Choosing a Place to Travel based on Cost

Outline

  1. Overvalued and undervalued currencies
  2. Ten common countries in the cheapest countries listings
  3. Least expensive destination in the Eastern Hemisphere
  4. Least expensive destination in the Western Hemisphere
  5. Safety Factor
  6. What do you think of the Leffel quote

Overvalued and undervalued currencies

The Big Mac is overvalued 18.4% in Switzerland and undervalued 62% in South Africa, the countries have most expensive and least expensive Big Mac. Based on the index, the top 5 most expensive countries to travel to would be Switzerland, Norway, the US, Sweden, and Canada. The top 5 least expensive countries to travel to would be South Africa, Russia, Romania, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.

Ten common countries in the cheapest countries listings

In no particular order, the cheapest countries I have found to travel are, Romania, Malaysia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Bolivia, Philippines, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Laos, and Peru.

Least expensive destination in the Eastern Hemisphere

The least expensive destination I chose in the eastern hemisphere is Thailand. The flights to Thailand are cheaper then most (if not at all) other nations in Southeast Asia, which is the cheapest area in the eastern hemisphere to travel to. You really get your bang for your buck in Thailand with lodging. The hotel I quoted was $10 a night, air conditioning, with room for 2 people. The total cost of the 3-week trip minus food costs would be $1685. I would imagine that at $40 a day between my wife and I, the cost would increase another $800, pushing the total to $2485. Below are pictures of my flights and hotel.

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Least expensive destination in the Western Hemisphere

The least expensive destination I found in the western hemisphere is Ecuador. I know that based on the requirements of the assignment, the cheapest flight would be in northern South America. Of the nations in this geographic region, I could have chosen Columbia or Venezuela, but are both more dangerous countries when referencing the Global Peace Index. The total cost for a flight to Ecuador for my wife and I turned out to be $500. I was surprised at how cheap flight to Ecuador are, specifically that Spirit Airlines flies there. The lodging in Ecuador was twice as much as Thailand, the cost turning out to be $440. The food cost in Ecuador is very similar to Thailand. I would give my wife and I $800 to spend on food over 3 weeks. The total cost of the trip would be $1740. I should mention that daily activities are incorporated in my food costs. Below are pictures of my flight and hotel.

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Safety Factor

The safest country to travel to would be Iceland and the least safe country to travel to would be Syria. The Global Peace Index rates the United States at 121/163 countries that made the list. These are my list of cheapest countries to travel to based on Global Peace Index; 1) Romania is ranked #24; 2) Malaysia is ranked #25; 3) Laos is ranked #46; 4) Indonesia is ranked #55; 5) Vietnam is ranked #60; 6) Peru is ranked #74; 7) Ecuador is ranked #75; 8)Cambodia is ranked #96; 9) Thailand is ranked #113; 10) Philippines is ranked #137.

What do you think of the Leffel quote:

"You'll learn far more than you ever did at a university.
I understand from traveling to over 25 countries myself the richness in experience and in memory you can gain from traveling and mixing with other cultures. In this context I can understand why Leffel made such a bold, but generalized and inaccurate remark. When reflecting on such rich experiences one can quite easily make broad sweeping statements about their own personal learning experience that don’t hold much weight when applied across a broad spectrum of learning. Does his same statement apply to high-school, or middle-school, or going to school at all? Why go to school if you can just learn everything through experience? The fact is that traveling can only be a rich experience when you understand the larger context of what the experience should be. Continued education, like at a university, pushes your mind to expand in ways, so that when you travel you are better able to grasp your surroundings. You can only question the cultural differences that you experience based on an understanding of both cultures, that is first grounded in education and research and second, reflected upon during and after you travel. If you travel with out any context you will not be able to process your experience. Leffel hyperbolizes an idea that feels true because of the richness of traveling but misses out on the riggers and importance of study and research at academic institutions. His statement is obviously false. 

Submitted by [Tim Callahan] on [02/27/2020].