Okay, so I’ve been thinking a lot about travel lately, and honestly, seeing all the stuff about climate change got me wondering how I could do my bit. Flying everywhere just felt… a bit off. So, I decided to try planning a trip with a lower carbon footprint. It wasn’t about being perfect, just trying something different.
Getting Started
First thing I did was just sit down and think. Where could I go without hopping on a plane? That really narrowed things down. I live reasonably close to some decent train lines, so that seemed like the obvious place to start. I wasn’t looking for some epic adventure across continents, just a break somewhere interesting.
I basically pulled up maps showing train routes and started looking at destinations within, say, half a day’s travel. This immediately cut out a lot of the usual suspects that would require flying. It forced me to look closer to home, which wasn’t a bad thing actually.
The Planning Grind
Once I had a couple of potential cities in mind, I dug into the transport details. This was key. Trains and buses were my main focus. I compared train times and prices. Sometimes the train was way more expensive or took significantly longer than a short flight would have, which was annoying, I won’t lie. But I stuck with it. I ended up choosing a city reachable by a direct train in about four hours.
Next up was accommodation. I specifically looked for places that talked about being eco-friendly. Things like:
- Using renewable energy.
- Having good recycling programs.
- Being close to the train station or public transport hubs to minimize taxi use.
It took a bit more searching than just grabbing the cheapest deal on a booking site, but I found a decent independent hotel that seemed to tick the boxes.
Then came the fun part: figuring out what to do there. I actively avoided planning things that seemed really energy-intensive. Instead, I focused on:
- Walking tours (found some free ones online).
- Visiting museums and galleries easily reached by public transport or foot.
- Exploring local parks and markets.
- Eating at local restaurants that sourced ingredients nearby (this was harder to verify, but I looked for cafes mentioning local suppliers).
The goal was to experience the place, not just rush between high-impact attractions. I used a simple notebook for most of this, jotting down train times, hotel options, and activity ideas. Didn’t use any fancy carbon calculator apps, just focused on the big wins: transport and local activities.
What It Was Actually Like
The train journey itself was actually pretty relaxing. Way less hassle than an airport, and you get to see the countryside roll by. Once I got there, relying on walking and local buses felt more connected to the city. You see things you’d miss in a cab.
Were there downsides? Sure. The travel took longer. I had to be a bit more organised with public transport schedules. Maybe I couldn’t squeeze in quite as much as a fly-in-fly-out trip. But honestly, the pace felt better. Less frantic.
The main thing I realised is that it’s totally doable. It just requires a shift in mindset. Instead of defaulting to the quickest option (usually flying), you think about the journey itself and the impact. It wasn’t some massive sacrifice; it was just… planning differently.
I came back feeling pretty good about it. It felt more like travel and less like just transportation. I’ll definitely be planning my trips this way more often when possible. It’s not about never flying again, but about making smarter choices when I can.
