Everybody has to have a way to get from point A to point B. For most of us, it is the tried-and-true car. We can program our own radio stations, set the exact temperature, roll the windows up or down as we please, and even turn it into a garbage can on wheels. Alternatively, we might use a motorcycle, bicycle, skateboard, scooter, or our own two feet. There are also public transportation options like the bus, the trolley, and the subway; most big cities have at least one of those. Over the years, many countries have come up with their own unique ways for people to get around.

SEE ALSO: 10 Futuristic Forms Of Transportation We Could See Soon

10 Canada – The Horse Ferry

Whether in a small country like France, or a large one like China, there are usually bodies of water which require traversing. Canada is no different. Around the middle of the 19th century, they developed the horse ferry to take people and supplies across their lakes. Anywhere from two to five horses walked on a type of treadmill that was attached to paddlewheels. The boat moved due to the turning of the wheels. Horses get tired, and with only a max of five, these ferries could not go very fast nor very far. If you had wanted to get across say, Lake Manitoba, and were not pressed for time, the horse ferry was the way to go. Eventually though, the steam ferry became the faster, more sensible way to cross the waters of Canada.^[1]

9 Cambodia – Bamboo Train (Norry)

The French first built railroad lines in Cambodia in the 1920s. Trains were quite popular for the next few decades until the French rule ended in 1953. Instability followed until the brutal Khmer Rouge regime began in 1975. By the time it ended a mere four years later, 20% of the population (1.4 million people) had died either from execution, starvation, or overwork. Over the next decade, the railroad areas were mined and trains frequently ambushed by remaining elements of the Khmer Rouge. Train operation slowed to a trickle; people needed an alternative.

With almost 400 miles of mostly unused track, industrious Cambodians developed the norry, affectionately known as the bamboo train. A norry has a tiny motor which sits on top of a bamboo platform about the size of a bed. Two independent sets of metal wheels are underneath with gravity holding it all together. Old tank parts, motors taken out of motorcycles, and rice harvesters provide the rest of the materials. Using a lever, the driver slides the motor backward, creating tension in a rubber belt that rotates the rear axle.

Locals might spend 50 cents for a ride, tourists ten times that. The bamboo train does not travel very fast; riders are able to get a great view of the Cambodian countryside. Transferring between different norries is common just to make a ten mile trip. Some of them were built to carry a few passengers; others hold thirty or more. These days, you might find it hard to find a ride on a norry. In the past decade, the Cambodian train system experienced a rebirth. The southern line opened commercially in 2010, and began carrying passengers in 2016. Just last year, a northern line opened up to the public.^[2]

8 Portugal – The Monte Toboggan Sledge

During the 19th century, on Portugal’s Madeira Island, locals in the village of Monte wanted a faster route to get to the city of Funchal. Today, it is still a quick way to travel, but it has also become a highlight among tourists.

Made of eucalyptus wood and wicker, the frame is placed on wooden slats greased with tallow to allow sliding on the roads. The operators are known as Carreiros do Monte. There are about 150 of them, and they are all assigned particular driver numbers, which are passed onto apprentices upon retirement. Clad in white trousers and shirts, and a straw hat, they drive the sledge in pairs. Special boots are worn to aid in slowing down. Remember when you were a kid and you “found” a shopping cart to push each other down hills? The toboggan sledge ride sounds a little like that, only far safer.

The journey starts at the Church of the Lady Monte and travels down to the Estrada of the Livramento. With speeds up to over 20 miles per hour, the approximately 10-minute ride offers a one-of-a-kind trip throughout the city.^[3]

7 Cuba – Cocotaxi

Cuba’s Cocotaxi resembles a giant yellow helmet with seats and wheels. It would not be too far off to compare them to a huge Pac-Man with people inside. They get their name, however, from a resemblance to the coconut. The actual components are plastic and fiberglass with two seats connected to a moped. A 75cc two-stroke engine is quite noisy, but more affordable than the traditional taxi. They are very popular amongst tourists. Just make sure you do not get ripped off by the driver.^[4]

