Traveling the world without the help of commercial airlines

This week, Brave New Traveler interviewed Lara Lockwood and Tom Fewins, two vagabonds that are traveling the world without the use of commercial airplanes.  They keep a blog about their trip called World in Slow Motion, which includes a map of the route they’re taking as well as interesting statistics about their trip.  In the interview, they talk about their travel philosophy and their motivations for the trip.  But what struck me most is an observation they made about traveling slow:

“But we wanted to do things that flying simply doesn’t give you enough opportunity to do, such as… watch the world change gradually around us. We have the opportunity to notice and appreciate the differences, large and small between towns, cities, regions, countries. We can watch the people change, the landscape change, the food, the climate.”
Source: “Traveling in Slow Motion” by Sarah Menkedick, Brave New Traveler

Although I haven’t gone on an RTW (round the world) trip, I do prefer to travel slowly, taking my time on trains, buses, boats, and other means of slower transport.  In my experience, traveling this way opens you up to the subtle changes from one place to the next, making you feel the actual distance of your trip.

In a way, this type of RTW travel is also a nod to our ancestors who traveled the world on ships or by land several centuries ago. In today’s connected world, we forget that it’s always been possible to travel this way, and in those days it was the only way to travel – something worth considering the next time we decide to board a jet plane.

Have you ever wanted to go on a similar round the world trip? Do you prefer to go the slower route or to ride a commercial airline? Why?

Image by Rodolfo Clix