Travel with a Green Conscience(良知)

Travel is a form of consumption, from jet fuel to trash. 【小题1】 . For me, seeing the world has been an education on the environment and the challenges we face. Witnessing other cultures has inspired me to reduce my carbon footprint. Ironically, travel has made me “greener. ”

Adding game-like elements to non-game activities is part of app design. Streaks (计数器) encourage users to log into products each day. Medals reward them for completing tasks. Leaderboards add the spice of competition.

Such features can help others stay motivated while achieving a goal they find difficult to stick to. When Duolingo, a language-learning app, went public in 2021, it was clear that game-like features play a crucial role in keeping its users engaged.

But as You’ve Been Played, a new book by a game designer Adrian Hon notes, firms should be very careful about how they gamify experiences. If getting gamification wrong, you can annoy both customers and employees.

For customers, the obvious dangers — annoying people with constant notices about streaks, or discouraging them by showing how low down a leaderboard they sit — are not the only ones. Somtimes, some activities surely need added “fun”. For instance, apps designed to encourage people to save money can happily use gamified features like money jars to track progress. However, some activities really don’t need added “fun”. One reading app offers to unlock animations (动画) if users hit certain reading landmarks; if you present reading as time-consuming, you are telling readers they are suffering.

For employees, turning repetitive work into video games is a technique that Amazon has reportedly used to represent workers’ progress. Yet these ideas may cause negative impact. Forced rankings motivate some people while stressing others out. GitHub, an open-source coding platform, withdrew its streak feature after concerns were raised that it was pushing programmers to work every weekend.

As Mr. Hon observes, games are much less enjoyable if you have no choice over whether to participate or not. Adding fun can work, but only if it is taken seriously.

It’s never too early to start thinking about your summer vacation. Here are some pieces of advice on how to plan a summer vacation that’s relaxing and cheap.

If your summer vacation window is wide open, why not consider was to skipping(跳过) July and August altogether? 【小题1】 However, if you’re set on travelling during high season, you can still save by being flexible(灵活的). Flying out on a Tuesday instead of a Friday could save you a bit of money. 【小题2】 Portugal and Eastern Europe are much cheaper than France or the United Kingdom, while a trip to South-cast Asia could be more affordable than you might expect.

【小题3】 If you plan on flying to your destination, for example, it will be much easier to find seats on flights you like better if you book in March than if you were to wait until the last minute. The same thing applies to hotels.

With so many places to see and things to do, planning a trip can be very tiring. 【小题4】 Seasoned tour companies take the stress out of travel so all you have to do is show up and enjoy yourself. More importantly, when you breakdown the costs of joining a guided tour vs booking everything on your own, you’ll often find the tour is economically preferable.

【小题5】 Especially if you’re flying on a cheap airline that does not include luggage(行李), this can be a huge cost saver. Once you’re on the ground, if you don’t have luggage weighing you down, it will be easier for you to walk a mile to your hotel than take a taxi.