Most travel guides talk now about the “lifestyle design” movement, which is just a fancy term for a life that’s designed to your tastes, desires, and needs rather than just a slow march through life until death. People interested in lifestyle design are generally also interested in travel. They want to make sure that you’re not spending their whole lives just passing through life, and travel is the greatest way to make sure that you’re not just marking time. There’s something powerful about being able to get up and travel if you ultimately want to, but you need to think about your travel plans from every angle.

For example, connected to the lifestyle design movement is another movement — the alternative travel movement. As you might have guessed, this has a little bit to do with going green and becoming more environmentally friendly. It’s not that all of the methods approached by the alternative travel movement are environmentally sound, but they are applauded for their lower carbon footprint than traveling by plane. Of course, if you really look at the movement from start to finish, you’ll find that this isn’t a very “new” movement at all. It’s gotten more attention these days due to the lifestyle design movement, but people have been talking about alternative travel plans since airplanes came on the scene.

Will it be as convenient to travel by bus or through boat as it is to travel by plane? Well, it somewhat is — you can usually book online and just go down to the bus or train station. In fact, you can even purchase monthly passes that will let you keep using the bus as much as you like. If you are planning a short term retirement in another country, these tips will definitely come in handy.

It’s important to note here that not everyone will be suited to the alternative travel movement. If you know that you like traveling by plane, you should feel free to keep traveling by plane. There’s nothing wrong with defending your right to travel as you please. However, there are many people that are fed up with traveling by plane and being subject to heavy security at every turn. The rampant commercialism found at most airports is another reason why many people would prefer to just skip over the experience.

Driving is something that can be very time consuming, even if you like the open road. You can substitute your car with public transit, which can actually take you longer distances than you might imagine. If you’re trying to go for international travel, you will need to go with a boat that can take you from one country to another. Keep in mind that you will still need to have the proper documentation in order to get in and out of countries.

Overall, there’s something powerful about alternative travel. Will it become mainstream anytime soon? Doubtful, but it’s still a fascinating topic in travel circles — will you join the alternative travel movement? Sound off in the comments!