Sometimes travel gets a bad rap. It’s usually from those who do not participate in this fun past time, but nonetheless, they are allowed to voice their opinions. I, however, can find about a million reasons why travel is the best experience to gift yourself. But there are many who still feel that travel is just impossible. Whether they have read an article, heard a story from a friend, or have had unfortunate experiences trying to travel, there are those few that believe it’s not worth it. Read on to see the most popular misconceptions about traveling and why they need to be squashed:
It’s too expensive
This is by far the biggest argument and misconception of all. Yes, traveling first class on a round-the-world ticket is incredibly expensive but a roundtrip ticket from your house to Europe can be a lot cheaper than you think. Travel is cheaper than ever now, with many airlines competing to get your butt in their seats. It’s a matter of doing research and being flexible. There are several ways to cut down your travel costs, whether it’s only traveling with a carry-on, being flexible with your travel dates, or using a discount travel website-there’s always around the price of a flight. Even buying one way tickets can be cheaper for you especially if you’re traveling to more than one destination. You can even rent a place that has a kitchen and cook your own meals to minimize your food costs. There’s so many ways to travel on the cheap that I refuse to believe travel is too expensive for one person or a family of five.
It’s too difficult
With different visa stipulations for each country, planning transport, accommodation and entertainment, many shy away from booking a trip at all. Wrong! There are a variety of mobile apps that help you along the trip planning process. There are also travel forums, website, bloggers and many other channels to look at when booking a trip. Once you map out the basics of your trip (dates, place, budget), you can plug that in to the internet and the internet provides you with a stellar amount of assistance. Or you can go the expensive way and book through a travel agent to ease your mind!
It’s too dangerous
So many people shy away from travel due to being scared. While there is a slight risk in anything that you do (driving, walking, talking, eating, etc.) it seems that travel gets the raw end of the deal with being too dangerous. Booking a flight into a war zone may not be the best idea for a holiday, and there’s obviously certain places that could cause more issues than others, but this does not include the entire map. You can choose a place closer to home, or a well-known and safe destination like New Zealand. Hindering yourself from travel is not the answer. Doing research and being well-read on a destination will help you realize that it just may be possible.
It’s only for some people
I think travel planning can be very daunting to some. And when they start to think about everything that can be included in that process, they immediately want to back out. Saying travel is only for some people is one of those excuses. I’m not saying everyone needs to hike up Macchu Picchu, but you can’t tell me a nice weekend getaway to the countryside or beach is a terrible time. Travel can be for everyone that’s willing to try.
I don’t know how to do it
I’ve had many conversations with people who think there is a special algorithm to travel. They feel that they weren’t given the skills to solve the equation that is travel. Believing you can’t do something automatically proves your own case. Of course you don’t know how to do it your first, or even fifth time! That’s with anything in life. Practice makes perfect. Yes, there are others who feel completely at home on the road the first time out, but that doesn’t come without worry, trial and error, and many mistakes along the way. You have to allow yourself to learn from your experiences both good and bad to be ‘good at it.’ I’ve been to hundreds of cities and I still don’t know how to use a map. But that won’t stop me from traveling. I just learn another way to explore a destination. Saying you don’t know how to do it before you even try is like saying you don’t like fish when you haven’t even eaten it. Go ahead and try it! You just might love it.
