Historical Trips Around the World
Circumnavigating the Globe by Whatever Means Possible
It wasn’t long after Columbus traveled across the Atlantic that the desire to travel around the world became a burning desire for the adventurous and bold. They first used boats on the ocean. From there they found “shortcuts” over land and sea. Eventually they flew. Some made the journey a team effort, while others did it alone.
Around the World Travelers
Many have attempted to make the global circuit. Far fewer have completed the circle than those that have failed. These are some of the more memorable travelers.
- Ferdinand Magellan’s Exploration
- Nellie Bly (see Around the World in 72 Days)
- Thomas Stevens
- Michael Palin (3 times)
- Steve Fossett (2 times)
Ferdinand Magellan’s Journey
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sailor searching for a passage through South America that would allow a quicker, shorter trade route to the orient. He discovered the straits that bear his name today but unfortunately the route was not a short one or a safe one. Magellan left Spain in 1519 with five ships and more than 250 men. Only one ship and 18 men completed the journey back. Magellan himself was killed in a battle in the Philippines and never completed the journey. The one ship returned in 1522.
Around the World on Two Wheels
Thomas Stevens traveled around the world on a bicycle beginning in 1884. The bicycle he rode was not the sleek engineering marvel of today but a Columbia 50 (50 inch front wheel) made by the Pope Manufacturing Company. He took steamer transportation over the water portion of the trip but on land it was all bicycle. It is estimated he pedaled 13,500 miles by the time he completed his journey nearly three years later. After completing his trip, he wrote a book titled Around the World on a Bicycle.
Journalist Travels Around the World
Nellie Bly, a female journalist in the 1880s, suggested to her editor at the New York World that she should be sent on a journey around the world in an attempt to beat the time record of Jules Verne’s fictional Phileas Fogg from the novel Around the World in 80 Days. According to Nellie, when the editor suggested a woman couldn’t possibly do it but the paper might send a man, she told the editor that was fine. She would leave on the same day and beat the male journalist and write about it for the New York World’s competitor. Her editor reconsidered and on November 14, 1889 she began her journey and returned full circle on January 25, 1890, a total of 72 days. This year, 2010, represents the 120th anniversary of her historic journey.
Michael Palin Circles the Globe Three Times
After the success of Monty Python, Michael Palin went on to do a series of travel programs for the BBC. One of the earliest was traveling around the world by replicating, as much as possible, the journey taken by that intrepid fictional character, Phileas Fogg. He took two more journeys one from Pole to Pole, taking a north-south route around the world. Then he traveled Full Circle traveling through a large portion of Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.
Two Firsts for One Man
Steve Fossett flew around the world twice setting records with each flight. In 2002 he took a hot air balloon around the world in less than 15 days. In 2005 he flew a Virgin Atlantic Globalflyer 22,878 miles around the globe. Amazing as any flight around the globe might be, these are more so because they were nonstop, solo flights.
Since mankind realized the earth was round, people have dreamed of traveling around the entire planet. Many have succeeded. Whether they traveled on ocean going ships, bicycles, trains, planes or even balloons, they have traveled. Every trip is different. Every one of them, an adventure.
Photograph of Nellie Bly
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Illustration from Around the World on a Bicycle
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