"THE airplane has to land at a certain place in order to take in those who have reserved the right to fly by the tickets that they have purchased. So too the Lord has to come down so that those who have won the right to be liberated may be saved. There are some who deny even today the possibility of air-travel; they curse the contrivance. They cavil at it. Similarly there are many who cavil at the Avatar that has come to save them." Sri Sathya Sai Baba (Indian Spiritual leader, b.1926) There are about 25 million commercial airline flights a year, that's about 68493 flights a day. In 2008 there are so many opportunities to make the most of budget airline's and cheap flights booked via the internet that there is almost too much to choose from.I can hardly remember what we did just ten years ago, before everyone had a home computer and high speed internet. I can vaguely recall looking for cheap flights in the paper and making exiting but nervous phone calls to airlines, hoping that the tickets would come on time and that they had spelled your name correctly. Ah, nostalgia. Everything is quicker now. Romance, travel, communication you name it, it's all faster, slicker and simpler. A few people might argue that this has taken the excitement out of life. Think of the feeling you get when you slide your finger into a hand written envelope that has taken weeks to arrive or the excitement of a restrained love affair finally set free. Personally I would rather make the most of my short years on this planet and bundle in as much as possible. The more places I can fit in on my short holiday periods the better and if I can get a flight to Paris for ?12.50 or to New York for £112 by clicking my right index finger a few times, I am not going to grumble. Yes I have heard the argument about global warming, who hasn't? Who hadn't heard the argument for the millennium bug or bird flu? No one is going to get a grant from the government to write a thesis on how global warming is a natural occurrence. Of course, in today's climate (pun intended) it would be easier to market a book on the effect of global warming on the grouse population in the Outer Hebrides. I would rather put the money I save on my cheap flight into buying a few acres of rainforest instead of into the pockets of a travel agent.So, as Sri Sathya Sai Baba might say if he were alive today: "I will purchase my tickets thus reserving my right to fly, so I can get to a certain place. For now I am liberated from the clutch of greedy tour operators I may be saved."