In 1800, it took a month and a half to get to Chicago from New York City. My three hour bus ride back home for Christmas would have taken a full week. (Or more, depending on the snow.)
The Mother Nature Network posted a fun series of maps which show how our country’s become smaller as transportation’s become faster. In one lifetime, from 1800 to 1857, travel from NYC to Chicago went from six weeks to two days. By 1857, those six weeks got you all the way out to Seattle.
Technology is kickin’ rad.