ShanwickOceanic wrote:I'd have to go for the heyday of the flying-boat,
There was an episode of "America in Color, the 30's" that highlighted a couple that traveled across the pacific in the clipper. I would link to it but the video is blocked in this country. None the less it took on the order of 2 weeks to get from their home somewhere in the midwest to Hong Kong and another week of so to get to Japan. In all I think they were on the road for something like 3 months.
Imagine having to book your hotel sight unseen and then hope that some unforseen circumstance didn't delay your arrival so badly that your reservation went into the trash. But then, back then people were much more civil and accomodating than today's corporations are.
I doubt I would have had much luck back then as I am a spur of the moment type of traveler. The longest lead time I ever had on a trip was the A.net meet to Chernobyl. Even when there is a meet here on netairspace I'm usually non-committal until just a week or two before its date. Perhaps that will change now that I'm retired and my schedule is completely flexible.
What's the point of an open door policy if inside the open door sits a closed mind?