Different types of travel
In your country, in your culture, do people travel only for holidays? Do you have to travel a long way to find adequate medical care? Do you travel only for leisure or do you also go on study trips such as with the Erasmus exchange programme, professional trips, business trips? Can you go on a humanitarian mission during your holidays? In your country, in your culture, are there any travellers?
Traveling means making a long-distance trip. You can travel on horseback, on foot, by coach, by car, by train, by boat, by plane. You can travel by day or by night, with or without money. You can travel alone, with your family, in a group. The destination can be near or far: in the neighbouring province or on the other side of the world. We travel for fun, to learn, to study, to seek wisdom. Economic and professional motives are also an opportunity to travel: negotiating business deals, prospecting for trade, being transferred by one’s employer, finding a job in a more prosperous region. Sometimes people travel a long way to find a job, and sometimes for medical, political or military reasons.
In France, Belgium and Switzerland, the development of high-speed trains and low-cost flights has changed the habits of workers. Middle and upper class people can go on extended weekends more than 800 kilometres from home to visit a cultural city or to relax in a holiday-like landscape.
In France, people coming from regions with low population density sometimes have to travel long distances to be treated in a hospital. They may have to travel 150 to 200 kilometres to be treated for a serious illness.
Travel can be driven by business needs: the globalisation of the economy has increased business travel tenfold. For example, people living in small rural or urban economic areas may need to move closer to larger cities to find employment.
Travellers are people who are economically active but have no fixed residence.
