雙語朗讀美文：旅行不再是奢望

以前，手上有了餘錢，人們纔會外出旅遊。但是，現在的年輕人，即使沒有多少錢，甚至沒有工作，也比前幾代人走得更遠，行得更久。

Traveling for leisure is usually something people do when they have money to spare. But today’s young people travel longer and farther than previous generations, even though they don’t have much money; some don’t even have a job.

現如今，更多的年輕人傾心於旅遊，這已成爲一個全球趨勢。聯合國世界旅遊組織2012年發佈的報告顯示：2011年，近2億年輕人外出旅行，其人數佔到國際遊客人數的20%。同時，全球旅遊業2011年年收入中，超過1800億美元(約合1.12萬億人民幣)都來自年輕人，而這一數字較2007年增長了近30%。聯合國認爲，產生這一現象的原因，一方面源於新興市場國家不斷上漲的工資水平，另一方面則和發達國家年輕人“即使經濟不穩定也要去旅遊”的觀念密不可分。

It is a worldwide trend that more and more young people are interested in traveling. In a report released in 2012, the United Nation’s World Tourism Organization estimated that in the year 2011, 20 percent of all international tourists, or nearly 200 million travelers, were young people. Young tourists generate more than $180 billion (1.12 trillion yuan) in annual tourism revenue, an increase of nearly 30 percent since 2007. The UN attributes that growth both to rising incomes in emerging economies and a commitment by youth in developed countries to “continue traveling despite economic uncertainty”.

In the US, the Millennial generation, defined as those between ages 16 and 34, is more interested than older generations in traveling abroad, despite the economic downturn and high unemployment rates, according to a 2013 Boston Consulting Group report.

波士頓諮詢2013年的報告則顯示：在美國，16至34歲的人羣比他們的父輩們更熱衷於周遊世界;這些“千禧世代”不顧低迷的經濟、居高不下的失業率，依然對旅遊充滿興趣。

Another recent report, released by The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation, which surveyed more than 34,000 people from 137 countries, found that young travelers are not as interested in “the traditional sun, sea and sand holidays” as previous generations. They are spending less time in “major gateway cities” and instead exploring more remote destinations, and choosing long backpacking trips over short breaks.

另一份報告來自世界青年學生教育旅行聯盟：它對來自137個國家的34000人進行了調查，結果發現，當代年輕人已經不再像前幾代人那樣對“傳統的陽光、沙灘、大海假日”情有獨鍾，他們不再花很多時間流連於“大城市”，而是潛心探索更加偏遠的地區，選擇走走停停的長途揹包旅行。

　　No longer a luxury

　　旅行不再是奢望

The study showed an increase from 2007 in young travelers taking trips longer than two months, with the average trip lasting 58 days.

這份報告還發現，相較於2007年，出行時長超過兩個月的年輕旅行者數量明顯增多，平均旅行時間長達58天。

Amanda Machado, writing in The Atlantic website, says with easy access to social media and budget-travel tools like Airbnb, Couchsurfing, Skyscanner, and Lonely Planet message boards, long-term travel isn’t as expensive as some may imagine.

阿曼達?馬卡多在《大西洋月刊》的網站上寫到：低門檻的社交媒體與窮遊工具的普及(如Airbnb, Couchsurfing, Skyscanner, 以及 Lonely Planet留言板)讓長時間旅行不再昂貴，。

Many young people are looking for meaningful experiences in their travels. Carrie Barker, writing on tourism marketing website , says today’s young people are more interested in bragging about what they just did in social media than showing off what they just bought. “Millennials care about checking in at the most buzz-worthy restaurants, or posting artfully filtered selfies from remote beaches to shamelessly promote our cool factor,” she says.

很多年輕人期望在旅途中尋找有意義的經歷。嘉麗?巴克在旅遊營銷網站上寫到：相較於在網上曬自己買到的東西，現在的年輕人更喜歡在社交媒體上曬自己做過的事。“‘千禧世代’更關心能否入住最具話題酒店，或者爲了耍酷，上傳一些在偏遠海灘上拍照並美化過的自拍照。”她說。

Many young people are also using traveling as a form of job training. According to the WYSE Travel Confederation’s report, 22 percent of respondents wanted to learn a language during their travels, 15 percent wanted to gain more work experience, and 15 percent wanted to study — all increases on 2007.

還有很多年輕人則把旅行當作一種職業培訓。世界青年學生教育旅行聯盟的報告顯示，22%的受訪者想要通過旅行學習一門新的語言，15%的人想要豐富自己的工作閱歷，還有15%的小夥伴想要藉此機會學習更多知識。而所有這些比例都較2007年有所增加。