TOEFL iBT, Independent Writing, The best way to travel is in a group led by a tour guide.

Writing Topic

Consider the following statement. The best way to travel is in a group led by a tour guide. Do you agree with this idea? Support your response by including specific reasons and examples.

☆Let’s Think

There are many topics in the TOEFL writing section that have the superlative―”best” in the case of this writing topic. Let’s be careful of the article before the superlative. Some topics have “the” before the superlative as in this case, others have nothing before it as follows: What invention do you think is most important in the last one hundred years? “The” and superlative as in “the best” means that the thing is on top of all the others and nothing else is comparable to it. “A” and superlative as in “a most important invention” means the thing is of its utmost level though there are others of the same level.

                                                                                            

☆Hints for Points

Agree:

1.    safer

2.    efficient…no bother for arrangements and booking, the guide knows good places to visit

3.    the more, the merrier

4.    inexpensive

Disagree:

1.    less free and flexible

2.    unnatural…places and things set aside exclusively for tourism

3.    less interaction with the locals

☆Essay Structure

♦Sample essay structure in the case that you have two or three reasons to support your argument

【Introduction = Outline】　主張と理由の概略 

【Point 1】理由1の詳細 

【Point 2】理由2の詳細 

【Point 3 / Counterargument-treatment】理由3の詳細または反論の処理

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】結論 

♦Your Sample Essay Structure

【Introduction = Outline】

【Point 1】

【Point 2】

【Point 3 / Counterargument-treatment】

               

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

☆Essay for Ideas and Expressions

The traveler in one of Dave Mason’s beautiful songs, Mystic Traveler, does not seem to join a guided group tour because the lyrics go “He is an unraveler,” and “when he takes your heart, you are not alone.” He is not a consumer but the stranger the interaction with whom reveals the truth and merges the souls of those involved in eternity. Even though this song is about Jesus, there is more or less the kind of deep experience we expect in traveling. To me, saying that the best way to travel is in a group led by a tour guide is like saying that the best way to eat is in a group at a full-course dinner prepared by a well-seasoned chef. It must be a best, but may not be the best.

To travel is an action. People have traveled for many reasons since ancient times. We may travel to find something new, a new land, a new friend, or a new self. We may travel to see the world, to visit the places of our ancestors, or to test ourselves. We might also travel for fun. Traveling seems to mean much more to us than taking a sightseeing tour. When I hear the word traveler, I think of an explorer of reality seeking meaningful interactions with people or nature outside of the person’s daily life. The word travel seems to connote a dire need for something essential in spiritual life. Thus I think deciding how to travel is like deciding what to eat. It is a fundamental decision based on what you need from the action.

A guided group tour is an attraction which is a win-win product of the tour industry in the developed world. Tourists who want to enjoy themselves away from home and work, experience something special, and make some good memories choose a guided tour for convenience and safety, and they usually go in a group because of the spirit of “The more, the merrier.” The tourism follows the rule of the economy of scale. Booking for transportation, accommodation, and attractions such as local theaters and restaurants in large numbers lowers the costs. Tour guides will safely entertain and bring home the tourists. It is probably the most popular style of travel as a leisure activity, although it is not certain that people think it the best way to travel.

Perhaps I am too romantic, believing that people want more than a package tour out of traveling. However, traveling by and for yourself is in fact very popular. About half a century ago, Makoto Oda, a Japanese student from Tokyo University who was then at Harvard, traveled around the world alone with a return air ticket and 200 dollars, and wrote a travelogue, Nandemo Miteyaro, I’ll See Anything and Everything, which became the best-seller. With the best-selling travel guide series, Lonely Planet, a large number of people travel across the world every year. Travel agencies have started providing various kinds of tours to meet various demands of both experienced travelers who are fed up with package tours and people who are from the beginning interested in specific destinations which happen to be out of the network of the industry. For many people, a guided group tour is not the best choice.

The word travel encompasses a broad range of activities related, either directly or indirectly, to our existence, while a guided group tour is a relatively new activity for fun. The best way to travel efficiently for sport can be in a group led by a tour guide. However, the best way to travel varies depending on what the traveler is in search of, and I believe we want to be a mystic traveler deep in our heart when we say, “I’ve got to hit the road.”