It's a small world. Really?

Hunter-gatherers thought the world was gigantic.

Farming did not change much. People could still not comprehend much beyond the Mediterranean, as was suggested by maps. When Alexander made his empire, however, maps of India popped up, and the world was centered on the Middle East. Over the years, places such as China, Siberia, southern Africa, Scandinavia, and finally America were added. It became apparent that the world was even larger than large, larger than anybody could imagine. When the car was widely used, it did not do much to this image.

It was the plane that did. The world began shrinking. Now many people picture the Earth as people used to picture the Mediterranean. And it is still shrinking, as planes become faster and faster.

Or is it?

Australia is a great example of how the world is still immense. Many travelers believe you can drive from Sydney to Perth in one day. This is a journey taking you over the Murray, Australia's biggest and muddiest river, to Adelaide, the smallest true city of Australia, across the Eyre peninsula, and the Nullarbor Plain, before hitting Kalgoorlie, and then Perth, the fourth largest and fourth smallest Australian capital (After Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and before Adelaide, Darwin, Canberra). Now, consider this: It takes an entire day to get halfway to Adelaide, and it takes a week, at the very least, to get to Perth! Forget about one day!

One reason why many people think Australia is so small is the population density. During peak season, Yulara (The Ayers Rock Resort) is the third largest town in the Australian territory it is in. And did you know that the capital of Australia has a population barely over 125,000? Australia has only ten cities over 100,000, compared to, say, twenty cities in the Netherlands. Crazy!

There are many other examples. Canada is larger than Australia, but it sometimes seems like it is smaller than India.

My conclusion is that the world is small on a plane, but too large to imagine on the ground. There are endless things to see there and do there, but most importantly, you don't have to even travel to a different country to see many things.....