"expensive" countries vs. "cheaper" countries for traveling

[Davy-040]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

That's what I said.

Not really.
You said "For those that do go to the sex tourism areas, chances of having problems are higher".

Many so-called sex-tourists i know don't drink alcohol at all.

[jtur88]

If you can't resist alcohol or drugs, you are greatly increasing your travel risk even if you go to the Vatican. If you want to travel, leave your bar-hopping at home, and you are extremely unlikely to have any problems.

Do your sightseeing in the daytime, sleep at night, don't go over a limit of one drink a day, in the daytime.

Common sense would indicate that drinking and sex tourism occur in pretty much the same neighborhood, and it is the neighborhood that is dangerous, whether or not your are drinking or buying sex. But engaging in either will erode your protective judgment while you are there.

[llowllevellowll]

I don't get the feeling that the OP is really looking for a different opinion but obviously just a confirmation that her style of travel is rational and correct. I personally wouldn't travel with a tour company and don't see much value in it unless you're that nervous about places outside of your comfort zone. I won't rail against anxieties of people, though, as I know a few people who are definitely affected by their anxiety and only wish them the best.

I personally prefer to travel like Jtur. I want to go without much fanfare and definitely few plans, get off the airplane, take a random bus, and get to places I enjoy walking around in and talking to people and ordering local fare. Only then do I really feel like I saw or experienced things that I couldn't simply google about or read from a DK Travel Guide at Barnes and Noble and I especially don't want to pay to have other white people hold my hand.

[Ian_Lee]

Very bargain tour can be found in very expensive country, i.e. Japan.

The trick is go with the locals. A few years back I did research online and found that there are some chain onsen (hot spring) hotels catered only to locals and advertised in Japanese only.

So I joined a tour online (Japan uses honor system that you don't need to place your credit card number for reservation; but lately some require because the honor system is abused by foreign tourists). It cost me 5,000 Yen pp only (about $47) which includes:

-- round trip coach bus from Tokyo to Kusatsu, Nagano (one of the best three water quality onsen in Japan) which is 3 hours one way;

-- dinner and breakfast buffet;

-- one tatami room for overnight sleep;

-- onsen bath as many times as you desire.

Afterwards I wrote my experience on Tripadvisor and generated over 7,000 views albeit I just gave it just one star. Now the Japanese customers complain that there are so many foreigners who don't know about the etiquette of onsen, i.e. Pakistani and Chinese, flooding the onsen hotel.

[Ottawa2011]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

One hears and reads so often from people who travel about

this country being "too expensive" or that country being way more "affordable/bargain" when discussing travel destinations,

but do some of these people not even factor in the general correlation that "expensive" countries are expensive because standard of living, level of infrastructure, health and safety, education/literacy which translates to better linguistic communication are all at a higher level than countries that are seen as cheap and affordable.

[...some content snipped...]

What are you thoughts? Do people NOT factor this in? Are other people just way more worldy than I and know how to handle themselves better than I would? Am I just a classist American afraid of poor people??

I get what you're saying... you just prefer your "creature comforts" when you travel, so yes, travelling in style in a developing country will set you back a pretty penny in many cases. The more remote a region, the more challenging it can be to arrange comfortable transportation. Or to find a state-of-the-art, modern hotel.

But, heck, you can travel rough even in the U.S. You could travel cross-country by Greyhound bus if you were up to it. You could stay in your car, or camp out, or rent rooms by the hour in dodgy neighbourhoods. I guess in theory, you could jump freight trains and do the old fashioned "hobo" routes. You are limited only by your imagination and your capacity for thrift.

If you put a premium on safety, cleanliness, amenities, etc., then you will probably pay quite a bit more for your vacation.

Woah, Switzerland is really at another level of categorization with the travel journey excursions. Especially compared to neighboring France, Italy, Austria, Germany ending up infinitely more affordable. Intentionally avoiding Switzerland to reach more travel deals in the Austrian Alps and into the Northern regions of Italy: Liguria, Piedmont, Liguria.

Qatar is incredibly affordable with representing how high annual income wealth isn’t correlating to more expensive prices for every bought item.

Inflated currencies are always funny. With Czech Republic Koruna or Vietnamese Dong people may think they are spending thousands to billions on a dinner meal, yet only $50 at the highest amount when converting to another currency.