Carfree vacation

[gerv]

At this time of the year, I think about a nice 2 or 3 week vacation. But I have not desire to drive anywhere and I would prefer not to fly (airplanes are nasty polluters and I despise airports...). Does anyone out there have a carfree/planefree vacation?

I have 2 ideas:
- leave from my house in Iowa and bike 3-4 days to the Root River trail in SE Minnesota. Maybe head into Wisconsin.
- bigger plan... somehow catch a ship to Holland and bike from Amstersdam to Bruges in Belgium. Nice 3 days bike trip on trails.

But the ship part is totally foreign to me. I used to travel a lot on ocean-going boats (eons ago...) and can tell you it is an experience that a cyclist would relish. But does anyone travel on the Atlantic anymore?

[wahoonc]

I don't know about the ship part of it...but they still have passenger service, but you would take most of your vacation going and coming via ship, I would think. But it still sounds like a cool idea, let us know how you make out:D Found a Link (http://www.freighterworld.com/places/transatl.html#NorthAmericanECtoNEurope) for ya!:D Scroll down until you find the Rickmers Reederei looks like a trip from Norfolk to Antwerp would take about 12 days and run $1400 or so...one way:eek:

Aaron:)

[Juha]

Yea, from what I've read, many cargo ships still take limited number of passangers. Crossing takes time (obvious), and is very expensive (less obvious). There's less hassle involved than in flying nowadays, especially with a bike. There's PLENTY of excellent food included in the ticket price (one reporter particularly highlighted this), but you may not be able to enjoy that fully at rough seas.

I'd like to try it sometime.

--J

[I-Like-To-Bike]

At this time of the year, I think about a nice 2 or 3 week vacation. But I have not desire to drive anywhere and I would prefer not to fly (airplanes are nasty polluters and I despise airports...). Does anyone out there have a carfree/planefree vacation?

I have 2 ideas:
- leave from my house in Iowa and bike 3-4 days to the Root River trail in SE Minnesota. Maybe head into Wisconsin.
- bigger plan... somehow catch a ship to Holland and bike from Amstersdam to Bruges in Belgium. Nice 3 days bike trip on trails.

But the ship part is totally foreign to me. I used to travel a lot on ocean-going boats (eons ago...) and can tell you it is an experience that a cyclist would relish. But does anyone travel on the Atlantic anymore?

If money and time are not limiting factors, take a cruise ship and have a great time.

If these are serious considerations, try to get over your antipathy to airlines and fly to Amsterdam on a bargain flight from Chicago and save plenty of both time and money.

[gerv]

If money and time are not limiting factors, take a cruise ship and have a great time.

If these are serious considerations, try to get over your antipathy to airlines and fly to Amsterdam on a bargain flight from Chicago and save plenty of both time and money.

On a practical note, I guess the airplane would the way to go. However, if you spend your whole life saving time... you probably miss out on some fantastic experiences.

Many years ago, I worked as a fisheries observer in Canada. A month at sea without sight of land. I once crossed the Atlantic from Labrador to Portugal in a rather smallish long liner (about 120 feet...). The whole experience of the ocean is something like a bike ride where you forget to take a watch... you just enjoy the moment, takes things as they come, eat when hungry... etc.

However it works, I hope to someday visit Amsterdam for a bike ride. The ship thing would be neat though.