A History Lesson For Travelers: The Journey of Getting From A to B

by Lauren Rains
on May 13th, 2011
1 Comment

We live in an age where if we feel like going halfway across the globe to a tiny deserted island it’s pretty damn easy to make it happen. Even if the only way we can get to our little bungalow is by plane, then train, then bus, then big boat, then little boat, and then a small hike, it’s still pretty easy.

Don’t believe me? Think that sounds like a huge pain in the booty? Well, in that case, how about we take a little look back in time and see what others would have had to have gone through in order to get to that same little bungalow on that same little beautiful island.

TRAVEL IN THE STONE AGE

The main source of transportation in the stone age was dugout canoes… enough said.

TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE AGES: THE FIRST COMPASS

This was the year the very first compass was invented, eventually leading to what we use today. Imagine of our planes and ships and lost kids in the woods were still trying to get around by staring up at the stars! The whole North, South, East, West pointing magnet has made travel just a little bit easier for us.

Even if all we had to get to that little island was a little dugout canoe, it’d be a lot harder to get there without a compass!

TRAVEL IN THE 17th CENTURY: THE HORSE DRAWN PUBLIC BUS

In 1662 Blaise Pascal invents a horse-drawn public bus which has a regular route, schedule, and fare system. Think about how many buses you’ve been on in your life be it a 13 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Mendoza in Argentina or a few city blocks in New York City. Imagine how much more difficult, if even possible, those trips would be in a horse drawn public bus!

TRAVEL IN THE 18th CENTURY: THE HOT AIR BALLOON

Joseph Montgolfier and Étienne Montgolfier launch the first hot air balloons. Since this day we’ve had people travel around the circumference of the entire world in only a hot air balloon! Nowadays we can go almost anywhere and fly up in the sky with this invention. For a species that can’t fly, this is one of the closest ways we’ll get to seeing a bird’s eye view of our world.

TRAVEL IN THE 19th CENTURY: THE MOTORCYCLE

Ever had the dream of riding around the world with nothing but the power of 2 wheels below you and your hair blowing in the wind? Well, that wouldn’t have been possible until the year 1894 when Hildebrand & Wolfmüller became the first motorcycle available to the public for purchase.

Think about where the motorcycle has taken us today! We’ve got the classy Vespas in Italy, the badboy speed addicts on their crotch rocket Ninja bikes, the badass biker dudes and motorcycle mamas on their Harleys, the off-road adventures of dirt bikes! And if you’ve ever been to China or South East Asia, let’s not forget about those weird motorcycle/car contraptions they have!

TRAVEL IN THE 20th CENTURY: THE MODEL T

1908 – Henry Ford develops the assembly line method of automobile manufacturing! Before this point, yeah we had cars, but is is what led to what we have today. Long road trips from NY to CA…the convenience of car rental companies…the Westphalia… Henry Ford’s processes in creating the Model T helped make that possible.

TRAVEL TODAY

The moral of the story: Whenever you tell yourself or someone tells you that visiting a foreign country or even traveling to a city that is 45 minutes away is too much of a trip… think about what it would have been like to try to do it a few centuries ago.

You could have been a couple of nomads born in the stone ages who could only get around on a carved out canoe and boots you made out of sticks and stones. Instead, however, we’re in the age of the digital nomad who can come and go wherever they please however they please be it by hot air balloon, a motorcycle, or by carved out canoe.

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Lauren Rains

Lauren Rains is a crazy, sexy, cool chick on a mission to live a life of abundant adventure, meaning, and substance. She is addicted to the following: WORLD TRAVEL: Experiencing new languages, cute boys, outdoor adventure, crazy transportation, variations on toilets, cultural differences and similarities, crazy food. Everything! WEB 2.0: Web design to social media, she's proud to be a dedicated geek. ENTREPRENEURSHIP: At 12 months she knew she couldn't work for the Machine. WRITING: Check out TheMadtoLive where she blogs about how to live the wild, crazy and meaningful life we're all meant to live! You can also start up a conversation with her about the meaning of life on Twitter at @LaurRains.