Small World

Most of us probably rarely think about what a small world this has become.  Not only do we fly across the country in a few hours, we can arrive in the distant continents of Australia, Asia, Europe, South America and Africa in well under a day.  We went from horses to trains to cars to jet planes.

We blasted through the age of Pony Express and telegraphs to telephones and television. We now Skype video calls around the world without leaving home.   We become friends with people on the other side of the world over the internet.  Our progress over the last 150 years dwarfs that which Mark Twain wrote about in “Innocents Abroad” with such amazement as having progressed from the beginning of recorded history to his "present" in the 1860s.   

“Dan was the northern and Beersheba the southern limit of Palestine—hence the expression ‘from Dan to Beersheba.’  It is equivalent to our phrases ‘from Maine to Texas’—‘from Baltimore to San Francisco.’  Our expression and that of the Israelites both mean the same—great distance. 

With their slow camels and asses, it was about seven days’ journey from Dan to Beersheba—say a hundred and fifty or sixty miles—it was the entire length of a country, and was not to be undertaken without great preparation and much ceremony.-- When the Prodicgal traveled to 'a far country,' it is not likely that he went more than eighty or ninety miles.  Palestine is only from forty to sixty miles wide.  The State of Missouri could be split into three Palestines, and there would then be enough material left for part of another--possibly a whole one.  From Baltimore to San Francisco is several thousand miles, but it wil be only a seven days' journey in the cars when I am two or three years older.--(The railroad has been completed since the above was written.)—If I live I shall necessarily have to go across the continent every now and then in those cars, but one journey from Dan to Beersheba will be sufficient, no doubt.  It must be the most trying of the two.” 

Twain's mode of transportation for his overland Holy Land excursion of several days in blistering heat was on the back of old, lame horses over rocky roads.

It’s good to reflect upon how fortunate we are, and what amazing opportunities we have in the 21^st Century.  Not everyone in the world enjoys our privileged perch, and in fact some still live pre-agricultural lives, like the nomadic Bedouins in the Middle East to this day, but I assume if you are reading this blog, you aren’t living in a cave illuminated and warmed by burning dung.

At this time and place, we live with greater dining and entertainment choices than royalty throughout most of history.  And as far as travel goes, the vast majority of ancient peoples never journeyed as far as that Prodigal Son referenced by Mr. Twain.  The question has ceased being "if" it is possible to go somewhere but rather "when?"

Where in the world would you like to go?  Once you decide, it’s just a matter of saving enough to do so in an acceptable style.  Once you have your goal, you’ll be surprised how quickly your focused subconscious mind will find ways to make it happen, and probably sooner than you would have imagined.  Take the first step today by setting a goal.  Better service leads to better trips!