Want to disappear? Here are five places where you can go and never be found.
In our era of air transport, satellite telephones and mass tourism, Selkirk-style adventure seems nearly impossible. But castaway lore remains as strong as ever in popular culture, as television's Lost and Survivor, and films like The Blue Lagoon and Cast Away attest.
Fortunately, it is still possible to get off the grid--it just takes a little more time, effort and willpower than it used to. After talking to travel experts, we've come up with a list of our favorite places to drop out of civilization. In these places you'll find shaky communications, worse transport and beautiful scenery. But be warned: Most are the kind of places where camping gear, physical fitness and hunting skills would come in handy.
Auyuittuq National Park, Canada
Nunavut territory.
How: Fly from Ottawa or Montreal to Iqaluit, capital of Nunavut. Then charter a flight to Pangnirtung, about 17 miles south of the park. From there hire someone to take you in via boat if it's summertime, or snowmobile in the winter. Note that access is impossible while the ice is breaking up around June or freezing over around October.
Pros: Hard to leave even if you want to.
Cons: Polar bears in the spring; near-total darkness and possibility of hypothermia in the winter.
Socotra
How: From mainland Yemen, hop a fishing boat or take one of two weekly flights, weather permitting. Hurricane-strength winds buffet the island from May to August, making ship dockings and plane landings difficult.
Pros: Pristine sandy lagoons and beaches, abundant marine life, exotic endemic plants and birds, no major predators. Fewer than 45,000 residents in 3,625 square kilometers.
Cons: Hurricane-strength winds four months of the year. Alcohol is illegal.
Kamchatka Peninsula
How: Fly from Moscow or Anchorage to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the peninsula's main urban area. Go north until the peninsula's only highway ends.
Pros: Skiing and trout-fishing possible.
Cons: Predators include brown bears, wolves, lynx and weasels. The peninsula has 29 still-active volcanoes.
Laguna San Rafael National Park, Chile
How: From Puerto Montt, the nearest major seaport, take a cruise into the park and jump ship--preferably with kayak and fishing rod.
Pros: Mountain scenery, great fishing.
Cons: Rains all year.
Mongolian Hinterland
How: Fly to the capital Ulaanbaatar via Beijing or Moscow; head in any direction.
Pros: Generous hospitality rooted in nomadic culture. Horseback riding and falconry popular pastimes. Home to the 13th-largest lake in the world (in surface area) as well as taiga forest and the Gobi desert.
Cons: Weather can be extreme. Mutton-centric diet.
Tristan da Cunha
How: Boat only. It takes five to six days from Cape Town, South Africa, about 1,700 miles away. Scheduled ships run about once a month.
Pros: No need to rough it--rent a furnished guest house instead.
Cons: Swimming in the ocean is not safe. The main island is an active volcano.
Papua New Guinea
What and Where: Country occupying the Eastern half of the island of New Guinea, north of Australia between the Coral Sea and the South Pacific.
How: Fly to the capital, Port Moresby, from Australia. From there charter a small plane to drop you in a jungle settlement or beach village.
Pros: Cellphone coverage limited to the capital and a few towns. Cannibals not seen or heard from for decades. Gorgeous beaches, coral and marine life on northern coast.
Cons: Occasional tribal warfare in Highlands region, separatist movement on Bougainville Island.
