Australia without flying!!

Trying to keep my carbon footprint to a minimum.

Leaving the UK on 16th May and making my way to Singapore via Rail and Sea and no doubt the odd bus.

The question is how can I make my way to Australia without flying???

Any suggestions welcome.

Also as a small aside I intend to feed my love of football by watching a live game in every country along the way whether it be Premier league or schools!! Reply to this

Thanks for that help lovelyplanet, I will take a look at the website.

I have emailed a couple of freight companies to see if they will let you book something in advance but had no joy yet.

I am really keen to do this and if succesful then find someway of continuing on around to new zealand and south america without flying as well, although this may be pushing it too far.

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Thanks for that travellingmum it was very useful and I have emailed the same guy they used.

Cheers Reply to this

Wow, Dal & Ab's trip sounds fanatastic! Good luck to Jason & Vicky, & to Andy for attempting/completing such a unique adventure... does anyone know of freighter ships between LA & Australia or Singapore? i'd love to do this on my way home even if it is just one leg of our trip.

Cheers!

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I am currently in NZ and would love to be able to get to S America without flying, but so far the shipping companies I've tried have not had any ships doing that route. Anyone had experience going that direction? Will be having a look at all the posts above. Good luck to Jason & Vicky! Reply to this

dude, try this site http://7knots.com/ It's sweet, as long as you get along with the crew. eeeyaaaahh. Reply to this

Just bought tickets for the MV Theodor Storm from Singapore to Brisbane. Really looking forward to it and of course, it means we'll have made it from Edinburgh to Brisbane without taking a flight. The only drawback is the cost - approximately 5 times the price of a flight from Singapore to Australia.
When we started out we loosely decided that it might be nice to see how far we could go without a flight - well, by the time you reach Vietnam, it's out of the question to even consider taking a flight - regardless of the price differential. It becomes a mission.
I'm not sure though, how much I believe that the environment benefits by opting for the overland and sea option over the alternative environmental impact of a few flights - you should see some of the fumes coming out of the buses in Cambodia!
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Arrived in Brisbane yesterday. The boat is costlier, but definitely worth it...

Enjoyed it so much we booked the next leg by ship as well - Adelaide to Auckland. Reply to this

Try reading "The Wrong Way Home" by Peter Moore. (I think that's his name. It's a good read on the same topic.
T xo Reply to this

Hi Karo,

I definitely reckon it's best to go with the flow - you never know who you'll meet along the way, the stories that you hear that'll inspire you to take a different route to the one originally planned, or even the little hiccups that happen along the way that make travelling so interesting. I took 10 months to get to Australia from the UK without flying, taking a very roundabout route, particularly through China which allowed me to meet new friends and to see places that I'd never even heard about before leaving home - the travellers' network is far more uptodate than any guidebook! Obviously I could have taken a lot longer or done it more quickly. The only thing that I booked beforehand was the boat from the UK to Norway and then eventually the boat from Singapore to Brisbane (but that was because it's a monthly sailing).

As far as travelling as a lone woman, it's a bit difficult for me to say but I did meet a couple of lone women travellers on similar routes and they didn't encounter any problems. They seemed to exercise the usual sensible precautions that you would do anywhere and didn't get any hassle.

Budget-wise, I probably spent about £10,000 but that involved a few splurges in nice hotels and the odd treat. The rest of the time was spent in 3rd class travel and hostels.

Anyway, hopefully that's given you some ideas. Feel free to drop me a line if you've got any more questions.

Cheers and happy travels,

Andy Reply to this