All around the world

Circumnavigation is defined as travelling all the way around the world by any method, as long as the route covers at least a great circle (a circle running along the surface of a sphere so as to cut it into two equal halves) and passes through at least one pair of points antipodal (diametrically opposite) to each other. Widely recognized circumnavigations include ones made (or attempted) by sea, air, or soley human power. Nautical voyages are made via the Panama and Suez Canals, making use of the trade winds conducted by the circulation of the earth's atmosphere. In aviation, routes are often taken by way of jet streams, which circulate the northern and southern hemispheres without crossing the equator. To this date no one has quite circumnavigated the globe entirely by human power (by Guinness World Record standards), but notable attempts have been made. The first sailing circumnavigation was made in 1522 by a Spaniard, Juan Sebastián Elcano. In the 1580s, a Franciscan friar by the name of Martín Ignacio de Loyola was the first to circle the world twice, and the first to do so in both directions, westward and eastward. There are many records related to completely sailing around the world, and currently 16-year old Abby Sunderland has been en route since February of this year attempting a solo circumnavigation that if completed will make her the youngest to do so alone. The first aerial circumnavigation was done in 1924 by the US Army Air Service, and nine years later, the first solo one was made by a pilot named Wiley Post. Several people have walked, hitchhiked, or bicycled somewhat around the world, but obviously the oceans are somewhat of an obstacle to complete a circle entirely by land-favouring ways of transport. If I were a braver girl, maybe I'd try it, too.