cramped

cramped (adjective) constricted to a tight space. Example: This room is too cramped for 3 people. We need a bigger room.

confirmation (noun) information that confirms or verifies something Example: After booking the flight I received a confirmation email with all the flight information.

Teletext (noun) a news and information service you can find sometimes on your TV. Example: I flicked through Teletext to see the sports news.

(verb) repeat something from somewhere. Example: I quoted my booking reference number to the lady at check in.

day of my departure (noun) the day I will leave. Example: My day of departure is next Friday at 10am. I should check in about 2 hours before.

booking reference number (noun) a special number to show that you have booked, reserved and paid for your flight. Example: I found my booking reference number at the top of my confirmation email. I must remember to bring this with me to the airport.

confirmation (noun) information that confirms or verifies something. Example: After paying for my flight, I receieved a confirmation email.

secure page (noun) a safe internet page where you can pay using your credit card, it is very secure, so no one can see your information. Example: After I selected my flight I paid for it over a secure page.

Travel Agent (noun) someone who sells or arranges trips or tours for customers. Example: I went to the Travel Agent downtown and they were able to get me a good deal on my flights.

cheap deals (noun) inexpensive cost Example: We got a cheap deal on our holiday, because we went off season.

keep in touch (phrase) stay in contact Example: "Ok, I've got to go now, let's keep in touch."

snag (noun) a problem Example: The chief snag about learning English is that I have to practise alot, I hate this.

hop around (verb) to move from one place to another, usually in a short space of time. Example: I love hopping around Europe, especially island hopping in Greece.

travel bug (noun) the urge/desire to travel somewhere. Example: When I came home from holiday I had the travel bug, I wanted to go away again quickly.

hostellers (noun) people who stay at Youth Hostels. Example: I met some really interesting hostellers on my travels last year.

Youth Hostel (noun) a supervised, cheap place to stay for young travellers. Example: I tried to stay in a Youth Hostel last year, but I was too old, I had to be under 26 to stay there.

head (verb) to go or travel towards. Example: Where is she heading?

youth hostelling (verb) going to Youth Hostels, cheap places to stay for young travellers. Example: I like to go youth hostelling during the summer, it's cheap and I can meet alot of interesting people.

bunk-bed (noun) beds build one above the other. Example: When I stayed in a hostel in Paris, there was one bunk-bed in our room, I chose the top bunk and my friend slept in the bottom bunk.

sleeping bag (noun) a large comfotable bag designed to be slept in outdoors, usually rolls up and can be carried on a rucksack. Example: It rained last night but I was dry inside my sleeping bag, inside my tent.

package holiday (noun) a tour arranged by a travel agent; trnasportation and food and a place to stay are all provided in one price. Example: I went on a package holiday to Hong Kong last year, the hotel, flight and food were all great.

budget (noun) an amount of money you can use. Example: My budget for my holiday was 500 Euro.

hitch a lift (phrase) to get transportation in an automobile for free. Example: I hitched a lift (ride US) from my neighbour yesterday.

stick out my thumb (phrase) to extend your hand and thumb out, with your thumb pointing upwards, in order to get a ride in an automobile. Example: I missed the bus to school so i stuck out my thumb and luckily enough, someone picked me up and gave me a lift to school.

hitch-hiking (noun) a way of transportation by asking people for a ride in their automobile. Example: We went hitch-hiking around Ireland last summer. One of the drivers we met was really nice.

budget (phrase) to get transport in an automobile for free, by standing at the side of the road ( normally), and sticking out your thumb. Example: I hitched a lift (ride US) to school yesterday.

cramped (adjective) constricted to a tight space. Example: This room is too cramped for three people, we need a bigger room.

When I was younger my whole family used to travel around Ireland in an old Volkswagen Beetle. Not only this, but we used to sleep in the car at night too, my parents, my brother, my sister and me. It was really cramped and my brother’s socks smelled terrible, but we had great times travelling on my parent’s low budget.

When I was older, I guess in my teens, I loved hitch-hiking around Ireland, probably because it was free and it made me feel free. Sometimes, I would stick out my thumb and hitch a lift to university or to the beach or to the mountains, anywhere really. In the summer I really enjoyed youth hostelling too. I met people from all over the world there, people from Germany, Brazil, Japan, France and so on. I guess this is where my love of travel began.

