"I'm leaving Melbourne ... the general intent is to make it back to Australia in 6-12 months without flying (ok - maybe just one flight from Singapore) .... The themes I am hoping to capture in this 'journal' are sustainability (particularly energy related initiatives I'm hoping to visit), fantastic passionate people and various travel insights that come from avoiding aircraft".
I would like to share four very obvious insights and a hypothetical that come from avoiding aircraft and then I will go on to explain our conundrum more personally.
- It is ridiculously cheap to fly
- It is ridiculously expensive to take the train
- Some parts of the EU don't see sunlight for the better part of a year (think UK)
- Some parts of the EU have sunlight for much of the year (think Spain)
Now for a hypothetical. Let's say Ms Piccadilly is fed up with the grey days of London so she decides to go to Barcelona for a week in February. Here are her options:
- Bus- Route, Eurolines London to Barcelona. Time, 27 hours there and 23 hours back. Cost, £137. Carbon, 34.1 kg
- Train- Route, Eurostar London to Paris then change trains to Barcelona. Time, 20 hours there and 20 hours back. Cost, £200. Carbon, 65.6 kg
- Aeroplane- Route, London to Barcelona. Time, 3 hours there and 1.5 hours back. Cost, £40 without luggage and £58 with luggage. Carbon, 194.3 kg
I'd say Ms Piccadilly is in a picaninny of a pickle.
What should she choose if she wants to travel sustainably? The bus right. But Ms Piccadilly is on a budget and only has a week off work. The £60 odd saved is one or two nights accommodation in Barcelona and the 45.5 hours she saves means an extra two days of sunshine, rest and relaxation. If you have ever lived in the UK you know how rejuvenating this can be.
This is a real conundrum because for most travellers it costs to care about carbon and for millions of people flying away to get away is now the norm.
Moz and I are six months into our travels. We spent three months taking a train around Europe and it was very lucky that we had pre-purchased Eurorail tickets because the trains are super expensive - certainly more so than aeroplanes. We then purchased a diesel van called Vincent Van-Go and have been travelling around it in the UK to avoid the extortionate cost of rail fares and increase our ability to reach remote places.
We now find ourselves faced with an ever tightening budget and the last leg of our marvelous adventure - taking the Trans-Mongolian train across Russia and into China to fly home from Asia. Getting from the UK to Russia would be a cinch if we flew and it would save us loads of money but alas we will attempt to take buses and trains and maybe even hitch the odd lift.
I suppose my point is that from home, when planning a trip like ours, it seems easy and fun to take trains to see the world while also 'doing the right thing'. But, faced with the reality of dwindling cash supplies my commitment is seriously tested. Is it any wonder that emissions from the aviation sector are one of the fastest growing in the world.
George Monibot's blog from Copenhagen sums up my point beautifully. He took a £480 standard train fare from London to the climate talks in Copenhagen rather than an £18 flight.
** Try the UK based Transport Direct calculator to compare bus, train and aeroplane emission from your planned journey.
** These footprint calculators are one way to understand the impact of your household on the planet - WWF calculator is good for UK residents and ACF calculator is good for Aussies.** The Man in Seat 61 will help you plan most aspects of a train journey anywhere in the world.
