I wrote about air travel earlier today and said that if I never flew again, I would be happy.
That reflects an attitude I have long held towards holiday travel, which is, I think, summarised by the chorus and maybe the lyric of this song:
I do think that holiday travel does involve, all too often, involve taking the weather with you. Not the literal weather, of course. But the baggage from which you are escaping by holidaying does, almost invariably go with you. In that case, the answer is to travel light and not far and to reduce the stress to the greatest possible degree.
It works for me. And, thankfully, for my wife. We had a great week in Norfolk in March - and I suspect no one on the blog could probably tell which one it was, despite which the baggage was, because of the low stress involved, left behind to the greatest degree possible.
It may not be everyone's idea of how to holiday. It has worked well for me for a long time. It has rarely involved a flight. In fact, in the last twenty-five years, I think I have only flown six times for leisure. The last time was in 2009. It is possible to holiday well without doing so.
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The last time I flew anywhere was 2006, going to the USA. My divorce was proceeding apace and my mother decided it would be good for me the boys to get out of the country and stay with my brother. It didn’t work, but I have some interesting photos of me and the boys. The flight to and from the US was as horrible as every other flight I’ve been on.
In conversations with my kids on the subject I state many times I have no desire to get in an aircraft again. I just don’t see the point. If I want go somewhere I’ll drive in a hired car or get the train. None of that makes me a wondeful example, it just is what it is. But when people talk to me about switching lights off to save the planet, or not using vehicles, I ask them what the carbon footprint of their holiday is.
The silence is grand.
🙂
Hah – one of my favourite songs ever. I’m told that the flat we rented in Forest Hill when I lived in London used to be rented by some of these guys.
But on the subject of flying – no thank you. The last time I flew was to southern Italy to get to Sicily I think in 2017 (by catamaran). We’ve used Inter-rail a lot for Europe though over the years and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was Ryan Air to Italy – enough to put you off for life. The Ryan Air way is what I call ‘disposable flying’ – it’s become so normalised that it’s frightening. It’s just something you have to go through to get some where to most people. Like blowing your nose and putting the tissue in the bin. And that’s the problem – there’s no concept of any harm being done at all. It’s just routine.
We’ve gravitated to Scotland and Ireland for holidays – there’s loads of places we’ve not seen yet – the train’s the way now – if only the cost would come down a bit.
Wales, Scotland, Ireland, East Anglia and next time, Northumberland for us
Some fantastic beaches in Northumberland, but don’t tell too many people or they’ll get crowded! Druridge Bay is one of our favourites.
Haven’t had a passport for over 20 years. However, I have a Danish and a Spanish daughter in law so don’t begrudge their flying home to see their families. Neither of them want British passports despite them both teaching over here for about 20 years. My Danish daughter in law had her degree paid for over here by her government. However, neither of them have the right to vote despite paying taxes and NI for years.
I’ve flown 3 times since 2005, to Barcelona, Japan I. 2008, and New York in 2011. Since 2004 my holidays have been mostly camping in Europe, touring and seeing lot’s of different places, and stays in the UK, Wales is a favourite but city breaks I always enjoy. The stress and hassle if flying isn’t a great addition to a holiday. I probably never will fly again, though I would really like to return to Japan.
I thoroughly dislike flying, but some journeys, even short ones, are very difficult by other means.
Its only 565 miles between home and where I buried my folks at the end of 2019 and where most of my living family live – Göteborg in Sweden. It’s a long, expensive and not incredibly environmentally-friendly by any other means.
Ferry routes across the North Sea to Sweden, Denmark, Norway and north Germany have entirely disappeared. Shortest from Scotland is the horribly expensive Newcastle – IJmuiden and then nearly 700 miles driving/train and more ferries.
The North Sea used to be the pond by which us North Europeans were connected, but now separates us from family, especially us covid-vulnerable non-fliers.
Back in the 1950’s my mother and her friend made it to Morocco and back by train.
