Five picks. Not forty‑seven.

Mei-Lin Zhou

Copywriter · Japan

Structured, planned

Works agency hours in Vancouver and spends all 18 vacation days abroad. One new country and one repeat visit per year. Five trips to Japan and a running list of ramen shops.

Why this region five trips to Japan already, and a running list of ramen shops

Yuna Park

UX researcher · Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong

Remote work travel

Negotiated a fully remote contract and works a month at a time from a different city on home-office hours. Eleven cities in two years. Likes the routine in new places more than sightseeing.

Why this region works a month at a time from one city, which is what these three are built for

Ellie Brandt

Veterinary nursing student · Southeast Asia

Budget and volunteering

Works weekends at an animal shelter and saves the pay for off-season flights. Hostels, night buses, and volunteering at animal sanctuaries for a bunk. Six countries in three years.

Why this region hostels, night buses and volunteering at animal sanctuaries for a bunk

Britt Sorensen

Avalanche forecaster · India and the Himalaya

Hiking and mountains

Her work season is winter, leaving whole summers free for mountains in the other hemisphere or trekking at altitude in Nepal and Peru. Carries the lightest pack of anyone she travels with.

Why this region treks at altitude in Nepal and Peru with the lightest pack in the group

Marc Delacroix

Cheesemonger · France

Single-interest (food)

Closes the shop two weeks each winter and goes wherever people make something fermented. Dairies in the Basque country, the Caucasus and rural Sardinia.

Why this region closes the shop each winter and goes where people make something fermented, Basque country included

Luca Ferreira

Bicycle frame builder · Spain and Portugal

Cycle touring

Shuts the workshop two weeks every summer and rides. The Pyrenees, the Danube route and most of Portugal on frames he built himself, camping most nights.

Why this region rode most of Portugal and the Pyrenees on frames he built himself

Sofia Marchetti

Junior architect · Italy

Rail and no-fly

Refuses to fly anywhere reachable by rail. Four sleeper-train crossings of Europe, a collection of old transit maps, and building sketches drawn from carriage windows.

Why this region four sleeper-train crossings of Europe, sketching buildings from carriage windows

Tobias Lang

Sound engineer · Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Extended work trips

Touring already moves him around Europe nine months a year, so he stays on three or four extra days at his own cost whenever a tour hits somewhere new. He calls it stealing time.

Why this region touring already moves him round these cities nine months a year

Hana Okada

Structural engineer · The Low Countries

Single-interest (bridges)

Plans trips around bridges and old infrastructure. Thirty-one named bridges in 14 countries, each photographed, with sketches kept in numbered notebooks.

Why this region plans trips around bridges and old infrastructure, and this is where they are

Peter Halvorsen

Physics teacher · The Nordics

Rail and no-fly

Twenty-six years of teaching means 26 long summers. Trains and driving through most of Europe, now further afield, usually alone with a tent. Keeps every train ticket since 1994.

Why this region trains and a tent, no flights, and twenty-six long summers of it

Daniel Kovac

Construction foreman · Central Europe

Road trips

Takes the same two weeks every August and drives somewhere far with his wife and daughter. Twelve countries, all by road, all in one battered estate car. Plans routes on paper maps.

Why this region twelve countries by road in one estate car, routes planned on paper maps

Camila Reyes

Geology tutor · The Adriatic and Greece

Single-interest (diving)

Teaches during term and dives in the gaps. Cenotes in Mexico, flooded quarries in Wales, cold freshwater systems in Croatia. Travels with more equipment than clothing.

Why this region dives cold freshwater systems in Croatia and travels with more equipment than clothing

Katarina Novak

Midwife · Britain and Ireland

Short city breaks

Works long ward rotations, then blocks four days off and disappears. Specialises in short trips done well, mostly cities within three hours' flight. Twenty-two logged so far.

Why this region blocks four days off between ward rotations and does short trips properly

Talia Ben-Ari

Documentary editor · Turkey, the Gulf and Egypt

Unplanned

Editing runs in intense blocks with real gaps between, and she fills the gaps by going somewhere with no plan. No itinerary, no bookings past the first night.

Why this region no itinerary and no bookings past the first night, which suits these cities

Amara Nwosu

Civil rights lawyer · Africa

Structured, planned

Books holidays a year ahead because court calendars demand it, then travels hard for three weeks. West Africa most years to see family, somewhere new in between.

Why this region West Africa most years to see family, booked a year ahead round a court calendar

Andres Molina

Conservation coordinator · Latin America

Extended work trips

Field seasons take him to cloud forests, and he adds two weeks of his own on either end to see the country rather than just the research site. Nine countries in Latin America.

Why this region nine countries already, adding two weeks either side of every field season

Gerald Whitfield

Retired shipwright, museum volunteer · The American northeast and Canada

Rail and ferry

Volunteers three days a week and travels the rest. Maritime museums and working boatyards in 19 countries, mostly by ferry and train, talking to the shipwrights in every one.

Why this region maritime museums and working boatyards in nineteen countries, mostly by ferry

Stefan Bauer

IT systems administrator · The American west

Single-interest (eclipses)

Chases total solar eclipses. Seven of them on four continents, from Wyoming to a fishing town in Chile. Banks days off through the on-call rota and books the trips years ahead, because eclipse dates do not move.

Why this region seven total eclipses on four continents, from Wyoming to a fishing town in Chile

Rosa Iglesias

Music teacher · The American south

Single-interest (music)

Teaches in term time and plays weddings in summer, which pays for the travel. Goes where the music is, usually festivals in small unrecommended towns. Owns three unnecessary accordions.

Why this region goes where the music is, usually festivals in small unrecommended towns

Fiona Gallagher

Marine biologist · Australia and New Zealand

Hiking and mountains

Half her year is already on research boats, so holidays are deliberately dry land. Long-distance hiking routes in the off season, alone, with nothing being measured.

Why this region half her year is on research boats, so the holidays are deliberately dry land and long trails