When it Comes to Business or Pleasure, Is Hindsight 20/20?
by Daria JonesNow that I'm a WorldVenturer, I reflect back on my travels in college, grad school and in my professional life and think of what I did then and what I'd do differently today.
Late Teens
I rarely went anywhere but home to my parents on Spring Break or stayed on campus to earn a little extra here or there--mostly for routine expenses since I had scholarships and grants to take care of the real bills. If I had to do that all over again, my friends would have most definitely taken a Spring Break like this:
Caribbean Sand Suite accommodations feature 2 double beds or a king-size bed, a private balcony, a fully stocked mini-bar and liquor dispenser with premium brands, a double Jacuzzi tub, in-room wine, Wi-Fi, Rock Spa bath amenities, and satellite TV with an LCD screen.
Price is per person based on two people staying.
Room taxes and gratuities.
Round-trip airport transfers.
$1,500 resort credit per room.*
A 20% service fee will apply over the final price of all transactions using the resort credit promotion on all services or products available at Hard Rock Hotel Casino Punta Cana. A service fee can only be paid with cash, room charge and credit card. This fee is collected by the hotel and is due on the day of departure.
**Air transportation is not included. For additional details on this or similar Dream Trips, request a Leisure Travel Club Consultation.
We wouldn't be worried about routine expenses because my fellow WorldVenturers and I would have making commissions and residual income on our MLM, we'd have probably come home from our holiday richer than when we'd left.
No, I didn't go to Florida or Virginia Beach or anywhere exotic, but I did go to Italy in my late teens because I wanted to see the sights and learn to speak Italian. I went solo, armed with little more than an American Express and Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) card, I flew into Milan, took a train to Florence and tried to get over the sting of the culture shock. I managed the shock, made a few friends and made myself understood in my L2. I was completely hooked on the world travelling bandwagon. Of course, if I had to do that all over again today, I would have at most simply gone to college abroad--there are many countries where getting an undergraduate education is tuition-free and in many cases language would not have been a barrier. At the very least, I would have used the resources available online like Memrise, Anki, and a slew of other websites with free stuff that would have helped me avoid my first week of tearful cries of "Does anybody speak English?"
