British woman sets out to pedal and paddle around the world

by Kraig Becker on

British adventurer Sarah Outen has set out to circumnavigate the globe under her own power. The 25-year old has dubbed her expedition “London2London via the World,” and vows to complete the journey by pedaling and paddling the entire way, which means she’ll be either on her bike or rowing a boat, for every mile of the journey.

Outen set out on her round-the-world excursion last Friday, April 1st, by paddling a kayak under the London Tower Bridge. The first stage of her journey will take her down the Thames River and across the English Channel to Brussels. From there, she’ll get on her bike and pedal across Europe and Asia, a trip that will take months to complete. When she’s finished that leg, she’ll get back into a boat and paddle across the Northern Pacific to Vancouver. After that, it’s back on the bike for a short jaunt to New York City, where one final challenge will await – rowing across the North Atlantic. If all goes according to plan, she’ll be paddling back under the London Tower Bridge sometime in 2013, ending the journey where it all started.

Outen is no stranger to challenging adventures. Back in 2009 she made a solo row across the Indian Ocean, becoming the first woman, and the youngest person, to accomplish that feat. She spent weeks alone at sea on the journey, which has helped to prepare her for the London2London expedition, but this latest adventure will test her in some unique and interesting ways.

You can join Sarah on her journey by following along on her website and reading updates to her blog. This promises to be one amazing journey, and Outen will be a great travel guide.

[Photo credit: Sarah Outen]


Travel insurance is popular, coverage not so much

by Chris Owen on

Call it hedging a bet, playing it safe or now just part of the deal, more people are buying travel insurance than ever before, and they have some good reasons. Earthquakes, floods, ash clouds, civil and political unrest along with snowstorms, fear of pirates and scary things that go bump in the night all seem to play into making what was commonly a “no” decision a “yes, absolutely” when it comes to buying travel insurance. Buying travel insurance is popular but coverage varies and knowing the details of your policy is important.

“2010 certainly raised people’s awareness of the value of travel insurance,” Dean Sivley, chief executive of the travel insurance company Travel Guard told the New York Times. “Yes, more people are booking travel insurance. But yes, we also paid out more claims in 2010 than would be typical. Hopefully, we won’t have a lot more years like 2010.”

In the past, travel agents hated to mention the topic of travel insurance, viewed as an unnecessary expense or a way for them to “run up the bill.” Now, travel insurance is commonly added automatically if for no other reason than to save time down the line as few have it removed.

But having travel insurance and being covered are two entirely different matters it seems. Many of the feared reasons for cancellations are not covered as some find out the hard way.

“Many people assume that their cheap travel insurance will cover them against every eventuality, but this isn’t the case.” says Patrick Chong Managing Director of Journey’s Travel who operates a commercial travel insurance website, Insuremore in the UK. “There are plenty of exclusions in the average document, and one of the most well known but least understood of these is the “acts of God” exclusion.”

Acts of God include Hurricanes and tempests, Lightning storms, Floods, Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Those may or may not be covered but what about civil unrest, political and terrorism events that disrupt travel ?

“While acts of God is one of the most well known exclusion clauses, in today’s international climate, terrorism is also a common exclusion. Much like natural disasters, if you incur costs or your holiday is canceled because of terrorism, your travel insurance may well be invalid. If terrorism is a potential hazard for your destination of choice, check that your worldwide travel insurance will cover you against acts of terrorism – some insurers do provide this kind of protection, but many do not.”

So it’s buyer beware when it comes to travel insurance and just having it should not give travelers the confidence that they are covered in all situations. Check with a travel insurance agent and ask specific “What if?” questions, In the U.S. most states require those agents to be licensed. Be sure yours is.

Best bet: Call the travel insurance company directly to check coverage and deal with a firm that is highly rated. TravelInsuranceReview.net provides editorial reviews, customer reviews, guides, and articles that help you decide which travel insurance to buy for your trip.

