Complete the text with the words from the box. Use each word ONLY ONCE.
backpacking – business trips – city break – cruise – field trip – flight – road trips – staycations – tour – voyage
We didn't have much money when I was growing up, so our holidays were usually across the country in our very crowded car. In fact, the only time I went abroad was on a school to Paris when I was fourteen. It was my first time in a plane, and I spent the whole staring out the window, mesmerised by the clouds below.
At the age of 16, I started working and earning my own money. This enabled me to save up enough cash to travel to other countries. As soon as I left school, I went with a friend around Europe for the summer. We did a lot of hiking, carrying everything we needed on our backs.
After I returned, I found a job working for an international clothing company, and one of the highlights of this job was that I got to take lots of abroad to attend meetings and visit our factories. Although we never had much free time on these trips, I still enjoyed being somewhere different, and on a few occasions, I was able to extend my trip by an extra day or two and take a around the place.
I got married when I was 30 to a woman who also loved travelling, and we spent our honeymoon on a 10-day around the Mediterranean. My wife and I both had busy jobs, which left us little time to travel. However, on our first anniversary, I surprised her with a to Rome which we both enjoyed.
Soon after that, we started a family, which meant that if we wanted to travel, we had to do things the kids would enjoy. When my son was four years old, we decided to take a family holiday to France, and instead of flying, we took a ferry across the English Channel. Unfortunately, my wife suffered from seasickness and spent the entire in our cabin feeling too ill to enjoy the view. Luckily, things improved after that, and we spent a wonderful two weeks travelling around the country, stopping at various places of interest along the way.
Now that we have four children, travelling abroad is just too expensive, so our holidays consist of , usually to the seaside. The kids really enjoy these breaks and spend every day at the beach, no matter what the weather is like. I don't know when I'll next have the opportunity to travel abroad and see more of the world, though I'm sure I will one day. For now, however, I am happy to stay at home and enjoy the unpredictable English weather.