Beyond the entrance passage at 6 in the morning. There is nothing else like it.
The CNN article surprised me. Only 30% of Americans have a passport. These days that means that the others cannot even go to Canada or Mexico, let alone a more “foreign” place. I thought these days more people traveled internationally, or at least had a passport so if the opportunity came up they could go.
There is a lot to see in the U.S. I still have to get to the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, the Biltmore mansion… Still, what about the Taj Mahal, St Peter’s basilica, Angkor Wat, the trees at Ta Prohm, Bagan, Notre Dame, Sagrada Familia, the Louvre and the Hermitage? You won’t find those, or anything much like them in the U.S.
Our Thai friend Joy went with us to Angkor Wat. This place is seriously big, and only one of several other temples here. About $150 apiece, including two hotel nights, out of Nang Rong.
Then there are the other things. The slums in India, the villagers in Thailand and the school children in Myanmar. You won’t find those or much like them in the U.S. either. We have poverty in the U.S., but it can be very different other places. Some parts of it are pretty bad, but don’t think it’s depressing. Some of the happiest people I have seen have been in these places.
The article says many worry about safety issues, as the author states “What if I’m mugged in Thailand or kidnapped in a hostel?” The reality is, as I have already too often said, that your biggest fear by far is a vehicle accident, just as it is in the U.S. This is somewhat counteracted in that when travelling overseas you will more often be in buses rather than cars. In all our travels, Sue and I have gotten a scare only two times. The first was in Oakland, CA and the second in Washington DC.
If we are talking outside of Asia I suppose you should add to that pickpockets. In Europe I always carry most of my cards and cash in a pouch around my waist under my pants. I just have a bit of local cash and maybe one debit card for the local ATM’s in my wallet. I don’t bother with all that most other places.
Jordan and Sue deciding what to see next in the Louvre. It took days… This week in Paris was inexpensive through go-today.com.
Calculate out the full true cost (mileage on the car, all the meals, etc.) of a week or two week U.S. vacation. You may find the overseas alternative very little more, or in some cases cheaper. Our method for European cities is go-today.com. They do the flights, hotels and transfers really cheap. And the hotels are usually right in the center of everything, not out at the edge of the city like the big Hiltons and such. After that you catch meals (except breakfast, which is often included), admissions and incidentals. Most travel in these cities is via subway, which is cheap and easy. We’ve been to traveling with go-today.com since 1996 and it has always been great. All it takes is a bit of money and a spare week.
In much of the rest of the world you pay the flight, but once you get here the rest of the trip is often much less than it would be in the U.S.
Think about it. At least get a passport if you don’t have one.
49 years ago my family and I moved to Oxford, Ohio where I commenced teaching in Miami University. Patricia and I, both born in Missoula, preached this sermon to our Ohio students nearly every weekend as they swarmed around our home. Even faculty needed persuading. The mid-West was very insular. Since then, the global travel bug has bitten a larger proportion of American society, and we have measurably more immigrants still vested in heir homelands, so America is clearly less insular now; however I’m surprised to learn only a third of us hold passports, and of them a significant number are new citizens. For all our changes in technology, we are a remarkably conservative society!