No holidays - carbon footprint

But if they need the employees to fly as part of their job, they will want them to use the fastest way possible so they can be back in the office.

My company (investment sector) has just introduced a train where possible policy for European flights. They're happy to cover the cost of extra hotels and loss of productivity (although we’re all used to remote working so it’s not a huge deal).

They've also introduced two extra days a year for our holiday allowance if employees choose to take the train instead of flying to their holiday destination if they agree to work 80% of the time (but are excused if they have kids to look after).

I like taking the train to Europe but I still fly on holiday at least once a year.

Unfortunately all those shut down because of Covid and very few have restarted. None of the long distance, cross ocean ones.

In my most recent job 33 days plus bank holidays - but some of those trips were when I had less. Done with a mix of careful date planning to maximise the value of bank holidays, unpaid leave, working during part of the trip, and travelling between jobs.

I get that. I want to see the world to. But if seeing it also means wrecking it and people dying, I just can’t justify it.

With EVs, even with the battery issue, over their lifespan they are less carbon heavy than ICE cars. I looked into it in depth. If the battery is made using renewables (Scandinavian batteries) then they outstrip ICE cars quite quickly. If you use renewable energy to power it, it’s better too. But even with Chinese made batteries using coal power, all the production carbon and environmental impact and not powering it with renewables, it’s still better than ICE.

Me and my partner don’t go on holidays abroad. A few factors but one of them is for environmental reasons. I don’t tend to shout about with friends and family though so doubt many people in our life know this. I just say I prefer holidays in the U.K. without going into the reasons why. My dad is a prolific traveler. Him and his wife go abroad several times a year, every month possibly.

That’s not true of us or our friends that don’t fly. I never travelled - had to work Uni holidays to fund myself so no travel for me. Grew up poor so cheap camping holidays in UK. I am now much better off and could afford to travel and feel a definite sense of loss that I won’t get to go to some of my bucket list places now. It makes me quite sad actually. But, I can’t waste that much carbon on something that I don’t I need, when I know that our decisions collectively are already killing people. I just can’t add to that.

You could always travel by cargo ship. https://cargoholidays.com/australia-cargo-ship-travel

So how many weeks annual leave do you get ?

Haven't flown since 2018. I can't justify it knowing that flying would be making climate change worse. We still holiday though in wonderful UK locations inc northern Ireland, as well as in Europe to France, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands and Belgium via train or ferry. My daughter wants to go to Australia and I've said I'll consider it in about 3 years time but I will need to think about it carefully and look into offsetting.

Millions of people saying I have a small impact is why we are in such a bad place

You can't fix everything but you can play your part or not as you choose

committees.parliament.uk/publications/42703/documents/212154/default/
In the UK civil aviation emissions account for 7-8% of emissions.

And I have cut out beef, thank you. I'm working on dairy...
Yes, of course, everything that we do is small. But that's in the nature of individual action for most of us.

The last time we flew was about 8 years ago to India. We are going to Australia next year so obviously can’t avoid flying (realistically)

but

we have opted for places we can easily drive/train/ferry to or make the journey a part of the adventure - we went to Greece via train and ferry and the journey took us through Italy and Switzerland. It was incredible

we also have family and France and more often will euro star/train to see them, as well as take the ferry to Ireland or go to somewhere in the uk

this year we are going to Norfolk for a week in August and then Orkney in September (via ferry)

We only fly once a year and are strict about it. I know. I know. It's still flying and it's still bad.
We also take lots of train trips tho, and ferries and driving. None of which are carbon neutral if course.
But the point is we've cut back on flights.
I view it like meat eating / veganism. If we all did a little less no one would have to give up altogether.

Travelling by train is usually more expensive that flying to the same destination in Europe. The people I know who travel by train tend to be better off.

A large number of my friends and colleagues seem to be doing summer holidays in europe by train this year. It suddenly seems to have become much more common

I've not stopped flying, but I've made a conscious effort to fly less than I would if there were no environmental concerns. Limiting long haul a bit, and trying to do our european holidays by train where it is feasible.

And we once thought Smug "One upmanship" had died out.
At least no one got 'preachy' about having the better equipped Cortina

I'd rather see them online from the comfort of my own home. Google maps is excellent now, and photographs/videos too. My right to "see the world" doesn't trump the importance of the future of that world.

By train I have seen Japan, Russia, Mongolia, South Korea and China (as well as closer places like France and Austria). Khyber Pass and Golden Temple are tricky overland at the moment, but possible when the political situation has been calmer - I hope they will be again. Egypt and north Africa can be done by train and ferry.

Starting from the UK, there are 3 continents to choose from without flying. And you see the country rather than just one or 2 tourist sites.

Thanks for this @ellabella89 , By flying I have seen the Khyber Pass, Golden Temple, and the Pyramids. And met and spoken with some of the people along the way.
In Europe I could have seen the historic cities of the Hapsburgs and Romanovs by long hours of driving. But I was in a much more relaxed and receptive mood after help from EasyJet.

We don't fly for animal reasons - someone needs to stay and look after them so we simply don't do holidays.

Absolutely cannot relate to this and know nobody in real life who can either. Sure, you can ferry and train to places on your doorstep but there is a whole world out there. What a waste not to see it.

It’s great to reduce flying but many people would never see their family again.
The people who seem evangelical about not flying also seem to have loads of annual leave/able to take unpaid leave and don’t seem to be equally as passionate about encouraging people to have less children (1 person I know has 3 children but is saving the world by not flying).