Or it could just be an observation. You can look at how arduaous that trip is and be amazed that now-a-days, if you just want to get from point A to point B, you can do it in few hours of comfort on a plane. That doesn't take anything away from that you might want to take the long path. But seeing the long path, you can certainly appreciate how awesome it is that you don't have to take the long path when you don't need/want to .

I'm certainly glad that went I decide to go from California to Hawaii it takes 5 hours and not 5 days like it did 100 years ago. Or Japan, 14-15 days and now 10-11 hours. Sure, it might be interesting to do it once the long way, but having someone show me the long way makes me appreciate that I don't have to do that.