Karen Ong is the founder of Language International, which helps language learning institutions acquire customers.
Born in the Philippines, and now residing in Boston, Karen speaks six languages and has travelled to over 100 cities on six continents.
She’s agreed to share some of her travel insight with us.
Cheapflights: What do you always do when you travel – any routine procedures?
Karen Ong: I get bored very easily so I always make sure that I carry with me a fully charged iPad with a bunch of new movies and TV shows downloaded. Unfortunately, most airlines, especially domestic airlines in the US, offer a barebones in-flight entertainment system.
CF: What is your travel pet peeve?
KO: Being charged a ‘tourist price’ in shops and markets by a shopkeeper trying to make a quick dishonest buck.
CF: What is your favourite kind of trip?
KO: I’m a city person. I think being in a city really allows you to understand a culture and get right into the middle of things by eating at the restaurants the locals eat at, taking the buses that the locals take, and walking through the grocery shops that seem familiar and very different all at the same time.
CF: Best destination you have ever been to and why?
KO: One of the best destinations I’ve been to is Russia, a country of extremes. It is a country of incredible wealth yet you’ll see indescribable poverty everywhere. It has the beautiful Kirov ballet but also all these unsightly industrial buildings. People are so kind and hospitable, yet you need deal with Russian bureaucracy and make sure you carry a photocopy of your passport with you at all times as a traveller.
CF: Where in the world offers the best value for money?
KO: Travelling in South East Asia is certainly one of the places where your dollar really goes a long way. Some of the best and cheapest foods I’ve ever had were from hole in the wall establishments throughout the region. Thailand is now full of tourists, but there are other countries within Southeast Asia with pristine natural beauty. Philippines and Vietnam, for example.
CF: What is the best airport you have flown from and is there a tip to make this airport experience great?
KO: Changi Airport in Singapore is by far the best airport in the world. It has free wifi, a feature that oddly enough is uncommon in most other airports even in the West. It’s simple things like this that distinguish good from great.
CF: When you fly, is there a tip you can share to make the experience a great one?
KO: Moisturize on the plane!
CF: With airlines changing their baggage rules in terms of size and weight, are there any steps you’d recommend?
KO: Packing only what you need and packing it well.
CF: If there was one travel nightmare trip, where would it be to and what would it involve?
KO: Losing my passport in a country that did not have an embassy of my home country. Just thinking of all the administrative red tape that I’ll have to go through brings shivers down my spine.
CF: You’ve visited over 100 cities. Do you compare them to each other, or appreciate/rate them individually?
KO: I would group cities, or rather parts of cities, into two categories. The first one has all the trimmings of the developed world with Starbucks coffee shops, subways, and stores of major international brands all around town, essentially the kind of place where you are at ease with the familiar commercial symbols. The second one are cities that are unfamiliar and that even make you feel uneasy as you negotiate your way through the streets, finding things that surprise and shock you at every corner. My favorite and most memorable trips fall into this second category.
CF: How vital do you feel is it to gain understanding of a different culture, especially with the world becoming so much more interconnected?
KO: Without a doubt gaining an understanding of different cultures is becoming more and more essential if you want to do business in the world today. This is especially so with a company like ours whose reach is international even though we are based here in Boston. Talking to a European customer is very different from talking to a Japanese customer and as such, our marketing strategy in different regions of the world is based first on an understanding of the respective culture. But even for the person on the street, intercultural literacy is growing in importance as international travel and immigration become easier and cities increasingly become more and more diverse places.
Cheapflights is proud to have guest voices express their opinions. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Cheapflights Media (USA) Inc.
