I just traveled from Sofia (Bulgaria) to Neumarkt (Germany), and the actual travel time by plane and train was 3 hours and 51 minutes for a distance of 1172 km (728.4 miles) (without the time for check-in, security, waiting at the gate, getting out of the airport, and then going to the train station and waiting for the train).

If you would walk (at a speed of 4.8 km/h or 3 mph), this distance would take about 242.8 hours. If you took a horse and trotted at 12.9 km/h (8 mph), the distance would take 91.05 hours. In a car, the journey would take 9.76 hours at a speed of 120 km/h (74.56 mph). All these times are without any stops or breaks.

It’s incredible to consider how far we’ve come as a species. And I’m curious to see what will happen in the future.