I absolutely love travelling. I love experiencing new places, new scenery, new cuisine and, of course, meeting amazing new people. It has changed my life and my perspectives. I have been lucky enough to travel abroad alot and I recognise it is both a privilege and a blessing to be able to have done this. My travelling experiences have been special times to bond with my friends and partner too.
But it’s time for me to face the elephant in the room. I am passionate about environmental conservation and climate change and try to follow this through, when my circumstances allow, with most elements of my lifestyle. I think about the impacts of where I source my food, packaging, domestic travel and the list goes on. Which is why I am challenging myself to not take flights for a year.
Carbon emissions and environmental impacts from flights are well known, with ways to calculate your emissions and impact just a quick internet search away (1). There are even sites where you can pay to supposedly offset your carbon emissions by giving money to charities that plant trees, which seems like a nice idea (2).
Personally, I’d rather try to change my habits, grow my contentedness in the place where I am, cherish the memories I already have, and, explore this beautiful new country that I just moved to.
I may take flights in the future after 2019, but this will be a lot less, more mindfully and with the hope of finding a real way to offset and counteract the emissions and environmental damage, either by getting involved in conservation activities in the country I’m travelling to or getting involved where I live.
Since I made this decision in December, when hearing people talking about travel, I suddenly feel a strong bout of wanderlust. I’m definitely looking forward to the year ahead and challenging my habits.
Are you taking on any challenges? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section.
- http://www.carbonindependent.org/sources_aviation.html
- https://calculator.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx?tab=3
The Greedy Herbivore 
Such a worthy goal. Much respect. I’m traveling across the country for a seminar later this month, with conflicted emotions about the whole thing. If only the United States would invest in bullet trains….
LikeLike
Thanks Caitlin, it’s a funny thing to refrain from, because it really is such a luxury in the first place. I like the greyhound buses when I was in the US – made it from coast to coast!
LikeLike