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| Online travel reservations; hotels, rentals, cruises, airline tickets, destinations worldwide. Travelling is a good thing indeed, but it is also something that has become available to the masses only a few decades ago. Transatlantic steamers were invented in the second half of the nineteenth century, and those were the first truly mass transport vehicles designed specifically for passenger transport, at least with some degree of comfort. About the same time, railroads evolved from interesting oddities into practical systems for cargo and passengers, and a few years later, zeppelins and aircraft began crossing the skies. At that point, all the elements required for easier transportation were in place around the world. Then, the whole business of travelling in a quick way was reduced to an economic matter because the technologies required were already available to turn trips into something else than endless and unexpectedly adventurous endeavours. However, speed was different: a flight from the United Kingdom to Australia on an 'Imperial Airways'' aircraft lasted about a full week, with nocturne stop-over because both crews and passengers needed to rest, plus the fact that flying during the night without adequate instruments was pretty dangerous. Then, the floatplanes of 'Pan American' appeared in the scene and truly intercontinental transportation by air became a reality. These amphibious aircraft could use many rivers, lakes and of course, oceanic coastal waters for take offs and landings. At that time there were very few airstrips available, so it made a lot of sense to use this kind of aircraft, but as time went on more runways were constructed and so, traditional aircraft with landing gears became dominant. Plus, now we have much faster planes. But it is quite unlikely that the glamour, luxury and adventure associated with those zeppelins and boatplanes will ever be surpassed by discount airlines and frequent traveller programmes. |
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