Traveling abroad is a common post-high school trip for teens before college that can instantly change how they view the world. Parents who traveled abroad as teenagers often encourage their kids to step as far out of their comfort zone as they can to experience diverse culture and make memories that will last a lifetime. However, today’s traveling is not necessarily the same as what our previous generation fondly reminisces over. The biggest difference is, unfortunately, the cost. And so the issue is simple: are the experiences of broadening one’s views through a foreign culture and company worth the expensive price tag of the traveling itself?
Consider this common scenario: a teenager has saved 3000 dollars from working over the summer during their high school career. High school has ended and the student received an extra 500 dollars as graduating gifts from family and friends. If they sit down to plan a trip to Europe with the notion that “teens can travel cheap”, they are going to be in for a big surprise. A round trip flight from San Francisco to Paris is about 1200 dollars. Hostels in popular tourist cities can reach up to 50 dollars a night. In just one day, the trip’s expenses has brought the teen’s respectable funds of 3500 dollars down to a surprisingly low 2250-- And that is just the start of it. The teen must also account for meals, transportation costs, and any possible expenses for seeing tourist attractions such as museums or monuments. If they want to visit multiple countries, then they are really going to be tight on cash after purchasing a Eurorail pass for another 650 dollars. After everything, the teenager will have enough money for about 3 to 4 days to explore an entire continent. That fact would alone would clearly put a damper on anyone’s excitement for traveling.
Even after those numbers, people who have traveled will still uphold traveling as being one of the greatest experiences in their life. The things one can learn from traveling can completely change the way a person sees the world. Saint Augustine’s famous quote “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” is commonly brought up when vouching for traveling. Traveling is the exposure to different ways to live-- to love-- to communicate. It is breathtaking to witness how truly big the world is and how it caused people to be so beautifully different and unique.
Even from the education standpoint, traveling changes the whole meaning of learning. To read about culture and history is completely different than experiencing them first hand. Reading about an old building in history class pales in comparison to seeing it in person and being able to walk inside and see the paintings and the sculptures that were described in the classroom textbooks in dull, lifeless detail.
Traveling cannot be done without the willingness to spend a pretty penny. Although there are a few ways to dodge some of the more expensive necessities and save a few dollars, the end result is still going to be a hefty price. There will always be people on both sides, those for traveling and those against it. In the end, it comes down to a personal judgement value that cannot be decided for anyone but him/herself: should the opinions of those who vouch for traveling be trusted over the internal fear of traveling being a waste of money? Only planning and an unbiased thought process can make the decision.