What's the best way to travel?

[Kalidor]

I've experienced a lot of different forms of travel over the course of my life. I've travelled all the way across Canada. I've been into the United States as well. I've also travelled fairly extensively in Europe, about ten countries on that continent altogether I think. Needless to say, to do all of this travelling, I've used a wide variety of means of transportation, some of them much more to my preference than others.

To my mind, the aeroplane is one of the -worst- ways to travel that there is. I pretty much only like a plane if the ride is less than two hours. Any more than that and it becomes arduous. This probably has a lot to do with how tall I am. I'm six feet four inches, so you can imagine how that is for me when I'm riding coach. Unfortunately, I'm always riding coach, since I can't afford to fly first class. So, this means that I'm eating my knees basically for the duration of any plane travel. Overseas flying is even worse. Nine hours seated, with limited opportunity to get up and move around, is just not my idea of a fun way to travel. And of course, there is the disaster that I'm sure that everyone of us that has flown has experienced; the baby that won't stop crying. I hate it when this happens, hate it with a passion. I don't know what can be done about it, but there should be some kind of regulation or rule, or soundproof compartment where anyone that has a baby aboard that could potentially cry should have to sit. I had a baby cry for a solid hour once on a trip I was taking. It was just about more than I could stand.

Second only to the plane in terms of discomfort for me is the infamous bus. Long distance bus rides are a thing I would not wish on many people. The confines are just as small as in a plane, generally, though a bus does have the saving grace of not usually being so strict about getting up and moving around. The scenery from a bus is generally more engaging than from a plane as well, making it somewhat better. However, the drawbacks of the bus are that it is basically the slowest way to get anywhere. Prince Rupert to Vancouver on a Greyhound...uggh, it is not a good thing.

The car is for me better than the bus for a few reason. First, I get to choose my company. Second I (or the people I'm with I suppose) get charge of the music/temperature/speed of travel. Also the authority to stop to get out of the car for a bit of a walk (again essential when you're tall) is much better than being held to the planned stoppages of a bus.

I'm not sure how many people have had the pleasure of taking a long distance ship excursion, but it is a much better way to travel than many others. First off is the fact that you basically have the run of the ship to yourself, if we're talking about a passenger ship. I've never done a cruise or any kind of ocean voyage, but there are regular trips along the coast here, again, between Prince Rupert and Vancouver, and I've used the ship for that. The scenery is stunning, the atmosphere relaxed, and apart from the fact that everything costs way more on the boat than it should, it's a great way to get around.

Finally, my personal favourite, the train. The train is for me the greatest method of long distance travel that there is. You can get up and walk around at your leisure. Trains generally (well, in Canada at least) seem to run through very scenic areas, so looking out the windows to pass the time is a pleasure. I've found that train staff are amongst the friendliest personnel that I've dealt with. And finally, there is the atmosphere. It's as if people that are travelling by train are there to enjoy the travelling, not just in some hurry to get wherever they're going. Perhaps this is different in Europe with the high speed transit effect, but in Canada, if you're riding the train you generally just want to have a nice trip. They do have a tendancy of being a little late, but when the ride is as enjoyable as the train trips I've experienced, it hardly matters.

[Alucard]

In my oppinion I would say : Train is the best way of travelling.

Reason? The waiting periods for a train are not as long as a aeroplanes / airplanes.

Ofcourse the train wagon may have to be shared with "stranger" but hey, in an aeroplane / airplane you also sit next to someone strange.

and for those who are afraid planes crash :

It happens, but trains also run off the tracks and cars also crash into eachother :(

Car travel ? Well ok but if you are going long distances and it's hot outside -> Welcome sardine effect !
Andt he traffic jams are not a huge motivation to travel by car in my opinion.

What about going by foot O.o
In the middle ages they did it all by foot :P

=> Colclution : Go by train

Regards
Mister Alucard the vague forum junky
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[Elzamine]

I like to fly personally.
I haven't flown that much though, and they were straight from location to destination fights so there was no wait time.
I don't likes buses or cars that much for an extended amount of time.
I've never been on a train though, I'd like to I think.
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[ard]

Definitaly the train! The train is the most comfortable means of transport in my opinion and can get you quite far in a relatively short period of time and pretty close to your destination as well. I've been using the train more than i used to and i must say i like it. Time seems to fly by when i'm travelling by train, usually i have the feeling that i'm only on the train for ten minutes or so but when i look at the time it turns out i've on the train for more than double the time i thought i was. So this is definitaly my personal preference. Also the cheapest of all choices.

My second choice would be the airplane, the safest method of transportation (that's what they say but lately i'm having my doubts). So far i've travelled by plain six times. It can get you very fast to a lot of places. The big downsides are the hours of waiting you have to do before getting on the plane and after waiting for your luggage to show up. Another point is the fact that you can only go from airport to airport so you will always have to use another type of transportation to get to the airport and your destination.
But the view you can get looking out of the plane and the experience of being on a plane at about ten kilomters height compensates the downsides a lot in my opinion.

