The Pilgrims' Miserable Voyage on the Mayflower

Long distance travel these days can be pretty onerous, with intrusive security checks, unruly passengers, and boring layovers. But that's nothing compared to the way things were 400 years ago. When the Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower in England in 1620 headed for Virginia, they knew it would be a difficult trip. But it was even harder than they imagined. 

First, the Mayflower was dangerously overcrowded, since the journey was planned for two ships. Also, the Mayflower was a cargo ship, not designed for passengers plus their livestock and all their worldly goods. It was not designed for intercontinental travel, either. The food was bad and illness followed. After 66 days at sea, the Mayflower landed- in the wrong place. It was good to be on dry land, but you know things got even worse from there for the Pilgrims.