Binge travel an idea about traveling three days at a time

[Applause]

a few years ago

i had the opportunity to travel halfway

across the world

to india i visited the golden triangle

of new delhi agra and jaipur watching

the sunrise at the taj mahal

visiting famous forts and palaces it was

the trip

of a lifetime but would you believe me

if i told you

i did this all in three days

this is what i call binge travel

much like spending a weekend streaming

the entire season of the latest tv show

binge travel involves spending a weekend

somewhere that

isn’t home it took me 30 hours to get to

new delhi

and i was on the ground for 72 hours

luckily i have no problem sleeping on

planes

and i was able to hire a driver to save

time

he was super helpful directing me to the

main attractions at the right times

and he was really affordable at only

eighty dollars for the entire trip

i was able to visit two sites in each

city and let me tell you

going to the taj mahal at sunrise is the

best way to avoid the crowds

you really only need a couple hours to

see each site

more time would be nice but it’s not

required to appreciate being somewhere

new

through binge travel i visited more than

65 countries

and 40 states three days at a time all

while working full time as a city

planner

some of the places i visited over a long

weekend include

london rio de janeiro dubai

hong kong and even patagonia

but binge travel isn’t just taking a

weekend to go to the other side of the

world

like to define binge travel as doing

more travel

with less time it’s taking a trip

near or far and having a plethora of

travel experiences

in a short period of time whether i take

a trip to tokyo

or to moab these travel experiences are

valuable

binge travel is an unconventional way to

think about and to engage in travel

that can drive innovation encourage

diversity

and disrupt outdated social norms

mark twain famously said that travel is

fatal

to prejudice bigotry and

narrow-mindedness

this quote is backed by research that

shows experiencing new cultures

increases your depth of thought and your

cognitive flexibility

the ability to jump between different

ideas

health-wise travel reduces your risk for

heart attack

and heart disease travel even improves

your productivity at work

and travel causes a direct increase in

happiness

there are even studies that show women

who go on vacation

at least twice a year are more satisfied

in their marriages

the ability to take advantage of binge

travel opportunities

opens up a world of benefits like these

to more than just the rich

and the retired knowing that there’s so

much data supporting travel

it’s also surprising that most americans

don’t even

don’t even take their paid vacation days

if they have any

this is where binge travel comes in

handy if you only need to take a few

days to go on a trip

then why not i want to challenge you

all to stop thinking that you need to

spend

one or two weeks in order to go anywhere

worthwhile

travel doesn’t have to take that much

time or money

my own motto is that it’s never worth

going into debt

it also helps if you set your own rules

for travel

i recommend setting a budget and having

a list of destinations ready

so you can book that flight when you see

a great deal

the idea that there is a cheapest day or

time

to travel or to book a flight is simply

false

those tips are purely based on data from

the past year

and don’t predict future airfares at all

my personal rule for binge travel is

that my flight cannot cost more than 100

per day that i’m at my destination and

really i’m open to

any destination that fits the bill so

yes

this means that my flight to india was

under 300

round trip

[Music]

here’s a list of some of the best deals

i’ve scored in the past including one

from salt lake city

if you regularly follow any number of

travel bloggers or flight tracking

websites

you’ll likely come across deals like

these from time to time

sometimes they’re just really good sales

and other times

the airline makes a mistake and you get

lucky

but really we’re all lucky to live in

salt lake city

where our airport is a hub for a major

international airline this means that

other other airlines often drop prices

from salt lake

in what’s called a fair war just to

compete

travel also doesn’t have to be far in

the most basic sense

travel is the movement of people from

one location

to a different location and more

concretely

the united nations and the u.s

government define travel

as any trip of 50 miles or more

it really doesn’t matter why you travel

or even where you travel what’s

important

is that you travel

being born and raised in hawaii

surrounded by tourism

flying was required to go anywhere which

my family really couldn’t afford

but i was privileged to have a passport

at a young age in order to visit my

mother’s family in thailand every few

years

we struggled to make that trip happen

but we are fortunate to have that

opportunity

to travel to another country and

experience something different than home

i’m not rich i have never been rich

but many people think i must have a lot

of money because i travel so much

but here’s the thing if you wait until

you have a lot of time

and a lot of money you might not get to

go anywhere

in college i learned a little bit of

travel hacking

and discovered that travel can be

affordable with a little bit of research

and while money can be hard to come by

what i truly can control

is my time i can choose to take

advantage of holiday weekends

and red-eye flights to go to far away

places

there’s a lot more to travel than a

cheap flight there’s also an art to

finding

cheap accommodations and activities i’ve

often traveled alone

so for me it has been more affordable to

rent a bed in a hostel while i binge

travel

especially if i only need it to shower

and to sleep

and they often have lots of free and fun

activities i’ve been on so many free

walking tours and bike tours

they’re a great way to see the

highlights of a place on a short trip

and to make fast friends if you’re

traveling solo

there are so many ways to make the most

of binge travel

even if you’d rather spend more time at

your destination

at the core of binge travel is the idea

that

travel can change the world travel is a

catalyst for equality and inclusivity

and drives sustainable development and

if travel

typically seen as an aspirational and

leisure activity

is so important and life-changing then

everyone should have access to it

so travel more and maybe even binge

travel here and there

travel for your own good and i promise

the investment is worth it thank you