Is travel better, worse, or just different?
- 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.
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: