Sure. We know this. The world is an enormous place. We will never see every bit of the planet, no matter how much we travel. It is too big. There’s too much. Besides, there are still places on Earth that no one has ever seen, heard, or touched. No one.
It might do us well to discover, then, right from our chairs.
Let’s say we went to a desert in North Africa and the Middle East. We might just run into a camel. But we’d never catch one in a foot race. A fast camel, not carrying a load, can reach speeds of over 38 miles per hour. Compare that to a fast racehorse that can peak at about 40 miles per hour. But if they both were on sand? The camel would win every time. It’s those knobby knees, I think.
Some humans have knobby knees too, but we walk more than we run. And if we would go exploring, we could travel one whole mile by taking about 2,000 steps. It really depends on our length of stride. Short-leggers might take 2,500 steps to equal one mile. Not to mention Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I bet the pack of them are closer to 3,000 steps per mile, what with their legs, and with Snow White twirling and spinning around all the time.
Forget walking. Let’s say for the heck of it that we were driving. Everyone is complaining about the price of gas these days. And many folks might run their tanks as long as they will go. Exactly how far can you go on an empty tank? Well, it seems a gas-guzzling Ford Excursion can drive an average of 85 miles after the fuel light comes on. Surprisingly, a hybrid Toyota Prius can only eke out an extra 55 miles out of its tank. A Honda Civic — 44 miles. Smaller gas tanks. But the fumes are the same.
Some of us like to swim, though. And for that, we need water. The Earth is full of it. In simple terms, water makes up about 71% of the Earth’s surface. That leaves the other 29% consisting of continents and islands. And to break that down further, 96.5% of all the Earth’s water is contained within the oceans. Salty, we are.
And one more step. The ocean is home to nearly 95% of all life. Yes, think of that for a moment. Only 5% of all life on Earth is on land. Holy heck. We are a small, small minority. So when you swim out there, you will have a LOT of company. You can bet on meeting some sea creatures.
But take my advice. Do not race the Gentoo penguin. It swims at 22 mph. The fastest humans swim at about 5 or 6 mph. We don’t run the fastest. Don’t walk the fastest. We don’t swim the fastest. And. We don’t even know how to fly on our own. But the spine-tailed swift of Siberia can reach speeds over 100 miles per hour. (I’d be flying fast, too, if I was a bird living in Siberia. I’d be flying my way out of Russian, that’s for darn sure.)
The truth of the matter, though, is that traveling takes money. Heck, everything takes money. So reach into your billfold and pull out a Benny Franklin. If you look on the back, you will see that the time on the clock of Independence Hall shows approximately 4:10 on the older notes. Weirdly, it shows 10:30 on the series 2009A notes released in 2013. I’m not sure why.
If you are like me and only have five bucks on you? Flip it over. On the back of the Lincoln Memorial, you will find there are 26 states engraved there. In real life, there are 48 states engraved all the way around. But we can only see one side of the memorial on the five-dollar bill.
So. Travel well from your armchair, out to the vast expanses of our world. You could always get a Virtual Reality headset and go some places in your head. Unless, of course, you already do that. And in that case, tell yourself I said hello.
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“Not all those who wander are lost.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien
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“Never lose your sense of wonder.”
– Age-old proverb
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“Seize the day boys, make your life extraordinary”
– John Keating
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Fast, slow. Today, it is all in your head.
