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Persuasive essay on why to travel
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Nicholas VerdiniFirst Year WritingJohn Starck10/23/13
Why Travel ?
“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
- Saint Augustine
According to the 2012 United States Census, there are about 313.9 million people living
in the United States. More than half (about 54%) of the people living in the U.S. never travel out-
side of the country. The majority of people who have not traveled outside of the country claim
that their reasoning for this is that it is either too expensive or everything that is worth seeing is
right here in the United States. (dailymail) These reasons do have some accuracy, but they are far
from completely true.
America is home of the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, New York City, Chicago,
Mount Rushmore, Pearl Harbor, and much more. However, there is so much more to see and ex-
perience in other countries around the world. France has the Eiffel Tower, Prague in the Czech
Republic was voted on of the most beautiful cities in the world, Stonehendge in England, the
Great Wall of China, all of the European cathedrals, and so much more is around the world that
is worth experiencing. Traveling isn’t all about seeing beautiful sites, people are able to experi-
ence the way people live and behave in other countries. If someone goes to any country in South
America, most likely the way the people speak, eat, and behave will be very different from the
way that they do.
“Traveling is expensive.” That statement is not completely true. There are many people
who would love to see the world, but they believe it is too expensive. There are many ways to re-
duce the cost of traveling. Traveling with a tour company can reduce the cost by a large sum.
Tour companies tend to provide transportation and the airfare is usually much cheaper because
the companies get a group rate. Other options are staying in a hostel instead of a hotel, buying
cheap meals, or traveling in a large group. Also, the time in which someone travels is a huge fac-
tor on cost. Flight companies take advantage of the fact that people like to travel in the summer
because people tend to not have as many hours at work and it is much nicer weather when travel-
ing in the summer. The average airfare cost to France in the summer is $1,200 where the average
airfare to France in the Spring (still good weather there!) is $850. Another factor that can reduce
the cost is the airport that you fly in and out of. If an airport has multiple landing areas (like New
York !) the cost of the airfare can change by a few hundred dollars. (Murphy, Morgan)
I am so passionate about traveling because I have traveled to many countries and they
have changed my outlook on the world around us. I have been to France, Switzerland, Germany,
Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and will be traveling to London and Spain this sum-
mer and I am only 18 ! Now, I do not come from a rich family and my family members did not
pay for me to do all of this traveling. I paid for all of these trips by myself just by working an
$8.00 per hour part-time job. I was able to do this by traveling with a tour company, EF Tours,
that makes it extremely affordable to travel.
Before leaving on my first trip out of the country, I was packing my bags and was unsure
about how to feel. I was nervous because I had no idea what to expect, but I was excited to see
what European countries had to offer. I was going to France, Switzerland, and Germany and
never met anyone who had traveled to those countries before. The day that I was leaving, I woke
up, grabbed my suitcase and my mom drove me to the airport early in the morning. Half asleep, I
boarded the plane and saw the extremely small, tightly packed seats that I would have to deal for
a seven hour flight. Luckily, it did not take me too long to fall asleep on the flight. I woke up to
the sound of the pilot saying “We will be landing shortly, please fasten your seat belts.” I was so
happy that the flight was over, but I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I could see
the Eiffel Tour out of the window of the plane ! It was so beautiful and I couldn’t imagine how
beautiful it must be up close. From the moment I got off that plane, to the moment I boarded the
plane for home, I didn’t stop learning, I didn’t stop being amazed by the beauty of the architec-
ture, and the whole time I was so grateful for having had the opportunity to travel. The difference
between the flight home this time was that I didn’t mind the horrible seating because I knew how
worth it it was to be uncomfortable for a long flight to see the beautiful world we have. This time
I didn’t fall asleep though, I couldn’t stop thinking of where I would travel next.