介绍:
【特别感谢热心听友琅琅-FMU-曹英哲Mobey帮忙听写本篇文稿】
Heyang: Short of cash doesn&`&t mean you can&`&t see the world. Are you good at squeezing every penny out of budget to give yourself as much travel as possible? As shoestring travel or 穷游 becomes more popular, it is also facing increasing criticism over unexpected risks.
So guys, what is 穷游 or shoestring travel?
Amy: Shoestring travel is traveling on an extreme budget.
HY: Ok, but that is not enough to explain what’s going on here as in China we have these very very cheap tour groups that some claim that they charge you zero Yuan. So can that be categorized as shoestring travel too, Luoyu?
LY: no of course. Those people are organized by some of the travel agencies, and you have to be in the group, and you basically visit every single store you have to or purchase something and then make the compensation for the fees, the travel fees.
Amy:Yeah, I would say that could be a cheap way to travel but maybe is not the meaning of shoestring travel the way that we are using here in China, right? So what we mean is solo backpackers who are staying in hostels that are very cheap maybe 20 to 30 kuai a night, they hitchhike, ticket around or do some other very cheap travel, they maybe eat instant noodles instead of eating you know in a restaurant wherever they travel, or they impose on the kindness of strangers they might meet along the way, those are the kinds of things that can be shoestring backpacker travel.
HY: it&`&s really great that we finally got the definition right. This is something that a lot of people are talking about right 穷游. But sometimes when you are talking about completely different things when the definition hasn&`&t being straighten out in the first place it&`&s just not that useful. So guys, why do you think it is popular?
LY：for one thing I think it&`&s a positive effective, because that&`&s the main purpose of traveling, going sightseeing is to explore the outside world. So all the routines are not set, all the routes are not set. If you are the adventurous type, definitely it&`&s a very great thing for you to know different people along the journey, and to share the experiences and you spend a couple of nights in youth hostel. So I think it&`&s a brilliant experience.
HY:But is it just the same as not shoestring travel? you get to experience you get to share you get to stay in maybe not hostels but in hotels you still get to interact with other people.
Amy: No, different. Very very different. (HY: why is it different?) OK, I can tell you that I&`&ve done this kind of travel. Actually I quit my job, this was five years ago. I sold all my stuff. I got a backpack. And I went traveling around the world for about a year and a half. That was before I came to China.
HY: Did you have enough savings?
Amy: Well, I worked for 3 years at my jobs, I saved a big sum of money I think I could have been more of a shoestring traveler than I was, I definitely spent more money than I meant to, but you can do around the world travel on a very very cheap budget if you stay in these places, I think this is really really popular among young people especially recent college graduates, and especially because, one, in general, China is more economically prosperous than it ever has been. But two, the economy is slowing down so for recent graduates, it&`&s harder and harder to find a job. So what you do? You go travel. And if you don&`&t have any money, you go travel on a shoestring budget. People have been doing this in Europe and southeast Asia for generations right? And I think China is now just sort of getting into the game. Young people are just in this position where they have enough security back home from maybe your parents or grandparents or whatever, now that they are giving you a lot of money, but you haven&`&t enough security that you feel comfortable just taking off, but you also don&`&t have enough job prospect where you feel like I need to start my career right the second. So I think this generation is stuck in this like I guess perfect gap for this kind of travel.
HY: emm interesting, and I’ve always wondered why the people want to leave what they have behind and go on a journey like this, why is it, what did you have in mind Amy?
Amy: I wanted to see the world. I mean I always wanted to study abroad when I was in university and I didn&`&t get the chance to do it because I was on such a like focus path to graduation. And then when I finished university I was really really broke. Like too broke to even go shoestring traveling. So I got a job and I got the right opportunity at the right time. And then I sort of came to end of that job I was a little bit like worn out of working there I&`&d saved a little bit of money and I thought if I&`&m not gonna do it now I&`&m never gonna do it. And so that&`&s why I chose that time and that&`&s why I sold all my stuff and went backpacking because there&`&s so much of the world that&`&s to see and I wanted to know how do people live here I wanted to see all these great sites. I wanted to experience life in different places and eat different food and like you know greet people in different ways and how do you say "cheers" in Irish like Gaelic or whatever you know I just wanted...the experience of traveling to me is really exciting.
LY: do you think there are many risks as well?
HY: Ok, what other risks that you perceive, Luoyu?
LY: well we probably be standing in the middle of nowhere, you want to hitch a ride, but you couldn&`&t see any cars, or you&`&ve seen millions of cars passing by still there was not even a driver who like to give you a free trip.
HY: and more like scarier than that is you don&`&t know who the driver is and we&`&ve heard these really scary news from...
LY: A lot of assault or attacks might be happening.
Amy: yeah I think that is definitely something to keep in mind especially for a solo female traveler you should be very careful exercises caution. Eh you know be a bit smarter about how you travel who you take a ride from. Where you go at night, buy yourself that kind of thing. You definitely need to be cautious but being cautious doesn&`&t mean you need to like lock yourself in a room and never see anything, you know. I think that there&`&s a healthy balance there&`&s always risks attached to anything. You could ride the subway and somebody could you know do something to you on the subway.
HY: yes, do some research before leaving. You need emergency backup plan.
Amy: have a backup. And I think that the more you do this kind of travel, the more you are gonna find other people with similar values and interests who will help you along the way.
HY: alright. And we&`&ve got so many messages regarding this topic coming in. Draco says summed up by Amy that is "世界那么大，我想去看看". And there&`&s 段洪林 who says "love you Amy. Gonna miss you". (oh I&`&m gonna miss you too) Oh is that 洪林? (duanhonglin, the name is duanhonglin). Alright ok I know your surname now. She says I will never want to go "穷游" only love rich and luxurious trip. Ok, got it! And 什锦 says traveling will cost you so you know don&`&t take other people&`&s help for granted as you are going on these shoestring travels and don&`&t overstay your welcome. You are listening to round table, that&`&s all we have for today. Bye-bye~~~
