If you’ve planned a trip recently that involves train or ferry travel, there’s a very good chance you’ve come across The Man in Seat 61. Whether you’re going from the UK to Tunisia or want to learn the ins and outs of the Tran-Siberian Railway, this site is a great resource for overland/water travel. Its pages include schedules, railroad contact information and real-life reviews of train services on six continents. That includes a lot of far-flung destinations you can to peruse if you’re short on ideas for where to go next.
Archive for category Office chair travel
Screengrab from a flight near Interlaken
If you own an airplane with wads of cash stuffed into the seat cushions, the world is yours to explore.
For the rest of us, there’s the flight simulator tucked away in Google Earth.
Just zoom in to where you want to fly and press CTL-ALT-A.
The mountains rise to meet you thanks to the program’s 3D terrain and aerial photography. There’s no bad weather. You never run out of gas. You never have to land if you don’t want to.
Try exploring the mountains of Idaho near my dad’s place. Start in Andorra and follow the highway through the Pyrenees. Explore Pyongyang and forbidden North Korea. Buzz the charming hamlets of the Cinque Terre. Or, if you’re feeling skilled, start at Kathmandu, opt for the F16 and see how fast you can weave through the Himalayas without crashing.
It’s a great way to discover beautiful places you never knew were there.
Ever wondered how much it costs to take a freighter from Zanibar to the Comoros? Wikitravel offers some great user generated travel information that’s often less varnished than what you’ll find in guidebooks. Because it’s a wiki, some articles are less fleshed-out than others. But many destination listings have some great, first-hand advice about prices, hotels, local scams and just how crowded the mini-buses really are. Here are a few entries that piqued my interest:
Malawi – “The warm heart of Africa”
Bhutan – “The last shangrila”
Laos – Laid back, out of the way and not a Western fast food chain in sight.
Office chair travel:
May 18
Ever been curious about life aboard a pleasure craft on the high seas? Fatty Goodlander has lived on one boat or another for his entire life. With his wife Carolyn, he’s raised kids, weathered hurricanes and circumnavigated the globe several times aboard his 38-foot cutter Wild Card.
You could be here right now.
If the seagoing life piques your curiosity, check out these podcasts he submitted to NPR last summer. You can trace his wanderings by entering call sign w2fat here.