Could you give up flying? Meet the no-plane pioneers
Could you give up flying? Meet the no-plane pioneers
Growing numbers of travellers are abandoning air travel to help save the planet – even if it means spending 14 days on a train
It has taken Roger Tyers four days to reach Moscow by train from Kiev. His destination is Beijing: a trip that will take 14 days, with a couple of overnight stops along the way. Tyers, an environmental sociologist at the University of Southampton, is on his way to China to research attitudes to the environment, the climate emergency and personal responsibility. “Given that, I thought it would be somewhat hypocritical of me to fly,” he says over Skype from his hostel room.
It has been months in the planning – he had to convince his bosses to give him a month off to travel to and from China. Has it been a pain? “It definitely has. It’s a matter of getting your train schedule in line with your visa requirements. I didn’t realise I needed a visa to travel through Mongolia, even though I’m not stopping there. There have been moments when I’ve been close to giving up and either cancelling the whole trip or just booking a flight.” But he is glad he has stuck with it, he says. “I have to prove it is possible.”
The no-fly movement is a small but growing community of people who are drastically reducing the number of flights they take, or giving up air travel altogether. Many campaigners say they feel flying is about to receive the same attention as shunning plastic or eating less meat because of its 2% contribution to global carbon emissions, predicted to grow to as much as 16% by 2050. In Sweden, where the movement has taken off, a new term has emerged: flygskam, meaning “flight shame”. Siân Berry, the co-leader of the Green party, has called on people to take no more than one flight a year and suggested a tax should be imposed on further journeys. Berry hasn’t flown since 2005.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/may/22/could-you-give-up-flying-meet-the-no-plane-pioneers
= new reply since forum marked as read
I never book the last flight of the day unless I'm prepared to miss my flight. I don't usually book a flight the same day as something important I might be attending like a graduation or a wedding. I don't mind flying at all but I try to prepare for the worst. I am the same when travelling by car. 
It used to be almost laid back and comfy. They would serve meals and bring pillows and magazines to you. And people would dress as nicely as if they were going to the theater.
Now the seats are smaller and scrunched close the one in front (I don't know how large people cope) there is usually no food, people don't trust baggage handlers and insist on bringing their suitcases into the cabin to cram into overhead bins and it's always another wait while they unload the bins. Planes are almost always totally full these days. Gone are the days when you could find an empty row and stretch out. If you don't sit on the aisle, using the rest room is usually better done after landing in the terminal.
The lines through TSA are long and annoying. I have TSA Pre✓ which is as far as I'm concerned the only way to fly. You don't have to remove shoes, belts, jackets or have to be screened in the full body scanner ("put your hands up like this and hold still." ) You put any carry-on on the x-ray belt and walk through a metal detector. That's it (unless you get one of the random pull asides.)
I just got back from a trip that driving would have cost 2 days plus each way. And put a bunch of miles on my new vehicle. When you add the cost of staying overnight and the gas and extra meals the price of a plane ticket is very competitive. Train? I'd love it. But there are no trains going from here to where I went.
Not as nice as it used to be? No, but it got me there and back pretty quickly and safely.
