 Lankton has been an avid traveler since he was stationed in Germany when he was in the Army.As outlined in his book "The Long Way Home", Lankton took a motorcycle trip around the world in 1956 and 1957, visiting, in chronological order, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India, Ceylon, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan.According to Lankton, he had wanted to visit Russia but was not allowed to do so during the Cold War.