Everyone loves to get some time off and get out of the usual surroundings but, it is actually quite rare in the world. For example in the US, only about half of the population have a valid passport and amazingly, 11% of people have never left their home state. source Currently in China, only 8.7% of the population hold a passport (120 million people) source which is quite incredible really. Those two countries are Superpowers yet, most of their citizens haven't seen much of the world. Do you think this has an effect on their international polices?
Travel is a luxury that few people are able to afford and a large number in some countries may never get the chance. I hope that in the future travel becomes more affordable and average people get to see the world. I think that they would be surprised. What would be great system to set up is that whenever people travel they get a chance to sit down with a local family and share a meal in their home. In time, I think that would do more for international relations than whatever the hell the politicians are doing. Most people in the world have similar hopes and dreams and talk about their days and how the kids school went. We are more similar than not.
My wife and I have been fortunate enough to travel quite a lot in Europe and I have done some trips to Asia also but now, we are only dream travelers. We talk about one day going here or there however, currently our chances are slim to none. We haven't even left our city together in almost a year and that was for a day trip to have lunch with her ex-boss.Instead of seeing the world or even more of the country, we sit at home and dream of the places we want to go. It is not a bad way to travel considering how cheap and safe it is but, the experience isn't quite the same.
One day though, it is possible that this is the way people do actually travel and see the world, virtual reality holidays where people can be immersed into an experience without ever having to leave their own home. It is quite an interesting idea because as technology advances, it may be possible to impress the experience into the memory so firmly that one will not be able to tell the difference. If this was possible, would it be any less real?
Virtual and augmented reality are going to fundamentally change the way we learn, education systems and of course, entertainment. At some point, it is going to become so compelling and ubiquitous that people are no longer going to be able to tell the difference between what is real and what is not. Talk about fake news.
For now though, our only option is to be dream tourists travelling the world saying, One day if Steem...
These photos are taken in the very early morning in our home city in Finland. It is funny to call it a home city really, considering it is half a world away from where I was born. As they say though, home is where the heart is and my heart doesn't mind travelling.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]