6 Netherlands – The Amfibus

An interesting way to get around The Netherlands came and went in about a year’s time back in 2011. Happily, the amphibian bus or amfibus came roaring back this past year. The tour starts in Amsterdam by road, and then continues via water on the IJ River. It lasts about an hour, with half spent on the water. The amfibus is manufactured by DAT (Dutch Amphibious Transport). DAT also makes the amphicruiser for when you just feel like driving your SUV into the water!^[5]

5 Philippines – The Jeepney

The Jeepney, a large, colorfully painted passenger truck resembling a Jeep, has been a part the daily lives of most people in the Philippines for nearly 80 years. The original jeepneys were made out of Jeep parts left behind by American troops after World War II. After the war, the Philippines government did not create a mass transport system, so jeepneys became the most popular mode of transport.

Jeepneys operate sort of like buses. They have designated routes, but no designated stops. They are blamed for traffic problems because they stop so often to accommodate passengers. Unlike most buses we are used to, the Jeepney is typically splashed with bright colors and ornaments. Often, the driver will pick a name or phrase and have it painted somewhere on the vehicle.

The big problem with the Jeepney, however, has been its high pollution levels. They are responsible for 15 percent of particulate matter in Metro Manila. Much to the chagrin of the general public, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered all Jeepneys older than fifteen years to be taken off the road by 2020 and replaced with more eco-friendly versions. Gone soon will be the sight of Jeepneys decorated with disco lights, superheroes, chrome wheels, and other adornments. Also disappearing are the jobs for painters of the Jeepney. “This is an act of treachery against fellow Filipinos,” said artist Bernardo de la Cruz. “This is a uniquely Filipino product. We were born with it.”^[6]

4 Thailand – Tuk Tuk

Similar to the jeepney, the tuk tuk (also known as the auto-rickshaw) was developed after World War II to combat the lack of transportation. It originated in Italy, designed by Corradino D’ascanio, the same person who built the Vespa scooter. Today, the tuk tuk can be found on just about every continent, but is most common in Africa and Asia.

In Thailand, the tuk tuk owes its roots to the Japanese who popularized it during their occupation of the region during WWII. The older ones in Thailand used a 350cc two-stroke engine leading to the “tuk tuk” sound as they motor around the streets. Today, they are outfitted with a 660cc four-stroke engine, making them much quieter. The Thai tuk tuk, with its blue and yellow color scheme, has become a sort of a global symbol of the country. As with a lot of the vehicles on our list, tourists flock to Thailand’s preferred mode of transport. They are not allowed on certain roads like freeways, so you will not be catching one to or from the airport. Yet tourists still cannot get enough of the classic tuk tuk.^[7]

3 New Zealand – Shotover Jet

New Zealand’s Shotover Canyons provide the backdrop to one of the more exciting ways to get around in Oceania. The Shotover Jets are built in Queenstown specifically for the tours of the canyons on the Shotover River. With twin V8 engines and 700 total horsepower, the boat can get over 55 miles an hour. Water drawn into intakes on the bottom is propelled and driven through rear nozzles to propel the boat forward. Turning the nozzles steers the boat.

Shotover Jet Services opened in 1965 as a sightseeing company for close to a decade. In the early 1970s they upgraded their boats and pivoted to providing an adventure ride. Since 1987 they have been the only company to operate in the canyons. Each of the seven boats can carry a maximum of fourteen passengers, with over 100,000 passengers a year catching a ride through the canyons.^[8]

2 Kenya – Matatu

The matatu is reminiscent of a party bus. Graffiti-style artwork adorns the outside, loud music roars on the inside. By 1928, the capital city of Nairobi had the highest per capita private car ownership in the world. However, there was no public transportation system. The Kenyan Bus Services was later created. By the 1950s, it needed to expand and the matatu was born.

