Travelling on a Budget

Sam: I’m really keen to do some traveling in the middle of the year and escaping the winter here but, well, I’m totally broke.

Amy: Oh, really? Well, where is it that you want to go?

Sam: Well my brother lives in New York. I’d love to visit him and then do a trip to some other places in the States.

Amy: Yeah?

Sam: Hmm.

Amy: Well, there are various things you can do, uh, if you make an effort. Um, for example, would you be willing to let someone stay in your apartment, um, if you were able to stay in theirs maybe?

Sam: Uh, well, that’s a bit tricky for me actually because I- I share a house with other people, so I don’t really have the option of swapping houses or swapping apartments with someone.

Amy: Oh right, yeah.

Sam: But- but I have been thinking about house sitting. Um, I- I actually do house sitting in my city from time to time, and I was checking out this website recently.

Sam: It’s sort of an international community of people who offer house sitting opportunities, and so maybe there’s a couple of places around New York or somewhere else in the United States that I can find.

Amy: Yeah, and also, for traveling around there, um, you- you could carpool with people, um, and organize everything, uh, in advance. There are some great websites to do that. People say where they’re traveling and you say, “Look, can I come with you?”

Sam: Hmm.

Amy: Um, and it’s not an Uber where you pay. It’s- it’s just a- a-, you know, you just kind… It’s like hitchhiking in a modern way. You know, it’s using apps.

Sam: Ah, yes.

Amy: Um, What does that sound like? That sounds OK, doesn’t it?

Sam: Yeah that sounds great. I- I think I will definitely prefer that to hitchhiking. I- I think that’s… yeah, I’d feel very uncomfortable about hitchhiking.

Amy: Yeah.

Sam: Uh, but I can imagine maybe sharing a car with- with people you don’t know might be a little be difficult sometimes.

Amy: They could drive you up the wall.

Sam: Yeah, yeah, I can imagine, but I think it’s a small price to pay.

Amy: Yeah, cause it means you could get off the beaten track and do something really different.

Vocabulary:

keen to – (expression) very interested, eager, or wanting to do something, “She is really keen to learn how to play the guitar this summer.”

escaping the winter – (expression) traveling to a warmer place to avoid the cold, dark winter weather at home, “Many retirees spend months in Florida, escaping the winter of the northern states.”

totally broke – (idiom/informal) having absolutely no money at all, “I would love to go to the concert with you, but I am totally broke until payday.”

make an effort – (expression) to try hard or put physical or mental energy into doing something, “If you want to pass the exam, you need to make an effort to study every night.”

swapping houses – (expression) a temporary exchange of homes between people, usually for a vacation, to avoid accommodation costs, “Swapping houses with a family in France saved us thousands of dollars on hotel bills.”

house sitting – (noun/gerund) the practice of looking after a person’s home (and often pets) while they are away in exchange for free accommodation, “She is house sitting for her neighbors this week while they are on vacation.”

from time to time – (idiom) occasionally; sometimes but not regularly, “We still see our old high school friends from time to time at reunions.”

checking out – (phrasal verb/informal) looking at, examining, or investigating something of interest, “I was checking out a new travel website to find cheap flights.”

carpool – (verb) to share a car journey with other people, typically to save money on fuel or reduce emissions, “My coworkers and I decide to carpool to work to save money on daily parking fees.”

in advance – (idiom) ahead of time; beforehand, “You need to book your flight tickets months in advance to get the best prices.”

hitchhiking – (noun) traveling by getting free rides in passing vehicles, usually by standing at the side of the road with a thumb up, “Hitchhiking can be a budget-friendly way to travel, but it comes with some safety risks.”

drive you up the wall – (idiom) to annoy, irritate, or make someone highly frustrated, “That constant loud typing noise from the next desk is going to drive me up the wall.”

a small price to pay – (idiom) a minor disadvantage, sacrifice, or inconvenience that is worth it to get a much larger benefit, “Waking up early was a small price to pay for enjoying the beautiful sunrise over the ocean.”

get off the beaten track – (idiom) to travel to places that are quiet, isolated, or not popular with regular tourists, “We decided to get off the beaten track and explore the small mountain villages instead of the busy city.”