Travelling in our own countries - why we don't do it?
May 26th 2010 10:37
Category: No Category
Having extensivly travelled to many other countries, it's the same old story over and over again - I'll meet some locals, share my story of travelling in their country, only to have them smile and say "that's more that what I've seen of this country!"
And then, I find myself saying the same thing to an eager tourist trying to strike up conversation on the train - "That sounds amazing! I am afraid to say I've never been to the Alice Springs..."
Why is it that we don't travel in our own countries?
The most commonly used excuse for Australians is that it's simply too expensive to travel in our own countries.
It's true. While it cost $900 per person for a package to fly and stay in Fiji for 5 nights, it cost the same to fly from Sydney to Darwin and with a stay of only 3-4 nights.
Actually, not even Darwin. I've recently just made a booking to the Gold Coast for 3 nights, 2 people, including flights and car hire, is costing me $780.
It's simply hard to justify the cost involved travelling in our own country. Too many people, myself included, have the mentality that - If I can spend the same amount of money, or even just slightly more, and can get a stamp in my passport, why not?
The obvious reason for all of us, is that by living in a country, sometimes you forget there are things other than just the exact address where you live that are actually worth while seeing. Or, that we are too eager to not miss out on what the world has to offer, and for the reason that we think we'll be in the same country forever so we tend to 'delay' our travel within our own lands.
Perhaps we should start. Expensive as it is, don't you think it's time we know what our own backyards look like? When we travel, we don't consider just seeing our hotel room as having been to a place - we try to see as much as we can of that place. In a way, by only living in a city, where all we see is home, work then home - could we, ourselves say, that we have experienced the true spirit of our countries?
And then, I find myself saying the same thing to an eager tourist trying to strike up conversation on the train - "That sounds amazing! I am afraid to say I've never been to the Alice Springs..."
Why is it that we don't travel in our own countries?
The most commonly used excuse for Australians is that it's simply too expensive to travel in our own countries.
It's true. While it cost $900 per person for a package to fly and stay in Fiji for 5 nights, it cost the same to fly from Sydney to Darwin and with a stay of only 3-4 nights.
Actually, not even Darwin. I've recently just made a booking to the Gold Coast for 3 nights, 2 people, including flights and car hire, is costing me $780.
It's simply hard to justify the cost involved travelling in our own country. Too many people, myself included, have the mentality that - If I can spend the same amount of money, or even just slightly more, and can get a stamp in my passport, why not?
The obvious reason for all of us, is that by living in a country, sometimes you forget there are things other than just the exact address where you live that are actually worth while seeing. Or, that we are too eager to not miss out on what the world has to offer, and for the reason that we think we'll be in the same country forever so we tend to 'delay' our travel within our own lands.
Perhaps we should start. Expensive as it is, don't you think it's time we know what our own backyards look like? When we travel, we don't consider just seeing our hotel room as having been to a place - we try to see as much as we can of that place. In a way, by only living in a city, where all we see is home, work then home - could we, ourselves say, that we have experienced the true spirit of our countries?
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