Next in line is the bus. I've pretty much always traveled royal class, i only travel by bus when i go on vacation to Austria, because they drop you off practically right in front of the door of your destination and they drive at night so you won't notice much of the twelve hour trip, except that you're sore and tired as hell. I never sleep very well in moving vehicles.

The car, slightly faster than a bus (usually it does the same trip i mentioned in about ten hours, considering there are no traffic jams at all) but a you're a lot more crammed up like a sardine as Alucard said. Also you need to drive yourself instead of having someone do it for you. The good thing of travelling by car is that you can get anywhere from anywhere whenever you want to.. But so can a bus (except they drive on set times) and then you're being driven and it's most of the time equally expensive.

I don't recall ever having travelled by ship so i can't judge that, but i think being out on the open seas must be a fantastic experience as well.

[Username]

The Car, It's personal and I don't have to worry about other people who by proxy holf my faith in thier hands. But really I'd love to take trains, but their just impratical in most places. I really wish I could just walk but that's almost always impossible due to distance.
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[Masaya]

Haha oh snap I didn't think anyone else would of picked train! Ok..so I've bassically been on every one of those forms of traveling. And each of them really do have their own amazing perks.

I'm such a sucker for long car drives with your friends, not knowing where your going. However driving in a Car seems just way to common. I drive a Car everyday, it's not very exciting compaired to the others.

Buses are crowded but at the same way amazing because you get to be so many "interesting" people!! Our town in the EC is bassically a college town/city. And bassically we have one of the highest bar per captia in the entire nation...which is sad, however the use for "drunk" buses really became in demand just recently. Whats a better way to get drunks saftly back to their dorms or homes than round them all up in a blue bus!! Still, bus can be way to common, and I hate over crowding..

Ship, I think you mean boats. I love huge cruiseliners. Very fun, tiny little lake boats and fishing boats are deffeintly fun. I"ve kind of grown out of my love for fishing sadly, however I've been on alot of boats so it kind of lost it's luster after a while for me..


Planes! This was a tough desision between planes and Trains for me. I never really liked planes all that much till I took a non stop flight from Minniapolis Airport to Nara Airport in Japan(13 or 14 hour flight If I remember..). It was probally the most amazing views I've ever seen. I mean, just looking out the window when we flew up over alaska and the mountains...I guess I've really never seen mountains from such a high view before. Its just breath taking. And the actual ride really wasn't bad, I mean I was on the plane sitting with all of my friends, and they did have like 3 inflight movies to kind of keep us occupied. The flight back was kind of slow and sad though becuase I didn't want to leave...:-/

Ok, so I had to pick trains becuase I for some reason had so much fun riding little trams and trains including the bullet train all over japan. Before then, I had never been on a train in my life! Sure in the morning the local trains are ridiculously overcrowded...however it made a great time to meet alot of people. Also alot of the trains had some really awsome ways you could rotate the chairs so you could only be next to your friends if you wanted to. I don't know, I also saw alot Japan's urban and countryside. And the bullet trains just look cool, and dont' feel as fast as you think they are..... I have pictures of Fuji-san as we zoomed past it on our way to Kyoto station I believe it was...amazing sights..
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[Arcana]

It depends on where I'm going, how much I want to pay, and how fast I want to get there. My choice of transporation heavily depends on those factors and it is impossible to make a decision without taking into account those things.

I may consider taking the bus instead of a plane because the bus is four times cheaper, or I might take a plane instead of the train because the plane is six times faster.

If you're talking in terms of pure comfort and convenience, I'd choose the car, because then you can stop whenever you want, go wherever you want to go, and stretch out in the back seat if you have a nice car (you do have a nice car, right?). However, if I could afford it, I'd probably choose to fly for most distances greater than 500-600 km.
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[RedCydranth]

It sands to reason that where you live, the answer is different. Also the distance in which you travel is also a factor.

Obviously for a trip that is only 10 miles a airplane or train is rather impractical. Also, if you are traveling from California to Hawaii, a bus or train isn't an option. The question "which is the best form of transortation?" is subject to the situational factors each of us has. For me, a train is quite improbable because here in the united states, unless you live in a very urban city, there aren't many trains that are passenger transports, the majority of locomotives in my area are for the transport of cargo. Once I go into the bigger city I can ride the subway, which is a form of train. However, that is only for intercity travelling.

I live in a city of small to moderate size. It is not large enough to need a public transport system like busses, but they do come through on a set schedule to take you to the larger city. Busses aren't a very cost efficient mode of transport for my inter city needs.

Needless to say I don't use a plane to grt around, so that leaves ship and car. While yea, I live alongside the Erie canal, boats aren't s mode of transport here either. So I generally use a car to get around my city. However that did not receive my vote. My vote isn't for any of the above mode of transportation. I'm one for the old fashioned thing called walking. It requires the use of 2 devices called legs. When used in conjuction with eachother along with a bit of ballance from your inner ear, you can get around quite well, and best of all it has no pollution. Occasionally the legs will tire, but theres a soft cusion placed at the top of the legs called the buttocks in which when the legs tire, you may rest on for a period of time. Okay, enough fecitiousness from me :mrgreen:.

