It takes about 5 minutes to set the gate to your destination, and no time at all to cross the threshold into another world. And yet, the process of getting from this world to another takes far longer than an international flight. The safety instructions, the preparations, the waiting. Oh god, the hours of waiting.

But as I step out the other side onto the concave forest floor of a ringworld, I cannot help but exclaim "worth it". The upwards slope in front of me forces the breath I was holding as I stepped through the gate, for no reason other than bracing myself for the unknown. My eyes follow the forest upwards into what would be a sky on my world, but instead turns into a beach, and then an ocean. My eyes keep upward and I lose my balance, as awe strikes me as I can very clearly see a mountain range hanging above me, the foreboding strength of stone threatening to fall from the sky, but never doing so.

"'cuse me" Says a voice behind me, snapping me out of my trance. "Sorry mate" I say, as I get out of the way, starting upwards towards the beach. This is what I've been waiting for my whole life. This is what I've been saving up to.