An Irishman’s diary: Travel isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

‘Where are you headed?” “Belfast.” “Never been there.”

“Not into travelling, then?”

“God no, I’ve been to South America, Thailand, Australia and Russia.”

We’re on a Dublin-bound train where the young Corkman confides he has been so absorbed by travelling abroad, he just never got around to exploring Ireland.

Past generations certainly wouldn’t have experienced this problem, for international travel was then too difficult and dangerous to be undertaken lightly.

Unless driven by the demands of trade, conquest, migration or a pilgrim quest for indulgences, sensible people tended to remain within the comfort zone of a half-day walk from their own fireside.

It was, of course, railways that first pushed back travel frontiers for ordinary folk and allowed our great grandparents the unprecedented luxury of holidaying in Bundoran, Ballybunion, or Brittas Bay.

Jet aircraft then defeated distance and compacted our planet to a global village.

Rail-dependent seaside resorts went into steep, drizzly decline as glamorous holiday brochures tempted us with the status symbol of a dusky tan.

First flight

On my maiden flight, I well remember the tingle of excitement that came with the pleasant stroll from check-in to aircraft. Blissfully unencumbered by metal detectors or security barriers – airports were then uncrowded, relaxed places.

In the air we were made to feel truly royal. A cooked breakfast was before us even as the plane reached cruising altitude and we were assured that complimentary drinks and pillows were just a raised finger away.

Things then changed rapidly. Low-cost airlines brought ticket prices tumbling. We now found air travel was well within our financial reach and so we began nipping overseas for short breaks, or enjoying those 10-day holidays that never seemed to be available on traditional packages.

Irritations

We loved the new freedom but irritations also increased. I now noticed how I was required to shoehorn my extended frame into cramped seats on sardine-can aircraft.

Far from being treated like royalty we were herded on and off flights as airports became industrial scale complexes dedicated to moving human cargo while thwarting terrorism.

We struggled through security with as much dignity as we could muster while holding our trousers with one hand and hoping nobody nicked our watch while we replaced our shoes.

These days we pay for luggage, pay to sit as a family and if our baggage is a few kilograms overweight, the excess can cost more than the flight.

Why travel?

Then, scrunched in our seats, while trying not to make eye contact with a flight attendant selling expensive perfume, we can only pray this isn’t the day of an extremist strike at our destination.

Travel has never been so popular, even as it becomes less essential and more stressful. We can Skype our family abroad, video conference almost anybody worldwide and if we want to know what the White House looks like on the inside, we can take the virtual tour online.

Yet, we made almost seven million overseas journeys from Ireland last year. So this summer even greater numbers of us will – French air traffic controllers and volcanos allowing – struggle, lemming–like, through crowded airports. Once abroad, we will forego the comforts of the familiar as we queue to see the Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel ceiling or the statue of David before finally discovering they look exactly as in reproductions.

And what if we manage to get match tickets allowing us through the ring of steel surrounding the upcoming European Football Championships? We will miss sneaky handballs, dodgy tackles and goal line scrambles that will have television fans back home leaping from their couches.

All of which makes me wonder why, in the age of instant communication, we still see travel as both pleasure and entitlement.

At the train station my travelling acquaintance tells he is heading to Morocco to try some deep-sea diving.

“But you could do this more easily at home?” I venture.

“Yes, but for all the hassles with travel I find there is nothing like the fun of finding and then getting to know a new and exciting destination.”