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 country with the biggest overvalue is Switzerland and the country that is undervalued is Russia. The most expensive country to travel to would be to Switzerland and the cheapest would be Russia based on the index.
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.
The ten cheapest countries that I have derived from the article are: Colombia, Indonesia, Nepal, Yemen, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Honduras, Guatemala and Turkey. In the website Indie Traveller seven of the previously named countries are mentioned as cheapst countries to travel to as well.
I have decided to travel to Shanghai, China. My main criteria when choosing a location was pricing on the flight. I believe that lodging was going to be easier to find than the flight. My priority was to find a less expensive flight which I was able to get for $648.45. Once I was able to find a very reasonable flight I decided to look up lodging on Airbnb. I was able to find a room with a private bathroom and airconditioning for $81.00 for the entire three weeks. My daily food cost will be 3 dollars which is converted to 27 yuan. Total: $792.45 including food cost.
On the website Indie Traveller I saw that Cuba was one of the destinations on the western hemisphere that was both cheap for flight and lodging. I decided to look up flights from Omaha to Havana, Cuba and was able to find one for $390.85. I then proceeded to look up lodging on Airbnb was able to find a room with air conditioning for $192.00. My daily food cost will be $7 U.S. dollars which is converted to 7 CUC or 175 Cuban Pesos. Total: $729.85 including food cost.
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?
The safest country to travel according to the Global Peace Index is Iceland. The United States is ranked 121 in the Global Peace Index. The two countries that I decided to travel to China and Cuba are ranked 112 and 81 respectively.
"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 the quote partly. What we learn in a University will help us to identify the different concepts and terminology used for the different kinds of concepts. Just traveling around the world would give us great experience traveling and seeing those concepts on a day to day basis. I believe a mixture of studying and experience is very important.
Submitted by [Josue Ayala] on [February 28, 2020].