TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT

TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT. GOING ON HOLIDAY, POPULAR DESTINATIONS

Why do people travel? There are many answers and reasons for it. The fact is, that for many of us, travelling is a true hobby.

Nowadays we are able to travel even to distant countries, where we can discover interesting customs, experience new cultures and compare the differences between the place we are visiting and our country. Another reason is that contacts with foreigners help to deepen our knowledge of the history and development of other countries. Also travelling is a good way how to improve your language and social skills.

We can travel in many ways. The simplest and cheapest way is going everywhere on foot. We don’t need to worry about missing the bus, running out of gas or getting into car accident. Feet can take us everywhere we want to. We can even get to places, we could never reach by car. Walking longer distances can be exhausting so we should take proper refreshments (drink, snacks) with us. No one knows what may happen, so we should also include in our backpack plasters and a bandage in case of an injury. Bicycle riding is comparable to walking. The market for bicycles offers mountain bikes or road bikes, so you can get what you need. Mountain bike is made for cross-country riding over fields and steep roads. It has thicker tyre than the road bike. Another possibility is to use a car. Almost every family today owns at least one. These two ways are good for our health, because we are exercising our bodies. Travelling by car is comfortable and pretty fast (depends on traffic – traffic jams etc.). As drivers we should respect certain rules and stay concentrated during the ride. Big advantage is that we can stop anywhere we want to (shop, petrol station, restaurant). Problem is that this way of travelling is quite expensive and tiering. Next popular mean of transport is bus. Travelling by bus used to be really uncomfortable. But nowadays situation is improving – buses have new seats, dark glass to protect passengers from sun, air-conditioning and long-distance buses have even toilets. We can use city mass transit bus – to get around the city or long-distance bus to travel from for example Prague to Brno. Bigger cities offer also other types of public transport, such as trams, trolleybuses or underground. In Czech Republic there is only one underground – it is in Prague. If you don’t want to be dependent on timetable, you can use taxi. Taxi is a vehicle with driver that transport them to a location of their choice. Travelling by taxi is extremely expensive. I think it is approximately 15Crowns per kilometer. In case of longer distances, it is cheaper and more comfortable to go by train. Also, it is sometimes faster than travelling by bus because you can’t get stuck in traffic jam. But there must be train station in your destination, otherwise you will have to continue by bus or taxi. The most attractive option is for me, travel by airplane. Airplanes can take us to our destination in a relatively short period of time. Before boarding a plane, you need to pass several controls at the airport. First, they check your passport, plane ticket and you need to check in the luggage (they are controlling if you haven’t exceeded the luggage allowance. Then they control your carry-on luggage (if there aren’t some prohibited things such as knives, big amount of liquid, chemicals and so on). Usually you have a lot of spare time while waiting for your flight. You can make use of the opportunity and shop in duty-free shops. Then they control again your passport or ID and boarding pass. After that, you can finally enjoy your flight while beautiful flight attendant serves you food and drinks. Another attractive option is to travel by ship. Usually on shipboard you spend more time than on board a plane. Everything is done to make the trip as pleasant as possible for the passengers. There is a possibility of seasickness from the waves. While enjoying the adventure of sea pirate, you can shop or eat in a restaurant. Some ships have even beds on board. Hitch-hiking is a very special type of transport. Mostly it is used by young people who are not afraid to take a risk or who don’t have enough money.