Worth pointing out that in any year half the UK population dont fly, and most of those that do make 3 or fewer flights.
Less than 10% of all flights are ‘business’
But the frequent flyers are economically in the top 10% who own property abroad
I know
We should have a (steeply) progressive tax on flying
Love the song and Crowded House in general.
I’m extremely conflicted about Flying though. I fully recognise the damage it does, and the unlikelihood of it getting anywhere near carbon-neutral in the foreseeable future. However, with my immediate family spread between Singapore, Thailand and Scotland, it will be difficult to give up flying completely.
Yes me too. I also need to fly to Malaysia for my children to see their grandparents and aunts.
I know how polluting it is, but the prospect of a world with a massively hampered ability to travel large distances – how will people expand their experience and build bridges internationally? Mightn’t it lead to more nationalistic and isolated thinking, hampering our ability to solve any global problems?
Might we have a planet?
You tell me: short-term gratification, or survival for the grandchildren?
“Might we have a planet?..You tell me: short-term gratification, or survival for the grandchildren”
But i remember a couple of years ago you flying to the Lebanon!! for a presentation!!… were you unaware of global warming then or are you just a plain old hypocrite?
For work
Work flying is a tiny proportion (less than 10%) of the whole and I accept that some might still be required
That said I would not do that now: the world has changed and on line presentations are now acceptable in a way that they were not and as a result I can now safely so now to most business travel, and do.
That’s not hypocrisy. That is a process of adaptation. I know you libertarians have a problem with that. Thankfully, those of us who live in the real world don’t.
Prioritising work over seeing family feels, at least, a debatable position doesn’t it?
Not in this context, I think
But as I have said, a rationing system might sort that
I’ve been counting up – on the fingers of one hand.
First flight was when I was 15 and going on a school cruise. It was a turboprop aircraft.
Next was the helicopter to the Scillies.
Assuming you don’t count hovercraft there have been three more holidays involving flying in the last 50 years, two to the western USA and a silver wedding trip to Florence.
Otherwise holidays have always involved ferries and absorbing the changing landscapes whilst driving to reach mountains or, more recently, Scottish islands.
Drifting along the backroads and through the sleepy villages of rural France didn’t put off the offspring either – they still tagged along at 16 and 19 years old.
We were lucky to have the time to indulge in slow travel.
A really concerning aspect, which goes along with the rise in wealth inequality, is the increasing number of private jet flights, “research conducted by Dutch environmental consultancy CE Delft found that private jet traffic across Europe has soared from 350,000 flights in 2021 to over 570,000 in 2022. The associated CO2 emissions more than doubled over the same period to over 3.3 million tonnes.”
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/private-jet-flights-in-the-uk-soar-to-new-heights-analysis/
Slow travel is good
I never understand people who go long distance to then go walking
There are vast numbers of walks in the UK, and the excellent OS maps app (about ÂŁ25 a year) to find them.
You remind me of a comment by R W Emerson.
“At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go. But the rage of travelling is a symptom of a deeper unsoundness affecting the whole intellectual action.”
I have enjoyed the three books by Raynor Winn that all involve long (months) walks in the UK where she sees so much.
I will look them up
I have been enjoying two books on winters lived with geese right now. Neil Acheson’s (I think I have spent it right) is the better but both are good.
I found the books by Neil Acheson. I will read at some point. I found the Raynor Winn books gripping and I am sure you would gain inspiration from them – how to overcome the worst that life can throw at you.
I will nip into Toppings in Ely to find them
Do you mean Neal Ascherson, a Scottish writer who writes beautifully?
No
This chap is from Norfolk and I got his name right
Nice to have a bit of a diversion from economics.
I am ashamed to admit that once upon a time I was a frequent flier (seventies). But I worked for the UK branch of an American company that also had a factory in Germany, so there wasn’t really any option. I then formed my own company importing automotive components from Italy, but a few times I did travel by train – even then I would go to Beauvais by air and connect to Paris by train, then get the Rome Express from the Gare de Lyon.
