The Future of Travel Hyperloops, Flygskam, Pepper Robots, and much more By Dominik Ježek
It’s the turn of spring and the warmer days have all but melted away the last bits of winter, sending the ski equipment and puffy jackets into a peaceful slumber in the dark recesses of our closets. As the old saying goes (which I just might have made up) when one holiday is over, it is time to plan another one. This time probably a bit further away than the Giant Mountains or the Alps. Being that it is 2020, it’s time to explore and dream about the new adventures the coming decade has to offer and the ones we can take advantage of right now. Although we still have to wait before we sit in hydrogen-powered self-piloted planes, technology has always been around to make travelling faster, cosier, and less stressful. Smartphones are the best example. Travelling around the world with them makes a ton of difference. I experienced it firsthand when I arrived for work in Beijing in 2014 with my beloved five-years-old-and-still-going-strong dumbphone Nokia C5-00. Surprisingly, almost no one in the Chinese capital spoke English, including taxi drivers whose vocabulary only contained the vital question “T2, T3?” That does not mean which Terminator sequel you prefer, but whether you’re going to airport terminal 2 or 3.
61
