Tag Archives: flying

Flight Time Machine

Yesterday I wrote ‘Flight time’ and said, “Planes are time machines. I can spend 10 days visiting Toronto from Vancouver after a 4.5 hour flight, or I could spend 8-9 days days travelling there and back and less than 2 days in Toronto. Planes don’t just save time, they create it.

In a conversation with Joe Truss this morning he mentioned that according to Albert Einstein I was speaking literally as well as metaphorically. The faster I move, the slower time goes for me, and so airplanes are actually time machines.

To me this exaggerates the point, it makes the point more poignant. Every time we speed things up, or whenever we ‘save time’, we are essentially creating little time machines… although we can’t actually travel back in time, we can only speed up and slow down our experience of time.

So, airplanes really are time machines, and I just got in one. I’ll see you 5 hours into my future… though I can’t tell you how long that will be for you. 😆

Flight time

Tomorrow I am taking a plane trip. Two weeks ago I had my first ride in a helicopter. I think it is amazing how we’ve learned to defy gravity and transport ourselves via air travel.

In a way, these flying machines are time machines. You hop in them and they take you great distances that would have taken hours longer if you went by car. Six to 7 hours in a car evaporates into an hour in a helicopter. A four to five day trip across most of Canada can be flown in about 5 hours.

Planes are time machines. I can spend 10 days visiting Toronto from Vancouver after a 4.5 hour flight, or I could spend 8-9 days days travelling there and back and less than 2 days in Toronto. Planes don’t just save time, they create it.

It’s pretty magical.