The traveler completed the journey in six days, passing through France and Spain before boarding a ferry to the island.
A British woman travels over 2,100 miles to reach the Canary Islands without taking planes: “Are we forgetting how to travel?”
Around 1.7 million Britons visit Lanzarote each year. Most choose the quickest option: a flight that takes just over four hours to reach the island. Rebecca Jackson, however, has a very different way of getting there. As she shared in an article in The Telegraph, she spent six days making the trip, crossing two countries and stopping in three cities along the way.
The Telegraph
For Jackson, flying is stressful due to cramped spaces and frequent delays. She prefers traveling by train, which she finds more relaxing and spacious, with a greater sense of adventure.
Her approach was inspired by the television show ‘Race Across the World’, which challenges contestants to reach various checkpoints without using airplanes. The show would finish by posing the question: “Reaching the other side of the world has never been easier. But by flying over, are we forgetting how to travel through?”
Jackson also believes this method of travel is more environmentally friendly. Although her journey took nearly ten times longer than a direct flight and did not involve setting foot in an airport, it generated 76 percent fewer carbon emissions. In total, she planned an 18-day trip, including six days staying in Lanzarote’s capital.
The journey route
The adventure began in London at St Pancras Station, where she traveled to Paris Gare du Nord. Despite disruptions caused by Storm Goretti, she continued on to Gare de Lyon and then to Nîmes. There, she explored Roman landmarks such as the Maison Carrée temple and the Arènes de Nîmes amphitheater.
From Nîmes, she took a seven-hour train ride to Madrid, which she said offered some of the most beautiful scenery of the entire trip. She spent two days in the Spanish capital visiting the Royal Palace of Madrid and iconic squares such as Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor.
The final leg of her journey by train took her from Madrid to Cádiz. There, she boarded a Naviera Armas ferry for an approximately 28-hour crossing, ultimately arriving in Lanzarote.
While the slow traveler says that the final sea voyage was a bit long for her, she says, “the trains were wonderful, and allowed me to unlock new cities and experiences along the way.”
“Rather than parachuting into a destination with little sense of what lies around it, I arrived slowly and felt the journey had more value,” she added as she reflected on that question from the show that prompted her to take the more relaxed route to her destination.
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