Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
they coped with loneliness. It is always instructive to learn the vari-
ous ways in which the human spirit reacts when pressed to the lim-
its, for it is a spirit that we all share.
Some readers may question my assertion that the age of cir-
cumnavigation has passed. After all, more men and women now
travel round the world than ever before: rucksacked youngsters de-
termined to explore their planet before settling to the routine of
earning a living; businessmen constantly shuttling between inter-
national airports; retired people going to the exciting expense of a
world cruise. But this very fact proves my point: circling the globe
is no longer the adventure it once was. Just as the 'Dark Continent'
has lost its mysterious terrors and can be traversed by a well-main-
tained Land Rover; just as the South Pole which cost the lives of
Scott and his companions is now manned by huts full of men and
computerised gadgetry; so distant, 'romantic' locations can today be
reached so quickly that the traveller must rest on arrival to recover
from jet lag. Human progress has made the world a smaller and safer
place. Perhaps it has made it a duller place, too.
Circumnavigation today
can
be made into an adventure but only
by a voyager who imposes extra limitations on himself; who tries to
accomplish it single-handed, or in the fastest time, or the smallest
boat, or by a more taxing route. Going around the world does not,
in itself, present the hydra-headed challenge which confronted our
ancestors. We can legitimately, therefore, speak of the era of circum-
navigation in the past tense.
I am grateful to the following publishers for permission to quote
extensively from the works specified: Thorson's Publishing Group
Ltd, for J. Ridgway and A. Briggs,
Round the World Non-stop;
Hodder
and Stoughton Ltd, for F. Chichester,
Gipsy Moth Circles the World.
