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This week, Rowan takes a trip. What with Britain’s sneezy season upon us, many people’s thoughts seem to turn to leaving our somewhat smoggy island and heading into the wide world en vacances. But it seems that there just aren’t that many places left to physically explore on old planet Earth these days. And, whereas 30 years ago the hippy trail offered cheap hiking and excitement from Europe through Asia, our current state of world affairs makes even that impossible. So where does this leave the intrepid traveller wanting to get away for a little adventure? Well, given that the world is at your fingertips these days, the answer is clicking away online, of course.Once upon a time, place names like Timbuktu and Woolloomooloo must have conjured up images of magical lands and mystical peoples. Now we can all have a fair idea of what the Trans-Siberian railway might be like, or how climbing Everest would look. But how about those things which we’re simply too lazy, too poor or too tied down to see for ourselves? The relatively unheard of Joseph Kittinger was, to all intents and purposes, the first man in space in 1960. And happily a man who had the forethought to take a video camera with him. The Discovery Channel’s astonishing footage of his skydiving descent from space, jumping from 30km, gives some idea of what testing Einstein’s gravitational theories with only a parachute might have been like. That said, with the world now looking towards personal space travel, the X Prize Foundation might also pique your interest. Like aviation competitions of yesteryear, the Ansari X Prize looks to encourage the development of private manned spacecrafts, “which will result in nothing less than routine human spaceflights to the cosmos.” Video of the first privately manned space flight in SpaceShipOne, shot in 2004, offers an idea of what the first road trips into space might be like. Pack light for that one I’d say, and don’t expect too much leg room. Not even the depths of the oceans are hard for us to picture now. The giant squid, once feared by sailors as a mythical beast, was first photographed only two years ago. The photos were released last year. And of course, National Geographic is also on hand for more photos of crazy creatures from our deepest seas. And if those aren’t enough for you, how about a little vicarious base jumping courtesy of The Bird Man? Really, don’t step away from your computers. It’s not to be tried at home. Or anywhere. I suspect that people do get hurt in the making of these movies.
Rowan Kerek
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related info
 useful linkseverytrail: everest map skydiving descent from space www.xprizefoundation.com national geographic: squid base jumping www.bird-man.com
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