双语朗读美文：旅行不再是奢望

以前，手上有了余钱，人们才会外出旅游。但是，现在的年轻人，即使没有多少钱，甚至没有工作，也比前几代人走得更远，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.

现如今，更多的年轻人倾心于旅游，这已成为一个全球趋势。联合国世界旅游组织2012年发布的报告显示：2011年，近2亿年轻人外出旅行，其人数占到国际游客人数的20%。同时，全球旅游业2011年年收入中，超过1800亿美元(约合1.12万亿人民币)都来自年轻人，而这一数字较2007年增长了近30%。联合国认为，产生这一现象的原因，一方面源于新兴市场国家不断上涨的工资水平，另一方面则和发达国家年轻人“即使经济不稳定也要去旅游”的观念密不可分。

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.

波士顿咨询2013年的报告则显示：在美国，16至34岁的人群比他们的父辈们更热衷于周游世界;这些“千禧世代”不顾低迷的经济、居高不下的失业率，依然对旅游充满兴趣。

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.

另一份报告来自世界青年学生教育旅行联盟：它对来自137个国家的34000人进行了调查，结果发现，当代年轻人已经不再像前几代人那样对“传统的阳光、沙滩、大海假日”情有独钟，他们不再花很多时间流连于“大城市”，而是潜心探索更加偏远的地区，选择走走停停的长途背包旅行。

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.

这份报告还发现，相较于2007年，出行时长超过两个月的年轻旅行者数量明显增多，平均旅行时间长达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.

阿曼达?马卡多在《大西洋月刊》的网站上写到：低门槛的社交媒体与穷游工具的普及(如Airbnb, Couchsurfing, Skyscanner, 以及 Lonely Planet留言板)让长时间旅行不再昂贵，。

Many young people are looking for meaningful experiences in their travels. Carrie Barker, writing on tourism marketing website MilesPartnership.com, 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.

很多年轻人期望在旅途中寻找有意义的经历。嘉丽?巴克在旅游营销网站MilesPartnership.com上写到：相较于在网上晒自己买到的东西，现在的年轻人更喜欢在社交媒体上晒自己做过的事。“‘千禧世代’更关心能否入住最具话题酒店，或者为了耍酷，上传一些在偏远海滩上拍照并美化过的自拍照。”她说。

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.

还有很多年轻人则把旅行当作一种职业培训。世界青年学生教育旅行联盟的报告显示，22%的受访者想要通过旅行学习一门新的语言，15%的人想要丰富自己的工作阅历，还有15%的小伙伴想要借此机会学习更多知识。而所有这些比例都较2007年有所增加。