Is travel better, worse, or just different?

There's a 95 percent chance Senior Editor Christine Sarkis is thinking about travel right now. Follow her on Instagram @postcartography and Twitter @ChristineSarkis.

Christine Sarkis is an SATW-award-winning journalist and executive editor at SmarterTravel. Her stories have also appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Her advice has been featured in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, and Here & Now. Her work has been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008. She is currently working on a travel memoir.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: The Trtl Pillow. It's easy to pack and comfortable, and makes it so I can actually sleep on flights.

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Seeing the Aurora Borealis from the comfort of somewhere warm, like a glass igloo or hot spring.

Travel Motto: Curiosity is an amazing compass.

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: Aisle all the way.

Email Christine Sarkis at editor@smartertravel.com.

See recent posts by Christine Sarkis

As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, USA Today is coming out with top-25 lists on a range of topics. Last week, the list featured the top travel milestones, and it’s a great way to step back and appreciate just how dramatically travel has evolved.

The top 10 are:

Online booking
TSA airport security
Airline e-tickets
Roll-aboard luggage
Smoke-free flights
Boutique hotel chains
Airports as malls
Indian casinos
GPS car navigation systems
Self-service ticketing kiosks

USA Today details each list item with a bit of history. It’s also a fun read—for instance, on TSA airport security, we get the following vivid image: “Now passengers wait in line, shoeless, jacketless and clutching toiletry-filled transparent baggies.”

Even though it may not seem like it when you’re behind 200 people in the security line, or when your plane sits on the tarmac for five hours, travel has come a long way. A long way from what, well, that depends on your interpretation.

Editor’s Note: Due to the holiday, we won’t be blogging on Monday. We’ll return on Tuesday, well rested and ready for fall.

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