Asides from desert nomads who even own 4 wheel drives these days, we no longer have to travel for days on end in the dusty trail of a pony.

I love traveling and have explored as much as I can through different modes of what I refer to as reasonable transportation.

I haven’t tried the hot air balloon yet and my over zealous imagination goes into overdrive at the thought of such an experience. I doubt very much if I will.

I love cycling on my stationary bike and the huffing and puffing is enough for me. I am not sure that I will manage to get far on a bicycle. I probably won’t get to see much as I huff all the way and then have to worry about a sore butt at the end of it all.

A plane is quite expedient to nip about in, because it gets you there faster especially for long distance travel, but asides from the airport excitement of removing your belts and buckles and shoes and what not, the only view that you have for endless miles in the air (held up only by gravity) are clouds in different shapes and sizes and the view of the geographical terrain below from 30,000ft  and that is if you are lucky enough to sit by the window because I doubt if your neighbour would appreciate your leaning over their pot belly every few seconds to peek out of the window.

I must admit that I am not particularly fond of take offs, turbulence and landings and these days that planes have taken to falling out of the sky at cruising altitude, that is something additional to worry about.

My guess is that we will get on board, grit our teeth, hold our breath and the seat of our pants and recite our prayer beads for those inclined to do so.

I am a very visual person because this stokes my imagination so I truly don’t mind traveling by road on a bus or a private car. However, that was less tedious when I didn’t have children tagging along.

For a trip that takes more than 3 hours to arrive at your destination, prepare your mind for a thousand times of asking “are we there yet”, keeping them engaged, countless pit stops for coffee, donuts and restroom runs and some possibility of getting lost too.

Our best trip so far was a six weeks tour of Europe via Euro-star TGV. I felt like Agatha Christie on an expedition. It was simply awesome and I met lots of interesting characters on the train.

The sights taken in from London to Paris, Madrid, Geneva, Zurich, Belgium, Amsterdam and environs were absolutely wonderful and I wanted to share my love for Europe with my family. It is an experience that I am looking forward to repeating.

Well now, I had an experience with a camel on a desert safari and I daresay that a short ride is all well and good. I respect those who sit on it for days on end. I simply don’t look forward to having legs bowed from hours of straddling such wide girth and the camel experience is worth a post in itself.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

In response to The Daily Prompt Trains, Planes and Automobiles

You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, or car? (Or something else entirely — bike? Hot air balloon?)