Necessary equipment:

• Unknown. This is a big project.

Details: Technology is advancing at an incredible speed. To take the transportation sector further, we shouldn’t look to the skies, but instead to advancing our rail technology.

The issue with rail technology now is, really, the rails themselves. They slow us down. For this project, we need to completely remove the rails and instead rely on magnets to power and move the train.

Imagine a tube made semi-flexible and internally covered with magnets. Then imagine a train, covered externally with opposing magnets, lacking windows, and with perfectly sealed doors (like on a space ship).

At the train station, commuters would enter and take their seats, the door would be completely shut. At this point, the train is on a platform, just a few centimeters lower than centered perfectly in the tube. It’s time to go, so the door shuts. The magnets outside of the train turn on and the train raises from the platform; it’s now floating in the air.

To speed the train, we merely increase the power of the magnets at the rear. From 1 km/hr to 2000 km/hr in minutes. With nothing to stop the train (no friction), it can just fly through the tube and across the Atlantic Ocean. If air becomes a problem, we simply create an airless state within the tube – a vacuum.

Slowing the train down is only a matter of increasing the magnet power at the front of the train.

Plausibility: 2/10

Necessary equipment:

• unprocessed cacao beans (not hard to import)
• everything necessary to make chocolate (read the instructions)
• recipes for chocolate
• ideas for flavors of chocolate
• creativity

Details: As many people know, creating chocolate isn’t as hard as people want you to believe. Succeeding in this industry is easy, once you choose your niche. Others have done it, why not you?

The commitment involved with making your own chocolate is fairly small. You can purchase everything required for less than $1000 to do a trial run for friends and family. Assuming success (maybe after a bit of trial and error), you can be selling within a month and making a profit not long after. Focus on a niche target for the best chance of success.

Plausibility: 9/10

Necessary equipment:

• enough money to survive for as long as you want
• digital camera with solar charger and extra memory card
• journal

Details: Wake up one morning and don’t show up for work. Preferably, don’t call in at all. This works best if you’re salaried as you’ll likely receive two or three additional payments before your work realizes you won’t be returning.

Grab a backpack filled with only the necessary items including your digital camera and journal.

If in the US, start walking south. In this scenario, it’s entirely fine to hitchhike or to take a bus, so long as you stop frequently to enjoy your surroundings. Your goal is the tip of Chile, through every country possible. If you run out of money, you should be prepared to find an agricultural job or other form of labor. After arriving as far south as you can go, hitch a ride on a ship, working your way west toward Australia and New Zealand. Explore them both and whatever Pacific islands are easy to access, then move on to Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Your success is in your stories and pictures. If possible, mail your memory cards and journals back to a post office box or to someone you trust back home. If you’re mailing to a person you know, be sure they’re unlikely to move. Your goal is not to communicate with “home”, merely to have a location to send things from your travels.

Plausibility: 7/10

Necessary equipment:

• 2 or more articulated busses (of the same type)
• wheels for at least one bus
• knowledge of engine mechanics
• solar panels
• materials for custom desks, couches, beds, etc

Details: Used articulated busses can often be purchased for less than $1000 each, without wheels (sometimes more, with wheels). Buy two of them (at least): one for conversion, one for parts.

Gut the entire bus that you intend to use for conversion. There are a bunch of ways to go, but I imagine the bus containing… A server rack at the front, behind the driver’s seat. Hand-made custom desks on either side of the front half of the bus going at least half way back with mounts for iMacs. Custom couches on either side, the rest of the way in the front half of the bus. A mini-couch on either side of the mid-section (the articulated part) with televisions mounted above along with game consoles and a shelf for games (either in the front or back section). In the back section, either more couches and bunk beds further back or convertible couches that become beds and a car*. Tinted windows with blinds throughout. Solar panels on top of bus. A large battery in the back of the bus.

* If choosing the “car” option, you should be warned that many articulated busses can not remove their entire backing. If yours can, you’ll want it to open down, such that your car (preferably a smart car or other small vehicle) can drive right out.

Plausibility: 5/10