Cruising down the river from one campsite to the next, looking up between oar strokes to ogle the canyon walls, is the outdoorsy equivalent of riding around a new city in an open-air tour bus.

WSJ: The Grand Canyon's Secret Network

Sending her camera gliding languidly into the noonday shadows of a rotting shack, darting dangerously through heavy marshland foliage, or jaunting past city lights from the back of an open-air bus, Akerman embraces the rapturous but desperate beauty of the countryside and the chill of the metropolis.

NEWYORKER: Almayer's Folly

Better yet, daily early morning flights to San Jose, two hours south of Sablayan by bus or air-con minivan, mean you can leave Manila in the morning and be diving on Apo Reef the same day.

BBC: The undiscovered jewel of the Philippines

Brandon Belt, a first baseman for the San Francisco Giants, says he relished his stint in San Jose in 2010, even though the low rungs of minor-league baseball meant seven-hour bus rides to games and balky clubhouse air-conditioning in the summer.

WSJ: San Jose Giants Caught in MLB Dispute

Once assembled, we headed for the tour bus, comfortably air-conditioned.

CNN: THE YEN TO TRAVEL

But beware: The discount carriers often use out-of-the-way air fields and you can find yourself with long bus or train transfers between airports.

WSJ: A Trick for Cheaper Flights Hiding in Plain Sight

In England we find similarly named Clean Air Power chasing a related strategy with heavy-duty diesels with a recently announced OEM deal with Volvo Bus.

FORBES: Egypt fallout -- follow Exxon and T Boone Pickens; go long natural gas and frack-baby-frack

Consider media accounts of how WD-40 was used to extract a python from a bus exhaust pipe or a burglar stuck in an air duct (yes, he was arrested).

FORBES: Greasy Coca-Cola

Consider the newspaper accounts of how WD-40 was used to extract a python from a bus exhaust pipe or a burglar stuck in an air duct (yes, he was arrested).

FORBES: Johnny One-note