...the plan

I have decided to journey across second life, from end to end. I'm not sure if this has been done before. I'm not sure that it can or should be done. After extensive Googling I haven't found any mention of anyone attempting this feat, let alone succeeding. 

My research has also shown that the Second Life grid is big, rather huge in fact. I'm a little concerned when I try to load up the full world map in my viewer, only to have it crash a few minutes later. But according to one website, "The size of Second-life in the Virtual World is the size of metropolitan London. If you were to walk across Second Life as your avatar, it would take you the same amount of time as in the actual world." That doesnt sound so daunting, about 50km, which would be approximately 10 hours at a brisk pace. I could probably complete the trip in a week, but I have a sneaking suspicion it may take longer than this, a lot longer.


A map of telehubs gives a good enough outline of the shape of the SL grid. Here is a map of my extremely vague route. From 'After Hours' in the southwest via London and Diddler Island (my two favourite places) and onto the Texas Womens' University in the far northeast.

I accept the risks involved in this enterprise. I am aware that I may be stalked, beaten, abused, bitten, teased and ejected. While that is generally what I consider a good night out, I'm not sure I have the stamina to endure it for several months or years. I also realise that I may have issues with access and security, but I'll just figure it out as I go along. A big part of this trip is to learn more about SL and the techmological aspects.


I have thus formulated the following goals:

• To travel from the southwest corner to the northwest corner of the SL grid.
• Where possible, I will walk, run and swim across sims. Flying shall only be done across large obstacles, like steep mountain ranges. I will also make occasional use of vehicles, like my hobo bike, flying saucer and my extremely awesome spacehopper. It's red, so it goes faster than other spacehoppers.
• if sims cannot be crossed on foot, I will teleport between the two closest points of the sim.
• If I am denied entry to a sim or region, I will attempt to cross to the next closest sim.
• My route is totally unplanned aside form making two designated stops, at London Sims and Diddler Island.
• I will take lots of photos and report on progress through this blog.

Hmmm soooo. What to bring? Any suggestions?