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and disrupt outdated social norms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