On a map, this appears to be a relatively short jaunt, partially by sea and partially by land.

And to be fair, some ways are faster than others. In fact, most ways are probably faster than the one we took.

The summary below includes all modes of transportation from one hotel to the next.

• 10-minute taxi
• 1-hour wait
• 8-hour overnight boat
• 1.5-hour mini bus
• 2-hour wait
• 2-hour mini bus
• 20-minute ferry
• 20-minute mini bus
• 1-hour wait for ferry
• 20-minute ferry
• 30-minute taxi

All in all, about 18 hours.

We chose this method for a few reasons, but for the most part, it came down to money. Since we’re traveling for a year, we have more time than money. And this was the cheapest fare. In addition to that, it travels by night, meaning:

• we save money on accommodation for that night
• travel seems faster since we’re sleeping
• we’re wasting less daylight traveling

We’re cheap. We don’t have jobs. We want to travel for at least a year.

So, at the end of the day, we’d rather keep traveling than come home early because we ran out of money.

Not always glamorous, but what would you choose?