Travel obsession: A Fool’s Pursuit
Travelling is seen by many as being an eye-opening and life-changing experience. After all, travelling encourages people to learn about different religions, nationalities and cultures which can help them build tolerance and empathy towards others. Travelling can also help a person escape from the busyness of everyday life and give a person a time to relax. But is travelling really all that great? In my opinion travelling is expensive, dangerous and damaging which makes it a foolish waste of time…
Travelling is expensive
Every year millions of people work tirelessly in order to save up just enough money for a one-week vacation abroad. The thousands of pounds spent on flight tickets, accommodation and food can be used in far more effective ways. For example, there are cheaper leisure activities than travelling such as watching theatre productions, going to the cinema or even going to amusement parks. Money can be invested into courses that teach useful skills such as public speaking or courses that can help a person progress in their career (such as an accounting course for someone who works in finance). This can have a greater positive impact on someone’s quality of life over a short excursion to somewhere abroad.
Travelling is dangerous
Travelling entails going to unfamiliar places. This can put a tourist’s safety at risk due to them not having the knowledge of local customs and potential hazards. For example, a survey conducted by Sainsbury’s Travel Insurance found that every year 11% of British adults are the victim of theft while on breaks overseas. Of that 11%, 1 in 23 British adults report being robbed in violent ways including: being held at gunpoint or by another deadly weapon, being abducted for a short amount of time and in extreme cases even report being held hostage. Theft is just one of the many dangers of travelling.
Travelling doesn’t have to be expensive or dangerous
Despite this, travelling doesn’t always have to always be expensive and dangerous. For example, plane tickets and hotel room prices are often significantly lower off season which can greatly reduce costs. Also there are many countries that are relatively cheap to visit such as Thailand. Additionally, tourists don’t have to compromise their safety whilst travelling. By being well informed about dangers in different countries people can avoid putting themselves in risky situations. For instance, British tourists can use the gov.uk website in order to educate themselves about hazards in the country they are travelling to.
That being said, I still believe travelling is a foolish waste of time. Although travelling can be cheap it is often difficult to find good prices. Inexpensive holidays often prove to be underwhelming due to budget hotels often having poor facilities, poor customer service and due to them being far from any activities. Also, it is very difficult to educate yourself about all the various risks that are attached to travelling to a specific country. Besides, educating yourself about all the risks involves having to do in-depth research which is time consuming and whence often avoided.