How best to make characters move around the world? The chase scene from "The Fellowship of the Ring" is a great example of characters travelling with purpose and excitement. To me, every part of a story should progress the main plot in some way, even if it's just to get the audience to understand the personalities of the characters. Travel is a way to do that, and the methods of travel range from walking through space travel and beyond.
I love spaceships especially, and the neat whiz-bang of the Star Wars universe, or even the techno-babble of Star Trek. It's fun, delightful, and a pretty neat guess at future technology. But, walking pales in comparison, which is probably why it isn't used very much. It's hard enough to describe someone trudging along, while moving the plot forward, and making it interesting at the same time. Not that it's impossible, just hard.
One really neat method of travel came from the old movie, "Tron." Two words: Light Cycles. I'd be really surprised to find a single person aware of the film that hasn't dreamed of riding on the grid, making square turns, and leaving behind a light-wall trail out to the horizon. Used like that, travel is engaging and fun to witness, even if it's only reading about it and not watching it.
Techniques like teleportation ignore the concept of travel altogether. But, it's also somehow boring (aside from the wicked concept of zapping yourself to another place). I can't wait to see what waits for us as technology grows and changes. *Poof* I'm there... *Poof* I'm here... *Poof* I'm gone...
- M
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