Travelling – Путешествия

Travelling – this is what everybody is astonished with. We can pronounce it with the admiration “Travelling…”, we can say it with the great expectation “Travelling!”, we can exclaim it thoughtfully “Travelling?” and then in many other different ways. We can taste this word, as it can taste as the best dish from the last trip to the south, or it can have the flavor of the wine you tasted in Turkey some time ago, or it can have the smell of the flowers and trees in blossom from  the memories of Thailand or it can have the noise and cheerfulness of the Brazil carnival where we were happily participating…

We can find a lot in just this word as we usually have our associations connected with our and only our trip. And the only question we can ask ourselves when we think of travelling is “Where to go?” And practically this is not even a question of going somewhere far away, abroad or to the village which is not far from our city. All the same we will have our own emotions and feelings connected with this definite trip. Sometimes trips are not very attractive but we, adults, have already learnt from long ago to find something good in any poor experience, and if we are kids or teenagers, we will be happy in any place, where we can play, swim, ski or just run around with a bunch of our mates.

Travelling is an aspect of our life and we travel every minute we find an opportunity. Thousands of people spend their holidays travelling. They travel by plane, their own cars and motorcycles. They travel by ship up and down many rivers. They hike in the forest, they climb mountains. They admire the beauty of snow covered mountains, of sunny valleys and vast forests.

Millions of people all over the world spend their holidays travelling. They travel to see other countries and continents, modern cities and the ruins of ancient towns, they travel to enjoy picturesque places or just for a change of scene. It's always interesting to discover new things and different ways of life, to meet different people, to try different food, to listen to different music.

People travel by train, by plane, by ship or boat and by car. All means of travelling have their advantages and disadvantages. And people choose one according to their plans and preferences. The fastest way of travelling - is travelling by plane, but in my opinion the most comfortable is travelling by ship and the cheapest - is travelling on foot.

If we are fond of travelling, we see and learn a lot of things that we can never see or learn at home, though we may read about them in books and newspapers and see pictures of them on TV. The best way to study geography is to travel and the best way to get to know and understand the people is to meet them in their own homes.

Nowadays people mostly travel by air, as it's the fastest means of travelling. Passengers are requested to arrive at the airport 2 hours before departure time on international flights and an hour on domestic flights, as there must be enough time to complete necessary airport formalities. Before passengers get on board a plane, they have to register their luggage. Each passenger is given a boarding pass to be shown at the departure gate and again to the stewardess when boarding the plane. Landing formalities and custom regulations are more or less the same in all countries: while still on board a plane the passengers are given arrival cards to fill in. After the passengers have disembarked, officials will check their passports and visas. Then the passengers go to the customs for an examination of their luggage. As a rule personal belongings may be brought in duty-free. In some cases the custom inspector may ask you to open your bag for inspection.

By the way many people now tend to travel hitchhiking. There are people who could visit many foreign countries with a very moderate budget just by saving on travel expenses.

And in the end I'll say that traveling is a nice hobby and a great thing if you want to know more about the world and certainly if you are studying a foreign language. 

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