South of Sunnyside

In route on my motorcycle to the Central Coast for a camping trip, I started to reminisce about my childhood travels. Each summer my grandparents would take my sister and me across the South and Southwest, camping and exploring the attractions. I still have countless photos from the Grand Canyon, Four Corners, Big Ben State Park and other places.

With the continuing escalation in gas prices, and the perpetual shift in thought about personal transportation, I wonder if my grandchildren will take similar trips.

This is certainly not my area of study, but it seems to me that travel can be divided somewhat naturally into three distance categories: short-range (0-25 miles one-way), mid-range (26-300 one-way), and long-range (301+ miles one-way)—or something along those lines. The former and latter have existed for centuries, but I’m guessing that until the birth of the automobile, mid-range travel was not very common (that’s really more of a question than a statement).

It seems (to me, at least) that long-range travel has become stagnant—with regards to evolution and potentional for growth—while mid- and short-range travel have been challenged by rising fuel prices and ozone depletion. It may now be more attractive to take public transportation or a bicycle/moped to get to work, or to a store a few miles away, rather than a car.

I’m not sure if this makes sense anywhere but in my head, but I wonder what travel will look like in 20, 50, 100 years. Will we still visit the Grand Canyon? Will historical landmarks still be relevant? (Note that I’m not saying they won’t; I’m also not equating relevance with value.) Will we still take road trips?

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