Loyola's first circumnavigation was made in a westerly direction. Departing Cadiz on 21 June 1582, he sailed for the Canary Islands, then crossed the Atlantic to La Désirade, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo, to arrive in San Juan de Lúa, in México. After crossing to the Pacific Ocean coast of Mexico at Acapulco he sailed once again in a westerly direction, visiting the Mariana Islands, and the Philippines, before eventually reaching the Empire of China, where he landed in Fujian province. There he and his companions were considered to be spies and were sent to Guangzhou. After a year they were set free and sent to Macau. After travelling on to Japan, he departed once again in a westerly direction to return to Europe at Lisbon via the Straits of Malacca, Portuguese India, the Cape of Good Hope and Saint Helena. Loyola's account of his first journey around the world was first published in Rome in 1585, included in Juan González de Mendoza's Historia de las cosas más notables, ritos y costumbres del gran reyno dela China.
Second circumnavigation: 1585–1589
Loyola's second circumnavigation was made in an easterly direction. It is not clear how or when Loyola made his eastward journey to China; in 1587, from Macau, China, Loyola continued eastward across the Pacific Ocean to Acapulco, Mexico, in a ship commanded by Pedro de Unamuno. From there he crossed Mexico to Veracruz, from where he finally set sail across the Atlantic to Spain.
Other comparable early globe-spanning journeys and travelers
1551– - Bernardo, the Japanese; the first Japanese to visit Europe; travelled westward from Japan, via India and Portugal, to Rome and other European destinations; died in Portugal, at the start of his return to Japan.
1582–1590 - Tenshō embassy; Japanese embassy to Europe; travelled westward, from Japan, via India and Portugal, to Rome and other European destinations; and eastward, back to Japan.
- William Adams; an Englishman who, after journeying to Japan via the Straits of Magellan and the Pacific Ocean, spent the last 20 years of his life living in Japan and trading extensively in the Far East.
1600– - Luis Sotelo, Spanish priest; travelled to the Philippines and Japan, then travelled with the Keichō embassy to Europe, and back to Japan; murdered in Japan.
1614–1620 - the Keichō Embassy led by Hasekura Tsunenaga in the Japanese warship Date Maru, known to the Spanish as San Juan Bautista; Pacific Ocean, Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, Europe, and back to Japan by a similar route.
1670–1679 - Pedro Cubero, Spanish priest; eastward circumnavigation of the world; travelled by both land and sea from Europe via Russia, Iran, India, China, and Mexico, back to Europe.
