Why this travel writer decided to never fly again

I've given up flying because I'm a travel journalist. It might have been the best thing I've done for myself and the planet.

If I knew it was my last flight, I would have flown far away.

It may be possible to reach the once-in-a-lifetime destinations ofAntarctica or Papua New Guinea. I might have taken a private plane to French Polynesia, sipping champagne the whole way and sliding down the inflatable slide by the time I got back.

But the Balearics? It was my sixth visit. I love the place, like the 13.6 million other tourists who go to Spain each year. The coves are quiet. There are golden town squares. Beer in the open-oven warmth of a Mediterranean evening. All of that is just a flight away.

I hadn't yet seen The Graph, a line chart showing average global temperatures for the last 11,000 years, when I took that flight. The Earth's temperature has fluctuated like a mountain range for thousands of years. It's like looking out across the Alps, with a 0.1°C increase here, a 0.2°C decrease, sloping ridges and subtle summits. The industrial era begins. Suddenly the line blasts northward like a rocket, with temperatures rising by some 0.7°C in a century. I hadn't yet looked into the research surrounding climate change, as I walked along Port de Pollen at dusk or cliff-jumping at Sa Calobra.

The scale of the problem

It is hard to ever look away from the data. The aviation industry accounts for 2% of total emissions worldwide, and 12% of the fumes emitted by transportation. Planes are still responsible for an almighty belch even though their emissions aren't as bad as cruise ships.

The number is predicted to increase. Pre-pandemic, passenger numbers were growing in every country. The data from the World Bank shows that people in the US took nearly a billion flights. Those taking flights were frequent flyers. In the UK, 15% of people took 70% of flights.

The outcome? The Global North is responsible for almost all of the world's excess carbon emissions. The impact of climate change is most felt in the Global South. Flying may be quick, convenient and affordable for a lot of people on the planet. It's not essential for a holiday.

Slow travel is the new sustainable way of exploring the world.

A travel writer, grounded

It was an impractical decision to stop flying. I need to get to different countries quickly and easily as a travel writer. I have traveled to six continents and more than 45 countries. There were long weekends in China, as well as domestic flights across India and a short hop from Brazil to Bolivia.

I had taken other steps in my daily life, from carrying a water bottle to gardening by hand, and not flying seemed like another quick win in terms of reducing my personal carbon emissions. It has been nearly four years since I was grounded. The UN, Harvard, NASA, the UK Department for Transport, and 99% of all climate scientists have rerun the figures from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.

Going flight-free hasn't stopped me from traveling. We won't be aware of what we are going to lose if we don't go out and see the world. To experience nature, encounter awe, and engage with strangers, we need to slow down how we travel. This is what makes us who we are. It helps us understand. It is all available without flying.

We can be better travelers in a post-COVID world.

A slower more sustainable future

I'm not the only one who sees the potential of flight-free travel. Slow Ways is an online community connecting each town and city in Great Britain via a network of walking paths. It is now easier to move about the country by bringing together unused footpaths and little-known back routes.

Byway Travel is one of the first flight-free travel agencies that offers slow travel trips to Sicily and the C&F4;te d'Azur. blueprints are being drawn up to expand the night train network across Europe.

It is an exciting time to be traveling. There is a new company that is going to ply the London to Delhi bus route. That is an adventure. As was the Atlantic Ocean crossing by a yacht.

It's the convenience that's killing us. Humans are only a small part of the vast planet and we need to learn to better navigate it.

What does that mean for other travelers? Is it possible that we should queue up at boarding gates to shame fliers? Is it true that we should quit our jobs in order to travel by foot? The latter exercise will not work for everyone. The tourism industry is doing well. One in 10 of us is employed by it.

We need to look at flight-free travel as a whole new frontier. It's a good place to start. Staying in destinations longer is better. It's ideal to get around by public transport or steam.

How to choose an epic hike in the world.

The planet needs to end the use of fossil fuels quickly. Traveling without flying is one way to do that. It puts our money where our mouth is, which always changes behavior, and it gives me hope that we can preserve some of the world's most cherished sights of future generations.

Some aviation experts think improved technology could be the answer. Many people are working on creating carbon-free commercial flights at companies like Airbus and Rolls Royce. The new planes aren't ready yet and we can't replace the 40 million flights we currently take each year.

Remembering the forgotten ways of doing things is the best way forward for now. Traveling further away from home. People are walking, sailing and cycling. I will be moving around the world. I take holidays that allow me to see the world in real-time and put me in harmony with the planet. It helps me see the world in focus when I travel at a human pace.

I hiked across the St David's Head in Pembrokeshire this summer, where Wales runs out of land. It was a full house of Britain in the summer, but it was also beautiful.

My daughter and I are travelling through Asia.

I could see a patchwork quilt of farmer's fields with different crops in green and yellow and red. St George's Channel is the body of water that divides the UK and Ireland. It coughed against the cliffs. I needed to remind myself of my place on this planet, and it was only a short train ride away.

I'm going to take a train from London to Paris and then onto Barcelona to get back to Mallorca. It is an overnight ferry to Mallorca. It will take 36 hours or so to complete, plenty of time to rest and replenish. I would love to tell you about it one day.