Choosing a Place to Travel based on Cost


Outline

1.     Overvalued and undervalued currencies

2.     Ten common countries in the cheapest countries listings

3.     Least expensive destination in the Eastern Hemisphere

4.     Least expensive destination in the Western Hemisphere

5.     Safety Factor

6.     What do you think of the Leffel quote


Overvalued and undervalued currencies

Using the formula in the Big Mac Index interactive site, how much is the Big Mac overvalued in the most expensive country, and how much is it undervalued in the least expensive? Which countries would be the cheapest for travel, and which would be the most expensive based on this index?

Compared to the U.S. dollar, the Big Mac is overvalued in only two countries, Switzerland and Sweden. Switzerland by over a full dollar while Sweden is just over a quarter. This would make it undervalued everywhere else on this list, the bottom of the list hitting $1.75 in Egypt. You could nearly buy three Big Macs in Egypt with the U.S. dollar for the price of one here in the United States. This means the cheaper the Big Mac, the less expensive it is to travel there. While the more expensive the Big Mac, the more expensive it is to travel there.

Ten common countries in the cheapest countries listings

Read the Leffel chapter and the other links provided to derive a list of the 10 cheapest countries for travel.

It seems like the most affordable countries are those in both Asia and South America. Not just anywhere in these countries but the dollar seems to go further here. The most common countries I have seen include Costa Rica, Argentina, Peru, Vietnam, Thailand, India, and Cambodia. There are also some cheaper European countries I have seen listed many times like Greece, Hungary, and Ukraine. The U.S dollar is strong in all these places and in some of them the dollar is gaining value.

Least expensive destination in the Eastern Hemisphere

From this list, the Big Mac Index and the most inexpensive airfares, find the least expensive destination in the eastern hemisphere for a three-week trip. What criteria did you use to select the country? Insert airfare graphic that shows how you would get to the country. Insert a graphic of an inexpensive lodging. What would be the total cost of the 3-week trip? (The idea here is that cheap lodging over three weeks will counter a more expensive airfare. So, look for the cheapest lodging and find a moderate airfare to that location.) Estimate daily food costs.

Looking into all the cheap destinations listed, I decided to use my flight information from the previous assignment for this. Flying into Madrid was my cheapest option for a 21-day stay at $469 round-trip. This was the cheapest option for me to get into the Eastern Hemisphere.

I then looked at cost of lodging for the time and found the cheapest stay, including breakfast, my own bathroom, and bedroom, to be $17 per day. That equates to about $364 for my entire stay.

Altogether I would be looking at roughly $833 total without the price of my additional meals, transportation, etc. With having one meal included in my stay, the helps take some of that cost away and I think I could budget the other two meals to be less than $10 per day (I personally do not eat breakfast so this would allow me to eat smaller portions my other two meals). At that rate of $10 per day at most, I would have a total of $1054 for my 3-week stay.

I selected this country because although I was able to find much cheaper living accommodations in other countries, the flights to get out there were much higher. I also picked Spain because the native tongue is Spanish, but English is spoke here, so I would able to navigate my way through. There is such a rich culture here, as well as plenty to do for much longer than 3 weeks.

 

 

Least expensive destination in the Western Hemisphere

From this list, the Big Mac Index and the most inexpensive airfares, find the least expensive destination in the eastern hemisphere for a three-week trip. What criteria did you use to select the country? Insert airfare graphic that shows how you would get to the country. Insert a graphic of an inexpensive lodging. What would be the total cost of the 3-week trip? (The idea here is that cheap lodging over three weeks will counter a more expensive airfare. So, look for the cheapest lodging and find a moderate airfare to that location.) Estimate daily food costs.

For this destination, I decided to go away from the country I chose in the previous assignment. Although the flight was a little bit cheaper, the daily cost was higher. I decided to do my stay in Lima, Peru. The cost of my flight to get my there from Dallas was $449. The cost of my flight to Dallas from Omaha was $224. This brought my total flight pricing to $673, over $200 more expensive than the cost to get into the Eastern Hemisphere.

But the price to stay here is what made my decision. For only $7 per day, I was able to get a room with a shower and includes breakfast. That makes my total 21-day stay about $147.

This brings my total to $820 which is cheaper than that the Madrid. In Lima, I could live off less money per meal than in Madrid. I think per meal $3 would be more than enough ($6 per day for food). Adding in the additional meals I would be looking at about $946 for the 3-week trip.

I chose Lima for a few different reasons. The cost to stay here was the main reason due to it being so cheap to stay. I also looked at what I can do in Lima for activities and there is more than enough to fill a 3-week itinerary. Peru is a non-English speaking country but English is still spoke here so I would be able to navigate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Safety Factor

Consider the safety factor in the destination you have chosen. Take a look the Global Peace Index rankings (A ranking of countries based on the Peace Index begins on p. 8.) Which country would be the safest? Where is the United States ranked? Where do your chosen countries rank?

After seeing the Global Peace Index rankings, I am kind of surprised at the countries atop the list. There are 12 total countries in the Very High state of peace rankings with Iceland ranked 1st. I would have thought the Nordic countries would be in the Very High range (they fall just outside). I also did not know places like Canada, Singapore, and the Czech Republic would rank so high.

The United States is ranked 121st which is considered Medium range peace but is one ranking above Low. I would have thought we are in Medium so I am not surprised by this ranking but I am surprised by some of the countries ahead of the United States. Due to what we see in the media, I would have thought Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala would all rank below the United States.

Looking at where I chose to travel, both countries are in a High state of peace. Spain is ranked 30th overall and Peru is ranked 74th overall.

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 think this quote has some truth behind it, but I also think it is not correct. Learning at a university is much different than learning out in the world through experiences. While getting a degree is very important to me, to some occupations you do not need a degree.

The truth I think his opinion holds is that last piece about what people remember from these classes. Yes, we remember the basic concepts of each topic, specifically the ones we use on a daily-basis. But most people would probably say “Not much”. I think this because after years of practicing the same thing in our jobs, it becomes second nature to us and realistically, maybe we knew the skill or idea before going to the university. Maybe the university just gave us repetition and practice to set us up for down the road.

I also think there is some truth behind learning things from travelling. But the information you learn from travelling is different than the information you will learn at a university. Visiting a place, you will get to see the culture and daily life that a book cannot describe with enough detail for you. But you also may not dig deep enough into the history or the culture to truly learn about the place you are travelling to. This information is what is taught to us in a university and can be carried with us just as well as what we pick up when travelling to these places.

I think where his opinion is skewed is you will not learn more from travelling than you will in getting your degree. While getting your degree may not give you every little detail you could pick up from somewhere, it gives you a more broad and better understanding of the topics you learn. Travelling will not teach you medicine or how to build a business. Travelling also cannot teach you politics and economics. It can show you what happens if there are poor practices of these things (economics and politics) and maybe give you ideas on how to run a business, but it will not teach you the core essentials of these things.

I think he is wrong about learning and what sticks with us. We retain the information we want to retain. It does not matter how or where you learn the information, but that if it is important to you it will stick.

 


Submitted by Trey Mumma on 2/22/2019.