We tend to romanticize the golden age of air travel with its silver-service trollies and mid-mod-style. Those glory days are long gone, though, and air travel today is utilitarian at best and a royal hassle at its worst. As a partner someone who travels in a wheelchair, it’s painfully obvious that the lack of accessibility, dignity, and, frankly, safety that necessitated the first Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights remains with us to this day.
Combined with the environmental impact of traveling, the increased cost, security line nightmare, flight delays, cancellations, and cramped seating, is it any wonder that travelers are increasingly looking for options? And in that area, there’s good news. Here are three long-haul alternatives to flying that make getting there one of the more enjoyable parts of the experience.
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Take an RV
Road trips may be the quintessential American family vacation. All you need to do is load up the family truckster and you’re in charge of when and where you go. If you’re looking to level-up that road trip, perhaps it’s time to consider a recreational vehicle (RV). These mobile homes let you take many of your creature comforts with you, including the creatures (i.e., your pets). If you don’t own your own RV, there are plenty of ways to rent one, including through Cruise America, RV Trader, or your local dealer.
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“RV travel flips the economics of family vacations,” says Juliana Baena, Director of OEM Strategic Partnerships at Trader Interactive (the company behind RV Trader). “Instead of multiplying costs per person boarding the plane, in an RV you are dividing expenses for transportation, meals, and accommodation.”
My family has taken a few RV road trips to state and national parks, including an epic Grand Circle tour of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona that included Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, and the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. All and all, we were thrilled with the convenience. We stocked up the kitchen, made most of our meals camping style, and made a core family memory of an attempted s’more made with pop tarts (a s’mop tart if you will). By my calculations, we saved at least 30 percent on what we’d have paid if we’d rented a car, stayed in hotels, and eaten in restaurants.
“RVing is an investment in the journey,” adds Baena. “You trade the stress of boarding passes, long airport lines, and hotel check-in times for a kitchen that’s always stocked, a backyard that changes every night, and the rare freedom to turn a detour into the best part of the trip, without leaving the comforts of home.”
Travel by train
Want all the panoramic scenery without the stress of driving? How about hopping the rails? Amtrak has rail routes that crisscross the U.S., and VIA Rail takes passengers across Canada. In between are other railroads going through national parks and deep into the Alaska interior. Some of the advantages of train travel include the ability to move about during the ride, dining cars for food and beverages, sleeper cabins for longer journeys, and glass dome cars for enjoying the scenic vistas. If all that wasn’t reason enough, trains offer lower carbon emissions than either driving or flying.
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“Train travel isn’t just about rushing from point A to point B, it’s about rediscovering the joy of the journey itself,” says Amtrak Senior Public Relations Manager Olivia Irwin. “From private rooms and onboard dining to sweeping views of America’s most iconic landscapes, our long distance trains connect travelers not just to destinations, but to the landscapes in between.”
On my family trip to the Last Frontier, we utilized the Alaska Railroad for our transportation. The scenic journey included Gold Star service with glass dome ceilings for all seats, an outdoor, upper-level viewing platform, meals in a full-service dining room, and two adult beverages per trip (for passengers 21 and over). On all such Alaska Railroad journeys, an Alaskan tour guide accompanies each trip to unlock the history, point out notable landscapes, and help spot animals along the way.
Ocean Liner
Once the only way to cross the ocean, the ocean liner slipped from prominence when airlines cut travel time from days to hours. But for those who want to savor the journey, Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 is the last true ocean liner in existence. Different than a traditional cruise ship, an ocean liner has a reinforced hull and is purposely built to stand up to the waves and weather of a transatlantic crossing. Today, the sailing takes approximately one week, but it allows plenty of relaxation and indulgence along the way. As your body adjusts slowly to the time changes, there is no jet lag once you arrive at your destination.
“The journey, not just the destination, becomes a defining part of the vacation experience when opting for a transatlantic cruise over a long-haul flight,” says Liz Fettes, Senior Vice President, Commercial North America at Cunard. “[With] thoughtfully curated daily programming for every generation, these crossings transform travel into something far more meaningful.”
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The Queen Mary 2 may be the last ocean liner, but plenty of cruise ships make the crossing, too. And it’s not just transatlantic cruises, either. Many cruise lines offer “repositioning cruises,” moving their ships from one region of the world to another, such as: Europe to the Caribbean, East to West Coast through the Panama Canal, or Australia to the West Coast via Hawaii. Sometimes, discounts can be found on these repositioning cruises due to their increased days at sea.
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