Okay real talk.
Space travel is still mostly rich-people-LARP right now and I’m sitting here in Bharatpur sweating through my kurta in January 2026 wondering if I’ll ever get to see the curve of the Earth with my own eyeballs instead of through someone else’s GoPro.
I got embarrassingly obsessed last month after watching that Axiom-4 mission livestream while eating Maggi at 3 a.m. I cried a little when they docked. Not even ashamed. That’s how pathetic my space travel dreams are. Space Travel Guide
Anyway here’s my very flawed, very American-coded (even though I’m writing this from India lol long story) take on the ultimate space travel guide in early 2026. Space Travel Guide
Why Space Travel Feels Closer…and Still Impossible for Normies Like Me Space Travel Guide
I used to think by 2026 we’d all be zipping up to orbit like it’s an Uber ride. Spoiler: we’re not there yet.
Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are doing suborbital joyrides. You get maybe 4–5 minutes of weightlessness, see the black sky, take a selfie, then plummet back. Price tag? Roughly $450,000–$600,000 depending on who’s yelling the loudest on X that week.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon trips to the ISS via Axiom are running $55 million per seat last I checked. Yeah. Million. With an M.
For comparison, I just spent ₹220 on a chicken roll that gave me food poisoning. Priorities, right?
Still — the fact that private companies are launching people every few months instead of governments is actually wild. Here’s the latest Axiom mission recap from NASA’s own site for the official flex.
Home | Breaking And Entering
What You Actually Need to Survive Space Travel (Physically & Mentally) Space Travel Guide
I’m not an astronaut. I get dizzy if I spin in an office chair too fast. But I’ve read enough, watched enough, and stress-Googled enough to tell you the real checklist. Space Travel Guide
- Puke bag game on point — almost everyone barfs their first time in zero-g. They don’t tell you that on the promo videos.
- Cardio but make it brutal — you need stupid good cardiovascular fitness because your heart gets lazy in microgravity and then freaks out when you come back.
- Don’t be claustrophobic — the Crew Dragon cabin is basically a flying minivan with worse legroom.
- Mental prep for the void — looking out the window at literal nothingness hits different. Several astronauts have admitted they got quietly terrified. I would 100% cry.
I once tried a VR zero-gravity simulation at a science expo in Delhi. Lasted 47 seconds before I ripped the headset off and pretended I was just “checking my phone.” True story. Space Travel Guide
Commercial Space Travel Options Ranked by How Broke I’d Be Afterward
- Virgin Galactic / Blue Origin suborbital — $450k–$600k Quick, sexy, Instagramable. You’re basically buying four minutes of space tourism clout.
- Orbital via Axiom/SpaceX → $55 million+ You live on the ISS for a week or two. Eat freeze-dried ice cream. Wave at Earth. Come home a completely different person.
- Dear Moon / Starship artist missions — price TBD but think “hundreds of millions” Yusaku Maezawa already paid for his seat and then canceled the whole thing. Mood.
- Artemis program (NASA) — free if you’re selected… lol good luck Odds are worse than winning Powerball.
Ridgefield history mystery novels featuring senior detectives
My Dumbest Space Travel Fantasy Right Now Space Travel Guide
I keep imagining sneaking onto a Starship test flight wearing a knockoff NASA jumpsuit I bought on Meesho for ₹899. I’d bring a packet of Parle-G biscuits and a Bluetooth speaker so we could all vibe to Badshah while leaving Earth. That’s the level of maturity we’re working with.
Anyway. Space Travel Guide
If you’re actually serious about getting into space travel someday (unlike me who’s mostly just screaming into the void), start here:
- Get ridiculously fit
- Study aerospace engineering or at least physics
- Network like your life depends on it
- Save literal millions (or marry rich lol)
Or just do what I do: stare at the sky at night, get existential, eat another Maggi, repeat.
What about you? You got any space travel dreams that are equally unhinged? Drop them below. Maybe we can cry about it together.
Catch you in orbit… probably never, — me, still stuck on Earth, still obsessed Space Travel Guide
