Travel
Travel in the Fifth World has become a more difficult proposition compared to the civilized past, but by no means impossible. While life in the Fifth World typically focuses on community and land, many still travel — for trade, for spiritual reasons, to learn about the world, or to learn about themselves. Some communities pride themselves on how far members have traveled. Travel to distant lands and other continents has become less common, but by no means unheard of, so news and ideas still spread all around the world, albeit in years rather than hours.
#Pace
A human being can typically set a sustainable walking pace of about 25 miles per day, though elevation can make that average vary considerably. Naismith’s Rule says to allow one hour for every three miles (five kilometers) of travel, plus an additional hour for every 2,000 feet (600 meters) of ascent.
Sometimes a horse will allow a human that it knows well to ride her, but this requires a close, personal bond that few have. Horses can run much faster than humans, but only for a relatively short period of time. A horse’s walking pace matches a human’s rather closely, so the average pace for someone riding a horse doesn’t differ markedly from someone on foot.
Sailboats can move noticeably faster than a person. They can also cover a great deal more distance because they can continue moving continuously, while a human can only walk for about eight hours each day. Thus, a sailboat can cover 100 miles in a single 24 hour period, or even more when the winds favor her.
Canoes do not offer much improvement in speed over walking, and as they require humans to paddle them, they generally don’t offer much improvement in the amount of time spent traveling, either. But by allowing people to travel across a body of water, they can allow travelers to take a much more direct route.
With limitations like these, people in the Fifth World can (and often do) travel all around the world, but it takes a minimum of one year. Generally, it takes a good deal longer than that as travelers will stop to rest, meet people, gather supplies, recuperate, and so on. Most circumnavigations take at least three years.
#Diplomacy
Communities in the Fifth World define their territories as collections of important places, rather than the area bounded by a defined perimeter. This makes trespass a relative thing — the more important the place and the closer one comes to it, the more grievous the trespass. Communities vary markedly in how they respond to such trespasses as well, with some that warn strangers to stay away, while others might respond to even relatively benign wanderers with deadly violence. This poses one of the greatest obstacles to travel in the Fifth World: every day of travel brings the traveler into the territory of a new community, whom they must deal with and come to some arrangement with.
A network of well-established and respected paths exist across the Fifth World. These paths often have histories more ancient than human beings. For example, the paths across North America generally follow the old highways, which in turn followed older Native American paths, which themselves tended to follow the migration routes of prehistoric mammoths. Very few communities would have the audacity to consider a traveler on one of these paths a trespasser. Much more often, the communities who live along these routes consider it a duty to help travelers however they can.
#Reasons
Travel in the Fifth World takes more time than it did in the age of airplanes and automobiles, and it means going on an adventure, meeting new people, negotiating passage, and facing the elements. The reasons to undertake such an adventure vary widely.
Some people dedicate themselves to a life of travel, like bards or circuses. Pilgrimage and spiritual journeys motivate many travelers. For example, many young people in the eastern part of North America seek initiation from the ancient mountains by traveling a path called the Appalachian Trail, while people in Europe still undertake the Way of Saint James. Renowned holy places and people with a reputation for supernatural power or gifts attract travelers, sometimes bringing afflicted, sick, or maimed family members seeking healing.
Some people travel for trade. Food and other perishable items don’t make much sense to trade in the Fifth World, as they’ll likely spoil before you can bring them back home, and everyone can feed themselves anyway, but small, light-weight, but rare items still have enormous trade value. An exotic gem, feather, or ancient relic can become a highly prized item back home.
Some people travel for the sake of simple curiosity, to learn about the wider world and the people who live in it.
None of these reasons preclude the others, of course. A pilgrim who walks the Way of Saint James might trade for one of the incredibly rare shells that marked such pilgrims in the ancient past before they become so hard to find, and return home with news and stories of far-off lands. Trade always unfolds in a broader context of social and ritual engagement, and travel for more spiritual or intellectual purposes usually involves at least a little bit of trading.