I’m guessing you love travelling just as much as I do and you probably like chatting about your experiences too. In this lesson, you’ll learn advanced travel vocabulary so that you can make your travel stories more interesting and descriptive. Lesson comes with downloadable notes and sketchnote.
Lesson by Kerin.
21 words and expressions to talk about travel
How to use this lesson
In the conversation below you are going to come across words that often go together. We call these ‘collocations‘. Here’s how to get the most out of this lesson:
- Catch the gist: read the conversation between friends, Andy and Claire
- Re-read the conversation, paying close attention to the highlighted words and expressions (underlined)
- Can you work out the meaning from the context?
- Check your understanding using the sketchnote below and download the lesson notes. Read carefully.
- Activate! Choose the words and expressions you want to learn. Either write single sentences to show how you would use them or write your own dialogue or travel story. Share your work in the comments at the end of this post👇
Tip!
The best way for you to truly learn and remember new vocabulary is to use it! Make it meaningful for you. By doing the activate activity above, you are putting the new vocabulary into active practise. This means the next time you talk about travel, you’ll be more likely to be able to use these expressions!
Advanced travel vocabulary: a conversation between friends:
Andy: So? You’re just back, right?
Claire: Yep! …Oh my God, it was amazing!
Andy: Come on then! Tell us all about it. How did this all come about?
Claire: Well, you know me, I often get itchy feet and I have a strong thirst for adventure, so when Jen suggested a trekking trip in Bosnia and Montenegro, I was all in!
Andy: Oh! That’s where you went?! That must have been incredible.
Claire: Yeah! I’d been wanting to do something like this for ages, but my partner isn’t really into this kind of holiday. He prefers a more chilled trip, something that includes seeing the sights with a bit of culture dropped in … yeah, he definitely prefers something with lots of chilling, good restaurants and time to recharge the batteries. I, on the other hand, would much rather go on an adventure trip with lots of new stuff to try out. Here was my chance to do it!
Andy: Oh! I wish you’d told me. I would have tagged along!
Claire: Next time!
Andy: Did you organise it all yourself?
Claire: No, we booked the actual trip itself through an agency who specialise in adventure holidays. Highly recommend them. I’d never usually book a holiday through an agency, but honestly, if we’d done it ourselves we’d have missed out on the best parts of the experience.
Andy: Yes, I get that. Good for you.
Claire: Our guide took us right off the beaten path and it was truly an amazing experience to find out about all the history, the stories and culture from that area. I mean look at this view!
Andy: That is stunning!
Claire: That’s what I mean … we’d never have found that on our own.
Andy: And did the package include flights?
Claire: No, we had to sort out getting there alone, which in the end was easier, because I was coming from London, whereas my friend was coming from Berlin. Getting there was a breeze. I used a low-cost airline with a stopover in Paris, which gave me time to catch up with Natalie.
Andy: Oh brilliant! How is she doing?
Claire: Really well. She is loving Paris. I wanted to stop over there on the way back too, but it was cheaper to go another way. In fact, coming back was awful. What an arduous journey!
Andy: Oh jeez, what happened?
Claire: Basically my flight was cancelled, I have no idea why! They put me on standby… I was in the airport for 19 hours before I got a seat.
Andy: 19 hours?!
Claire: 19! And even then it wasn’t direct to London. I had to go via Frankfurt, which meant another 4 hours waiting in another airport.
Andy: That sucks! I’ve been hearing a lot of similar horror stories you know!
Claire: Me too. Anyway, despite that, the trip was brilliant. It really was. What about you? You’re heading off in September right?
Andy: Well ……
Sketchnote: advanced travel vocabulary
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Activate your English!
Don’t forget to share how you would use these new words and expressions: write single sentences or write your own dialogue or travel story. Share your work in the comments👇
Please let us know if you enjoyed this lesson! If you like this style, be sure to check out 12 Advanced English Colloquial Expressions and How to talk about fashion in advanced English!
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I always had a thirst for adventure, but I’m not ready to move to another country yet.
After 4 years of maternity leave I get itchy feet and could not wait to start my own single journey for a week.
The last trip we’ve been together we get itchy feet and now I sort out one trip per month.
During our family’s trip what I love more is to go off the beaten track.
When we visit Greece we try to book flats off the beaten track to avoid expensive places and services.
Our route to Bulgaria was an arduous journey this summer, but we enjoyed a lot the return to our home, it was a breeze.
Excellent work Aurelia! I love the way you have used the new vocabulary. 👍
Watch out for your past tenses>
Here you need the past simple > After 4 years of maternity leave I GOT itchy feet ….
And here > The last trip WE DID together we GOT itchy feet and now I sort out one trip per month.
This is because you are talking about a specific time in the past that has finished. 👍