To travel long distances, again it matters where you are. If you are european, like Alucard and ardPSiKo, of course the train is the mosr efficient way because it is so commonplace, however here in the states, the train is not the primary mode of transport for cross country travel. Even to go from New York to Chicago, an airplane is the most common way to get there. As an American I am biased towards what is commonplace here. I have taken airplanes several times and I thoroughly enjoyed the trips. Now I have never travelled by train for more than inter-city travel or to scale a mountain (Mount Washington in New Hampshire) so I can't compare much. Nor have I gone a considerable distance by boat.

If I were to travel from New York to say, Dallas, I would prefer to drive. While it may not be time efficient, I like to see the sights of the regions that I would pass through. And with a car, I can stop whenever and where ever I please. Unlike a plane or a train, which have set stops or none at all. And with a train you're only stoped at a larger city or place for a short period before you have to go again. Cars allow for more leway. So I suppose I will have to vote for Cars over the rest because I am a tourist type.

Second would have to be planes, then trains.

Well, after a bit of revision, I forgot completely about Busses. Busses are cramped and smelly so, I'm not swayed to them by any means whatsoever, but they are the most cost efficient way to travel a long distance.
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[Yohn]

I've always loved travelling by train. Although, that might change depending on how my trip to the Caribbean goes (I've never been on anything bigger than a fishing boat before).
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[Vextor]

Having grown up in Japan, I have a very different idea of train travel. Trains tend to be crowded, and is also often the fastest way to get from point A to B. The bullet train is incredible, because it can cover about 400 miles in about two hours. Do that with a car and it takes around 8 hours (for me), plus you'd be hired as heck by the end. The USA really needs better railway transportation, the current situation of public transportation in the USA is apalling at best. I mean, even in Chicago, the typical commute train (Metra) is diesel and moves real slow, and it often doesn't come on time.

I mean, if a bullet train service existed between major cities in the USA, it would really make life easier for many people (and will put trucking companies and some airlines out of business--which is probabky why there's a lot of anti-railroad lobbying). I'd rather simply sit and relax on a train rather than driving for 6 hours to meet my sister in Chicago, nor do I want to wait for two hours at an airport and get on a crammed airplane.

I've flown over 100 times in my lifetime, and I detest air travel, although it really is the only way for me to go to Japan and back.

I once took a train from Denver to San Fransisco though, and that was one heck of a great experience. Of course, the train stopped for like two hours once because some doofus decided to drive his stupid truck into a tunnel. Do people want to die or what?

[Mafioso]

It really depends on exactly where I am going. In my situations when I go visit relatives in Brooklyn, seeing how I am in Los Angeles the most convenient way for me to get there would be by airplane. But usually I only prefer aiplanes if the distance is quite far.

Most cases I do prefer going by car, since I do love driving and the mileage is low on my car so far. I enjoy driving out to Las Vegas down on the 15 freeway from Los Angeles, its relaxing with a group of friends. However I do also like the trains in LA as well. Back in highschool friends and I would always take the train to Hollywood or Santa Monica to chill.

[Buff]

i would say airplane or by a train. i'm not a big fan of flying since i don't want the plane to crash but it is by far the fastest way to travel. a train is the 2nd fastest i believe. not to big on driving since driving can get really boring especiaally when you drive by your self. i just got done driving 7-8 from utah to vegas and back this weekend and it sucked. so i would stick to planes or trains.
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[Masaya]

Haha Sars...ooh yeah the trains are pretty crowded in japan.. Standing for 15 minutes at 8 in the morning just to rush out and run to another super crowded train to stand and hang onto the little ceiling ring for another 10 minutes...however it complete beat riding a bus. The one cool thing is the buses seem to slope upwards in japan..who nows thats probally alot of other places, just not Wisconsin!
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[Jorge Prima]

What about biking?! I've once biked from San Francisco to Monteray(not really).

Though, travling through America is HELL on an Airplane, I still love it! All my expriences with flying have been great. Just something about having a flight attendant that serves me my food, and watching "Hitch" 10,000 Miles in the air that makes me all giddy inside.

I also belive it's the safest way to travel, more people die in car accidents rather than in air planes. So drive safetly when you go to the airport!
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[Eden]

Therefore I am scared of travelling by train (though I sometimes have to) I definitely choose another way of travelling. Truth to speak the, I don't like busses either and avoide to ride on them. Planes are good enough for me and I have flown about 20 times. But the best, not cheapest, but best way of travelling is in my opinion driving by car. I like my car. It is 19 years old and dies down during the ride sometimes, but I love it. It has really personality... a pig-dog personality though, but nevertheless a personality.
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