Tourism. Topic for Conversation #16 / #25

Travelling and tourism

1. How do you prefer to travel: alone, with your parents or with your friends?

It goes without saying that travelling has always been a major human activity. If daring people hadn’t had a desire to explore faraway places in ancient times, the progress of civilization would have probably been much slower. Travelling is still an important part of business and commercial life. And, of course, one can hardly imagine a pleasant vacation without some travel. That is why one can say there are two basic kinds of travelling: one for pleasure and recreation, the other on business. Both are interesting in their own right.

I have just left school and I haven’t had many opportunities to travel on business so far. Let me start with travelling for pleasure and recreation. This kind of travel is different in form. People can reach faraway lands by plane or by sea, or travel to not-so-distant places by car or even on foot. Today one has a good opportunity to choose the most appropriate form of travelling. In fact, the most appropriate form is such that a person can afford.

In the past I used to fly by plane quite often (several times). It was a thrilling sensation to observe the clouds of various shapes and colour sailing deep below the plane. I felt myself no less than an astronaut on a space mission then! But today frequent travel by air is beyond my reach. This service has become quite expensive, especially on the distant routes. That is why most people prefer trains.

By the way, railway experiences are and indispensable part of my life too. Let me explain why. I come from the city of Baranovichi situated 140 kilometres from Minsk. The city originated as a big railway station on Moscow-Brest railway built in the 1870s. Today it is a major railroad junction. Trains go to seven different directions from Baranovichi, that’s why it is only natural that I used to travel by train a lot. Sometimes it was a problem to book tickets in advance, sometimes it wasn’t. As far as I remember, all our family travels by fast trains were pleasant enough.

It goes without saying I commuted a lot by electric train. This sort of transportation is generally cheaper, but is fast enough. Of course, the cars are short of conveniences, and at times they were over-crowded. But somehow we all are used to that because we have nothing better for the moment. If I become a student of a higher educational establishment, I will have to commute by electric trains more frequently. But it is already something that belongs to travelling on business. Let me go back to the most enjoyable travels made in our family car.

This kind of travel was definitely my favourite. My father is an experienced driver and he always drives carefully enough. That is why we have never had any road accidents, and I hope we will never have any. I should knock on the wood, shouldn’t I? (KNOCK ON WOOD)

In summer or during school vacations my family and I often went out of town. In fact, the environs of Baranovichi are notes for several wonderful places, unique for their natural beauty and charm. One of them is Lake Svityaz situated some 50 kilometres away from the city.

Belarus is famous for its lakes, but this one is like a precious diamond among other jewels. Its waters are crystal clear, and the natural environment is strikingly beautiful there. It is small wonder that the view of the lake inspired Adam Mizkevich to write some wonderful poetry. But today many tourists come to this lake for recreation and rest. And I think that the local authorities should take this fact into consideration providing more facilities for parking, etc. It will help preserve the natural beauty of this place for generations to come.

It is no surprise for me that more and more people prefer travelling abroad these days. The world is really becoming a global village, and every corner of it is easily accessible in case you can afford it. I haven’t travelled to many countries myself, but many of my friends and acquaintances did. Listening to their stories I could picture the big outside world better. In fact, I had lots of imaginary travels to the English-speaking countries during my school lessons.

It was more than once that my friends and I packed our things, boarded a plane and flew to London. At the airport we had a brief conversation with some immigration and customs officers, and then we were free to go to any part of the UK. If I ever have a chance to go there, I’ll be able to make a good choice of places to see and to visit. Sometimes I even feel that I DID visit London because I know so much about its history and sights. (…)

To cut my long travel short, I should say that now I’m not a very experienced traveller. But I feel that I can become one with time. There are so many places worth seeing in the world!

2. Is it better to choose a quided tour or organise a trip by yourself? Why?

3. You are going camping for a week. What questions will you ask an experienced camper?

4. Your American friend wants to visit Belarus. Which places will you advise him/her to visit?

5. An ancient Chinese philosopher and writer Lao Tzu said: "A goog traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving." What do you think about it?