And finding a guide, in itself, can be a challenge. The Synthravels Web site has connected guides and tourists more than 200 times, according to Gerosa, but for now it does not charge visitors or pay guides, and finding a tour depends on the sometimes-fickle interest of volunteers.
But with some persistence and a willingness to just walk up to knowledgeable avatars and ask, there are guides to be found, Carr said.
"There are quite a few people in Second Life who will offer a tour in exchange for a few Linden dollars," said the writer, referring to the world's currency, which can be bought and sold for real-world cash.
Those having a hard time securing a personal tour can turn to a number of automated options. Many site creators post vehicles near arrival points and program them to give visitors a tour of the location.
By heading to The Guided Tour Company of Second Life, where automated tour vehicles ranging from hang-gliders to flying carpets are sold, avatars can access a programmed tour of tours.
By clicking on the free guide, users can teleport to Icarus, where a giant dragonfly carries them to a romantic dance floor surrounded by twinkling stars. Clicking again brings them to Venice Island, where a gondola takes them to an old church adorned with Renaissance paintings and an ornate, carved pulpit.
Another click leads to Cocoloco Island Resort, where a white hot-air balloon ferries them around what looks amazingly like a Caribbean resort: beach chairs, thatch cabanas, and a pool that -- with a few mouse clicks -- allows visitors to float on their backs for hours.
At least for now, few people are charging visitors for such travel services. Even a stay at "aloft," a recently reopened virtual hotel by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, is free.
But the many entrepreneurs of Second Life may yet find a way to make travel pay, said Jeska Dzwigalski, a community developer with San Francisco-based Linden Research Inc, which runs the virtual world.
She said she has seen the tours and "travel agencies popping up that help people and give them an experience they might not otherwise find. ... As we've grown, that became a potential business for people."
Karen Hemmes has seen the demand firsthand -- or at least through the eyes of her avatar, Sierra Sugar.
A Gainesville, Florida, nurse by day -- and a DJ at Second Life events by night -- Hemmes received a virtual hot-air balloon as a gift, and started taking friends for rides. By the end of many of these tours meant for two, her balloon was packed to capacity with passers-by who had asked to join in, she said.
Visitors can even capture a few photos or home videos to remind them of their trip. Screen grabs of a virtual Times Square and videos of avatars surfing are easily found on image-sharing sites around the Web.
For those planning to go, though, Carr suggests visitors don't follow his example.
"If you want to retain friends and not kill yourselves, then you need to take lots of breaks," said Carr, who holed himself up in a London apartment with co-writer Graham Pond in the final days of their research, subsisting on tinned goods and bottled water.
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