The matatu is the preferred method of transportation in Kenya not just because of the look, but because they are cheap and convenient. In the capital city of Nairobi, the matatus are ubiquitous. Each one is decorated with different images like those of pop stars, athletes, and even religious symbols. Local musicians receive promotion from the matatus’ blasting their songs up and down the streets.

A lot of care and money goes into the creation of each minibus. Some even sport onboard WiFi, and TVs. Matatus are built from the ground up, typically by using the stripped chassis of a new truck. Panels are attached, and the artists come in to paint the outside. In the middle of last decade, the government banned matatu art and loud music for safety reasons. The ban was lifted in 2015. Another ban was attempted in late 2018, but lifted the next day after public outcry. It would seem that the symbiotic nature between the matatu and the Kenyan people is too tight a bond to break.^[9]

1 United Kingdom – Rolls Royce 103EX

The Rolls Royce 103EX concept car, also called the Vision Next 100, is a luxury behemoth the company trots out to tout the future of automobile making. The interior sports a silk lounge chair, actual wood, and handwoven wool carpet. To get inside, the door opens after the roof swings upward, allowing people to stand totally upright. The wheel wells make the car look like it is almost hovering above the ground. It also includes a virtual assistant/chauffeur known as Eleanor.

Rolls Royce Motor Cars Limited is promising that the next 100 years of car production will be all about the driver and their choices. Their website states that “each Rolls-Royce will be designed less like a car, and more like an individual sculpture made from one seamless surface.” Sadly, the Rolls Royce 103EX will never see production. However, it does promise intriguing things for not only the future of the automobile, but possibly a radical change to transportation in general.^[10]

About The Author: Hello everyone on the internet! A little about me: I have two degrees in film: my B.A. from UC Berkeley, and my M.F.A. from Academy of Art University. I worked for a little while in the production office on several films including Bee Season, and Milk. I transitioned to TV and spent a few years in the “bullpen” working on live games for Pac-12 Networks. Lately, I’ve found that writing is what really does it for me. I’ve been writing film reviews for almost five years for the Concord/Clayton Pioneer. Very recently I’ve decided to branch out into comic books and online writing. I have also been a swim coach for twenty years.

We’ve scoured the internet for ten of the most unusual modes of travel that money can buy (either now or in the not-too-distant future), and ranked them in order of price.

10. Hoverboard (concept)

While it’s clear by now that Marty McFly’s 2015 must have been on an alternate timeline, hoverboards are actually possible on our own. In fact, it was in 2015—our 2015—that Lexus advertised the SLIDE, a bamboo and carbon fiber floating skateboard. In a 37-second viral teaser video, we saw a real-life hoverboard hovering inches above the ground.

Ok, so it was only a prototype concept, but the technology does exist. Maglev trains have depended upon it for more than a hundred years. The trick is a magnetic surface. A Kickstarter campaign in 2014, for the Hendo hoverboard, also used magnets to levitate. But the Lexus SLIDE has a superconductor and can hover on magnets in concrete. And while we don’t have magnets in concrete as standard, you could build your own hoverboard skate park. How much it’ll set you back isn’t really clear, but it’s probably the least on this list.

The only downsides are the 11.5kg weight and the need to top up the liquid nitrogen coolant every 10 minutes or so. On the other hand, that liquid nitrogen does emit some cool-looking vapors from the board.

9. Tron Lightcycle

Being virtual reality, the Tron Lightcycle has been possible for a long time. But only recently has it been rendered in the meatspace. Well, kind of.

Don’t expect to leave any light walls like a real-life game of Snake, or to ride at speed, but do expect to be the envy of any Tron fans you pass. Built by Parker Brothers Concepts, it’s a spectacularly faithful carbon fiber and fiberglass replica with dual hubless wheels and plenty of lights. There’s even a Tron helmet included in the $35,000-55,000 price tag (though no spandex jumpsuit). 

Like Tron itself, the Lightcycle has spawned two generations. The first, of which only five were ever made (in five different colors), was gas-powered, while the second is all-electric.

