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All-Inclusive Vacations

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast episode 281: All-Inclusive Vacations.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 281. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com and take a look at the ESL Podcast Store, where you will find some additional premium courses that you may be interested in.

In this episode, we’re going to talk about a special kind of vacation called an “allinclusive vacation.” Let’s get started.

[start of story]

Mei: Let’s go on an all-inclusive vacation to a resort in Jamaica!

Guy: I’d like to go to Jamaica, but I don’t know about going to an all-inclusive resort.

Mei: It saves so much time in planning. With these vacation packages, all of our lodging is included and we don’t have to pay extra for anything. For one fixed price, we get unlimited food and drinks, and all of the activities and entertainment we want.

Guy: It sounds a little too predictable to me. You know that when I travel, I like to go off the beaten track. The fun is in going out of the tourist areas to find the real character of a place.

Mei: I know, but a resort has its pluses. If we pick a good resort, we’ll know that everything will be first rate. There won’t be any problems with substandard amenities or service.

Guy: That may all be true, but I’m still not convinced. I’d rather keep looking until we find a good compromise that will have the predictability you want and the spontaneity that I want.

Mei: Okay, but we agree on Jamaica, right?

Guy: Yeah, that’s right. It’s Jamaica or bust!

[end of story]

This dialogue between Mei and Guy – Guy, here, is a man’s name – is about allinclusive vacations. The expression “all-inclusive” means that the vacation includes everything. The word “inclusive” comes from the verb “to include,” and it refers to a, in this case, vacation where you pay one amount that covers all of your food, hotel, and transportation usually.

All-inclusive vacations are popular, especially at resorts. A “resort” (resort), as a noun, is a large hotel, usually a little more expensive, that has many things for you to do. It has many nice services available. That would be a “resort,” a big hotel. An all-inclusive vacation at a resort means you would pay one price, and then you get all of your food, all of your hotel costs, and so forth included.

Mei, in the dialogue, says, “Let’s go on an all-inclusive vacation to a resort in Jamaica!” Jamaica is an island in the Caribbean, south of the United States.

Guy says, “I’d like to go to Jamaica, but I don’t know about going to an allinclusive resort.” When Guy says “I don’t know about,” what he means is “I’m not sure. I have my doubts about this.” Mei then tries to convince him that it is a good idea to go on an all-inclusive vacation. She says, “It saves so much time in planning. With these vacation packages, all of our lodging is included.” A “vacation package” is a combination of transportation, hotel rooms, meals, and sometimes other fees and expenses that are included and sold together, usually by travel agencies, as one package for one price.

The vacation package that Mei is talking about includes lodging. “Lodging” is another word for where you are going to sleep. A “lodge” is another name for a hotel. So, “lodging” is your room – where you are sleeping in the hotel.

Mei says, “we don’t have to pay extra for anything.” “To pay extra” means to pay more money – an additional amount. Mei says that “For one fixed price, we get unlimited food and drinks.” A “fixed (fixed) price” is a price that does not change, no matter how much you use it or don’t use it. So, a fixed price for your meals may mean that you can eat as much as you want. Mei says that you “get unlimited food and drinks.” Unlimited: without limits – without a maximum – as much as you want.

Guy says that “It sounds a little too predictable to me.” “Predictable” means you know will happen; there are no surprises. Guy uses this word because he thinks it may be, perhaps, a little boring. He says, “You know that when I travel, I like to go off the beaten track.” “To go off the beaten (beaten) track (track)” means to do something unusual or uncommon, to go somewhere where most people don’t go. A “track” is like a path or a road.

When we say the “beaten path,” we’re referring to, for example, when you are walking out in a field, out where there are no concrete roads. The place where most people walk will usually not have any grass. It will be obvious; you can see where most other people have walked. That’s the “beaten path,” or the “beaten track.” “To go off the beaten track,” or “off the beaten path,” means to go where other people haven’t gone before.

Guy says, “The fun,” or what is fun about a vacation, “is going out of the tourist areas to find the real character of a place.” The “character of a place” refers to the qualities or characteristics that make someplace special or unique. That word, “character,” has a couple different meanings in English. Take a look at the Learning Guide for this episode for some additional explanations.

Mei says, “I know” – I understand what you are saying Guy – “but a resort has its pluses.” “Pluses” are positive things; the opposite of a “plus” would be a “minus,” which would be a negative thing. People may talk about “the pluses and the minuses” – the good and the bad – the advantages and the disadvantages of something.

Mei says, “If we pick a good resort, we know that everything will be first rate.” The expression “first rate” (rate) means very high quality – excellent – very, very good. “There won’t be any problems with substandard amenities or service.” The word “substandard” means below what you would expect – not as good is it should be – below an acceptable level. “Amenities” are things that make a place comfortable – the nice things about a place. A hotel could have a gym and a swimming pool and a restaurant; these are all extra things that make it nice to stay there. Those would be the “amenities,” the singular is “amenity” (amenity).

Guy says that “That may all be true” – it may be true what you say – “but I’m still not convinced” – I’m still uncertain about it – “I’d rather keep looking until we find a good compromise that will have the predictability you want and the spontaneity that I want.” Guy is looking for a “compromise,” an agreement on something that both people can say “yes” to. Usually, both people have to give up something they want. So, a compromise is when two people agree to something. It’s not exactly what either person wants, but it’s good enough.

A compromise here would mean finding a place that has predictability for Mei, she wants to know what she’s going to get, it has to the predictable, and spontaneity for Guy. “Spontaneity” (spontaneity) it is the opposite of “predictability.” It’s when you do things that aren’t planned – you don’t know what’s going to happen. That would be “spontaneity.” Mei says, “Okay, but we agree on Jamaica, right,” meaning we both want to go to the island of Jamaica. Guy says, “Yeah, that’s right. It’s Jamaica or bust” (bust). We use that expression, “something or bust,” to mean that you have plans to do something and you’re going to work very hard to do it. “To go bust” means to lose – to fail to do something. Often, it can mean to lose all your money. We sometimes use the expression when we talk about traveling to a place. “It’s New York City or bust,” meaning we’re going to go to New York, we’re going to do everything possible to get there.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of story]

Mei: Let’s go on an all-inclusive vacation to a resort in Jamaica!

Guy: I’d like to go to Jamaica, but I don’t know about going to an all-inclusive resort.

Mei: It saves so much time in planning. With these vacation packages, all of our lodging is included and we don’t have to pay extra for anything. For one fixed price, we get unlimited food and drinks, and all of the activities and entertainment we want.

Guy: It sounds a little too predictable to me. You know that when I travel, I like to go off the beaten track. The fun is in going out of the tourist areas to find the real character of a place.

Mei: I know, but a resort has its pluses. If we pick a good resort, we’ll know that everything will be first rate. There won’t be any problems with substandard amenities or service.

Guy: That may all be true, but I’m still not convinced. I’d rather keep looking until we find a good compromise that will have the predictability you want and the spontaneity that I want.

Mei: Okay, but we agree on Jamaica, right?

Guy: Yeah, that’s right. It’s Jamaica or bust!

[end of story]

The script for this episode was written by Dr. Lucy Tse.

If you have a question or comment, you can email us. Our email address is eslpod@eslpod.com.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening. Please join us again next time, here at ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse, hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. This podcast is copyright 2007.