“… it was possible to get there using another route”

[webofevil]

When Barbara Haddrill, 28, was invited to her friend’s wedding in Australia in October, she had a dilemma. She had promised not to fly any more for environmental reasons but as bridesmaid, she felt obliged to attend.

“I’d said that was it, I wasn’t going to take the plane anymore and wasn’t going to travel long distances,” she says. “But then this came up and it wasn’t something I could immediately say ‘No, I’m sorry, I’m not flying any more and not coming to your wedding.’ Then I spoke to friends and it became apparent it was possible to get there using another route.”

So instead of a departure hall at Heathrow and a possible stopover in Kuala Lumpur, Barbara went via Moscow, Beijing, Hanoi, Bangkok, Singapore and Darwin in an epic journey taking nearly two months and taking in train, boat and bus.

[Barbara] no longer drives, buys organic, locally-sourced food and uses a wood-burner to heat her home, which is a caravan near Machynlleth, in a forest in mid-Wales. And while the 51 days Barbara spent getting to Oz would be longer than many tourists’ holidays, as a part-time worker at an eco centre she has the flexibility to build such a journey into her life.

Speaking from a farm in Adelaide, where she is planning her journey home and appealing for anyone who can help her get from Darwin to Singapore, she said it had been a very rewarding experience.

“Perhaps it’s not for everyone to think they’re going to go on a boat to Australia but maybe they can think ‘Do I need to go to Australia in the first place?’ And look at things in your day-to-day life.” [BBC]

Comments

[amuchmoreexotic.livejournal.com]

If only she'd looked at some fuel efficiency per mile figures before she set off.

[amuchmoreexotic.livejournal.com]

Hmm, the story reckons that she had lower total CO2 emissions going over land and by boat. I thought planes were better per passenger per mile, and it was the length of the journey that was OK.

[amuchmoreexotic.livejournal.com]

it was the length of the journey that was OK.

By which I mean, not OK.

[strictlytrue.livejournal.com]

One thing I've never understood about this idea - surely it's sufficient to use planes less? I mean, if everyone only flew if they had to attend an important wedding or a once-in-a-lifetime type experience, wouldn't that be okay?

Although it's hard to argue with this:
maybe they can think ‘Do I need to go to Australia in the first place?’

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

> it's hard to argue with this:
> maybe they can think ‘Do I need to go to Australia in the first place?’

To be fair, I don’t think too many people find themselves saying, “I’m bored with the Pig and Trumpet pub quiz, Steve, how about this Thursday we nip over to Australia instead?”

[rainsinger.livejournal.com]

Except in my megalomaniacal dreams of world-ruling, that's exactly what I say.

(An ozone depleted, carbon emissive world obviously. sigh)

[hoshuteki.livejournal.com]

And this comes up just as I announce to LJ my travel plans to New Zealand later this year. Maybe I can renegotiate, and get two months off from work?