The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: October second, going around the world in 80 days.

According to the text, it was on the evening of October second, 1873, when the fictional adventurer, Phileas Fogg, made his brash, fateful wager with fellow members of London's exclusive Reform Club. "I will bet 20,000 pounds against anyone who wishes that I can make a tour of the world in 80 days or less."

When Jules Verne wrote his classic novel, Around the World in 80 Days, the age of modern transportation was just dawning. The notion that a person could actually circumnavigate the planet so quickly was previously unthinkable, but railroads and steam-powered ships were already shrinking the vast distances. The various segments of Fogg's itinerary were already well-established. London to Suez by rail and steamer in seven days. Suez to Bombay by boat in 13. Across India by rail, where steamers would convey him to Hong Kong, Yokohama and San Francisco in a mere 31 days. From there, the recently completed transcontinental railroad could whisk him to New York in a week. A nine day voyage would put him back in London. Though ambitious and exhausting, the itinerary was do-able, at least on paper. It was simply a matter of making all the right connections.

Like travelers these days, Fogg discovered that unexpected events had a way of interrupting his pilgrim's progress, requiring wit and luck to keep to his schedule. But in the end, rather than winning his bet, it was Fogg's experiences along the way, good and bad, changed him, made him a better, happier man. Good journeys have a way of doing that.

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