TRAVELLING

Travelling is very popular in the 20^th century and that is why it is so common. It is a part of life of each of us. If we don't live in a town and we work or we go to school we have to commute.

People all around the world travel for various reasons: One of them is tourism - especially during holidays. Travelling is their hobby, people want to see the most beautiful sights of world's famous metropolis, they want to see old castles and churches or they travel for their holiday to the sea or to the mountains etc. Some people travel on business, for political or cultural reasons, for scientific purposes. Especially young people travel abroad to learn new language and to earn some money - Au pair. Many people like travelling because it is exciting, they can see new places, meet new people and friends, eat something unusual and see the way of life in various countries. Besides they can get new experiences. On the other hand travelling has some disadvantages it may be very dangerous: we can meet bad people, we can get lost, our money may be stolen or we can have an accident. For some people travelling is very expensive.

There are many means of transport to choose from. Young people like hitchhiking or just hiking (very cheap, could be fast or slow, dangerous). Some people prefer going by car, by plane (for a long way, comfortable, expensive, very fast), by train (fast, cheap, more comfortable, sleeping and dining cars, toilettes, for long distance), by bus (quite fast, cheap, don't go on time, dirty, uncomfortable - lack of place, usually no toilet, no privacy), on a motorcycle or riding a motorbike, a bike (cheap, healthy, good for environment, you can get everywhere, stop where you want, slow, problems with luggage), on foot (the cheapest kind of travelling, healthy, keeps you fit, improves your condition, slow) or even a horse. In London we can travel by a double-decker. Some people love more romantic means of transport, e.g. going on a yacht, canoeing, gliding, hot-air ballooning, windsurfing. Young people like skateboarding or roller-skating (but it will be better when will be build up special parks for them).

When going abroad we must get necessary documents. First of all a valid passport and a visa (to some countries). Besides, we must change money to hard currency in a bank or at an exchange-office. It's better when we take a guide, when we find some information about a place and take some vaccinations. When going by train we must buy tickets and when fly, we must get air tickets and find out our flight number and departure time.

We should know foreign languages because it is important for making ourselves understood. Most people all around the world speak English.

Travelling does not mean only going abroad but also seeing interesting places in our country or commuting to work or to school. People usually commute by train or bus, in big cities they can go by tram or the underground or take a taxi.

In our state there are many state and private travel agencies. Through travel agencies people have their trips, tickets and accommodation reserved. They need only money. Travelling through travel agencies can be sometimes dangerous, when they bankrupt and we will be in the foreign country without help. In this case you have to find out our embassy and ask for help. Or it could happen, that you pay for comfort holiday and you get terrible accommodation without bath, air condition…

Many foreign tourists travel to our country, mainly because of

- beautiful nature in the mountains, by the lakes and rivers, they can practise mountaineering or stay at camps

- cultural and historic monuments, above all gothic, renaissance and baroque castles and churches. Most of all they are attracted by Prague.

For travelling we can use many kinds of luggage according to the kind of trip. We use a rucksack when going for a walk or to school. We use a suitcase when we go by a coach.

- when I was younger I enjoyed travelling with my parents and my sister, but since my 16 I like travelling with my friends or only with my sister

- during the summer we did swimming, lying on the beach or just walking around the town; I also used to go to our summer cottage or to a camp on Šumava or in Moravia

- last summer I was with my friend in Greece, on an island called Thassos and there was a splendid nature, fresh sea and a very good equipped accommodation, but we travelled by a bus for 48 hours

- preceding summers I was in Italy for five times and in Croatia

- during the winter holidays I usually stay at home, or time to time we go on Šumava for skiing

- when we travel abroad we travel with a travel agency which arranged the transport and accommodation

- the advantage was that we didn't need to worry about a lot of details and everything was prepare for us

- sometimes I like trips where I can see a lot of different places and things and sometimes I like staying in one location and only lying