fix around the house.
Really you know, you can have it both ways. With a bit of careful thought and a fair amount of planning, it really is possible to travel on a budget. You live on a budget, why not travel on a budget? Sometimes it’s about the same cost to travel as it is to stay at home, or just a little more. Often it’s much cheaper.
The young know all about this. They travel ‘open jaw’ out of one city and into another one which has a cheaper fare. Sleepless nights or sleeping rough, or simply sleeping over on a train and waking early to a day in a new place. Not the way to go, but they see a lot; they make sure they do.
Some others take to backpacking and camping. This type of holiday can be done on a budget relatively easily; but is it exactly the kind of holiday you’re hankering for? Only you can answer that question and only you can make up your mind as to whats more important.
That’s your decision to make and what a lovely kind of consideration to be ‘obsessed’ with. But look at it, picture your holiday in your mind and start seeing it as a 3 dimensional thing.
You may find yourself staying in 4 or 5 star holidays in your home town on a mini break or weekend. Do you think you still need to stay in luxury when your take an overseas trip? Whats more important - 5 days of luxury or 15 days of mediocre accommodation - seeing the sights and enjoying the ambience of a place.
For myself, I just like the ‘feel of the new’. And often it’s not new I’m after at all - absolutely not. I love the idea of history and wrapping myself up in views of places that are considered ‘ancient’. To me, I feel as though I don’t really belong to modern life, so travelling on the cheap is the way for me to go. Its a challenge.
So to get back to the subject, the real challenge is finding a holiday which suit your pocket. Has a little luxury here and there, not too much ‘low living’ - but suit you and your travelling partner. Takes in the sights, the places, the culture.
The cheapest holiday is probably ‘home stays’ in fact. But if youre a young one, you probably want to have a sophisticated night life and perhaps do things you really probably shouldn’t so - yeah forget the homestays.
Want to explore this subject more easily by an author who knows more about it than most people ?
