Final Assignment

Over the last few weeks, we have discussed four very different eras in American Vacation History. As you have probably noted by now each distinct decade in history had its prescribed ideas of what an appropriate vacation should be- including who should be vacationing, where said vacation should be, and of course how an individual should arrive at his or her vacation destination.

For this assignment, you will be creating a travel guide for a fictitious vacation destination. you are asked to create a brand new fictional destination that clearly fits into one of the vacation types we have discussed over the last few weeks ( this includes early vacations, car vacations, destination vacations, or exotic/ extreme vacations). You will include a two-page informative paper that will answer the two questions below.

For example, I could create Horselandia. In my world, Horselandia fits into the early vacation category. So now I need to go back and review early vacations and what made them unique. Obviously, one distinctive factor would be transportation- planes and automobiles did not exist at large in the 19th Century. With that in mind in the written portion, I will describe how travelers will arrive in Horeslandia by train or ironically by horse. Another aspect that makes early vacations different is types of tourists, so in my written portion I would describe who was going to Horselandia. If I said that commoners were going to Horselandia I would lose points because as we have learned, commoners did not travel during the early vacation period. These are just a few examples but hopefully, this will help clarify some of the confusion.

Directions for the written portion of your Final Project
Create an all-new one of a kind fictitious vacation destination that fits into one of the four vacation categories we have discussed in this class [ First Vacations, Road Trip Vacations, Destination Vacations, Exotic Vacations]. By fit, I mean your made-up vacation local should adhere to the prescribed parameters outlined for your selected vacation category such as (but not limited to) who is traveling, how your tourists are traveling, why your tourist are going on vacation, and forms of entertainment.

IMPORTANT: Your destination cannot currently exist (i.e. Disney World, New York City, or the Grand Canyon), be included in a work of fiction including locations depicted in movies or tv shows, or described in works of written fiction (i.e. Waterworld, Hogwarts, Narnia, etc.) I encourage you to be creative.

Now in a two-page paper describe in great detail your made-up vacation local. This can include types of lodging, entertainment, how your visitors will get to your vacation location, etc. As you do so make sure that your vacation fits into one of the four categories we have discussed in this class.

Example Vacation:
If I were to create a fictitious vacation location I would name it Horselandia. Now in my world, Horselandia exists in the late 1800s so it would fit into the First Vacations Catagory. With this in mind, my tourists would arrive by train or ironically by horse. Why not by car you ask? Cars were not in use at this time. Horselandia would be located in the mountains and would be specifically marketed to well to do urbanites. Why not everyone? At this time only the wealthy could afford to go on vacations and they were looking for clean crisp air, devoid of the dirt, grime, and unhealthy miasma their urban houses reside in. Horselandia’s entertainment options would be consistent with the technology and cultural trends of the late 1800s such as a Pegasus Paddle Boat Ride (foot-powered- no electricity!), wooden roller coasters, and of course pony rides! Why not include high-tech Virtual Reality? Because such technology did not exist at the time.

Formatting:
All papers are to be typed, double spaced, in 12-point type with one-inch margins on all sides. I expect lucid prose, correct punctuation, grammar, spelling, and organization. Please for your own peace of mind keep a backup copy of your paper saved on a computer, memory stick or in the Cloud, just in case.