When you read of old-style voyages, the journey was every bit as exciting as the ‘getting there’. With the advent of rapid “get there quick” travel (and mp3 players!), much of the encounters, experiences and conversations along the way have disappeared, and turned travel into a very sterile experience. Remember with Cactus you’re travelling abroad in search of new cultures and civilisations, and better international understanding. What better way to get the process started than to travel in a way that exposes you to other people?

It may work out cheaper, not to mention be a more social experience if you use other means of transport. Eurolines (http://www.eurolines.com) now have brilliant Europe-wide coverage at excellent prices and bus travel is substantially more green than flying. You can take heavier bags too, which can be helpful if you’re setting up home overseas. The journey time is longer, but there’s no faffing about at airports (or getting to them), and coach travel really gives you a sense of voyage, and a good sense of the scale and landscape of a country.

You can, of course travel by train and ship, both for short and long-haul destinations. If you want adventure, you can retrace some of the greatest voyages of the world by sticking to the land and sea. Check out the brilliant Seat Sixty-One site www.seat61.com for more inspiration.

Another solution is to team up and go together by car with a bunch of friends. If you’re filling a car with 4 people, then you’re actually being quite environmental! It also means that you can share driving and you’ll probably have a few laughs en route. You can also tap into the various car share projects and meet likeminded people along the way. See http://freewheelers.co.uk/about.php or http://www.nationalcarshare.co.uk/