Choosing a Place to
Travel based on Cost
Outline
- Overvalued and undervalued currencies
- Ten common countries in the cheapest countries
listings
- Least expensive destination in the Eastern Hemisphere
- Least expensive destination in the Western Hemisphere
- Safety Factor
- What do you think of the Leffel
quote
Overvalued and
undervalued currencies
According to the interactive site about the Big Mac Index……
· The South African rand is undervalued by 62% making it the least expensive place to travel.
o Cheapest countries: South Africa, Russia, Romania, and Turkey currencies are all at least 60% undervalued
· The Swiss franc is overvalued at 18% making it the most expensive place to travel
o Most expensive countries: Norway and Switzerland are the only countries that are overvalued, however Sweden and Canada still have a rather low undervalue
Ten common
countries in the cheapest countries listings
1. Costa Rica
2. Vietnam
3. Ukraine
4. Romania
5. China
6. India
7. Argentina
8. Cambodia
9. Greece
10. South Africa
Least expensive
destination in the Eastern Hemisphere
After looking at the Big Mac Index I decided Vietnam would be the least expensive overall.
Flight= $678.49
Lodging= $42
Food= $200.13
Total= $920.62
Least expensive
destination in the Western Hemisphere
After looking at the Big Mac Index and researching some travel blogs I decided that Costa Rica would be the cheapest place to travel to.
Flight= $340.04
Lodging= $147
Food= $210.00
Total= $697.04
Safety Factor
Vietnam is ranked 60 on the Global Peace Index and Costa Rica ranks 40, compared to the United States, ranking at 121
What do you think
of the Leffel quote:
"You'll learn far more than you ever did at a university.
Remember the old days when people got a liberal arts education? They went to
Oxford or Princeton to learn about history, politics, social studies,
geography, religion, foreign languages, and economics. Well you'll learn far
more about all those things by traveling than you ever can in college. Ask
anyone in their 30's how much they remember about these subjects from their
university classes. "Not much" will usually sum it up."
I can see where Leffel is coming from when speaking in terms of education and the richness one would receive from travel. However, he is basically devaluing education in this statement. Of course you would learn things while travelling, but to completely leave formal education out of the picture seems irresponsible to me. I believe they both have their value. When interviewing for a job, it would not be safe to say you are qualified for the position because you have travelled around the world and are so culturally immersed with life that you would be great. You would most likely be laughed out of the interview. You must have some framework to appreciate the things you are experiencing when travelling and I think college is a beautiful place to start. I think that there must be balance between the two options. Shutting yourself in a room all day to study is not the right thing to do, just as travelling the world for 4 years to avoid college is not the correct response either.
Submitted by [Jennie Pipes] on [3/5/2020].