Here’s an interesting entry into the Travelog over at The Guardian. It’s a piece written by Ed Gillespie, who has just completed a 13-month around the world trip in which he didn’t use a single airplane.
Ed’s epic trip took him 381 days in total, covering more than 45,000 miles. Giving up the use of aircraft allowed him to “round the planet on buses, trains, cargo ships and the odd belligerent camel”, and slowing down allowed for a new found appreciation of the countries, cultures, and landscapes he visited along the way.
Much of the article focuses on the “slowing down” part of travel. Ed extols the virtues of seeing the journey, as much as the destination, as an integral part of the experience. He discusses the pleasures of traveling by train, and accepting that some times, less is more. He even recommends visiting places close to home that may have gone under your nose in the mad rush to fly off somewhere to visit some far flung places.
The article is a good one and quite thoughtfully written. It’ll make you stop and consider what you want out of travel and the best ways to achieve the things you seek. Perhaps what you desire out of your next trip is a slow boat to China, or maybe one of those great train trips that I posted about yesterday.
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Important concepts when travelling and adventuring…
I do enjoy long train trips myself…
DSD
Agreed! I really like his approach.
And I really have to take a long train trip, just for the experience of it all. Maybe I need to do that trans-Canada trip that was posted yesterday. 😉