| Product: |
Why (not) travel? |
| Date: |
01/02/06 (129 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: See review
Disadvantages: See review
Here we go again with another one of MALU's challenges. After 'Introducing New Members' and the 'Literature' challenges, I've decided to have a go at the 'Travel' challenge. I'm unemployed at the moment (still!) which means any costly travelling is out of the question, so in my answers I'll talk about past holidays to make the answers a bit lengthier.
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Q: How many times a year do you travel?
A: Depends on what you mean by 'travel'. I haven't been abroad since 2001. I've been on a few day/weekend trips around the UK though: a few long distance rail journies, and the odd weekend at Oasis (Centerparcs) near Penrith in Cumbria. I've also been to a wedding or two which means a stay at a hotel for the weekend. So at the moment, the answer would be about seven or eight times a year within the UK, but no overseas trips.
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Q: For how long do you go away?
A: As things stand, money is tight so if I take a holiday it's a day trip on the train or a weekend away in the North of England. You might think Oasis is expensive, but when you're staying with a group of friends, the cost gets shared and so it turns out to be quite cheap - £90 for three nights.
When I was a child the family would spend a fortnight abroad once a year, and we'd have a smaller UK based holiday for five or six days. The longest time I've spent abroad was in 2001 when I went to the US as part of a university course (lucky me). That was two months.
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Q: Do you stay in your home country or do you go abroad?
A: At the moment I stay in the UK. The last time I went abroad was the aforementioned US trip, to San Jose in California. While Mondays to Fridays were all about work, I was able to have fun at the weekend (if you can call hiking around Mount Yosemite fun :) ) During the 80s the family went to Portugal a fair bit and I always enjoyed that. Less so the UK holidays, as it usually involved getting dragged around some dusty old manor house or a pottery museum (I have no pride in my country's history I'm afraid. I'd rather do something a bit more active!)
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Q: Do you organise your holidays yourself or do you go to a travel agency?
A: The only holiday I've had any involvement in organising was the US trip. There was lots of paperwork to fill out for a start, like visas and funding. The company I worked at (Sony) very kindly paid all the travel expenses!
Dad took care of organising the family holidays. Back then the only thing I had to worry about was avoiding my luggage being too heavy at the check-in desk.
Nowadays when I go on holiday with friends, there's someone else who likes to arrange things which means all I have to do is turn up. Lucky again!
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Q: Do you prepare your holidays in advance by reading guide books and studying maps?
A: A little. I tend to pick somewhere at random and visit though, rather than plan a schedule out before we leave. Dad always did this studiously. He could often be found with a pile of library books about the place we were visiting, and a guide to all the hotels in the area. Nowadays when he and Mum go on holiday, he comes into my room with a list of hotel websites he wants to take a look at :)
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Q: Do you travel alone/with family or friends/with an organised group?
A. On the day trips I travel alone. When I get together with friends for longer holidays there can be anything from 5 people up to 15. I don't go on organised holidays unless I know the others well.
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Q: Do you prefer the sea / mountains / plains / cities as destinations?
A: Any of them is fine by me, as long as I'm actively DOING something. If I'm at the seaside I'd like to be swimming, or on a boat. If it's mountains then obviously I'd be on a hike. Same with plains. If I'm in the city then there's always plenty of stuff to do. If the city is famous for anything then I'd like to do it. For example, I was lucky enough to visit Venice once so naturally taking a ride on a Gondola was compulsory.
When I was about 10 the family rented out a pedalo once and we pedalled a bit too far away from the beach. On our way back the pedalo started to fill with water a bit and Mum went into a panic, getting very flustered. My sister and I were laughing about it all the way back to the shore becasue she thought we were going to sink (it wasn't really all that far away and if worst came to worst we could have swum back easily). Mum doesn't like it when I tell this story but it really was very funny at the time. So I'm quite happy going out to sea under my own steam.
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Q: Do you mainly relax or are you an active holidayer?
A: Well I don't like to sit on a beach tanning myself for two weeks if that's what you mean. I'd rather be up and about doing something. Probably going on a walk or visiting some exciting local attraction. The last such place was Whitescar Caves in Yorkshire. Unfortunately I spent the most part of that visit crouched down walking through low lying tunnels (I'm 6'1") while my far shorter friends looked on amused. I paid seven quid for that!
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Q: If you go abroad do you learn at least some words of the foreign language?
A: Nope. French and German at school is the closest I have come to a foreign language, and the last time I was in a country where they don't speak English, I was 13 years old. Dad did all the talking!
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Q: Are you interested in the cuisine of a foreign country?
A: I'm indifferent. I can't remember eating any local cuisine when I went abroad back in the 80s. On the last overseas trip to the US I did visit a sushi bar (that's the closest I've come to foreign cuisine) and made the mistake of letting someone else order for me. Not a pleasant experience. Despite that I'm still happy to give new things a try, assuming I ever go abroad in the near future.
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Q: Which means of transportation do you prefer?
A: At the moment I really enjoy travelling by train. Long distance train journies are especially pleasurable because a) there's a lot of nice scenery; b) you aren't cramped into a car seat and you can move around; c) You can relax and not worry about the road ahead of you and the traffic rapidly approaching from behind!
It was even better a year or so ago because I had a Young Persons Railcard and ticket prices were cheaper (plug! see my review).
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Q: What kind of luggage do you take with you? Have you got problems packing? Do you tend to take too many / too few things with you?
A: Depends on the scale of the holiday. On the day trips, I'll take a small ruc sac with a book (for reading on long distance train journies), MP3 player (for a similar reason) and waterproofs (in case it rains). On weekend holidays with friends, I'll take a large ruc sac, with changes of clothes, toiletries, and some food. And the same stuff I put in my small ruc sac. On long holidays I'll take a suitcase with all the above (although a lot more clothes and no food). I never have problems packing and I only take just what I need. Having said that, I do remember taking some toys abroad once, and the airport scanning machine didn't like the technic lego stuffed at the bottom of my bag.
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Q: Do you send picture postcards to your family and friends?
A: Not particularly. Postcards always take far longer to arrive than letters for some odd reason. For example, my sister spent her honeymoon in New Zealand at Christmas (nice money if you can get it) and sent a postcard home. It finally arrived a few days ago - three weeks after they'd got back! If anyone requests a postcard I'd send one, but if there's a (free) net connection within easy reach, I'd rather send an email.
Summary: See review
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