When The Mayflower left Plymouth in England in 1620, it took the first pilgrims 66 days to reach Cape Cod, a journey that now takes approximately 7 hours. The fictitious adventurer Phileas Fogg just about managed to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days, whereas the current record-holder, a Gulfstream G650, made it in under two days. Travelling long distances is becoming quicker, easier and cheaper than ever before, but for some people, this convenience is taking the adventure out of travelling. So they’ve decided to do something a little different, and have made their own adventures.
People have many reasons for going on a life-changing, time-consuming adventure, and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to learn that drunken bets comprise more than a few of them. That’s exactly what happened to Ty Dalitz, a former farmer from Melbourne, Australia. As he himself says, – I first planned the trip a few years ago, it started off as a joke on some drunk nights. I spoke about it too much and committed myself. -What was it he had spoken too much about? An attempt to travel from Sydney, Australia to London, England without using a plane. Flying would have taken him just over 23 hours; Ty’s method took two years and just under four months. By his own admission, he could have finished his travelling much earlier, having arrived in Europe in July 2015, but ‘got distracted’, and spent a further year and a half exploring Europe, having several adventures and close shaves along the way.
Of course, Ty was ‘only’ trying to get from one side of the world to the other, something that Danish explorer Thor Pedersen might consider a bit too easy. After all, Thor’s own challenge to himself is similar, but with a much expanded scope, as he is also attempting to travel without using a plane – but he’s going to every country in the world. This is an epic journey that started three years ago, and isn’t likely to end for another three, as at present, Thor still has 82 countries to visit. He’s been using container ships for most of his sea-crossings, something which seems to have been an overwhelmingly positive experience for him, even if the crossings are a little slow (averaging at about two weeks per ocean).
Of course, this is all well and good if you can afford to save the amount it takes to implement a plan such as this. Ty’s journey from Sydney to London cost him $30,000 in total, and even with a strict budget of only $20 per day for food, accommodation and other expenses, Thor Pedersen’s journey will cost him over $43,000. The ideal thing would be to travel the world and be paid for the privilege of doing so. An impossible dream? Not at all. For example, you could get yourself a job as an intern aboard a Royal Caribbean International cruise line, and be paid the equivalent of $70,000 to take photos and post them to Instagram.
Alternately, you could take up the job offer recently posted by this family, who are looking for a nanny to help out while they travel the world. And this isn’t a case of staying at home with the kids while the adults are off having fun %u2013 the kids, and the nanny, are coming too. While some on social media have commented that the salary offered ($1200-1500 per month) seems a bit low, it’s got to be difficult to find something to compare it too. Whatever their thoughts on how the job pays, the family have been inundated with offers.
There’s more out there than the hotel, beach and bar. You’ve just got to be willing to take the risk and explore the world in the ways that interest you. And just because we’ve made it quicker and easier to cover vast distances, it’s worth remembering that there is plenty to see in all those miles that are eaten up when you’re cruising at fifty thousand feet. So why not take your time and have an adventure?