In the 1750’s Ben Franklin was the Postmaster General of the Colonies. As you can imagine, travel was very different and difficult in those days. There were no Marriott Residence Inns or even a Motel 6! There were some local inns, which were not much more than saloons with an extra bed room or two. That meant a room with a bed in it, no showers or extras.

Reservations couldn’t be made by phone, or even telegraph, yet. Ben would just hope he could maybe find appropriate accommodations for his overnight stays.

Travel was by horse or in some cases, horse and wagon or carriage. There weren’t many bridges over rivers, so they had to find shallow crossings so as not to get too wet or even carried away. Trips took weeks to complete the tasks at hand.

Compare that all with today. My wife and I are now attending a business conference in Los Angeles. We called ahead, or emailed the Hyatt Hotel and made specific reservations for our room. The room is, of course, one of hundreds at the hotel. It has the most modern conveniences—beds with clean bedding, a toilet and shower and tub. The hotel provides A/C, which means air conditioning, TV and electric appliances like lights, lamps, and clocks.

We could have flown from Phoenix to Los Angeles, but decided to drive. Mostly because of delays with the security checkpoints and baggage possibly getting lost. We drove our fairly new Lincoln MKZ, a wonderfully comfortable car. We drove across the very wide and roaring Colorado River without so much as slowing down. Well, the congested freeways in LA were somewhat of a hassle, but noting like the hassles Ben had to endure.

It is so amazing how much travel has changed. Improved in most cases. I think Ben would love it!