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 UNIT7. TRAVELLING

INTRODUCTORY TEXT

· The modern love of moving around and the ease of travel have influenced attitudes towards leisure. During the year, industrial workers in Britain have at least four weeks’ paid holiday; state schools usually have six weeks off from about mid-July to the end of August. The favourite way of spending the holiday is at the sea. All along the coast there are well-known resorts like Brighton and Blackpool.

· Few English people rent houses or flats for their holidays, but one of the traditional ways of spending a summer holiday is in a boarding house, which may have a card in its window advertising “bed and breakfast”.

Camping holidays are not well-developed in Great Britain, since the changeable summer weather is often too unpleasant for tent-dwellers. Some people bring their own caravans, pulling them behind their cars, others hire caravans already in position. They have caravans with them and go to the seaside or hilly regions of great natural beauty to escape from the big city and crowds of people. Some people prefer to spend their holidays abroad. Many take their cars, crossing the English Channel by ferry or hovercraft to the continent. Others use the travel agents’ schemes for group travel and hotel booking.          

· People who first come to Great Britain notice that railway platforms are higher than in most parts of the world. The platform is almost on the level with the floor of the carriages which makes much easier to get in and out of the carriage.

In England passengers seldom talk with their fellow-travellers even on a long journey – this is more a national custom than a matter of etiquette. Foreign visitors say that the British are cool and reserved, unemotional and impersonal. The great topic of conversation between strangers is the weather.

· The average American has three or four weeks of paid vacation in summer. Very popular ways of spending a holiday in the country are camping and hiking. Some Americans prefer to tour Asia, South America or Africa, others take a trip to Europe.

    Many tourists in the USA who travel long distances use the Greyhound buses. Greyhound Lines is the name of the private national company which arranges bus tours all over the country. The name of the company which runs passenger trains is Amtrak.

· Tipping is a common habit in Great Britain and the USA. The tip depends on the type and extent of the service you have received. In some hotels, a service charge of 10 to 15 percent will be added to your bill. Even so, you might want to give something extra to the porter who carries your bags, especially in a first-class establishment. The tipping system consists of small extra payment of a tenth or an eighth of the price of the bill, given to certain employees, chiefly to waiters, taxi drivers, hotel staff, hairdressers and railway porters.      

· As elsewhere in the world British and Americans have a difference of opinion over aims, means, effects, etc of travel. Some of them travel to escape the routine of everyday living or personal problems, to relax or get new knowledge or sensations, to meet interesting people. Others travel to promote cultural or religious values of their countries. In this way a trip can be a turning point, a new beginning leading to new experience, or just an adventure.

Some people may be negative about the idea of travelling as it is because of the problems or difficult situations that may arise during a trip. Holiday preparations, boarding family pets, strange places, crowded airports, delayed flights, poor service - things like these may have a very bad effect on holiday-makers, that's why some people prefer to stay at home.

Travellers also argue about where to go - some of them might want to go to Sahara or cruise along the Nile, while others - to rent a cottage near a lake or in the mountains.

Travelling, on the one hand, is associated with pleasant things like sunny weather and plenty of amusements or unusual things to see. On the other hand, visitors to a foreign country often feel shocked by the different customs and habits that they may see around them. They refuse the local food, or disrespect their hosts by failing to observe dress codes and other cultural norms. Tourism may also be a source of crime, begging and other social problems or be destructive for environment.

So, attitudes to the subject are various and many, but still, there is a point on which everyone agrees “No matter why and how you travel you are bound to meet surprises!”