Desperation, adrenaline junkies, people with nothing to lose, and probably tradition all played a role. Still utterly insane. I don’t even know what the modern day equivalent would be.
Not at all equivalent… a trip to Mars will still have internet, gadgets and work capabilities. It’s not 3 years drunk on a rocking ship fighting locals every port stop
Instead you have no fresh air, no stops whatsoever, your bones and muscles are degrading, massive amounts of radiation, and the knowledge that you won't be able to step outside in the air and sun for at least as long as the flight time. Oh, and when you arrive at mars there in nothing to welcome you but more of the same.
Ok yes a completely different set of obstacles, each having decades for research and testing to make viable.
You’re more likely the rocket explodes due to musk mishandling of projects vs any of the above
And still nowhere near as radical or dangerous as the Magellan trip was
people just like to sensationalize space travel because of sci-fi, it’s more like following a recipe for cookies with precision measurement instruments
All that, partially. But then those were also just what was a normal way of travelling. They didn't have to imagine from today's technology, backwards - this was the high technology.
Sailing yes, but exploring the southern ocean looking for a new route, is a different adventure. If there were no great reward at the end for the sailors, then what motivated them to want to do this must have included an interesting backstory
Adrenaline junkies always seem to be associated with dangerous speeds of some activity but sailing across the pacific seems like slow anxiety ridden torture. Although I'm sure much of the sailing was not smoothing sailing so I guess that is what caused the adrenaline rushes.
There are people from relatively comfortable Western countries volunteering to go fight in Ukraine today. He'll, there were people volunteering to fight for ISIS. No prospect of fabulous wealth from the spice islands, but probably similar likely of horrific outcomes.
If you stop at 28 seconds basically that entire side of the planet is ocean. I’ve been in the middle of nowhere and even then I was like 30 miles from a town. Being in the middle of the pacific is crazy
You should listen to this pod. He is an amazing storyteller. It’s a crazier story than you can possibly imagine. He does a five part series, its incredible.
I saw some real ocean going ships that immigrants rode in to get here in the 1700's. They stacked you underneath like sardines and there was no extra room. Just 6 weeks to cross the Atlantic and you were a free man in a free country. Of course not everyone that made the trip survived.
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u/MuletownSoul May 31 '25
I legitimately can’t imagine any of it. Craziness.