For many of us, a vacation starts with a trip to the airport and a hurry-up-and-wait for ticketing, security, check-in, boarding, takeoff and the flight itself. Throw in weather delays and by the time we get to our destinations, we wonder what possessed us.

 

Enter Tom and Lorraine McMillan, co-founders of Flightlesstravel.com, who say the journey should be part of the equation -- not the torture before and after.

 

"The journey itself can be a wonderful part of the trip," said Tom McMillan, who came up with the concept harking back to an earlier time after his contract job in New Zealand came to an end. "Take your time this summer. We're going to Italy. We'll be getting the ferry. It's a more relaxing way to start the holiday."

 

McMillan, 31, who along with Lorraine and their 8-month-old son, Finley, lives near St. Andrews in Cupar, Scotland, is an environmental scientist and said he always has been concerned about the environment and resource consumption. He said slower travel is much more environmentally friendly.

 

The McMillans' Web site offers connections for booking train and road trips plus sample itineraries that give the traveler a chance to allow an area's culture to "soak in."

 

"What we're proposing here is a cultural shift," McMillan said. "For many people speed is the key. People cut their lives into 5-, 10- and 20-minute pieces.  "The key is choosing a destination within reach. It's about changing the way you look at how you're traveling. Research is key: What's within that local environment that takes you far enough away so you feel you're on holiday?"

 

When it was time for McMillan to get back to Scotland from New Zealand, he and his wife eschewed the long plane trip, opting to travel by train when possible and taking short flights when water-crossings posed a problem. They traveled across New Zealand and Australia before hopping a flight to Singapore. The rest of the trip was mostly overland. It took five months.

 

"Lorraine had to take a leave of absence. I realize not everyone can do that," McMillan said.

McMillan said reverting to a slower pace brings back a kind of elegance missing from modern air travel.

 

"Ten to 20 years ago, flying was still a novelty -- a once-in-a-lifetime thing for many people. The airlines were very accommodating. Now all that is gone with the advent of bargain carriers," he said.

 

McMillan said the Web site went live in January and so far has gotten 15,000 hits -- most after the volcano on Iceland erupted and disrupted air travel throughout Europe. The British Airways strike also provided a boost.

 

Feedback has been mostly positive with some people lamenting, "Why didn't I think of that?"

 

"It's a bit of a hard-sell in America," McMillan admitted, saying most of the interest has come from Europe. "A big part is because we've got more high-speed rail. Speed is a key issue for lots of people."