In 1492, Christopher Columbus journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean searching for gold and spices and then it began, the age of exploration. European explorers were searching for rare resources that cost lots of money. Things that were hard to find are expensive, that’s why gold is expensive today. For example spices were rare so that’s why they were expensive. Some spices cost the same amount as gold.in 1491 Europeans didn’t know that North and South americas existed. People of America did not know Europe existed. But in 1492 coulombs sailed across the atlantic Ocean and landed on islands off the coast of americas. Explorers changed the world.