Chris:
You made the comment "How did travellers make it around the world before the advent of GPS, satellite phone, ATM, and computers??". I think (and I am throwing this in to tweak you a little, not to flame you) that you might have let a little elitism slip by into your post, which was otherwise very PC, containing the appropriate phrases about Western consumerism and the like.
Obviously, travelers did make it around the world before GPS, INMARSAT, ATM's and the like. But the point you miss is that much fewer of them did it back then. Conveniences such as we have today make world travel more accessible for people who might previously not have considered it.
I do realize that all the hoi-polloi out there as a result of these modern conveniences may well disturb a 'true' traveler such as yourself  , however, consider how much better off Shackleton would have been if he had access to a satellite phone.... mind you, he would not have had the honour of keeping a stiff upper lip for the Empire while he suffered if he could have phoned out for a pizza.
[This message has been edited by PanEuropean (edited 09 April 2002).]
|