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Flickr photo by Andrew Steinmetz

Photo of the day — spring in England

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Today’s Photo of the Day captures early spring in England. In late spring and summer, this canal will burst with color. For now, spring appears fragile and embryonic. Winter hasn’t yet been overwhelmed by verdant green, and the chief source of color is provided by the red boat gliding across the canal.

Flickr user Kumukulanui shot this image on England’s Worcester-Birmingham Canal last week, just a few days after the official start of springtime.

Got a beautiful image that grasps the seasonality of your location? Add it to the Gadling group on Flickr. If we like it, we might select it for an upcoming Photo of the Day.

[Image: Flickr | Kumukulanui]

Cruise ports growing, one ship at a time

by Chris Owen on
It was a first time for Queen Victoria, the luxury liner from Cunard Line, to visit Florida’s Port Canaveral. That’s a big deal for a port of call. The people who run Port Canaveral hope this first visit is one of many to come in the future and rolled out the red carpet for the latest Queen to come calling. Ships in port mean big business to the local economy and Port Canaveral seems to be getting their share of ships, one ship at a time.

Local dignitaries from the Port Canaveral board of commissioners and Mayors from surrounding cities were on hand for a formal ceremony and luncheon that included a traditional exchange of plaques commemorating the occasion.

“It has been 15 years since a Queen stopped at Port Canaveral. In 1995 we had 937, 000 passengers, in 2010 we had 2.6 million. Much has changed at Port Canaveral and too much time has passed since the visit of a Queen” said Port Canaveral CEO Stan Payne.

Also new to Port Canaveral, larger Disney Dream began service not long ago, replacing smaller Disney Wonder that was moved to the west coast. Not long ago, Carnival Cruise Lines announced adding another ship to the Port Canaveral roster, 2,052-passenger Carnival Ecstasy will operate four- and five-day voyages to the Bahamas. The port hopes Queen Victoria, or any other ship in the Cunard Line will stop again.

“…so today we celebrate our friendship with Cunard Line aboard the magnificent Queen Victoria and we hope to celebrate before another 15 years has passed” added Payne.

Queen Victoria is the smallest of ships in the Cunard Line at 90,000 ton and small by today’s standards as well. At just 2000 passengers, the 2007 addition to the Cunard fleet left Port Canaveral on a 14-night transatlantic voyage.

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Ireland added to the Appalachian Trail

by Kraig Becker on

You’ve heard us sing the praises of the Appalachian Trail on more than one occasion here on Gadling. It’s the 2181-mile long trekking route that runs from Georgia to Maine that is considered amongst the best in the world. Turns out, the trail just got a whole lot longer, stretching all the way across the ocean to Ireland.

Officially, the AT is an American trail, and more than 2.5 million hikers use at least some segment of it on an annual basis. But there is also an International Appalachian Trail that extends all the way to the most northerly point of Newfoundland, Canada, adding an additional 1900+ miles to the route. That IAT is now jumping across the pond to Ireland, where it will run from Donegal to Antrim. According to Paul Wylezol, Chairman of the International Appalachian Trail, Ireland was added to the IAT because of “its direct physical connection to Newfoundland across geologic time, and its cultural and ethnic connection to eastern Canada and the US in modern times.”

In other words, Ireland once was connected to North America as part of the super-continent known as Pangaea, and because of that, it is getting added to the Appalachian Trail. Organizers hope to also add sections in Scotland, Norway and Greenland, as mountains in those locations are geologically related to the Appalachian Mountains. In fact, there are some indications that they may have once been a single range, before continental drift pushed the Earth’s land masses out to their current locations.

Hiking the length of the Appalachian Trail has long been considered one of the most impressive accomplishments in long distance trekking. For those hoping to achieve that feat in the future, it has suddenly gotten a lot longer and more challenging. I don’t think a pair of water proof boots are going to cut it.

[Photo credit: Paulbalegend via WikiMedia]