One of the great questions in the traveling community is that of distance. Do you need to go all the way around the world or can you just go pat way? Can you go a third of the way, and do another chunk of it later? Personally, I say yes and no. The two acts of travel are different things. Or, at least they are in my opinion. When travelers say that they have traveled around the world, it’s a different statement than saying that you took an around the world trip. The first one indicates that you have traveled a great deal and covered a large amount of ground. The second one means that you have circumnavigated the planet, in one fashion or another.

I am a proponent of the partway and then partway method. Why? Simple, it requires much less planning. It requires fewer logistical problems. It can be done in a reasonable amount of time, whether that be a month of six months.

I very much like the idea of the grand adventure. The idea of circumnavigating the planet is a quest few undertake, and fewer complete. It’s a life’s pursuit type of thing. It is on my list of things to accomplish, before I die.

Getting back to the chunky-clunky travel in sections theory, I would say that to claim a “around the world” status you do need to go around the world. If you go a third of the way and then a third of the way, and then finish it off later with the last third, that’s okay. If you skip a section, that’s probably not okay. (My one exclusion to this statement would be war zones. no need to travel through the war zones.)

A great many people travel around one continent, and then on another trip travel around a different continent. I have done this as well. I would say that this approach is fine, as long as it adds up to around the world. Many people use this technique to accomplish a different travel trophy. That would be setting foot on all the continents. This too is a worthy goal, if you chose to attempt it.

I would say that as long as you understand the reason why you travel, go travel and enjoy! If you can pull off a full around the world trip, Awesome. If you do it in smaller pieces, that’s cool too. Either way, get out there and cover some ground. sooner or later, we’ll all make it all the way around to where we started.

Now go! Get out there.

The author, traveling around Egypt with a bunch of crazy Australians. Summer of 2000.