I usually
really enjoy travel planning, but last night I lay awake trying to get my head
round a travel conundrum. Should I do a round-the-world trip eastward or
westward?
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| Narvik to Boden - not quite the Trans-Siberian |
Yesterday
I found myself thinking again about the Trans-Siberian railway. The guide book has been on the shelf for a
few years, and every now and again it comes to hand, usually when I'm looking
for something else. I started browsing
it again, and the contemplation developed into the idea of how much of a round
the world trip can be done by train.
Across Europe and Asia - Oxford to Vladivostok - no problem. Eurostar to
Brussels, overnight to Moscow, then TS to Vladivostok. Across North America - Vancouver to Halifax-
easy. The Canadian to Toronto, then on to Montreal and Halifax. And I don't have a problem with accepting
that the Pacific and the Atlantic need to be crossed by plane or ship rather
than by train.
What I do
have a problem with is the International Date Line.
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| Vancouver - Coal Harbour |
In
addition to travelling I also take a lot of pictures, particularly I have a serious picture-a-day habit. This
means I need to take at least one photograph every day. For the last couple of years I've been
posting these on Blipfoto, but my uninterrupted picture a day sequence runs
from 24th December 2004. As of 8th September 2012, that was 2816 days and I'm not keen on
breaking the sequence. That was what was keeping me awake last night. What's going to happen when I cross the
International Date Line? In the wee
small hours I just couldn't figure out what was going to happen to my days as I
crossed the line, and what difference the direction makes.
In cool
light of morning, and with a little assistance from the other half, I think
I've convinced myself that provided I keep travelling east, the worst that can happen
is that I get the same day twice (at least that's what happened to both Phineas
Fogg and Michael Palin). If I travel west I might, depending on when during the
day the clocks actually get changed, wind up skipping a day completely and
wreck my photo sequence.
Or I
could just leave my camera clock permanently set to UK time, and just make sure
I take at a picture every few hours, just in case.
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