Name 5
TheAmerican road trip
Peopletravel to various destinations for different reasons, but theultimate goal of travelling is to explore the sites of interests thatthey may not have seen before. Although almost everyone travels on adaily basis to go to offices, businesses, work, or school, trendsindicate that travelling for pleasure has become a common hobby(Pooley 1). Travelling has evolved in many dimensions, including thereasons for travelling and efficiency with which people can travelfrom one location to another. In this paper, the meaning oftravelling to different people, changes in travelling for Americansover the years, and the way travelling for leisure came about will bediscussed.
Travellingmeans different things to different people. For example, there is agroup of travelers that is comprised of people who lead a nomadiclifestyle. These people enjoy diversity and they are likely toconsider travelling as a way of life (Dunn 1). Another category oftravelers is a group of people who work away from their relatives.This group of people often travels upcountry, not just to meet theirrelatives, but also to enjoy the rural environment. In addition, theworking class is likely to take vacations and travel to new places.They consider travelling as an opportunity to take a break from work,enjoy an environment that is different from their routine and worksettings. Moreover, there are some people who work in professionsthat give them the opportunity to travel from time to time. Thiscategory of travelers, which include the business people, is likelyto consider travelling as part of their daily life (Dunn 1).Additionally, some travelers see travelling as the opportunity tospend time with other people who share the same interests with them.Most of the travelers who attend sporting events (such as Olympic)fall under this category.
Althoughsome people hold that the purpose of travelling and the destinationsmost visited by the people do not change, it is evident that severalchanges have occurred. For example, it has become easier to findinformation about the destination that one intends to visit.Initially people used to source information about variousdestinations from libraries, newspapers, travel guides, and friends(Harvey 1). However, information can now be retrieved online fromdifferent websites. The use of technology to facilitate travellingbecame popular in the information and the digital eras. In addition,the process of planning trips has become easier. People no longerneed to visit travel consultants, since the information can beaccessed from websites (such as TripAdvisor) using electronic devices(Harvey 2).
Themeans of transport have also influenced traveling to some extent. Asignificant improvement in the infrastructure (such as roads) hasincreased the accessibility of most of the destinations byautomobiles (Pooley 2). This has reduced the distance that the moderntravelers walk on foot. It has also changed the travelling trends ofthe 19thcentury, when travelers could either walk or ride horses to reachtheir destinations.
Moreover,the size of the load that travelers need to carry has reducedsignificantly, which is an indication that travelling has become morefun and easy. For example, travelers in the late 19thand early 20thcenturies carried a volume of documents (including airline tickets,passports, traveler checks, and pre-purchased vouchers), heavy daypacks, walkman, and guidebooks among other items (Harvey 2). Moderntravelers, on the other hand, can store some documents in the cloudand retrieved them at their destinations or as soon as the need touse them arises. Additionally, travelers carried bulks of notes ortraveler checks about 20 years ago, but modern travelers are onlyrequired to travel with debit or ATM cards to obtain cash fromdifferent locations.
Leisuretravelling started in the United Kingdom during the industrialrevolution, long before the concept could gain popularity in theUnited States. However, leisure travelling was a reserve of the richand the emerging middle class that comprised of the traders andfactory owners during the 17thcentury (Agbabiaka 2277). Leisure travel started in the U.S. in the19thcentury following the establishment of the railway network,construction of roads, and hotels to cater for the needs of travelers(Pooley 1). It gained popularity in the 20thcentury following the increase in the number of families andindividuals who could afford cars. The jet age, 1950s and 1960s,introduced another alternative to road travel (Pooley 1). Peoplecould travel by air to their destinations and travel by road for alimited distance. For many years, leisure travelling has beenconsidered as a practice of the rich and the middle class. However,the young generations (including the millennial) have almost madetraveling for leisure a common right of everyone.
Conclusion
Thepractice of travelling to different destinations is as old as humanhistory, but the means, purpose, and efficiency with which people cantravel have changed with time. Some people consider travelling as thenormal way of life, while others see it as an opportunity to changethe environment and avoid routines. The use of technology hasincreased efficiency with which people can travel. This has beenaccomplished by an increase in the ease of accessing information,communication, and the possibility of storing some documents in thecloud for future retrieval. In addition, the increase in thepopularity of leisure travelling is a trend that cannot be ignoredsince it has boosted the tourism sector to a greater extent.
Workscited
Agbabiaka,H. “Factors influencing patronage of medial tourism in MetropolitanLagos, Nigeria”. InternationalJournal of Scientific and Technology Research5.4 (2016): 2277-8616.
Dunn,N. How to define travel: Which type of traveler are you? Vagabondish.2016. Web. 9 June 2016.
Harvey,S. The six most significant changes in travel in the 20 years.MatadorNetwork.1 August. 2014. Web. 9 June 2016.
Pooley,C. How have out travel habits changed over the past 50 years? TheConversation.21 October. 2015. Web. 9 June 2016.