Slow travel is getting trendy fast9 December 2010
Just ask Ed Gillespie and John Mitchell - two men preparing to travel the globe without planes.
Ed and his girlfriend have saved up for a year-long trip by train, bus, yacht and container ship. John and his friend plan to spend 18 months crossing continents by bicycle and boat.
Ed and John talk travel
JM: I don't know about you Ed but we want to have time to see places and meet people rather than rushing through to meet deadlines.
We could do the whole trip in just a couple of days by plane but where would the fun be?
John Mitchell
EG: We're the same. Our buns and calf muscles won't be as tight as yours but hopefully our senses will be just as enlivened by the scenery we pass through and the people we meet. The whole climate impact of flying is also a major issue for us. I stopped flying for holidays four years ago. I could happily live with never getting on a plane again (but like all good pragmatists I never say never.)
Try going into a travel agency and asking for information about 'travelling slow' and see the reaction on the agent's face!
Ed Gillespie
JM: I don't have anything against planes but I do think flights are used too often. Cycling 2,000 miles through a Scandinavian winter will be tough though.
EG: I have a bit of sea experience but nothing like the major trips we'll be making across the Atlantic and Pacific. I think 18 days on a banana boat, the last leg of the trip, might be testing.
JM: I know, we're crossing the Pacific Ocean on a cargo ship and my longest boat trip to date is Dover to Calais.
EG: Identifying possible cargo ship routes through relatively obscure agencies has been one of the key things in planning our trip.
But once you get through to the specialists it's not too hard, though you do occasionally end up wiring money to obscure Russian travel agents with a degree of trepidation and trust.
JM: Cycling down the west coast of the States is what I'm looking forward to most.
EG: Likewise. I hope you've got a good bike seat! Ride carefully.
Stay with the pace
Follow John's slow trip around the world at his blog. Ed will be writing a fortnightly column in the Observer travel section and a regular blog.
Also check out the books In praise of slow and
Air Madness on the Friends of the Earth Shop.
© Ifijay
