Travel..What is your excuse
I am reading the traveling adventures of Jason Kottke in Bankok and Hong Kong. In the notes I cam across this tip:
[7] To those who say they can’t afford to travel, I say to you: stop making excuses. If you’ve got the income and leisure time to be spending time reading this blog, are sufficiently motivated, and make it a priority in your life[8], you can certainly afford it. The most costly item is the plane ticket, but if you watch for deals and are flexible in where you want to visit (maybe you go to Brazil instead of Thailand), you can get over here for less than you might think. And once you’re here, you can get by on $20 a day, including lodging. Travel is cheaper here as well, buses and trains are always an option, and there are several low-cost airlines that serve the region. It requires a little effort and intrepidity, but low-cost international travel can be done.
I agree 100% with this thought. I was not born in the US (but am now an American Citizen) so I have extensive ties with relatives in Italy. I grew up traveling often, mostly to Italy to see all of my relatives. Once I was older, I kept on traveling to Italy and other European destinations. I was lucky enough to get to go to Hawaii for my honeymoon too.
I’ve met several folks in my life who have not traveled abroad. Usually they either can’t find the time, or think the cost is outrageous. I have to say it is not. You can go to many places where the largest cost will be your airline ticket. Once you arrive, you will find that many countries are very accessable and you can easily find quality accomodations for a low price.
I plan on making a few trips in the coming years. One plan is to go to Italy again and visit relatives there while enoying the sunny beaches. I would also like to go to Japan and Hong Kong to be out of my element and get to experience how the other side of the world lives. Kottke’s adventures are making me think of doing this much sooner.
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on February 14th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
What about having three kids.
on February 14th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
Alex if you want to, then there is no reason you can’t do it.
There are many options available especially with kids. Obviously if they are all young, then it is tough to travel, so you would probably wait until they are old enough to not run off or have to worry about changing diapers.
Once they are a little older then there are numerous options, it simply depends on where you want to go. If you go with another family or more people, then you can split the cost of renting a house.
The overall cost would be lower than staying in hotels.
Many folks take their whole family to Disney. For similar costs you can go to other countries and see the world instead of the Epcot version.
My wife and I plan on traveling with our new baby once she is around 2 years old or so. Some options we are kicking around are Australia with a stop to Hong Kong or Japan. Or we could go and visit relatives in Italy.