Global Travel Time: 1914 Versus 2016 Shown through Maps

In 1914, travel would take anywhere from four to 40 days!
by WindowSeat.ph | January 11, 2016

You’d have to be living under a rock to be unaware of the fact that it’s much faster to travel around the world at this age and time. Compared to a hundred years ago, advancements in technology such as high-speed trains and first class airplanes have exponentially shortened the travel time of getting from one point to another.

Indeed, the world has innovated way beyond steamboats and railroads. Rome2rio, a search engine for global travel routes using various transport modes, provided a clearer picture of the implications of that.

Rome2rio recently created a map showing the vast improvement of global travel time. Compared with a 1914 map that also shows how long traveling to locations around the world would take in the past, you might even be thankful for the present’s constant flight delays and cancellations.

Here’s the map showing the global travel time of various journeys from London back in 1914. The colors depict how many days it would take to get to a point, with the least travel time being five days and the most travel time being over 40 days.

On the other hand, take a look at Rome2rio’s map showing the global travel time of various journeys from London as well, but set in 2016. Simply looking at the changed categories would show vast improvement. In this day and age, you can travel to other countries in less than or a little past a day.

Hooray for technology! Those maps definitely put modern traveling into perspective.

Did this comparison make 20^th century traveling seem much more exciting? Share your thoughts below!