I remember one time telling my parents that I was going to stay in my friend’s house for the weekend; instead I got on a boat and headed for London. I think I was 16 at the time. I had saved up some money, from odd jobs here and there, but when I got to London, I realized how expensive Youth Hostels were. I had to cut short my trip to only a night, but it was great, I had my sleeping bag, the bunk beds were great and the hostellers were all friendly.

My travel bug really caught on during university. I would go to London or Paris for the weekend regularly, sometimes to see friends, but mostly to go to art exhibitions. Now, I wasn’t a rich student. In fact I remember when I was a student, a telephone company chasing after me to try and get me to pay a bill, and I remember surviving on one box of biscuits for two weeks, so how could I travel to these places?

In Europe, travelling by train can be kind of expensive, but taking a boat is cheaper. Cheaper still is flying. Hopping around Europe by plane doesn’t cost too much if you are willing to put up with a few cutbacks on the plane, such as no food, higher taxes and so on. The chief snag is finding reasonably priced accommodation when you arrive at your destination.

Luckily I had made lots of friends around Europe, from the hostels I used to go to during the summer in Ireland. We kept in touch and I was able to stay with them, when I travelled. The flights were easy to find. Europe has a few budget airlines, such as Ryan Air, Go and Easy Jet. These airline companies will fly you to various cities around Europe for about €30. I always had to be on the lookout for cheap deals, either on Teletext or the Internet.

I didn’t have a credit card then, so it was not as easy to book tickets online, normally I’d just check them out online first, then go to my local Travel Agent and get them that way.

Today however; when I travel, I just open up the website I want to use, pick my flight, use my credit card number and a secure page for payment, such as Pay Pal, then within 5 seconds I can receive confirmation of my booking by email. I’ll be able to see my booking reference number, the day of my departure and so on. Later when I go to the airport I’ll just hand over my passport and quote my reference number. Oh and answer the security questions.

Most of my friends back home travel about once a year. They go on package holidays to the south of Spain for 2 weeks. Some would rent a Villa; others would get hotels with pools.

When I was a kid I never went abroad, I travelled the length and breadth of Ireland in a clapped out old Beetle. It seems a million miles away now, but when I get on Facebook and see photos of my friends and their kids, travelling around Ireland, I think back to those times with my family and smile.

Verb	Collocation	Example
ask around		I'll ask around and see if there's a room vacant somewhere.
back out	plan	I'm going to back out on our plan to go to Canada for spring break -I'm going to Hawaii instead.
be off		She's caught the travel bug now - she's off to Barbados this year.
be over		My holidays are nearly over. Next week I'll be back at work.
bounce back		The region's tourism industry has bounced back after the two major bombings in this city in March and April.
bring back	memories	Looking at the photos brought back a lot of memories of my visit to the place.
carry out	restoration work	Fish and vegetable stalls have moved to the north of the city while restauration work is being carried out on the market hall.
check in	hotel	We checked in to the hotel a little after midnight.
chill out		It's a great place to chill out for a few days.
come back		She's leaving tomorrow and coming back on Saturday.
cool off		Don't be tempted to cool off in the fountain, or you'll be fined.
drag away	water	We had to drag ourselves away from the azure waters and white beaches.
drink in	view	This is a fabulous place to sit and drink in the view of the intriguing islands just off the coast.
end up		La Palma is a unique island. No wonder so many people who come to visit end up staying!
fly off		Last night, they flew off for a week's break in Spain.
get away		Let's get away for a few days.
get back	photos	Usually, after a holiday, you wait with excitement to get your photos back from the developers.
get by		Albania is very cheap, and you can get by on relatively low cash.
get up to		What do you think your daughter is getting up to in Tenerife?
go away		We went away for the weekend.
go off		He went off on holiday without saying goodbye.
hash out	details	We will be contacting you to hash out details as your cruise approaches. Please contact us if you have any further questions.
head into	mountains	After we pass the township of Haast we head into the mountains and bid our farewell to the coastline.
hide away		Beautifully converted stone barns hidden away on a small Devon farm with lovely gardens and magnificent views.