365 Days of Transport

Exactly how many types of transport are there? We have discovered new ones and taken trips on types of transport we never even imagined before.

With our travelversairy coming up I wanted to write a series of reflective posts on our best of's & our worst of's that we have experienced over the last 365 days of travel. The first one I was excited to do was to write about all the types of transport we have used during our travels. So without further adieu I give you 365 days reflection on transport.

Types of Transport

Planes – 19 flights

Car hire – 7 times (minivans/cars)

Jet ski hire – 1 Bali

Scooter hire – 1 Guatemala

Taxis – I can not even count this one, sorry

Trains – Sorry can’t count this one either, but I can tell you it was Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, USA

Monorail – Singapore

Cable Cars – Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia

Segways – Singapore

Toboggans - Singapore

Speed Boats – Kota Kinabulu, Philippians, Malaysia, USA, Belize & Guatemala

Slow/Long Boats – Philippians, Malaysia, Thailand

Ferries – Hong Kong, Mexico

Tuktuks – Philippines, Thailand, Guatemala

Jeepneys – Philippines

Songthaew – Thailand

Golf Cart – Belize for 2 weeks – primary mode of transport

Bicycles – Belize & Bali

Tricycle – Mexico

Buses – Collectivos/shuttles, luxury two story buses, chicken buses, you name it

Elephants – Thailand, Malaysia

Cruise liners – Bahamas & East Caribbean

Prams – Kids have rode on 5 different strollers

Suitcases – Kids have rode on our 4-wheeled spinner luggage through airports

Feet – more walking then ever in our life!

That’s a pretty impressive list, right? I am sure there are ones I have forgotten.

Best mode of transport

My favourite mode of transport has been our road trips. There are no set schedules; you don’t have to worry about carrying water or a nail file. You can have as much luggage or as little as you like. The kids can sleep and you can stop and go as you please.

My daughter’s favourite mode of transport would be a tuk tuk. She still gets so excited every time we get on one.

My husband’s was on Ambergris Caye where for 2 weeks he got to drive a golf cart around town as his primary mode of transport. A dream come true.

Worst mode of transport

The airports in the US make flying a fairly long and tiring ordeal. A 2.5 hour flight will take the whole day and soon became our least favourite way to travel in the US.

However coming in at a close second would have to be ferries. In particular our ride to and from Cozumel in Mexico had to be one of the worst rides we ever experienced with a large amount of the boat population falling ill. Although that's a hard call because it can often be the most beautiful views as well. 

Favourite transport moment

After the beautiful lantern festival in Chiang Mai our songthaew could not get out of the car park. My husband, Josh eventually got out of the car and stood in front of all the cars attempting to push in so our cautious driver could inch his way out. Later the same night we got stuck at an intersection that was not moving. Our friend, John jumped out of the songthaew and started directing traffic. The traffic started flowing our songthaew moved through the intersection. He jumped back on letting the chaos return, but it was certainly a hero moment.

But can I also add that catamaran is one of my favourite transport moments. When I spend a day on the sea in th sun with friends, drinking rum punch and snorkling - well I am whisked away to another world.

Worst transport moment

Happens to be the same as our favourite. The songthaew ride after the festival was a long ride, late at night. We were squished in the 11 seater with something close to 30 people. It was hot, the traffic exhaust was overbearing and tempers were short.

This is closely followed by our trip from Belize to Flores where our bus was cancelled and we had to share a taxi to the border (7 people in 5 seater car) & then the local collective (21 people in 15 seater van).

I am sure there are plenty of other transport options we can add to our assortment of transport and, to be honest, I can’t wait. I’ve always loved the journey as much as the destination. Some of my favourite moments happen in vehicles like having the Kings travel around Penang with us (8 people in our 5 seater mini) or those D&M (deep & meaningful) conversations that only happen because there is no escape or the opportunity to write to my hearts content cause there is nothing else to do.

Transport is as much a part of travel as the destination. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our passage through our last 365 days.