[Dave Musgrove]

As you'll see from our blog page http://www.bbchistorymagazine.com/blog/ ... t-begins-0, the Wood brothers have just set out on a trip to cycle the route taken by Hannibal as he took his army to attack Rome. That got me thinking about which historical journey I'd most like to retrace.

If it was going to be in Britain, I'd try and follow the route of John Leland's Tudor travels around the monasteries with Henry VIII"s commission to seek out knowledge and antiquities.

If I was going abroad, it would have to be something Viking - perhaps Leif Eriksson's little jaunt to North America - now that would be fun, though I'd need to get a jolly Viking ship to sail in. Those friendly Danes at the excellent Viking Ship Museum http://vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/index.php?id=1246&L=1 have one or two spare.

Which historic journey would you most to like to retrace, or have you already made one?

[Randal]

The Spice Road, difficult to imagine a more dangerous land voyage in the 14th century or today. Next year I'm hoping to walk the length of Hadrian's Wall.

Your question reminded me of a documentary from the mid-70s I watch many years ago. The filmmaker followed Sherman's famous - some would say infamous - march across the South during the American Civil War. The interesting thing he discovered was that many of the people he spoke with not only remembered Sherman but still felt personally wronged by the him and his men during the "War of Northern Aggression."

Randal

[iantday]

I would love to retrace the steps of Alexander the Great from his home in Macedonia all the way to the banks of the Indus river... Unfortunately given the political situation in that area SINCE Alexanders journey, it seems unlikely. I did see a documentary made a number of years ago where someone did just this though, I think it was titled "Footsteps of Alexander the Great", good stuff.

Ian

[Jen]

Although I suspect my choice is influenced by a recent bout of homesickness, I'd like to retrace George Vancouver's exploration of the northwest coast of North America. Close enough to the coast to avoid the stifling boredom of a long sea voyage and no political unrest to deal with.

[Randal]

Although I suspect my choice is influenced by a recent bout of homesickness, I'd like to retrace George Vancouver's exploration of the northwest coast of North America. Close enough to the coast to avoid the stifling boredom of a long sea voyage and no political unrest to deal with.

Nice choice, I'm currently living in the Seattle-area. Another monumental trek would be either the first or second voyage of Capt. Cook through the South Pacific (Vancouver was apparently a midshipmen on one of the trips). No doubt Cook's third voyage was a little rough ... if you're going to die though, there's worse places than Hawaii.

[Dave Musgrove]

Although I suspect my choice is influenced by a recent bout of homesickness, I'd like to retrace George Vancouver's exploration of the northwest coast of North America. Close enough to the coast to avoid the stifling boredom of a long sea voyage and no political unrest to deal with.

Nice choice, I'm currently living in the Seattle-area. Another monumental trek would be either the first or second voyage of Capt. Cook through the South Pacific (Vancouver was apparently a midshipmen on one of the trips). No doubt Cook's third voyage was a little rough ... if you're going to die though, there's worse places than Hawaii.

Or just to try and visit all the places that bear Cook's name now would be quite an undertaking.

[Jen]

Although I suspect my choice is influenced by a recent bout of homesickness, I'd like to retrace George Vancouver's exploration of the northwest coast of North America. Close enough to the coast to avoid the stifling boredom of a long sea voyage and no political unrest to deal with.

Nice choice, I'm currently living in the Seattle-area. Another monumental trek would be either the first or second voyage of Capt. Cook through the South Pacific (Vancouver was apparently a midshipmen on one of the trips). No doubt Cook's third voyage was a little rough ... if you're going to die though, there's worse places than Hawaii.

I did think of Cook (and Drake and Cabot and any number of a host of Hudson's Bay Company ships) but the weeks/months at sea with nothing to look at but the mugs of one's shipmates changed my mind.

You might be interested to know that Tony Horwitz retraced Cook's second voyage and wrote a very entertaining book about it: http://www.tonyhorwitz.com/books/blue-latitudes.php.

Other land-/river-based journeys considered: Simon Fraser's trek through British Columbia (although I've driven that one many times on visits to and from the in-laws), Mackenzie's quest for the Northwest Passage, and following Margery Kempe's pilgrimmage.

So many to choose from!

[WestminsterGuy]

I would like to follow Genghis Khan's route from Mongolia to the Ukraine. I think it would be fun to see how Genghis began and followed through this legendary conquest.
On the American side, I would like to follow in the footsteps of the Contiental Army that was always beginning defeated by the British army, but still managed to win the war. Wonderful story