1 . How You Can Save Money on Rail Fares

Save 33% with a railcard

Everyone knows about the young person’s railcard —or, to give it its proper name, the 16-25 railcard—but are you aware of the 26-30 railcard’s existence, or that senior railcard is available to all those aged 60 and over?

There are now nine to choose from, and about the only group that doesn’t have one aimed specifically at them, are single people aged 31 to 59.

And even they have the option to buy a Network card for use across the southern half of England, including in and out of London.

The most popular railcards cost £30 a year (or, in many cases, £70 for three years) and typically give a 33% discount on the ticket price.

Users of some of the cards (including 16-25 and 26-30) can use them at peak times—albeit (尽管) with a £ 12 minimum fare. Others, such as senior users, have to travel off-peak, which generally means after 9:30 a.m. or, annoyingly, 10 a.m. in the case of the Network card.

In some cases you will save the card’s purchase price in one or two trips. They are now available digitally (to be kept on a mobile) or in paper form. So don’t forget to keep your phone charged.

Try to commute off-peak

In response to more people working part of their week at home, the rail industry has started offering flexible season tickets that typically allow users to travel on any eight days in a 28-day period.

The problem is that in many cases the discounts are not sufficient to make them worthwhile.

When Money Saving Expert crunched the numbers, it found part-time season tickets offered the best value to those travelling two days a week, but, even then, not in all cases.

If you go into the office for a few days, you are likely to be better off buying daily tickets, or the full season ticket, it concluded.

One of the biggest ways to save while commuting is to shift your travel to off-peak—assuming your boss will allow it. This makes particular sense if you can add a railcard, too.

For others, Carnet tickets offer a 10% discount on certain routes, but again only off-peak.

To see the country, road trips are the only way to go

I am not an enthusiastic air traveler. Bustling through airports, getting checked by security, and standing in lines leave me     1    . But road trips are different. While the transit time is longer, opportunities to get off the     2     path make it worthwhile. I see places and interact with people and cultures that I otherwise tend to miss, rediscovering how far you can go and how much you can experience without leaving the United States. So, when my son said he wanted to tour the Kansas State University campus after receiving an admission offer, we threw our luggage and a case of bottled water in the car and     3     the highway. One attraction of traveling at the speed of a car is the transitions. Arizona’s Meteor Crater, Two Guns, and Painted Desert give way to New Mexican villages, then farm towns. Red rocks become open plains where grain elevators are the only features     4     above endless miles of flatness.

That flatness poses an unexpected challenge when there’s nothing to step behind. Eating on the road can also be a challenge. For basic sustenance, Anthony and I relied on Subway sandwich shops, which offer the same reliable fare at every location. While not exactly a     5     of local cuisine, they didn’t leave us regretting lunch when we returned to clocking miles. Salads were     6     difficult to come by in the college town of Manhattan, Kansas, although we had no complaints about the burgers and barbecue.   

In contrast to airport excursions, which often feature     7     and even confrontations, our trip was entirely pleasant. When you meet folks in their natural environment after hours of     8     scenery, it’s easier to remember just how big the world is and to appreciate that many of its inhabitants are perfectly happy living     9    , and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be.

As it turned out, the greatest source of stress was the frequent reminder that my son changes     10     like he’s afraid of missing a sharp turn. Fortunately, that’s a travel headache that can be fixed.

3 . Be a Better Traveler in the Over-tourism Era

Travel has become as accessible as McDonald’s, reaching a new high as global tourist arrivals reached 1.4 billion last year. In 1995, global arrivals numbered only 525 million.

As a father of two kids, I am the first to celebrate the drop in costs brought on by air-travel market liberalization, the rise of discount airlines, a revolution in accommodations thanks to the likes of Books.com and Airbnb, and mobile devices installed with the best maps and travel guides the world has ever known. I’m also happy for the retailers, hoteliers, museum keepers and others who have benefited financially from the tourism boom.

I can’t help but wonder, though, what we are actually seeing as we travel these days. More people are travelling, but many are visiting the same places. Is a forest of selfie sticks what I wanted to show my daughter at the Louvre? When was the last time I set food on Prague’s main square without being elbowed a dozen times? Is a trip to Barcelona complete if you have to avoid every famous location for fear of being trampled (踩踏)?

Cities can not do much about this — they can’t very well close airports, force airlines to fly less frequently or increase their prices. Raising the cost of air travel, overall or to specific destination, will never be popular. Many will object it on the grounds that travel shouldn’t be just for the rich, and it’ll hurt the residents of cities troubled with over-tourism.

So what should travelers do? Stay home? That’s unlikely. But if you are heading for some of the world’s most popular destinations, rethink your bucket list (愿望清单). You should be open to venturing beyond the obvious. Even if you are set on visiting an iconic site, consider going at an off-peak time.

The biggest thing to keep in mind, no matter where you travel, is to be well-researched, respectful and genuinely curious about the destination. Don’t fall victim to what people call “selfie culture” and “bucket list culture”. Treat the destination as you would do to your own home - not as a “hidden gem” that you throw money at to get certain experience you feel entitled to.