Travelling in the old days, and the new "holidays" concept

Airplanes have made travelling faster, cheaper, and more accessible, but they have  also stripped it of its essential core traits and benefits. 

For most of human history, travel was equated to the journey itself, not to the destination. To travel meant to use slow means of transportation, to endure distance, to face uncertainty, discomfort, and prolonged exposure to unfamiliar environments. It also meant engaging in business transactions, learning about different cultures, and gaining knowledge.

The way our ancestors travelled deeply transformed them as the journey demanded courage, the ability to adapt to alien environments, mental strength and resilience. 

Nowadays, travellers can leave their country in the morning and be on the other side of the world by nightfall, bypassing the landscapes, the cultures, the encounters, the challenges and most importantly, the gradual transformation that travellers in ancient times experienced throughout their long journey.
They collect photographs, souvenirs, and stories, and return from their travels unchanged, with the same perception, the same prejudices, and the same personality defects we have departed with.

Modern tourism is a movement between airports, hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions that are carefully designed to accommodate foreigners. 

Modern travellers consume experiences the same way they  consume products picked out of a supermarket shelf. 

Trips became a temporary diversion from our ordinary life rather than a quest and a voluntary exposure to challenging, unfamiliar territories. 

Current travel practices are closely tied to the modern concept of holidays. 

Not so long ago, "Holy day" was associated with religious ceremonies, its definition, the one that we are all familiar with, emerged much later with the industrialization, when employers and governments started giving workers periods of rest from labour. 

A higher income and the advances of the transportation systems changed how people viewed travel.

It became associated with leisure not with a form of pilgrimage and exploration. 

The purpose of travelling changed to be associated with recovery from the strain and the taxing effect of work, prioritizing comfort and entertainment.  

Airplanes shortened distances, but they have also altered the core purpose of travel itself, from a process of personal discovery and learning, to a well-packaged commodity that allows people to visit the world as a passive onlooker.