EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Q2pnIw0.jpg)
It is amazing how many places you can now visit with such an ease - all you need to do is buy a plane ticket and go. Well, for all of the places, there is a story of some obstacles on the way, but the general availability of the whole planet to a traveler is absolutely amazing.
I thought of this yesterday when we sat with some friends contemplating where do we go next for a trip. The five of us sat together sharing our thoughts about what we want and after discussing places where any of us do NOT want to go right now for various reasons (mainly not the right season, been there, too expensive and safety concerns), we ended up with a rather short lists of target areas (essentially Peru/Bolivia/Ecuador, Indian Himalayas and Mongolia).
15 years ago where I started exploring the world, the list of options seemed endless with a lifetime not enough to see it all. Now suddenly, the Earth is getting pretty small. Sure, there are still wonderful places to go and there always will be, but those combining novelty, safety and availability are much rarer than I would ever have thought.
Also consider this my postcard from faraway places. While I will probably never be brave enough to breakaway ultimately from my live in the society, a part of me is always out there.
It's not my fault that most of the really low-lying ground is either an impassable swamp or full of people ... 
