Share your long-distance NON-plane, NON-car travel (hike, bike, train, sail…)

[Fru-Gal]

Last month I completed my second USA Rail Pass journey. I have now ridden almost all of the US long-distance rail lines (including other long-distance travel over the past few years)!

I want to get inspired to do other long-distance travel using mass transit or human-powered methods. Since the invention of the personal automobile and the advent of discount airlines, we’ve forgotten there are many other ways to get around and slow travel. These types of travel also allow us to practice minimalism, essentialism and improvisation rather than follow rigid routes, visit typical destinations, and bring a lot of crap with us.*

So many great folks on this forum have done this type of thing.

@JoshuaSpodek (not currently active) opened my mind to the destructive nature of air travel.

@kenmoremmm has biked around the world.

@NinetyFour has hiked the Colorado Trail among many other epic hikes.

In my own travels I’ve discovered the many luxury bus systems around the US and Mexico.

I know there are some liveaboard sailors on here. And someone with an electric solar powered boat. I’m interested in sailing long distances too.

Please share!



*While I do own a rarely-driven gas car and have been a mechanic, I believe that mass transit, trains, e-bikes and micromobility, not cars, are the way forward for joyful, healthy, world-enhancing personal transport.

[Freedomin5]

PTF.

A few months ago, we took an overnight train to Beijing to visit the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Summer Palace. We used the subway to get around the city. We took the bullet train back to Shanghai, then took the subway home.

Last year, we took the train to visit a friend in a rural village in southern China. We did take Didi (Chinese rideshare) a couple times so it wasn’t completely car-free. To get between our hotel and our friend’s farming village, her dad drove us in his motorcycle wagon.

[brooklynmoney]

I walked for 2 weeks the Le Puy camino route in France, starting in Le Puy and ending more or less in Cahors. Basically 170 miles. I plan to go back someday and finish walking to Spain at least ideally down to Pamplona.

[Fru-Gal]

Awesome! Thank you both for sharing. I was spurred to post this thread because of a comment in another where someone (will check forum name) said they’d walked across the US several times. I definitely want to hear more about that, as well as more about long-distance bike routes across/around the US.

After doing the Colorado Trail myself I learned there are a bunch of other long trails around the US besides the Pacific Crest and the Appalachian. Like there’s an Arkansas Trail. And of course the Continental Divide trail.

[2Birds1Stone]

DW and I hiked the Fisherman's Trail in Portugal ~250km two years ago and it was a lot of fun!

In the future we're considering things like relocation cruises, trains journeys and bike-packing as ways of exploring an area or getting from continent to continent.

[Omy]

I lived on a sailboat and sailed down the Intercoastal Waterway decades ago. It was great fun - and only occasionally terrifying.

[deborah]

Many countries have a number of long walks. I went on the five day Abel Tasman walk in New Zealand when I went there, and used buses and trains to get around much of the South Island. I did hire two cars for parts of my trip, but the vast majority was public transport. Crossing over the centre of the island on the train to Christchurch, then going along the coast from Christchurch to Picton by train, then the bus to Nelson and the start of the walk was all public transport. I could have taken more, but the timings were wrong.

When I visited Greenland I took the ferry up the coast visiting various towns on the way - I did the same in Alaska, going on the Alaskan marine highway rather than taking a cruise, and staying at a number of towns on the way. And when I visited the east coast of Canada, I caught the ferry from happy valley/goose bay up the coast of Labrador.

I’ve also done several trips in Australia on trains and buses.

[Bartlebooth]

I lived on a sailboat and sailed down the Intercoastal Waterway decades ago. It was great fun - and only occasionally terrifying.

I likewise traveled the Intracoastal Waterway back in 2018-2020--two trips north and two south.  As far north as Mount Desert Island in Maine and as far south as Key Largo (plus Bahamas for a winter).  It is a great way to pass the time and blow through money.  Very slow travelling at 8mph max and not terribly efficient at about 1 gallon per hour of diesel if you are motoring.  Lots to see the whole way.  It is funny when a coastal town comes up in conversation and I say that I've been there, and then they ask about some big attraction in the area that is just 2 miles away from the water and basically I never heard of it or never considered trying to get there.  More simply: you see a 500 ft wide strip of the country and it is an all-day effort to go beyond that.  Even if you find a dinghy dock (free) or marina ($150+/night) then odds are good you are going to spend your time doing laundry, getting groceries, or finding boat parts.  Weather holds and you finally have a free day? $20 ride-hailing each way to get anywhere.

But I do recommend it.

ETA: I don't do long distance hiking but look at them occasionally.  This is one of my favorite ways to get an idea what is out there: https://hiking.waymarkedtrails.org/#?map=5.0/39.69/-95.4086  The data comes from OpenStreetMap where the trail just has to be marked in a certain way.

[GuitarStv]

Travel by cycling is easier than one might expect.  No epic advice here . . . my recommendation would be to start with small day trips near where you live and then work your way up from there.  Everyone likes different daily distances, different rest-stops, different ideas about necessary gear, and has a different level of comfort with traffic/navigation.  I started out bike traveling just doing a 100 km on back roads up to my mom's place a couple towns away - eating/sleeping there, and then coming back the next day.  I've worked my way up to a couple multi-day overnight camping things, but realized that I hate not having a shower and place to wash my shorts after a long ride . . . so now plan things around getting to a shower spot each night.

