Railroads,ships,buses,andairplaneshavemadetraveleasier,faster,andcheaper;andthenumberofpeoplewhocansparethetimeandthemoneytotaketripshasgrownenormously.
Itisnotreservedtoaluckyfew,nowadays,toadmireIncatemples,Frenchcastles,andAustraliankangaroos.
Millionsofpeopledoeachyear.
Butinsteadofbeingcalledtravelers,theyareknownastouristsandtheyareseenallovertheworld—floatingdowntheAmazon,cruisingtoAlaska,flyingfromTimbuktutoEasterIsland,andtakingpicturesofNorwegianchurchesandPakistanicostumes.
Surelythisrepresentsgreatprogress.
ItisjustandgoodthatmostofthepeoplewhodreamofseeingtheParthenonshouldhaveachancetodoso.
Itissatisfyingtoknowthatremoteruinsarenotforgottenindeepforests,tobeseenonlyafewexplorersattheriskoftheirlives.
Itisexcellentthatpeopleofdifferentcountiesshouldmeetandtalktoeachother.
Isitreallydesirabletohavethemostremotebeach,themosthiddentempleexposedtohumancuriosityandatthesametimetothelitterandgraffitithathumanityleavesinitspath?
Woulditbebettertoleavesuchtreasurestothelocalpopulation,whichperhapsdoesn'tpayanyattentiontothem?
Thesaddestaspectoftourismhasbeenbroughtrecentlytotheattentionofthepublic:itseemsthatthegreatnumberofvisitorsisdestroyingthetreasuresthattheyenjoymost.
Undermillionsoffeet,ancientstoneswearout,ancientfloorsbreakdown.
PartsofthepalaceofVersaillesmayhavetobeclosedtothepublicinordertopreservethem,andsomeEuropeancaves,famousfortheirthirty-thousand-year-oldpaintings,havealreadybeenclosedbecausethepaintingsweredamagedbyhumanrespiration.
Theremaycomeatimewhenonlyspecialistsinart,history,orarchaeologywillbeallowednearthetreasuresofthepast.
Perhapswe'dbetterhurrytoseethem;perhapswe'dbettertakeatoursoon.