I’m flying east across the USA from Seattle, Washington. I’ve brought along my copy of the National Trails System Map, compliments of the National Park System and my friend Joey McBayer. I switch between the paper version and staring out the window at the mountains, lakes, mesas, valleys, and hundreds of miles of land that offers a spider-web trace of trails and roads. From my 35,000’ perch moving at 500 mph. I have two thoughts: Wagon Trains and Buckypaper.
Sure, 175 years ago people in search of gold, land, love, and adventure made travel arrangements to join a wagon train. This technological upgrade from mule, horse, or sturdy legs offered a way for a solo traveler to bring along family, friends, and possessions carried across the pond from the old country. There was usually safety in numbers, although history is rich with stories of disasters, disagreements, and denial. I grew up rooting for Scout Clint McCullough on the popular TV series Wagon Train. http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/robert-horton-dead-wagon-train-1201730599/
The geography hasn’t changed. Travelers today still cross the continental divide at Monarch Pass, rivers at St Louis, and the Great Basin desert in Nevada. A few even cross the country on foot or horseback. http://www.discoverytrail.org/ A couple of decades later the trans-continental railroad changed transportation, and much of the economy of the country I’m flying over. Sixty years later, at the top of the 20th century folks like my great-great grandparents frequently crossed to California and Oregon from Blue Rapids, Kansas to visit family who settled these states. I’m fairly certain that everyone alternated between feelings of joy at these modern methods of travel and frustration at losing one’s job. Not much call for a mule spinner, cooper, or drover.
Which is why I’m also thinking of BuckyPaper. http://advancedmanufacturing.org/buckypaper-whatever-happened-aerospace-material-tomorrow/ Fortunately, my 15-year-old-grandson Sebastian gave me a 20 minute update on these geodesic carbon nanotube sheets. A decade of research is bringing us closer to making cars, airplanes, medical devices, artificial muscles, and growing biological tissue. Not to mention the ability to stop a speeding bullet. I think there really may be a magic flying carpet. All jobs and economies associated with transportation, medical, power-grid infrastructure and practically everything else will make any single thing we experience today seem like 1984.
I’m a fan of change. One of the many characteristics of people that causes me to smile is our ability to adapt and embrace new ventures and adventures. Life is not static.
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Solivagant USA 
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