I played Alliance to begin with, and I once ran a level 14 character through Wetlands in order to connect Teldrassil with the other 2 Alliance zones. That character finally got to Loch Modan after about 10 deaths, with almost no armour left. Later, I ran a level 20 warrior through Stranglethorn Vale to Booty Bay, with similar results. I wouldn’t do this today.

These days I play mostly Horde, but since I recently upgraded to The Burning Crusade, I wanted a Dranei to explore the new islands. Naturally, I chose a hunter (as a strictly solo player like our host, I’d get lonely without a pet). At level 10, after completing “Taming the beast” and getting the training, I sent her on a world tour with this itinerary:

Boat from Azuremyst isle to Auberdine.
Boat to Teldrassil, learn bows in Darnassus.
Boat or fly back to Auberdine.
Boat to Menethil Harbor.
Boat to Theramore Island.
Swim to Steamwheedle port (Why? Uhhh… OK, I got confused about North and South)
Run to Gadgetzan (totally pointless at level 10, but since I was in Tanaris anyway, I tried it and succeeded. Didn’t see a single mob).
Fly back to Theramore.
Swim (the right way this time) to Ratchet. I got killed twice here by Scarlet Divers (wtf?), but that wasn’t too bad.
Boat to Booty Bay.
Swim to Westfall.
Run to Stormwind.
Deeprun Tram to Ironforge, learn guns.
Hearthstone home.

Because Westfall is very important to low-level horde hunters (it’s the only, or the easiest place to learn several key skills), and because The Barrens is (IMO) the nicest 10-20 levelling zone for characters of either faction, I’ve made the swim between Booty Bay and Westfall many times with different characters, and I’ve never been killed.

The general technique is: swim out to sea as far as possible. Find the line which gives you the “fatigued” warning if you cross it. This line is usually clearly marked on your minimap as two different colours of water. Now just follow the line up or down the coast until you get close to where you want to be, then swim for the shore. Hopefully you’ll find a beach which is clear of murlocs, naga etc. The only beasts near the edge of the deep water are rare sharks, and these swim so deep that you can sometimes swim over them on the surface without aggroing them. Swimming potions are never needed.

I’ve never tried swimming between Westfall and Menethil, but I’m pretty sure it would be possible if you just wanted to get a dwarf hunter to Darnassus in a hurry to learn bows, or to tame an owl.

REMEMBER TO GET THE FLIGHT PATHS!!!!!

Being a bit of an arachnophobe myself, I think the intimidation factor of a big green crawlie for PvP should not be underestimated.

The first time I hearthed back to Mulgore after taming an owl I got 15 whispers and a crowd gathered. As well as the dwarf that was cheering me on as I tamed my little friend.

Once I got into my low 20s, I’ve tamed the Wetlands Crocolisk that gave me the ability to teach Bemsha a good level of bite, and then the Ashenvale Bear that gave me a good level of claw. So now Bemsha’s a force!

I was surprised at the following: I trained all three pets to level 26, and gave each all the training I could that they could learn – the bear also picked up bite. I then compared their various stats, and was not expecting that the bear would place third. I figured since he had bite and claw, where the croc only had bite, that the bear’s attack power would be superior to the croc’s. But as things worked out, the croc had the best armor of all three, and the second best attack power. Bemsha’s still the bee’s knees though, and I plan to keep her all the way to 70 and beyond! Good memories of hunting around the wilds of Teldrassil as a brand new newbie…