How can you tell when a route contains too much transfer friction?
Count handovers, not kilometres. A ferry connection, border crossing, separate flight and one-way car problem can each consume most of a day, even when the route looks neat on a screen.
Answer
The map hides the difficult parts because it shows distance, not process. A route becomes fragile when too many days depend on checking out, reaching a terminal, waiting, crossing a border, changing operators and arriving before the next desk closes. One long journey is not necessarily the problem; several medium journeys with no slack usually are. Score every move by the number of handovers, how often it runs, whether luggage has to be managed repeatedly and what happens when the first leg is late. Then cut the module with the weakest payoff. Do not protect every destination by stealing time from the stops themselves. A good route can carry one or two awkward transfers. When awkwardness becomes the rhythm, the trip has stopped being about the places.
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