Nowadays I don’t even have a passport, which expired in 2017, and it is extremely unlikely I will ever again get any more abroad that the Channel Islands (which I love and visit as often as possible by Catamaran from just down the road in Poole).
I have a daughter in Australia, a geology prof. I’ve been there to see her 4 times since 2004, and would like to go again. I tried offsetting the first one, but then realised it was a con. I have seen her in between, when she attends geology conferences in Europe and calls on her way back, but this isn’t likely to continue. Yes, going to Australia is a holiday, but that’s not the main reason for flying there. And alternatives, of train, etc are not really practicable!
There are quite a lot of people like me, and the number is increasing as more people emigrate to Oz.
I accept there is no easy to solution to this except rationing air travel to this with need to do so
There will be a lot more, particularly junior doctors, with them being able to get nearly twice the pay. Good that NHS training is appreciated in Australia.
An interesting link from weownit today.
https://www.tuc.org.uk/research-analysis/reports/public-transport-fit-climate-emergency
By serendip, I came across this earlier today: How Soon is Soon? On the England-India Railway Link Proposed in 1871 ( https://irfca.org/docs/history/england-india-link.html ).
A fair bit has been built since then (including the Channel Tunnel), but maybe one day we’ll be able to change at St Pancras for the train to Delhi… and beyond (but I’m not holding my breath… and the biggest problem would now seem to border crossing approvals…)
And looking on YouTube, 24 Hours from St Pancras – will get you to Bova Marina (on the south coast – of Italy): see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MNEA4rimys
I thought the 24 hour from St Pancras fascinating
I am likely moving back to Spain or Andorra, I absolutely hate short haul European airlines and the fist fights that are European airports. Once I am living on the continent I can happily drive everywhere I please in a car (either electric or hydrogen or synthetic fuel). However none of this will matter if India and China continue to use coal at current rates for electricity generation. We will only be leading by example
China produces more wind power than most other countries. It has the 21st highest per capita, and the most overall of all countries in the world. I always find it strange that people use China as a reason for not improving our own capacity. The UK is 6th overall, and 13th per capita. We really should catch up, rather than criticise other countries. After all, the government always says we are going to be world beating.
In 2021 China had an installed wind capacity of 342GW. The UK had 26GW.
So you lived in Spain once and your thinking of going back WOW – you must have been blessed by the fairies. We never lived in any tourist area or foreign ghetto, only ever among the ordinary working people – the best thing about Spain and then there’s the corruption.
Andorra – is there any part that isn’t overbuilt.
I know the country well, you seem to think I am a Benidorm type. I tend to go between Zaragoza and Madrid most the time. On Andorra, it is a hiker’s paradise but I understand why it’s marmite to some people. I value countries where crime does not exist and litter does not exist, but yes they tend to be small, tax havenish and overdeveloped
Once upon a time air travel was quite pleasant but that was decades ago.
If you can be lucky and survive cycling to the nearest port for France try a cycling holiday there using the Grande Randoneess, one of the best things about France, there are thousands and thousands of kilometres. What do you want – forests, deciduous or pine, mountains or plains or coastal routes. It’s possible to travel for days and hardly ever have to cross a road. Camp wild or on sites which are dirt cheap compared to anywhere in the UK and the facilities are first class. Thanks to the revolution there is no such thing as trespass. You don’t fanyc cycling then a walking holiday beckons.
I live 5 minutes from the GR36, 16K to Albi in the Tarn. When we lived up the road in the Aveyron I met a Japanese guy who was a long distance walker, he was walking from Boulogne to Barcelona.
The French have far more respect for the land than UKers and it shows. They never cut down all their forests, don’t believe me, check out the Tour de France and see the helicopter shots of all the lovely villages where ordinary people can afford to live.
You tempt me