Traveling in the 21st century is a breeze compared to just 50 years ago. Oh sure luggage gets lost, planes are mysteriously delayed, and customer service is all but non-existent, but we passengers aren’t an easy bunch to figure out. Gone are the days of any romantic aspects of travel. Now we want to fly from point A to point B as fast and as cheaply as possible. Yet we still grumble at the lack of amenities, no food, no pillows, no space, etc. But how can romantic be cheap? I’m rather nostalgic for the glory days of aviation, and the wonder of it all. When my father came to live in America in 1959, he flew from Hamburg to London, then London to the Northern Territories in Canada for a necessary fuel stop, then on to Seattle before ending in San Francisco. The London to Seattle portion alone took almost 20 hours. Tonight we could hop on a flight from Sea-Tac and have breakfast in London in less than 10 hours.

I’ve been in love with the idea of travel since my first transatlantic flight at 4 years old. If you look in my 1st grade year book, next to my silly class photo, there is the generic question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ This was simply answered by me, “Travel Agent.” Even in my life time I’m amazed by how fast we can travel to once thought of exotic destinations. New York to Singapore in 18 hours, Seattle to Tokyo in 9 hours and it keeps getting faster. That said, I’m not so sure it’s always a good idea to go so fast. When my dad went back to visit his family 2 years later, he chose to go by cross country train and by boat across the Atlantic. It took him 10 days, but he got to experience more of the country he had moved to and to just enjoy traveling. Some of my fondest travel memories come from journeys on slow buses, boats, and trains. Growing up in America we are creatures of comfort and have many set ideas about how things should look and work. While traveling these ideas should be left at home. You then become open to all sorts of wonderful things.

On a recent trip to Laos my husband and I were smashed into the back of a mini pickup that had been converted into a minibus. The sides were open but had plastic tarp like drapes pinned up, and it had a steel plate roof welded on. Roofs on buses and trains are utilized more in many countries and serve a variety of purposes. Luggage goes on top, along with the overflow of passengers, lumber, livestock, and more. The steel rails holding the roof up on our mini bus served as make shift “shelves.” Plastic baggies were tied on full of banana chips, gum, pressed meats, shredded veggies, soda, and even laundry detergent (wash and drive?). They swung back and forth in the rhythm of the bumps of the road. During the long ride to northern Laos it started to rain, so the plastic drapes were let down and all the people on the outside “squished” in. Some sat on the laps of strangers, others on the floor with the livestock that also came down from the roof. With all the commotion the bags of banana chips near me shifted down the rails, so that when we began driving again, and hitting bumps, the swinging bags kept hitting me in the head. I looked over at my husband and just smiled. I truly could not have been happier. It felt like such an honest moment.

Heidi Cusworth is a travel agent with Island Travel in Langley. The full list of the places she as visited would take a page on its own.