To grasp an understanding of what the Big Mac Index is, I will leave a quote from statista.com. "The Big Mac Index is regarded as an indicator for the purchasing power of an economy. This index has been published by The Economist since 1986 and because the Big Mac is the top-selling McDonalds burger, it is easily available in almost any country." I have posted an image below of the current Big Mac Index taken from The Economist website:
I also will have the link to the interactive website I used at The Economist to get these current values: https://www.economist.com/news/2020/01/15/the-big-mac-index
According to The Big Mac Index, the Big Mac is overvalued the most in Switzerland by 18.4% with Norway hanging around 5.3% against the US dollar. There are three countries at 61% undervalue and they are Russia, Romania, and Turkey, however, at 62%, South Africa is the most undervalued against the US dollar.
From the Leffel Chapter of reading, I have come up with this list of ten cheapest countries to travel to (21 countries listed in total):
From the Indie Traveler reading, I have come up with this list of ten cheapest countries to travel to (20 countries listed in total):
Turkey
I chose this location according to the Big Mac Index, as it shows Turkey undervalues the Big Mac by 61% [12.99 lira for a Big Mac ($5.67 in the US). The exchange rate is 2.29 with a difference of 5.88]; both Leffel and Marek (of Indie Traveler) listed Turkey as one of the cheapest countries to travel to. The Indie Traveler gives us two values, $30/day on a backpacker budget and $50/day on a mid-range budget. I found this to be reasonable when taking into consideration food, lodging, and transportation. Not to mention, the cultural locations I would have access to like Roman and Ottoman ruins, bazaars, and beaches. Istanbul is center hub for my flight and lodging. The hostel I picked is also very close to many amenities, some of which are within a 40 minute walk.
Airfare
Lodging
Nearby Amenities
Based on the Indie Traveler budget, I roughly estimated about $30/day on food.
Total Cost of a Three-Week Trip: $1,526.86
Mexico
I chose this location according to the Big Mac Index, as it shows Mexico undervalues the Big Mac by 53% [50 pesos for a Big Mac ($5.67 in the US). The exchange rate is 8.82, with a difference of 18.82]; both Leffel and Marek (of Indie Traveler) listed Mexico as one of the cheapest countries to travel to. The Indie Traveler gives us two values, $40/day on a backpacker budget and $60/day on a mid-range budget; with Mexico City, there is an abundance of culture and easily accessible travel routes, so you can travel pretty much anywhere, therefore, Mexico City is center hub for my flight and lodging. The hostel I picked is very close to amenities, most of which are within a 30 minute walk.
Airfare
Lodging
Nearby Amenities
Based on the Indie Traveler budget, I roughly estimated about $45/day on food.
Total Cost of Three-Week Trip: $1,687.92
According to the Global Peace Index:
My chosen countries, unfortunately, rate very low on the Global Peace Index, however, the U.S. is not that far off.
"You will 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 30s how much they remember about these subjects from their university classes. "Not much" will usually sum it up."
This quote is perplexing because it places me in quite the conundrum. In the end, I disagree with his statement because the education we receive in college provides us with the foundation we need to survive in the outside world, travelling is just the topping on the cake. Without a foundation, you have nothing to build from. This course is proof; we are learning, researching, and "planning" a three-week trip. This course is teaching us many things I would never have thought of about travel, or how cheaply I can travel to some of my dream locations. College allows us to learn about these things that way when we are approached with them in the outside world, we don't meet it with naivety.
Submitted by Katie Holderfield on February 26, 2020.