8. Hoverbike

Channeling Star Wars, the Aero-X hoverbike crosses pretty much any terrain without slowing down—although 45 miles per hour doesn’t leave much to slow down to. Powered by two horizontal propellers, it’s really just a hovercraft the size of a car but it looks and feels like a bike. It also reaches heights of up to 20 feet. The company behind it, Los Angeles-based Aerofex, calls it a “crossover vehicle.”

As for who might want one at $85,000, they vaguely suggested ranchers, emergency services, and border patrols. Let’s face it, though; this is a toy for the rich. 

Although there’s an emphasis on minimizing noise, emissions might be a problem. To avoid the propeller blades seizing, Aerofex installed a rotary engine instead of a conventional piston one. But, as the car manufacturer Mazda learned the hard way, rotary engines are hard to make clean and efficient.

7. Jetpack

Although still in their infancy, jetpacks (and jet suits and belts) are very much here. It’s just that you can’t afford one. In 2015, the CEO of JetPack Aviation zipped around the Statue of Liberty with a jetpack capable of reaching 10,000 feet a speed of 55 knots. The company’s newer model, the JB-10, almost doubles that ceiling and speed. But many other companies are at it, with some offering full customization. Wearable jets are also being tested by the military and emergency services—no pilot’s licence required.

Prices are in the hundreds of thousands. Mexico-based TAM, for example, sells a “rocket belt” for a quarter of a million dollars, while UK-based Gravity Industries has an Iron Man style jet suit for £380,000 (almost half a million dollars).

Don’t get too envious, though. This is one of those rare occasions where the rich serve as guinea pigs for the rest of us, trialing a piece of technology that’s still pretty deadly. It’s easy to forget what a jetpack is: “a jet engine strapped to your back”. There’s plenty of room for things to go wrong, which is why pilots still have to wear tethers. Flight time is also disappointing—typically just seconds or minutes.

6. Flying Car

There’s a reason flying cars haven’t taken off. Unfortunately, the compromises involved in merging roadworthiness and airworthiness result in barely accomplishing either—and they typically cost more than a plane and a car combined. But that doesn’t mean you can’t buy one.

In 2023, the FAA approved Alef Auronautics’ Model A for testing. Although it’s just the latest in a decades-long tradition (of flops, mostly), it is, say the makers, the first flying vehicle to actually drive like a car. A very slow car, that is, with a top speed of 25 miles per hour. On the plus side, though, it does have vertical takeoff. It’s also 100% electric, with a range of 110 miles by air and 200 miles by road. The idea will be to fly whenever speed is required.

Alef expects to start selling the first flying car by 2025, at $300,000 each. If you’re interested, you can pay $150 to get on the waiting list or $1,500 for a priority spot.

5. Amphibious Limo

Cars you can drive on water and land might seem pointless to us—especially as they compromise on speed. But for the rich, they solve an old problem: getting to and from a superyacht in style. Usually this involves climbing into a dinghy or speedboat and climbing back out at the shore like any common peasant. With an amphibious vehicle, transitioning from sea to land would be seamless.

Not surprising, then, that most amphibious cars are designed with the wealthy in mind. Nouvoyage’s $2 million Limousine Tender 33 is a case in point. 33 feet long, it’s luxuriously furnished (in that horrible corporate way the rich seem to like) with seating for 12, state-of-the-art air-conditioning, retracting roof, gull-wing entry, and a toilet. It can also travel up to 30 knots on water and 85 mph on land—good enough for “making an entrance” as Nouvoyage sycophantically put it, “whether you’re arriving at a film premier in Cannes or a dinner reservation in Les Beaux.” Yeah, or an island full of sex-trafficked teenagers.

4. Personal Blimp

For 20 years, Lockheed Martin was secretly building an airship—a helium-filled blimp capable of floating for 1,400 nautical miles at a max speed of 60 knots. Thanks to its hovercraft-like air cushion landing system (ACLS), it can land on a variety of surfaces, including water, and you don’t even need to use mooring ropes; it’s held in place by a vacuum. 

