I'm going to visit family in Australia soon, most of whom I haven't seen since before COVID. I feel bad about flying but I'm staying nearly three weeks and doing the journeys I can using alternative transport. I'm going via Auckland so doing the overnight bus to Auckland. I can get a reclining seat for just over $100, but there are no toilets on the bus, and we get just two stops at service stations, so it's not particularly comfortable.
In Australia, I have to get from the Gold Coast to Sydney. I'm taking a bus from the Gold Coast to Casino which is inland and south a bit, then getting on the overnight train. The journey is 4 hours and 200 kilometres longer, but much more comfortable and around the same price (time and cost include both the bus and train legs of the journey).
Another example where we are worse, even though the rail line is right there and could be used if it was prioritised.
Because we live on islands, well separated from anyone else, it's very difficult to travel anywhere without flying. Australia must be the least-bad choice, and it's completely understandable, when you have family there. I congratulate you on your efforts to minimise your impact.
What frustrates me is how difficult it is to travel around our own country without flying: to go and visit my friend in Nelson, it's both cheaper and a less complicated to bus-fly- bus than it is to go by bus. Either way, it's an enormus tactical proposition, with only two buses a day to Auckland, trying to link arrival times with the cheaper flights, trying to stay in Nelson long enough to make the vist worthwhile, etc. Taking buses (and ferry) all the way involves either sleeping on the bus (and I cannot sleep on a bus) or booking overnight accommodation. Last time I looked, there were only two buses a week from Picton to Nelson. I really don't want to fly, but the alternative is all so difficult that I haven't been able to go and see my friend since Covid and as she is over 80 and I am nearly 70, there is a degree of urgency to do so.
The overnight bus between Wellington and Auckland works for me, because I can sleep on buses, but I've accepted that if I want to go to the South Island, I have to fly. I get horribly seasick so even if the ferries were reliable it would be a big price for me to pay. I think that we have to make conscious choices as best we can but not beat ourselves up, because it isn't individual choices which are going to make the difference, but system change. I hope you get to see your friend soon - don't miss out on seeing her.
I try to be realistic, but feel so guilty when I fly. I feell individual choices are important, because of the influence they may have on others; if you get enough people thinking the same way, there is then a possibility of systemic change. I hope you have a lovely time with your family and that the land transport is both comfortable and interesting.
I have to say that any of my friends who travel to Europe or Asia are, by defnition, not into climate action. Long haul flights are not exactly the choice of those attempting to reduce their impact on the planet!
I think there are definitely a few factors there, I'm not sure that everyone makes a direct connection between flights and climate change - which is why I'm a big advocate of these conversations. I'm also aware that we do live on an island and there are many different reasons that people travel, it's a really tricky problem.
I generally think about status quo as a bad thing - lovely to see an example of how communal expectations can be a great thing when supporting sensible systems. Thanks.
I'm going to visit family in Australia soon, most of whom I haven't seen since before COVID. I feel bad about flying but I'm staying nearly three weeks and doing the journeys I can using alternative transport. I'm going via Auckland so doing the overnight bus to Auckland. I can get a reclining seat for just over $100, but there are no toilets on the bus, and we get just two stops at service stations, so it's not particularly comfortable.
In Australia, I have to get from the Gold Coast to Sydney. I'm taking a bus from the Gold Coast to Casino which is inland and south a bit, then getting on the overnight train. The journey is 4 hours and 200 kilometres longer, but much more comfortable and around the same price (time and cost include both the bus and train legs of the journey).
Another example where we are worse, even though the rail line is right there and could be used if it was prioritised.
Because we live on islands, well separated from anyone else, it's very difficult to travel anywhere without flying. Australia must be the least-bad choice, and it's completely understandable, when you have family there. I congratulate you on your efforts to minimise your impact.
What frustrates me is how difficult it is to travel around our own country without flying: to go and visit my friend in Nelson, it's both cheaper and a less complicated to bus-fly- bus than it is to go by bus. Either way, it's an enormus tactical proposition, with only two buses a day to Auckland, trying to link arrival times with the cheaper flights, trying to stay in Nelson long enough to make the vist worthwhile, etc. Taking buses (and ferry) all the way involves either sleeping on the bus (and I cannot sleep on a bus) or booking overnight accommodation. Last time I looked, there were only two buses a week from Picton to Nelson. I really don't want to fly, but the alternative is all so difficult that I haven't been able to go and see my friend since Covid and as she is over 80 and I am nearly 70, there is a degree of urgency to do so.
The overnight bus between Wellington and Auckland works for me, because I can sleep on buses, but I've accepted that if I want to go to the South Island, I have to fly. I get horribly seasick so even if the ferries were reliable it would be a big price for me to pay. I think that we have to make conscious choices as best we can but not beat ourselves up, because it isn't individual choices which are going to make the difference, but system change. I hope you get to see your friend soon - don't miss out on seeing her.
I try to be realistic, but feel so guilty when I fly. I feell individual choices are important, because of the influence they may have on others; if you get enough people thinking the same way, there is then a possibility of systemic change. I hope you have a lovely time with your family and that the land transport is both comfortable and interesting.
Yes, poor train options in Aus drive me crazy. Happy travels!
Thanks Gillian!
I have to say that any of my friends who travel to Europe or Asia are, by defnition, not into climate action. Long haul flights are not exactly the choice of those attempting to reduce their impact on the planet!
I think there are definitely a few factors there, I'm not sure that everyone makes a direct connection between flights and climate change - which is why I'm a big advocate of these conversations. I'm also aware that we do live on an island and there are many different reasons that people travel, it's a really tricky problem.
I generally think about status quo as a bad thing - lovely to see an example of how communal expectations can be a great thing when supporting sensible systems. Thanks.
Forcing people to change lifestyle over the climate change emergency is a crime.