Travelling and holiday
People travel in order to reach places that are close or far away, they travel for fun or from
necessity. Travelling takes up more time in our lives than most of us imagine. People all around the
world travel for various reasons. An everyday form of travelling may be going shopping, commuting
to school, to work or visiting friends. On the other hand people travel as tourists – especially during
holidays. People want to see the most beautiful sights of world’s famous places. They like travelling
because it is exciting, they can see new places, meet new people and friends, eat something unusual
and see the way of life in various countries. Besides they can get new experiences. Some people travel
on business, for political or cultural reasons. Others travel for scientific purposes. Even smuggling is
not unusual.
Travelling has also some disadvantages – it may be very dangerous. We can meet bad people,
we can get lost, be murdered or our money may be stolen. For some people travelling is very
expensive and they cannot afford it. The worst is the fact that the people and some countries lose their
individuality and travelling spoils the nature.
There are two ways of travelling: one is using our own means of transport and the other is to
rely on the public transportation services. People and goods can be transported by land, by air or by
water.
The main fact that speaks for water transport are the relatively small costs. The other
advantage is that one can take almost as much luggage as one likes. In general not many people have
the courage to board a ship because although the trip is inexpensive they can still become sea-sick. It
can also take a lot of time.
Unlike sea travel, going by air consumes huge sums of money but is the fastest way of
travelling. An air ticket ensures us a comfortable seat on the plane which can fly us to any place in the
world within a few hours. The air transportation system is thus the one most strictly dependent on the
timetable. For private use helicopters are usually bought.
Land offers the greatest variety of means of transport. There are motor road vehicles and
bicycles on the one hand and rail on the other. As personal vehicles, motorcycles and cars are the most
popular. There are also others means of transport on four wheels – buses and trolleybuses. Of rail
vehicles, which are almost exclusively designed for public use, I could mention trains and the
underground. Cars and motorbikes are expensive to purchase and in addition one also has to pay for
petrol, which if the vehicle has a big consumption, costs a lot of money as well. For short and middle
distances a car is fast enough and also the space for luggage in the trunk of the car is quite large. But
one must pay for driver’s licence, so he/she must know how to drive and know the traffic rules well.
Some people love more romantic and a little bit dangerous means of transport which are often
connected with sport, e.g. going on yacht, canoeing, gliding, hot-air ballooning, windsurfing, rollerskating, horse-riding hitchhiking or just hiking. In Europe it is very popular now to travel by
residential cars in which you can have everything for your personal use.
Lots of people like travelling with travel agency. The travel agencies are able to provide many
services. Some people prefer a package tour where everything is organised. Others prefer self-catering
holidays where they rent a house or bungalow and look after themselves. On the other hand when you
travel on your own with a tan it is much cheaper and very romantic.
I like holiday very much not just because of that I needn’t go to school, although I like going
to school, but I like travelling in that time. My usual holiday consists of two parts. In the first one I
usually go with my parents somewhere abroad. We spend our time by the sea, in the mountains or by
sightseeing of some historical monuments. Many people of my age don’t like holiday with their
parents but I like it and it is the only way how can I get abroad because I haven’t enough money to
afford it on my own. In the second part of my holiday I take my tan and go with my friends to the
mountains. We hike in the mountains or stay somewhere by the lake. Sometimes we travel on our
bikes. Every time it is great experience for us because we must make food by ourselves and place
reliance on ourselves.