TOEFL® essay examples: Travelling alone or with companion

[Junior_Ftu]

Travelling alone or with a companion

According to me, this question is quite hard to answer, because there are pros as well as cons concerning travelling alone. Nevertheless, I would prefer to travel with a companion, because I am of the opinion that the advantages of travelling in a group outweigh the disadvantages, because of several reasons. Although, going on a journey alone may guarantee to get to know a lot of new people, travelling twosome makes it easier when a difficult situation emerges and in addition to that you have always somebody to speak with when something depresses you.

To be alone on holiday is sometimes hard, because you do not know anybody. A fact, however, is that there are a lot of other single travellers on a journey too, who also want to know new people. Consequently, it is quite easy to find, for example backpackers, who are going to join you for a fraction of your journey. As a result, you get to know a lot of new people from all over the world and sometimes real friendships may emerge from these random meetings.

On the other hand it is always good, if you know somebody, because several bad situations can occur quickly. An accident, for instance, happens very fast. Being in a hospital alone, on the other side of the world maybe very depressing, because it is impossible to share the fears with somebody you rely on. It can also happen that, you had no ID with you during the accident and as a result nobody knows your name and in turn can not inform your relatives that you have to stay in hospital.

Another, no less essential point, to travel twosome is the fact that everybody of us has up and downs in his or her life. When a friend joins you at your trip, there is always a person you can rely on and talk with, around you. Consequently, little problems are not as cumbering as travelling alone.

Summarizing, although good arguments can be made for travelling alone, I would prefer travelling in a group, because of the points mentioned above.

TOEFL listening lectures: A university lecture by a professor of Anthropology