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Writing 100
Simeng Liu
Nov.23/2014
Social class determines traveling
People are talking about social class all the time. They relate it to individual’s work,
lifestyle, thinking, education,etc, and traveling is also a big deal related to social class.
Social class determines the way people spend their vacation---traveling. Today,
because of the convenient transportation system, traveling has become the most
popular recreation during vacation. However, differences in social class sometimes
decide where and how to travel. Also the time for traveling and what to do during a
trip depend on social class.
Lots of people like to enjoy their vacation by going to some fancy places and spend
some cozy days under the sunshine. There are lots of such fancy places which people
can go but there are lots of differences as well. One harsh truth is that for each
vacation, people can only talk about where they have traveled and where to go during
vacations with those who from the same class because where people would go largely
results from how much money they’d plan to spend for traveling. Every single
vacation, some people from upper class would take their family to places like luxury
resorts in Europe or those gorgeous sea islands, some go to Asia some travel in their
own country and some just stay within their community. Black has the same
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experience in her article “Stupid Rich Bastards” : “ I’d been through all of New
England; they’d been to France. Big fucking deal.”(20) People always feel exciting
about traveling aboard because they want to meet something they do not often meet in
their own country. But not always they can make it to travel aboard which is really
costly. Maybe lots of people do have the will to go to Europe for a couple of days but
their economic status has set a ruthless limit. As a result, people from lower class
usually can only travel in their own country.
Even if two people from different backgrounds happen to share the same destination,
the ways they would like to go can be totally different. Lots of people love Japanese
culture and food so they decide to take a travel there. Maybe they all can afford an air
ticket but there are still differences like first class and economic class on the same
plane. A person from working class is able to pay the food he desires to in Japan but
he cannot easily get a chance to get into the privileged lounge. In Susie’s essay #3,
She claims that “As we were walking back toward our gate, I asked my mother why
we were not allowed to enter the lounge. She explained to me it was specifically
designed for first class passengers.” There are lots of inequalities on one’s way to
their destination. And the only reason why some have more comfortable seat, bigger
space and better services is that they are from upper class and they do have money
and power. When lots of people out there on the Internet are struggling to find the
cheapest tickets, there are some top rich who own their own jets. Here is an extreme
example from Fabrikant’s “Old Nantucket Warily Meets the New”: “Now he is
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talking to a guy who is half of his age who has a transcontinental jet.”(171) People
from lower class might compare their travel experience with that of those who are
capable of sitting in the first class area, but perhaps they are not even able to imagine
what’s the feeling to own a jet. That’s the deal by social class. The gap between
different classes is sometimes too big to imagine.
Despite the way people travel, the time and frequency of traveling are also affected by
social class. For those who work in a factory, they have restrict calendar each year
which means that they know exact the time they can take a vacation and that’s all they
get. In this way, they always make a plan for a trip long ahead because the earlier they
make plans, the cheaper they can do for their trip. I went for a trip with my mom
every summer and each time we would make a very extensive plan, booking tickets
months before to make sure that we got the cheapest price. Last time we planed to go
to Dubai, and the ticket we booked three months ago is 40 percent off than the
original price. However, people from upper class do not need to worry about these
more than ordinary fees. As long as they get spare time, they can go for a trip.We
always heard stories about traveling around the world for half a year because those
people who have the money on their hands do not worry about making a life. They
can stop working without so much struggling as people from working class would
have. Janny Scott’s article “Life at the top in America isn’t just better, it’s longer”
shows that people from upper class have much more vacations than others. The
frequency of traveling between classes is different.
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Besides those external factors, the trip itself can be distinct, which also depends on
social class. As I said before, people want to share their experience with those of the
same class because they do similar things so that they can get each other easily. There
are tons of luxury resorts where people from upper class are willing to pay a huge
bunch of money to enjoy their vacation every year. Meanwhile, most of people may
just stay in a small local inn, only for sleeping. People from upper class hold their
membership card of intercontinental hotel groups but people from lower class get
used of living in a motel during vacation. Besides the difference in where to stay, what
to eat is also different. No matter in Europe or Africa, there are always decent
restaurants and fast food stores. Jennifer Steinhauer claims that “ Godiva introduced
its most expensive line ever, ‘G’, handmade chocolates selling for $100 a pound.
Today it is available only during holiday seasons and only at selected stores.” $100 a
pound for a rich guy is pretty much like $1 a hot dog for a poor guy. During a trip,
people from upper class can always try whatever they want, to “explore” the fancy
food , but people from lower class only have few choices. Japan has the most
Michelin 3 stars restaurants but not all traveler can afford them.
Moreover, upper class people can do some real shopping in the most splendid malls
and try expensive activities like parasail or diving. Lower class people can only take a
look buying nothing and they cannot go climbing when they reach Himalayas because
it is the resource for those who can pay for it. Beverly Hills is a great example here. In
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Fernado Wang’s essay #3 “We did not have any intention to purchase anything. We
simply just wanted to ‘experience’ how it felt like to be a celebrities or super rich
people. ” There are lots of shopping spots which are decorated gorgeous and they are
open to everyone. However, some people go and take bunch of stuff out but others
don’t even have the chance to buy anything. People’s experiences are totally different,
especially considered money, which is the key of social class.
Some people insist that traveling does not depend on social class but depends on how
willing they are to go for a trip. For lots of people, traveling is a dream hunting
process. Admittedly, it is true because people can always work hard and save money
to go for their dreams, but their resources are limited. Sometimes they don’t even
know what is more attracting and more fancy simply because they don’t have the
information which are exclusive for upper class. On the other hand, even though they
prepared pretty well for a very long time and they sat in the first class area, they
stayed in a five star hotel and they tried the best restaurants as those rich guys did,
they just cannot always do that. The frequency will be even lower to make such a trip.
March claims that “the only limits are your own limits. Which is an amazing idea a
gift to the world---just no longer true.” People from lower class are free to distribute
their resources in the way whatever they want but remember there is always a ceiling
over their limited total resources.
Social class not only determines traveling but also shapes traveling and the idea of
traveling. When we log into Instagram and take a look at those fascinating images
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taken when people are traveling , we can sense the differences. When we look at those
great food in luxury restaurants and tons of amazing things we cannot imagine before,
we know there are differences, not only in the way we traveling, but also in the idea
we take about traveling. Social class is the limitation which restrict those who have a
great passion to explore the world from doing ordinary things like everybody else.
Most important, because people from lower class don’t have the economic
background to do such things, they usually don’t even know there are such things.
The most ruthless thing social class gives us is that it doesn’t just make people do
different things and have different experiences. Social class actually shapes people’s
idea about the world, making people from different classes live in different worlds.