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?

The most expensive Big Mac, according to the Big Mac Index interactive site, is in Switzerland. It is $6.54 there in US currency. In the United States a Big Mac in the index is $5.51, that is a difference of $1.03 compared to Switzerland. The least expensive would be in Egypt as $1.75. The difference of Egypt and Switzerland would be $4.79. The countries that would be the most expensive to travel to would end up being Switzerland, Sweden, The United States, Norway, and Canada. The least expensive places/countries to travel to according to the index would be Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine, and Egypt.

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.

1.     India

2.     Vietnam

3.     Costa Rica

4.     Ukraine

5.     Argentina

6.     Egypt

7.     Cambodia

8.     Greece

9.     South Korea

10.  Thailand

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.

 

I have decided to go to Vietnam since that is where they have the cheapest lodging I could find. Columbia was in the middle of the Big Mac index, it did not seem that expensive and once I looked and searched some prices I found a great deal on places to live and the flights.

Omaha to LAX

LAX to Vietnam (Nha Trang)

 

 

Living accommodation total: $179, about $8 a day

Flights: $381.47 (Omaha to LAX) $716.63 (LAX to Nha Trang) = $1,098.10

Food: A day average for meals would be $3.02, in total would be about $63.42 + $6.30 for water in total. In total it would be about $69.72.

Total cost: $1,346.82

 

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.

I decided to go to Bogota Columbia, as I found it being the cheapest lodging and flights. Vietnam was in the list of the least expensive places to travel to. It was also considered to be safer than the United States. I looked at Thailand and even Greece, but I could find cheaper lodging in Vietnam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lodging

 

Omaha to Miami and back

Miami to Bogota and back

 

Total Lodging: $183, about $9 a night

Total Airfare: $563.21. Omaha to Miami was $278, Miami to Bogota was $285.21

Food: Per day would be $9.42 and for 3 weeks in total it would be $178.98

Total cost: $925.19

 

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?

The safest country in the world would be Iceland from the index rankings. The United States would be #121. The United States is very low in the ranking of the safest countries in the world. It is very close to so many countries in Africa. It does surprise me in a way and again it doesn’t. This is because there is just so much crime in the all of the cities here and mass shootings happening lately.

The countries I chose are ranked below:

1.     India (#136)

2.     Vietnam (#60)

3.     Costa Rica (#40)

4.     Ukraine (#152)

5.     Argentina (#66)

6.     Egypt (#142)

7.     Cambodia (#96)

8.     Greece (#79)

9.     South Korea (#49)

10.  Thailand (#113)

 

 

What do you think of the Leffel quote:

"You'll learn far more than you ever did at a university.

I think that this quote can be right and also wrong. The quote is an opinion and anyone you ask, those who are in college or who have gotten a degree will tell you something different than that of someone who has spent their lives traveling the world. Being in college these past 2 years so far, I have learned so much and UNO has taught me things that I never knew before depending on which classes you take though. It can all depend on that as well. What you learn in college is the details in the major you have chosen, it prepares you for the world of jobs. There are some jobs that require a degree from a university, but there are also good paying jobs out there that don’t require a high education. Going to college and learning is more work and it takes much more time to get what you want as a degree. It opens up your mind of how much more you can study and major in, your interests might change.

Though you can also learn a whole lot with traveling to different states or countries. While in college, they can just teach you the history of a place or show you how it looks like and the characteristics. Traveling makes you learn quickly how to adapt to different situations and locations that you are not familiar with. It helps you get a better and wider picture of the world and makes you pay attention to not just our own country but every other around you.

As traveling does help you learn so much, having an education will help you get through life as well. Traveling can be a side hobby too if you want to study in university and get a job of what you majored and got a degree in.  We will learn and remember all of the information we want to, and it doesn’t matter if we learned it in a classroom or by a person who we meet out traveling. Everything you want to know will remain with you at the end of the day.

 


Submitted by [Julisa Prieto-Garcia] on [February 23, 2019].