# Have you circumnavigated the globe? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 17, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017 "2010-11-17T20:57:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/1 "2010-11-17T20:57:19Z")
I recently had an opportunity to circumnavigate the world, by cleverly combining some business and vacation travel. I had to cancel it because of family necessity, but it led me to wonder how many people in this day and age have done it. I’ve crossed about three-quarters of the globe, but all in the northern hemisphere, since I’ve never been across the equator. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/2 "2010-11-17T21:05:09Z")
Sort of all in one journey, anyway; when I was 12 or so we traveled from Bahrain to the States via India, Sinapore, Japan, and Fiji, then a bit under a year later completed the circuit. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/3 "2010-11-17T21:13:36Z")
My circumnavigation of the world took about 43 years, from 1961 to 2004, during which time I crossed the Pacific numerous times. It started with an sea voyage from England to Australia, via the Suez Canal, in 1961, and finished with a flight from the US to England in 2004. I first crossed the Equator in 1947, at the age of 2 – I don’t remember it, but I remember my second crossing, in 1955, because for my younger brother it was his first crossing, and he had to go through the ceremony that they had on ships in those days for people crossing the Equator for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/4 "2010-11-17T21:16:56Z")
Yes, all in one trip. I took six months off work in 2002/03 and did the round-the-world trip I never got round to straight out of university. The air route I took was London - Bangkok - Sydney (…) Melbourne - Christchurch (…) Auckland - Rarotonga - Fiji - LA (…) San Francisco - Vancouver - LA - Mexico City - Miami - London. (With the bracketed bits being overland legs). Fun times, can’t believe that was 8 years ago now. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/5 "2010-11-17T21:22:07Z")
Yes, over a period of three weeks in February 2004, when I took a holiday to New York, London and Paris, flying east. That route crossed the equator and all of the meridians of longitude. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/6 "2010-11-17T21:30:59Z")
I checked that I had, but I’m not sure. I’ve gone to Australia and Japan over the Pacific and returned from Japan over the pole (to Detroit). Who knows what parallels I crossed? Thinking it over, I suspect I got it wrong. The furthest east I have gone is only to Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/7 "2010-11-17T21:40:20Z")
Not even close. My entire range has only been about forty degrees of longitude and thirty degrees of latitude. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/8 "2010-11-17T21:45:35Z")
No, but I have circumnavigated the Sun. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/9 "2010-11-17T21:45:49Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I checked that I had, but I’m not sure. I’ve gone to Australia and Japan over the Pacific and returned from Japan over the pole (to Detroit). Who knows what parallels I crossed? Thinking it over, I suspect I got it wrong. The furthest east I have gone is only to Israel. I’ve flown between Japan and Detroit, and you do it by flying over Alaska, so you don’t add any more meridians than you’ve already crossed by going across the Pacific by a more southerly route. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/10 "2010-11-17T21:47:27Z")
I’ve done it, but not in one trip. When I was a kid, we traveled between Taiwan and the US by boat, so that got me the lines of longitude in the Pacific. We then moved from Taiwan to Indonesia, so that got me the equator. One year, my dad had speaking engagements in Europe, so we flew from the US to Amsterdam. I believe we flew over the Atlantic, rather than over the North Pole. On that trip, we went to Holland, Germany, and then on to Indonesia, making a stop in Sri Lanka. I haven’t checked it exactly, but I believe that all lines of longitude have been covered. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/11 "2010-11-17T22:02:18Z")
I’ve crossed all lines of longitude without crossing the equator on one trip; and I’ve crossed all lines of longitude and the equator over the last couple of years. I put option #2 on the poll, but I suppose I could have also done option #3. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/12 "2010-11-17T22:03:47Z")
Nope, but over the course of my life, I’m pretty close. Flying east, the furthest I’ve been is to India (from Michigan). Flying west, the furthest I’ve been is the Philippines (also from Michigan). At a quick glance, that looks like about two lines of longitude between India and the Philippines that I’ve never crossed. I’ve never been to the southern hemisphere at all - the closest I’ve gotten to the equator is Bogota, Colombia. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/13 "2010-11-17T22:04:50Z")
I’ve been 90% of the way around, on different trips. I’m missing the bit between Jabalpur, India (80 E) and Perth Australia (115 E). I’ve crossed the Equator many times. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/14 "2010-11-17T23:09:12Z")
I have not circumnavigated, but I know people who’ve done it the hard way, on the surface. I’ve been from about 53° to about 11°N, and from Kauai to Vienna. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/15 "2010-11-18T03:22:37Z")
I’m missing the hunk between Irkutsk and San Francisco, and I’m also missing entire continents (and have never been south of the Equator). So much left to do! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/16 "2010-11-18T03:33:05Z")
Define “one journey”. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/17 "2010-11-18T04:06:04Z")
San Francisco to Sydney to Bangkok to frankfurt to London to New York to San Francisco. Two weeks of selling software around the world, ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/18 "2010-11-18T04:08:32Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > No, but I have circumnavigated the Sun. Booooring. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/19 "2010-11-18T05:06:16Z")
No, but have crossed the equator. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017/20 "2010-11-18T05:38:03Z")
I’m similar to **Colibri** - I’m missing the chunk from Delhi, India, to Alice Springs, Australia. Have crossed the equator, twice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-circumnavigated-the-globe/561017.md?page=2)