Travelling

Travelling and means of transportation

People have many reason for travelling. For some people travelling is a hobby. They travel during their holiday. They can travel individually or with a travel agency. Other people travel for relaxation, they often spend their holiday in the mountains or by the sea in their country or abroad. Some people often travel on business trips. They have to visit their business partners. Many young people travel for education. They attend language courses abroad. They want to be good at foreign languages.
The most common means of transportation are cars, coaches (long distance buses), trains, ships and planes. People can go by bike or on food, or they can hitchhike.

Travelling by car or driving is the most comfortable and the most convenient way of travelling for shorter and longer distances. The main advantages are that you can start your journey whenever you want and you can stop wherever you want. If you have a car you must pay car insurance and you have to buy petrol which is expensive. If somebody wants to be a driver he must be 18 years old and he must attend driving school, where you have theoretical and practical driving lessons. In the end you must pass the driving exam and then you get a driving licence. At school students learn the Road Code, road signs and all the rules of safe driving.
If you don´t respect the rules you can cause a car crash. The most important rules are that driver schould keep the speed limit, they should concentrate on driving, they shouln´t make phone calls, eat and drink. They shouldn´t drink alcohol before driving. If drivers don´t keep the rules they can be fined by the traffic police.

Travelling by plane or flying is very comfortable and very fast. There are domestic flights – in one country, international flights – from country to country, intercontinental flights – from continent to continent.
If you want to fly with an international airline company you have to book the flight in advance. Passengers should come in the airport 2 – 3 hours before the flight because you have to check in on the flight at the check – in – desk where they show their airticket, their valid passport and the visa. Their luggage is weighted. The passengers go through security check. They go through the metal detector which find all metal objects. If the detector beeps they have to empty their pockets. Then the passengers go through the custom. At the custom they have to fill in a customs declaration and if they have something to declare they must pay duty.
During take off passengers must stop their cigarettes and fasten their safety belts. During the flight they can read a book or magazines, sleep, listen to music or talk with other people. Sometimes they can watch TV. Flight attendents serve them drinks, snacks or hot meals. When the plane has reached the place of destination it must land. All passenger must disembark.
You can sit in the 1. class – business class or in the economy class – tourist class which is cheaper.

Public transport system – PTS – includes buses, trams, trolley – buses, underground. In BA we don´t have an underground. Travelling by PTS is sometimes horrible. Especially during the morning and the afternoon rush hour when all means of transportation are overcrowded. There are many traffic jams on bridges.
If you want travel by PTS you must have a seasonal ticket or a valid single ticket. The ticket is valid when it is marked in the ticket marker. Black passengers must pay a fine if they are caught by a ticket inspector without valid ticket. The fare in BA is high.

Travelling by train is not very comfortable if you go by slow trains which stop at every station. Fast trains and international through trains are faster and they stop only in big stations. They usually have a dining car where you can have a snack or a drink and sleeping car where you can reserve a berth (a couchette) if you are travelling for a very long distance.

Cycling is very healthy and many people ride their bikes. My people in villages use bikes as a means of transportation for shorter distances.