Seven Rules of Slow Travel from ‘Only Planet’ Author Ed Gillespie
Circumnavigating the globe without flying is a tall order by any stretch of the imagination. That was the challenge set by Ed Gillespie, co-founder of Futerra and author of ‘Only Planet’. Ed took almost every conceivable mode of transport except air travel – from cargo ships to camels, hitch-hiking to hovercrafts, trains to tuk-tuks. The motive behind his monumental journey was simple: to change the way we travel and we change the way we see each other and our one and only planet.
After 381 days of travelling, Ed put pen to paper and recorded every anecdote and observation about the exhilaration of taking it slow, and about rediscovering hope for humanity and for the planet we all share.
The beauty of being seaborn
Planes have become our go-to option for going to other countries and it’s a fair bet that you were planning on board one in your pursuit of sunnier climes this summer. The effortless ease of low-cost air travel has engendered more carbon-costly travel habits worldwide. Only Planet seeks to turn this around and reposition environmentally friendly travel as something we can get on board with. His wild tales of crossing shamanic lakes, negotiating Mongolian deserts and meeting drunken smugglers are sure to make any experience flyer think twice about enduring the cramped cabins, dodgy food and noisy toddlers that every Ryanair flight comes packaged with.
Chicken buses, Panajachel, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
“The world’s a small place. We’ve got to stop flying around it like flies in a jam jar”
“Flying makes the world seem small. Overland travel makes it feel massive”
Writing from a cabin on a ship rolling through the Bay of Biscay, Ed gave us his seven rules of slow travel to inspire us to ditch planes for a slower and more mindful way of seeing the world.
Ed's Seven Rules of Slow Travel
1. Don’t over plan! Go with the flow, let the route un-fold naturally before you.
2. Enjoy the places in-between. This is travel not transit. You’ll be surprised often by what you see, discover, stumble-upon.
3. The journey is the reward, not just the destination. Getting there should be at least half the fun.
4. Go local. Travel like they do be it chicken bus, bullet train, tick-ridden camel or hovercraft (seriously).
5. Share food. Break bread with fellow passengers and make new friends everywhere you go.
6. Celebrate transitions; landscape, culture, people, language, cuisine. What we all share dwarfs that which divides us.
7. Build a continuous film-reel in your head as you pass through the world not over it. A priceless investment in memories.