Unfortunately for the war profiteer, nobody was interested and they gave up trying to sell it. But airships are probably the future. Another company, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), already has plenty of buyers for its Airlander 10, priced at $50 million. 

They’re not the fastest way to get around, with a cruising speed of 80 miles per hour, but they are much greener than a jet. And for some the slower pace may be appealing. In any case, HAV conceives of the Airlander as a fast, flying superyacht, not a slow, bulky aircraft. There’s plenty of space on board for luxurious lounges, suites, offices, spas, sushi counters, and cargo holds—making it ideal for long-distance cruises, camp-hopping safaris, trips to the North Pole, and sex parties.

3. Private Train

Although exceedingly rare, some railcars in America are privately owned and run. One belongs to former Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman, who refurbished his 1948 Sandy Creek observation car with bedrooms, a kitchen, and a lounge—effectively making it an RV on rails. Another, an old Pullman sleeper car, belongs to the president of the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners, whose members join railcars once a year for an all-private cross-country trip. Otherwise, private railcars are hooked onto public trains headed in the desired direction. It’s kind of like train-hopping but legal, boring, and expensive: $3.67 per mile, plus storage of $1,800 per month.

Since 2018, Amtrak has actively discouraged the niche mode of travel, saying it causes “significant operational distraction” and delays paying customers on scheduled services. The solution, of course, is to run your own train. 

Enter the $350 million G Train, which, in theory, lets you ride the rails anywhere in the world. This 1,312-foot locomotive—purpose-built as opposed to refurbished—has a total of 14 cars, some with fold-out wings for outdoor dining. There’s also space on board for your fancy cars and motorbikes. Best of all, the shell is made of technical glass which can be switched from transparent to opaque, depending on whether you want to take in the sights or hide your depravity.

2. Luxury Submarine

When it comes to privacy, the rich get nautical. From seasteading to sex islands, the ocean’s where it’s at. Of course, in the age of spy satellites, a surface yacht won’t cut it; a luxury submarine is much better.

Capable of sailing the world Captain Nemo style (but as an evil scumbag fat cat), the 928-foot Migaloo M7 is almost twice the length of the Russian Typhoon, the world’s largest nuclear submarine. Its diesel-electric engines have a range of 1,000 miles between fueling, and it can dive to 1,500 feet. 

There’s no expense spared on board. The M7 has everything from helipads to swimming pools, hangar bays to viewing rooms. It also comes with numerous tenders, including a hot air balloon, SUVs, and that amphibious limousine—as well as minisubs for exploring ruins, shipwrecks, and caverns. The makers don’t specify the price, but it’s estimated to be around $2.3 billion, which, according to Migaloo CEO Christian Gumpold, would make it “the most expensive private object” ever sold. “Would” is the keyword there; the submarine hasn’t been built as the builders are waiting for buyers. What’s stopping them? Among other things, it’s the possible safety concerns; these are uncharted waters in every sense of the term. There’s also the cost of operation, including a crew and regular maintenance. 

1. Nuclear-Powered Mega-Jet (concept)

Although conceived as a flying cruise ship, it’s easy to imagine Tony Holmsten’s nuclear-powered, AI-controlled mega-jet (nicknamed “Flytanic”) in the hands of a megalomaniac. Think Doctor Robotnik’s Wing Fortress in Sonic. 

Capable of cruising for years at a time, the Studio Ghibli-inspired behemoth resembles a jumbo jet on steroids—complete with a vast central dome and tail section viewing deck. There’s space on board for 5,000 guests, or slaves, along with everything you might expect of a cruise ship: swimming pools, restaurants, theaters, sports and medical facilities, and so on. It’s so big that regular aircraft could land on top without trouble. 

Although just a concept for now, all the mega-jet needs is a small enough nuclear reactor. And, according to Hashem Al-Ghaili, who researched and animated Holmsten’s vision, this could be within reach in the next two decades.