The Wheel
It was hundreds of thousands of years later that the innovation of the wheel enabled us to move around. The wheel, built with spokes, attached to an axle and used specifically for transport emerged around 5,000 years ago.
The Sailboat
Like any good idea, the wheel is one that quickly spread, but without decent roads to travel on, the world’s oceans and rivers continued to be the best surface for long distance journeys. No one knows precisely when the first boats were invented, but the sailboat, a significant improvement on a canoe came into use around the same time as the wheel.
The sailboat continued to make great voyages throughout history allowing people to cross vast distances in a way which would never have been possible by land. The use of sailboats gave voyagers the chance to establish trading posts and further explore the big wide world.
Jigsaw Puzzle to Cartography
If voyagers were fortunate enough to return with their lives, they also returned with invaluable knowledge. The world was an enormous jigsaw puzzle which was painstakingly put together, piece by piece, a practice we know today as ‘cartography’, the making of maps. The first maps of planetary geography are difficult to date, it’s generally agreed the earliest remaining attempt of a world map is an engraved clay tablet from ancient civilisation.
Maps to Roads
The more trade increased the more long-distance roads were constructed on a massive scale. Great highways, like spokes on a wheel stitched the entire empire together. This expansive network was helpful for the army and traders who needed to transport goods, but others benefited too.
The Bicycle
To get pedalling all you need is a bicycle and a destination! After more than 150 years of cycling history, that’s all it really takes to get started in the wonderful world of bicycle travel.
Around the 1870s the penny-farthing became the first popularized bicycle design. It was strange looking with a large wheel in the front and a small wheel at the back. In the 1880s, the penny-farthing was replaced by the safety bicycle, which was designed with two equally sized wheels and was propelled through a gear attached to the rear hub.
With the birth of the safety bicycle came the start of long-distance bicycle touring. In July 1896, John Foster Fraser set off from their homes in Britain and travelled around the world on their bicycles. They covered approximately 19,237 miles in a period of two years and two months, traveling through seventeen countries and three different continents.
Today, bicycle riding is not only for touring, cycling is fun and is also a world-wide sporting challenge. Modern bicycle travellers carry high-tech mapping and communication devices, traveling along established bicycle touring paths, and touring about on high-tech touring-specific bicycles.
The Horse and Carriage
It takes a horse and carriage an average of eight to 12 hours to travel 50 miles. This means a horse and carriage can cover 100 to 150 miles in 24 hours, including stops to rest and eat. Horse-drawn vehicles can have either two or four wheels and can be pulled by two to four horses. When a horse-drawn vehicle has two wheels, it is called a cart. When it has four wheels, it is called a wagon. Used to transport goods and people, this type of transportation was common in the 1800s but became rare when the automobile was introduced.
Today, when it comes to fairy tale weddings, there are few things in life that compare to a traditional horse drawn carriage. No matter where you go, a wedding coach is bound to draw the eye of every single passer-by, ensuring that the bridal couple get all the attention they deserve on the biggest day in their lives.
The Car
If you are traveling an hour or two away, it’s a pleasant trip. It’s easy and the best option for most nearby trips. When you take your car on a trip, you can take many things with you that you might not be able to if traveling by other transport.
When travelling by car there is no need to worry that your children are bothering other passengers. You can also travel at your own leisure; you can change your plans as you go along. If you are taking a road trip, you can pull off the road at any time for sight-seeing.
The Train
Travelling by train is probably the largest and oldest form of long-distance travel. It is beneficial in that you can travel when you want; most countries have services every day with a wide choice of routes and departures. Rail travel offers the traveller a network of high-speed trains linking city-centre to city-centre, 24 hours a day, seven days per week, and 365 days of the year.
Train journeys are getting faster every year through the construction of new high-speed tracks. You will find spacious carriages onboard with large seats and ample space for luggage. Some trains offer power sockets at your seats and complimentary Wi-Fi.
Most of the major train stations are in the heart of the cities and travellers benefit from excellent connections with other public transportation such as the underground trains, taxis and buses.
The Plane
Plane costs are surprisingly affordable. It may not seem like it but when adjusted for inflation, airline ticket prices have been declining steadily for 30 years, allowing more people to fly than ever before. We are fortunate to live in an era when the cost of flying is relatively affordable.
If you only have a limited number of days to travel, and you truly want to spend quality time at your destination, then flying is still your best choice. If you’re flying domestically, chances are you can find a flight that will deliver you to your destination early in the day, allowing you to start your vacation as soon as you arrive.
For international travellers, flying opens an unlimited number of possibilities, allowing us to visit distant lands, experience unique destinations, and explore our planet to the fullest. Many of those places simply would not be an option for most of us without modern air travel, and if you love immersing yourself in foreign cultures, then the airplane is literally and figuratively your vehicle to the world.
Flying can create a sense of community amongst passengers. There is often a sense that everyone on the aircraft is traveling together, even if just for a brief time. If you’re one of those lucky passengers who can doze off on an airplane, then flying gives you an opportunity to catch up on your sleep, and arrive at your destination rested, and ready to go. A quick nap can help shorten the flight-time as well, and leave you refreshed for whatever adventures await.
If you’re lucky enough to get a window seat, you are often treated to some great views just out the window. There is nothing quite like soaring over the countryside, while lakes, rivers, mountains, and other beautiful landscapes pass beneath. Even at night, when darkness shrouds the sky, it is fun to look out and see the islands of light that spread across the world below.
Space
We don’t think you can travel any further than space and we unfortunately do not provide the services. However, for information in 1942, at the height of the Second World War, Germany launched a successful test flight of the world’s first ballistic missile. It was called the V-2 rocket and, apart from being devastatingly destructive, these missiles were famous for being the first objects created by man to reach space.