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

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]