My traveling experience

By: Felipe Senra Barros (Grade 3)

I’ve just found out that I’ll travel during winter break, so I thought it would be nice if I shared my experience of traveling with you.

I cannot say I constantly travel, but I do go on vacation every year. For me, there are three types of trips: 1 – you go to a destination in your own country for a short period. 2 – same thing, but for a greater number of days. 3 – you travel abroad. Unless you live near the border of a country, international trips are used to being longer as well.

I’ve been to five different countries, four of them I’ve visited on a single trip: Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco and Portugal. My experience in each one of them couldn’t be more pleasant. I think it was more because of the people and the lifestyle rather than anything else. And you? Have you ever been somewhere else besides your home country?

As every skillful traveler would caution, there are a couple of tips that, if followed, could change your holiday for the better.

Tip number 1 – Unless you’re swimming in cash, fly coach. I mean it. If you fly economy class, you can save your money and spend it somewhere else, whether it is on your trip or not.

Tip number 2 – Do not, I repeat, do not buy souvenirs at major and crowded tourist attractions (The Colosseum, The Louvre, Eiffel Tower…). This tip is the most valuable one if you don’t want to get scammed and lose money. Those salespeople are ready to put a bracelet on you without your consent and then demand you to pay for it.

Tip number 3 – Don’t overpack. I’ll tell you the sad truth: you don’t really wear everything you pack, do you? I didn’t think like this until a few months ago. Why risk losing a piece of clothing when you can simply pack everything you see desperately? Then, I listened to a podcast called “Anything Goes”, by the super talented Emma Chamberlain, and it completely blew my mind. She’s traveled to Europe and stayed there for a month with a sprinkling amount of clothes. Genius. You can listen to the podcast on Spotify.

Traveling is essential. I’m not saying that because I travel significantly, it really is important, so you don’t become an uncultured individual. When you visit other places, you learn a lot about its culture by going to museums or just experiencing life there. While some destinations can cause an abnormal cultural shock, others might not impact you with such differences. Nonetheless, you ought to focus on seeing the many faces of a place, or else, traveling is disadvantageous. By the end of the day, our human need to discover new places takes us to spots unimaginably astonishing. As your guru, I thank you for following me in this lengthy journey. Remember, do not, at any moment, lose your absorption on getting to know something new.

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