みなさんは旅行が好きですか？ 英語では「旅行」を定義する用語がたくさんあります。ブログを読んで実践してみましょう！
Most people love traveling. So much so that over 1.5 billion international arrivals were recorded at world airports in 2019. Unsurprisingly, there are many terms to describe the nature of a trip, but English-speakers often use the term traveling as a general term. So let's look at a few terms that can describe a trip.
To Travel
As mentioned, this is a general term to describe any type of trip. It simply means that a distance was crossed to get from A to B. Some people might ask you how you travel to work, but that use is often replaced with “commute” or “get to.”
The word traveling emerged as a term during the Age of Exploration, when Vasco de Gama and Marco Polo explored parts of the world. In this sense, to travel is to explore, and travelers cover new, undiscovered territory. This might be difficult to do in the age of satellites, so traveling would be a term reserved for people who take the less popular paths. Staying at the Ritz-Carlton doesn’t count!
Here are a few good examples of how to use travel:
Alex: "How do you get to work?”
Maria: “I travel by bus.”
“I went on a business trip last month. I had to travel to Moscow and Berlin. It was exhausting!”
Layla: “Where did you and your husband travel to during the winter break?”
Julio: “We traveled to Patagonia! It was great. We got to explore the mountains of Tiera Del Fuego.”
To go on, or take, a trip
To go on a trip or take a trip means to simply cover some distance between A and B involving significant time. On top of being a general term for traveling, it can be used for some daily activities.
“I went on a trip to Hawaii.” —OR— "I took a trip to Hawaii."
“I took the bus to the grocery store. It was a long trip there and back.”
Be careful though, the verb to trip does not involve travel. It means to accidentally catch your foot on something and stumble or fall down.
Now let's look at some more specific terms.
Vacation and holiday
A vacation, or holiday, is a leave of absence from a regular occupation, or a specific trip or journey, usually for the purpose of recreation or tourism. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances, or for specific festivals or celebrations. Vacations are often spent with friends or family.
Alana: “Where did you go for your vacation?”
Isaac: “I went to a resort in Varadero, Cuba.”
Alana: “Yeah? How was it?”
Isaac: “Amazing! I stayed on the beach the whole time, drank Piña Coladas and ate seafood.”
Alana: “Did you ever go into town?”
Isaac: “Oh no, that’s way too risky.”
Holiday
Going on holiday is similar to going on vacation but is specific to traveling during an official time off, such as Christmas/New Year or Easter.
Holiday comes from a combination of the words "holy" and "day" meaning both "religious festival" and "day of off from labor."
Marco: “Where did you go during the holidays?”
Amira: “We traveled to Boston to spend Christmas with my husband’s family and ended up spending New Year’s in New York. How about you?"
Marco: “I went on holiday on a cruise ship. We crossed the Atlantic and ended up in Lisbon!”
To summer
This is a verb used almost exclusively by rich Americans to express where they spend their summer months.
Brent: “Where do you summer?"
Tiffany: “For the past three years, we've summered at my husband’s house in the Hamptons. How about yourself?”
Brent: “I have a property in Nantucket. We spend most of our days yachting with a few family friends.”
Adventure
Going on an adventure is very different from a vacation, holiday, or summering, as it involves a great amount of physical effort and some risk to one’s safety. When people go on an adventure, their path is often decided on only a few days or even hours ahead, and they do not always know where the end point is. Relaxing at the Ritz-Carlton or walking in Florence doesn’t quite qualify here.
Nina: “Did you go on vacation this year?”
Albert: “Yes! I crossed the Mongolian desert on a local bus.”
Nina: "Wow! Sounds like quite the adventure.”
Albert: “It was! The bus was so crowded that I could barely move. It took three days to reach the Chinese border.”
Travel advertisement: “Do you want to live your childhood dream of sleeping in a treehouse connected by ziplines? Are you looking for a unique adventure that will have you fly 15 kilometers above the Laotian jungle? Then welcome to the Monkey Experience!”
Backpacking
A type of adventure traveling is called backpacking. Backpackers literally live out of their large travel backpacks, meaning that they do not carry any extra luggage. They usually stay in hostels and take local transportation in order to travel as cheaply as possible. The backpacker’s goal is to travel as long as possible on a limited budget.
Eileen: “What was your favourite trip?”
Jin: “It must be when I backpacked for 8 months through Southeast Asia in 2015.”
Eileen: “Oh wow, where did you go?”
Jin: “I did the traditional route. You know, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia.”
Eileen: “I’m so jealous!”
These are just a few of many terms that you can use instead of travel to describe your trips abroad, whether they be vacations or adventures!