Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
One thing I think it is important to keep in mind looking back at the "Glory" days. Even though air travel was a bit better it was also much much much more expensive. Today we can travel all over the country for a few hundred dollars and if you get a good deal across an ocean. A year ago I flew to Boston for the day and flew back that evening to DC for $30. Oil was very cheap and the airlines were regulated they needed to bring in passengers with their products in the cabin. In the 90s Oil was still very cheap. It has changed a lot and its really just because of the price of oil.
In 1991, my first flight that my employer asked me to book was STL-CMH for $568RT. Since my destination was midway between Columbus and Cleveland, I asked him for permission to book STL-CLE for $150RT on a new airline called Southwest. To this day, I have never spent more than $250RT on that route.
One more thing. It is SO GREAT that you can see all your costs online and no longer need to rely on the honesty of your travel agent.
I spent 9 months hitchhiking, riding trains, and driving around the U.K. and Western Europe in 1970-71. A one-way flight cost about $100 to London in those days. We travelled for next to nothing, by today's standards. Halfway through the trip we bought a VW Beetle for $200, and drove it all the way through Yugoslavia, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands and up through England to Scotland and back.
Communications back home to our parents was by letter and postcard. We carried Amex travellers' cheques, and the Amex offices in every city became mail stops where we could pick up mail from home. We cherished the few letters we got, but in those days wouldn't dream of phoning overseas except in a dire emergency.
There were lots of backpackers in those days, both from North America, and Britain, France and Germany as well. The youth hostel system was very robust and worked very well--we stayed mostly in youth hostels, but also pensions and b&b's.
Spain was under Franco in those days--yes, romantic, but a police state. The south of Spain was lovely--so unspoiled--now it's covered in condos, and overrun by (largely) the British. Greece was completely unspoiled, just lovely, but it also was a police state, under the thrall of the "Generals" in those days, and quite poor.
The U.K. was very cheap--a B&B outside the big cities could be had for 1 pound a night per person. Youth hostels all over Europe cost about the same. The most expensive place we stayed, oddly enough, was in an obscure little town in Yugoslavia (now Serbia I think), and it cost $7 a night.
Getting a hot shower was next to impossible, in fact showers were rare. Some places had baths, in England you had to put a penny in the gas meter to get hot water. Youth hostels tended to have cold showers.
Food was very local and traditional since tourism was largely undeveloped. This had its ups and downs--getting anything but bangers and mash or fish and chips in England was difficult. But having a nice piece of fresh fish in Spain was easy and cheap, as were tapas. Wine and beer were also very cheap in some places.
This was a very memorable trip for me, experiencing all these different cultures and their people, and being self-sufficient and independent at a young age (I was 22) helped me to grow as a person.
Do you think travelling was more of an 'adventure' back then compared to now?
If it was (for me) that would have been because I was just beginning to travel widely. I don't think it's changed all that much over the years, though. Some destinations are more accessible. Most are more expensive today then 'back then.'
I remember many plane flights that were only half full and there was plenty of room in coach. Now almost all flights are jammed full sold out.
Exactly. And that contributes to everyone's frustration and increased stress. Airlines keep cutting routes and flights and each flight is jam packed, making everyone surly and short on patience. It's all about profits for airlines. No one would argue that airlines need to make a profit, but all the added fees for bags and everything else, coupled with packed flights and x-ray scanners, makes for an unpleasant experience unless you are in first class. Lower cost airlines still make a profit and provide better service. There needs to be more consolidation among major carriers, and let newer airlines expand. Increased competition would improve the experience and lower the costs.
In 1978-79 I took a year off lived out of a backpack and went around the world on $15,000.
At times it was wild, the list of things that happened would fill a book a few examples are:
-Flew into Iran right before the Khomini took over and flew right back out due to Rahmdamn we could get anywhere. Our flight out was an El Al flight parked at the end of the runway an guarded by their special forces we had to nearly strip search and were seriously interviewed. Once in Israel, we got to be in Jerusalem during Easter week when the PLO threatened to bomb it. We could'nt go into northern Israel due to bombing.
-Was in Hungary during the communist May Day parade full of tanks and military
-Went to the Edenbourough tattoo
-Went sailing off the coasts of Greece, Israel, France, Scotland and Ireland and of course Tahiti, Fiji, NZ and Auz.
-Flew from Hungary to Switzerland on the old Aeroflot airline that were mililtary planes with snapping fold down seats
-Went to a game camp in Nepal and got stuck there because the king comondeered the plane for his friends...LOL you land in a cow field to get to the game camp. Road an Elephant there and watched them bathe them in the river and played with 2 babies in training
I can't begin to tell you of all the experiences and sights I saw - I don't think the trip could even be duplicated now.
I guess travel is in my Genes, my grandfather left Memphis, TN in 1920 and drove across the USA to California in a model T - might not sound like much but there were no interstates, often times it was just a dirt track. My ancestors have always been wanderers, many times not of their choosing.
I hope one day to retire and buy a small travel trailer and go from the east side of the country home to the PNW taking my time to "see the sights".
If by "adventure" you mean painful, then yes, travel was much more painful back then. Many of the airplanes flying in the late 70's were torture devices.
I remember many of those experiences. I also remember when the interstates were first built we used to go off on the old routes bypassed and you could get great deals on motels and meals. Flying was not for most people, many drove from Chicago to New York for example. That's why everyone dressed up on flights. Airports were inconveniently located, almost none had rail transit access. But you could get to the airport ten minutes before departure and still make it. Everyone sent postcards when they visited a place for the first time. You could buy souvenirs that were actually made locally.
i remember back in the day where smoking was allowed on China Airlines...good thing i was little and didn't seem bothered by it....don't think i could handle that now.
Obviously, I haven't been traveling a long time. My first long-distance (plane) trip was in 2001 when my 8th grade class went to Washington, DC. Then it was almost four years before I traveled by plane again, this time with my Spanish class to Costa Rica. Never have I traveled when you couldn't get money from an ATM almost anywhere. I had to get money once to pay for a carpet I bought (or was tricked into buying) in small-town Morocco, and yes, there was an ATM machine nearby. Granted, one of the town's main industries was tourism, but still. Never have I traveled without the convenience of internet cafes in every (non-American) city, and little had I traveled before Wi-Fi was at every hotel and motel and hostel worth its salt. Never have I traveled when home was not a simple phone call away. I would call my mom every day on my cell phone when I was in NYC, and every evening when I was in Florida, and talk to her like I was next door. Now you can do that internationally and relatively easy (although somewhat expensively).
Traveling must have been a lot more of an adventure back then, but more burdensome as well. And you probably had to be more coordinated. Heck, I took my first international flight to Barcelona without even knowing how to get to my hostel, and I hadn't budgeted in taxi costs (which would be like $100), so I went to the internet terminal there and got directions to it, IIRC.
Oh for me the biggest change has definitely been the change in air travel especially in coach. Not too long ago, and maybe peaking during the early 90's, coach travel was fun! Since fuel was cheap the carriers weren't really concerned about making profits and filling all the planes, seats were much bigger, you had more room between rows and you could recline almost to a horizontal position.
The "flight attendants" were all women and naturally 20 or 30 years younger and would smile at you and act like they liked you, even calling you by name. Alcoholic drinks were only 50 cents and beers were a quarter. The food was delicious and they offered a wide selection served piping hot.
Last edited by BstYet2Be; 03-26-2012 at 01:33 AM..
Reason: copyrighted photos require links only
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
