Traveling In The Future

Traveling In The Future

Traveling today sucks the big one. By car, too much traffic and too many crazy drivers. Traveling by motorcycle scares the shit out of me. Traveling by bicycle hurts my legs just thinking about it. Also, more people are killed by accidents involving a bicycle than people killed by airlines. Then there is traveling by airplane - UGH!!!

It isn't even bad enough that you have to get to the airport an hour plus before your flight, but even if you get there on time, how many times has that plane left on time - the answer today is almost zero. Then you wait in line through security. Then you wait in line until you're able to get to your seat. Then you fight for space to put your luggage up top. 

Then you sit in your uncomfortable seat and hope the flight isn't delayed more because of mechanical or airport traffic problems. Then the person in front of you is big and has to put their seat back which pushes your legs up to your chest. The only solution is to put your seat back which pisses off the person behind you so they have to put their seat back which causes a cascading of pushed back seats.

Of course, the airlines could make seats that don't go back, but then someone might complain. Sooo, since they really don't give a shit about the majority of us, they will never do this for one main reason - they want us to be uncomfortable so we have to upgrade to a much higher fare if we want to get through a four or five-hour flight - triple UGH!

At the end of this disaster, you have to wait again until they have a terminal spot to put your plane. I've been on a plane for forty minutes waiting for that spot. Now you've arrived and GOD forbid you have put your luggage on the plane and have to wait until your luggage comes down the shoot. Even if it makes it (which ten percent of the time it doesn't), you have to wrench your back pulling your luggage off the older than dirt luggage machine while fighting the person in front of you who is pushing like hell to get his luggage before you.

If you're lucky enough to be in Europe, you can avoid all this airplane bullshit and take the train. BTW, the train system in most countries is so much better than anything we have in America. In Europe especially, the train comes on time. You can get to the train five minutes before it leaves. no security to go through and if you have a lot of luggage someone will help you get it on the train.

Sooo, what will be different in the future? Well, that is determined by how long is your future. I'm going to live until 2038 (read my book The Year Of My Death). By 2038, there will be driver-less cars. That will make driving better because you can sit in the back seat and read, blog, listen to music and watch a video while praying the driver-less car knows where the hell it's going and doesn't crash because it's computer didn't recognize the pole in front of it.

As far as the airplane goes, by 2038 planes will get you to where you want to go much faster, but all the bullshit stated above will still make flying a horrible experience. Why doesn't America invest in trains and monorails? It's simple, the airplane lobby doesn't want it and nobody is willing to pay for it.

Sooo, if your me, I don't see a big change traveling in my future. However, someone who is two years old today probably will see traveling as a good thing not a bad thing.

Beam Me Up Scotty