Observation and the observer

I am on this TGV train from Paris to Berne in Switzerland and opposite to me seated two girls - one for sure is a localite and the one sitting directly opposite to me, I was skeptical about.

However, myself being a keen observer (most of the times ;)), did figure out that she is from the States too. Three instances that helped me find out -

1. When the conductor (ticket check guy) walked by, we were to show our tickets and an identification. We obviously being from outside, the only form of ID was passport. The girl showed her passport too and I was already counting that she is not from any of the mainland European region. At this time, I was sure she is either from UK or the US.

2. Sun shining bright until about 9:15pm, as a courtesy I was prompted by my friend to check with her if it did okay to pull down the blinds of the train window. The response was clearly with an American accent - that's fine. :)

3. REI is a pretty famous co-op in the US with all travel backpacks, sporting equipments and the likes. The bag that was rolled in by her was from REI too. Although this was just a guess that she could be from the US, it just added to the fun!

Is it a valid statement to make that she was from the US since she used an iPhone!!? :D
     Probably not, because there were many people in Europe carrying iPhones. 

In all, I was indeed right after striking a conversation (glad I did). It was such a coincidence that she graduated from a pretty known university in Mountain Time, where I live; her family being in the state where my friend works, and her trip to a specific hotspot down in South America which me and my friend were researching and exploring about. Such a coincidence. 

Feels good! Haha..

The Idaho connection

Traveling in Switzerland on a golden pass line train from Zweisimmen to Montreux, I happen to sit beside a cross-country couple; cross-country because, the husband was from Switzerland and the lady was from Sweden. :D

Upon a chat, I introduced myself to be from one of the states in the States and the lady popped the question - which state again, Idaho?
I was surprised to hear and clarified myself what was being asked for. Soon came the response - potatoes, from Idaho.
YES that's right. I live in Idaho and it is famous for potatoes and exported to quite a number of places in the world, of which I learned about Switzerland or Sweden to be one or both of them.

Wasn't just that, introducing my friend to have studied in Salt Lake City, the immediate outspoken word was Mormons. People are indeed aware of the world!!! :)

Again, it was not limited there. The couple were quite familiar with India and the 'romantic' bollywood movies (romantic, quoted by them) all thanks to the many film picturization in Switzerland.

If permitting and viable, we, the people should travel the world and get familiar with cultures & places around one another. So much more of general knowledge than reading books, you see!! :)

A world beyond visual perception

Official travels and personal trips have made me use one of the many faster modes of transport - airlines. Be it international travel back home or on official trips locally and internationally, flights have been convenient.

Similarly, the underground subway system is yet another faster mode of transit within big cities. Have had lived in Chicago, visit New York, London and Paris, the subway trains in each of these metropolis is just amazing too in terms of connectivity and accessibility. 

The natural tendency for all is to imagine life to be only on our planet although life could possibly exist elsewhere in the universe too and we perceive it to be mostly on land quite often, without extending it to the other layers of the earth.

It is so fascinating that at a given point in time, there are in-numerous airplanes in the sky carrying 100's of passengers. To give a perception of how many flights travel on a daily basis, watch this 24 hour time lapse video. Likewise, subway trains across the world ferry quite a huge population during a day's play. Here is a comparison of the top 11 busiest subways in the world. 

Man has informally acquired the space beyond & beneath just land. Being on a plane for close to 14 hours is more than half an earth day spent elsewhere than land (of course lose or gain time). We spend our time 'there' with our neighbors, eat and drink, sleep and entertain ourselves; nothing short of a life on land (cannot be for long though; pity the cabin crew / air hostesses). Nowadays, internet and phone service being available at that altitude too, nothing is far reducing the gap between 32 odd thousand feet and ground.

People have been living for months together on the ISS (international space station) visioning and monitoring the earth and not to forget researching about extra terrestrial beings. Looking at the photos that get posted by a few Commander's I follow on twitter who are aboard the ISS, we the people are not far from finding life on other planets and/or start living elsewhere in the universe. Imagine a man-made equipment 'The Mars Rover' roaming around on the unknown territory of the planet Mars; they just make man feel as an amazing being.

We should at times be reminded about the various regions which support life although artificially; it doesn't seem to stop expanding.