Choosing a Place to Travel based on Cost

Outline

Overvalued and undervalued currencies
Ten common countries in the cheapest countries listings
Least expensive destination in the Eastern Hemisphere
Least expensive destination in the Western Hemisphere
Safety Factor
What do you think of the Leffel quote

Overvalued and undervalued currencies

Using the formula in the Big Mac Index interactive site, how much is the Big Mac overvalued in the most expensive country, and how much is it undervalued in the least expensive? Which countries would be the cheapest for travel, and which would be the most expensive based on this index?

The most expensive country in terms of the big mas index is Switzerland, overvalued by 18.4%. While the least expensive is South Africa, undervalued at -62.0%. Based on this index, the cheapest countries for travel would be countries that were undervalued in the big mac index including South Africa, Russia, Romania, Turkey, and Azerbaijan; While the most expensive would be countries either overvalued, equal to the United States, or just slightly undervalued compared to the United States on the big mac index such as Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Canada, and Israel.

Ten common countries in the cheapest countries listings

Read the Leffel chapter and the other links provided to derive a list of the 10 cheapest countries for travel. Compare this with a more modern assessment at Indie Traveller.

Peru, Guatemala, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nepal, and Malaysia.

Least expensive destination in the Eastern Hemisphere

From the above, the Big Mac Index and the most inexpensive airfares you found, find the least expensive destination in the eastern hemisphere for a three-week trip. What criteria did you use to select the country? Insert airfare graphic that shows how you would get to the country. Insert a graphic of an inexpensive lodging. What would be the total cost of the 3-week trip? (The idea here is that cheap lodging over three weeks will counter a more expensive airfare. So, look for the cheapest lodging and find a moderate airfare to that location.) Estimate daily food costs.

To determine the cheapest destination, I searched for cheap flights to various destinations. I focused my search on the specific area of Asia for the Eastern hemisphere, learning from previous assignments that this was the most common location to find cheap flights. I also looked here because many countries found in Asia are places where they are ranked undervalued in the big mac index. The following is what I found in regards to planning a 3-week trip:

Total of $849 for a roundtrip flight from Omaha to Jakarta.

Total of $175 for lodging in Jakarta.

At an average of $14 a day, for 3 weeks we can estimate around $294.

Making the total cost $1318.24.

Least expensive destination in the Western Hemisphere

From the above, the Big Mac Index and the most inexpensive airfares you found, find the least expensive destination in the western hemisphere for a three-week trip. What criteria did you use to select the country? Insert airfare graphic that shows how you would get to the country. Insert a graphic of an inexpensive lodging. What would be the total cost of the 3-week trip? (The idea here is that cheap lodging over three weeks will counter a more expensive airfare. So, look for the cheapest lodging and find a moderate airfare to that location.) Estimate daily food costs.

To determine the cheapest destination, I searched for cheap flights to various destinations. I focused my search on the specific area of South America for the Western hemisphere, learning from previous assignments that this was the most common location to find cheap flights. I also looked here because many countries found in South America are places where they are ranked undervalued in the big mac index. The following is what I found in regards to planning a 3-week trip:

Total of $557.10 for a roundtrip flight from Omaha to Lima.

Total of $160 for a room in Lima.

At an average of $0.39 per day, for 3 weeks we can estimate $9.

Making the total cost $726.10.

Safety Factor

Consider the safety factor in the destination you have chosen. Take a look the Global Peace Index rankings (A ranking of countries based on the Peace Index begins on p. 8.) Which country would be the safest? Where is the United States ranked? Where do your chosen countries rank?

In terms of the global peace index rankings the safest country would be Iceland. The United States is ranked 121. The countries that I found for the assignment were Indonesia with a ranking of 55 and Peru with a ranking of 74.

What do you think of the Leffel quote:

"You'll learn far more than you ever did at a university.
Remember the old days when people got a liberal arts education? They went to Oxford or Princeton to learn about history, politics, social studies, geography, religion, foreign languages, and economics. Well you'll learn far more about all those things by traveling than you ever can in college. Ask anyone in their 30's how much they remember about these subjects from their university classes. "Not much" will usually sum it up."

I agree with this quote to a certain point. I certainly believe that the average person will certainly learn more traveling than they would in the university. Where I would disagree is for those people who will learn all they can from travel and seek more. Once these people become very seasoned travelers the rate at which they will learn will likely slow. While for some in the University there are endless avenues of study to learn from. So the pace of learning in the university may be higher in the long run, but only for those certain individuals for are very disciplined and dedicated to their field of study.

Submitted by Jennifer Nguyen on 2/28/2020.