For me personally, the shorter the trip the longer the daily distances I'm comfy with.  Like I'm happy to do 160 km in a day if it's just one day.  But I can do 100 km a day for three or four days in a row.  Drop that down to about 70-80 km if I'm interested in taking in the sights, am more heavily loaded, and am making some stops (and to give some leeway for shitty weather - yes headwinds and driving rain, I'm talking about you).  Shorter trips tend to be faster, as you can get away with carrying almost nothing - this is usually more fun for me but everyone has different ideas of fun on a bike.

[GilesMM]

The Pacific Crest Trail is a good option for getting up the West Coast (of the US) if you have some free time and like hiking.

[ducky19]

I participate in journey races, usually 300+ miles long that have a 10-10.5 day cutoff to finish. Getting ready to start one on Thursday, the Last Annual Heart of the South. 350 miles from an undisclosed location to Castle Rock Ranch in NW Georgia. We will park our cars at the finish, get on a bus, and be driven to near the start. Only then will we get the course map. We have to get back to the finish on foot and find any supplies/lodging we need along the way. I look forward every day of the year to sleeping on church steps, in post office lobbies, etc.

Follow along at www.vacationwithoutacar.com, will be updated with the tracking sheet after the race begins.

[Fru-Gal]

I participate in journey races, usually 300+ miles long that have a 10-10.5 day cutoff to finish. Getting ready to start one on Thursday, the Last Annual Heart of the South. 350 miles from an undisclosed location to Castle Rock Ranch in NW Georgia. We will park our cars at the finish, get on a bus, and be driven to near the start. Only then will we get the course map. We have to get back to the finish on foot and find any supplies/lodging we need along the way. I look forward every day of the year to sleeping on church steps, in post office lobbies, etc.

Follow along at www.vacationwithoutacar.com, will be updated with the tracking sheet after the race begins.

OMG this is the kind of crazy idea I was hoping to hear about!

[ducky19]

Ha, yeah the idea of living like a stray dog for 10 days doesn't appeal to most people, but there's something incredibly liberating having no other cares than meeting your most basic needs and following that white line! There's a FB page called "Last Annual Heart of the South" where people post videos and stuff during the race. I try to disconnect as much as possible, but I still occasionally post or go live.

[chasingthegoodlife]

Love this thread.

I’ve travelled around Europe and Japan by train and bus (though flew to get there).

Lately I’ve been looking into walking and biking trips I can take in my home state. I’d like to do the Great Ocean Walk, though I’m a little apprehensive about carrying my camping gear.

[McStache]

I've done some long distance bike touring and would highly recommend it. I've definitely settled into my own style over time as @GuitarStv mentioned. I like to leave lots of buffer for rest/weather/adventuring so I very rarely have to bike when I don't want to and can say yes to unexpected opportunities. It also sounds very similar in many ways to how @Bartlebooth described seeing the country by boat where you go through lots of small towns almost no one ever does, but anything off of the skinny line of your route is a mystery. Really makes you appreciate how big a place is.

Also done plenty of inter-city trains/busses in the US and Europe to get around, which is easier in Europe, but still more do-able in the US than I think most people believe

[Dicey]

I've done two epic bike trips. The first one could be DQ because I flew there and back, but with planning and time, it could be done sans car. I circumnavigated Nova Scotia on a touring bike. It was an Outward Bound trip, beginning and ending in Halifax. The budget was $3 per serson per day for food, and nothing else. As @ducky19 mentions, everything else had to be scrounge. One favorite camp spot was a dairy man's extra hay barn.  We climbed up to the top of the bales and spread our sleeping bags as the rain from a passing thunderstorm pounded on the metal roof just above our heads. The barn cats climbed up and snuggled in with us. It was a lovely experience. It kind of made up for riding in the rain all day.

The other was a ride along the coast from SF to LA. Wonderful trip! We flew from LA and rode home, but you could easily take public transit.

[TheFrenchCat]

I don't know if this counts as long distance, but in college I realized that a train ticket from Philadelphia to Montreal was really cheap, so I took a solo trip up.  I took French for about 8 years (goodness, I wish I'd kept it up better), and I wanted to have a chance to practice it.  I couldn't afford another trip to France, so this was the next best thing.  I stayed in a hostel, so the whole week-long trip was probably under $400.  I went to a bunch of museums and churches, and just walked around a lot exploring.  The train ride was about 16 hours, and I think I read for most of it. 

I loved it so much I dragged my now husband up with me a second time and he proposed on our last night there.  He had a much more interesting roommate in the hostel than I ever did.  This guy was in some foreign version of the secret service and had been stationed all over the world.  He spoke a ton of different languages, and had kids with a ton of women in the different places he worked in.  They did a big reunion/meeting with all of his kids and ex-wives and needed about a half a dozen translators so they could all talk to each other.

I really should go back again.  And I'd definitely do the train again, it's a pretty walkable city so you really don't need a car.  Might skip the hostel if we go as a family though.