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 overvalued is in Switzerland at $6.71/ 18.4% more than the US value, while the most undervalued is in South Africa at $2.15/ 62% under the US value. The cheapest places to visit would be Malaysia, Turkey, Romania, Russia, and South Africa. While the most expensive places to visit would be Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and Israel.
Read the Leffel chapter and the other links provided to derive a list of the 10 cheapest countries for travel. Compare this with a more modern assessment at Indie Traveller.
With the Leffel Chapter in mind and looking at the links it seems the ten cheapest may be in this order: 1: Thailand, 2: Mexico, 3: Vietnam, 4: Nepal, 5: Laos, 6: South Afirca, 7: Indonesia, 8: Argentia, 9: Peru, and 10: Cambodia. Compared to the top ten on the Indie Traveller where Vietnam is number 1, and while a lot of the places I listed are on the list they have much lower rankings.
From the above, the Big Mac Index and the most inexpensive airfares you found, 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 the Eastern Hemisphere I chose Thailand. I was able to find a flight for about $813, however the cheapest hotel I was able to find was around $19 a night.In terms of daily food cost, I used the Indie Traveller and Trip Savvy to find that the average cost of food can be around $30 a day when one budgets.
From the above, the Big Mac Index and the most inexpensive airfares you found, find the least expensive destination in the western 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 the western hemisphere I chose Guatemala. I was able to find a flight for about $512, while the hotels were slightly more pricey at about $30 a night for the cheapest options. In terms of daily food cost it seemed as though it could be as cheap as $10 (according to one website), where as most websites including Indie Traveller estimated it around $25-$30.
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?
Both of my countries were around the same area as the US, and actually both were ranked above it. Guatemala was listed as 111, Thailand as 113, and the US as 121. So out of my two picks Guatemala would be safest, however the safest country to visit (according to the index) would be Iceland.
"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 honestly agree with this quote to some extent. I can honestly say that I have learned a lot about foreign language, different thoughts and religions, as well as how to interact with people through travelling. I was able to be pretty immersed in Spanish when I visited Costa Rica and I learned a lot about the language. However, I was also astounded at how much I remembered from my high school spanish classes, and that helped me a ton. While I believe that real-life experience is valuable and there is a lot to be learned from it, having some kind of "rigid"/"strict" education helps set the groundwork. I believe that what I am learning and have learned thus-far in college will help me a lot in life, and college gives people a chance to fail and learn where as those failures will probably be more detrimental outside of the class-room environment. Travel can absolutely teach you things that college can't, but college can help lay a solid foundation to help you learn more in your travels.
Submitted by Whitney Beets on 2/28/2020.