Sentences:
Make sure you travel light – pack everything in your carry-on bag for the plane.
Let’s hit the road and head out of the city for the weekend.
We found a village in the middle of nowhere! We had to hike in the mountains for two days to find it.
I wouldn’t buy anything near the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, since there are many tourist traps around.
Watch your back in this market, because there are many pickpockets around.
If worse comes to worst, we can stay at my friend’s house in Hanoi.
The hotel is all booked up. We need to find somewhere else to stay.
Jim found a little holiday romance on his trip to Japan. And he’s still in touch with her.
Even though we traveled through Cambodia on a shoestring budget, we were still able to live like kings.
Idioms & Expressions: travel light (verb, this means to travel somewhere and only take a few things with you), hit the road (verb, this means to begin a journey), off the beaten track (an adjective that describes a place that is remote or hard to reach), in the middle of nowhere (prepositional phrase with the same thing), tourist traps (noun that refers to places where vendors charge high prices to sell goods to tourists), watch your back (a phrase that means “be careful”), if worse comes to worst (this phrase means “if we run out of all other options, we can do this instead), booked up (adjective, means a hotel or venue is booked to capacity and there’s no more room), holiday romance (noun, refers to a short-lived love affair you have with a person you meet on vacation), live like a king (an expression that refers to the lifestyle that people can afford when they take a vacation in a country that’s poorer than theirs), shoestring budget (noun that refers to traveling while spending very little money – staying in hostel, etc).
Part I: Pair Interviews
- Have you ever travelled around your country?
I have been to twenty states in the US, I think. But there are fifty states in the USA, so I have actually seen less than half of the country. I have lived on both the east and west coasts, but haven’t really spent time in the heartland of the country.
- Do you have experience travelling overseas?
I have been living and traveling overseas for about six years now. I have been away from “home” so long that I am now more comfortable abroad than I am back in America.
- What do you think is the best way to travel?
In terms of covering distance, flying is the best way. But I think when you’re at your destination, it’s best to live as cheap as you can. You never know when you’re going to have an emergency and need to use some of your money to fix it.
- If you were going on a long trip, who would you prefer to go with? Why?
I would go with one of my best friends (that’s if I have to choose someone to travel with.) But actually, I prefer to travel alone as well. I might take a short trip by myself to Saigon or over to Laos at the end of the summer.
Part II: Pair Interviews
Describe one of your favorite places to visit. You should say:
What kind of place is it?
There is a mountain in Korea called Bukhansan. I have hiked it twice, and it was a rewarding experience both times. Whether you go in summer or winter, you can still get great views of the surrounding areas.
How to get there?
It took me two hours to get there from my home. I had to take the subway all the way to a bus station. Once I was finally at the bus station, it was a short ride to the mountain. The actual hike took about the same amount of time as the traveling did!
When did you visit that place / OR when are you going to visit that place?
I visited the mountain in summer 2014, and again in January 2015. The first time, I hiked it by myself. On my second trip, I went with a friend who was visiting me. I ran out of time to make another visit to the mountain before I left Korea this year.
Why is it your favorite place to visit?
I like to get a good workout, and hiking is an excellent way to achieve this. And at the top, you get a stunning view of the surrounding areas. The mountain is in the city of Seoul, and you can see the skyscrapers from the top of the mountain. It’s just nice to get away and see something different sometimes!
Part III: Class Discussion
- What are famous attractions in your city? Why are they popular to tourists?
The city of Boston is famous for its museums and its colonial architecture. People like to come to Boston to see the places where the American Founding Fathers gathered to meet. They also like to see the European-style buildings that were built by the early settlers in that area.
- Why do tourists want to visit famous monuments?
I think people just like to see famous things so they can take photos of them. It’s like you’re “collecting” the famous site. I think some people genuinely care about the history behind the monument, but most people just visit them to take photos.
- What could governments do to promote tourism?
I think most governments already do this pretty well. Tourism is a great source of revenue, and if a country has a famous site or monument, they will make sure they market it as much as they can, and they try to lower the barriers for tourists to enter the country by making it easy to obtain a visa.
- How do you think the face of tourism will change in the future?
I don’t think tourism itself will change very much at all. What is going to change is the amount of people who are able to travel internationally to see a famous site. As a country or region develops and its economy improves, people are going to be able to take more trips to see famous sites that they have always wanted to.
