Interstellar travel in the Milky Way is commonly thought to be a long and dangerous enterprise, but are all galaxies so hazardous? I introduce the concept of galactic traversability to address this question. Stellar populations are one factor in traversability, with higher stellar densities and velocity dispersions aiding rapid spread across a galaxy. The interstellar medium (ISM) is another factor, as gas, dust grains and cosmic rays all pose hazards to starfarers. I review the current understanding of these components in different types of galaxies, and conclude that red quiescent galaxies without star formation have favourable traversability. Compact elliptical galaxies and globular clusters could be ‘super-traversable’, because stars are packed tightly together and there are minimal ISM hazards. Overall, if the ISM is the major hindrance to interstellar travel, galactic traversability increases with cosmic time as gas fractions and star formation decline. Traversability is a consideration in extragalactic surveys for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

Second only to H2, protonated molecular hydrogen, H3+, is the most abundantly produced interstellar molecule. Owing to its high reactivity and acidity, it plays the pivotal role in initiating interstellar chemical reactions, something which also reduces its steady-state concentration. Interstellar H3+ is not only destroyed in chemical reactions but also in dissociative recombination with electrons. The rate constant and mechanism of recombination have long been controversial, but great advances have been made during recent years, with the important consequence that the cosmic ray ionization rate in diffuse clouds is now believed to be higher by an order of magnitude than previously assumed.