“Is there any possibility of giving international air travel, which we all need and use and hate, a touch of glamour, or even of reliable, soulless efficiency? I suspect future historians will puzzle over our failure. But by then, of course, we shall be in the age of mass space travel, with its fresh and unimaginable crop of horrors.” ~ Paul Johnson
It’s not the first time I’ve mentioned my lack of love for long-haul flights in huge airplanes crammed full of fellow travellers, most of them likely as uncomfortable and impatient as I am to arrive already! Even when we’ve upgraded to the posh seats up front, it’s merely more bearable and less uncomfortable, rather than something to truly enjoy.
Oh of course, it’s a modern miracle too, and without the mass transit that planes provide, it would be so very much harder for most of us to visit distant places and explore our world.
It’s interesting to think about what tourism in space might be like… how cramped would the seating be and for how long would we be flying?… would we have to undergo physical training to handle a lack of gravity or would the implementation of anti-gravity technology happen before mass space flight?… would we be able to see out of the window into the inky blackness of space?… would we need to wear space suits and breather masks even after landing or would we transfer into the huge domed habitats of science-fiction?… or even land on a terra-formed planet with a human-safe atmosphere?… oh and what about luggage, surely weight restrictions would be even tighter?
I wonder whether space tourism will happen in my lifetime – if not, it surely won’t be many generations beyond – and how travellers on that cusp will compare it to travel today?
Sunset over a plane wing, somewhere over Canada.
More Kavey Eats Travel Quotes.
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Please leave a comment - I love hearing from you!8 Comments to "Travel Quote Tuesday | The Age Of Mass Space Travel"
I did see an article recently that SpaceX sold its first tourist seats. It’s so crazy to think about what travel may be like in the future!
I think it would be super cool to go to space! Even if it becomes available during my lifetime I don’t think I’d ever be able to afford it haha.
Wow that is a great. I can’t really get my head around that it would happen
I just have visions of Mr Benn in his space suit. The thought of going into space would terrify me, I don’t know how people do it!
Space travel, wow it might not be too far off and I would sign up! For now I will take first class as much as I can 😉
Great quote Kavey. I haven’t done more than a 5 hour flight and I have to say that is enough for me. I know I would hate and be totally exhausted after a really long flight.
As a kid, I had read a lot of stories about future of science and space travel and it had always intrigued me at that time. Maybe space travel will be a thing of the future and traveling within the earth will just take some minutes or even seconds! Well thats for the future to decide. 🙂
As for now, I am also not fond of long flights, or any mode of long travel. Flights bore me and though I find trains better, but more than 24 hours in trains does not quite excite me.
I can understand the pain of long-haul flights and also think that what would we feel while going for Space travel in a narrow cylindrical object. Long flights are very boring and I find road trips very interesting, but to overcome a big distance in less amount of time, there is no other choice.