My 3 year old has visited 32 countries AMA

[Dinoswearunderpants]

No doubt I'd get a load of shade about 'bragging' but that's not the intention. If anyone is interested in asking any questions about travelling regularly with a little own, feel free to ask.

I often travel just the two of us as his Dad can't get as much time off work as I do.

I think the environmental impact of flying is rather relevant actually.
Not sure what your sneering about "sneering" is adding though? If you find it so unnecessary ignore it and ask something you deem more relevant.

What’s the problem? You don’t take issue with the sneering clearly, so what’s one more contribution?

What is any of the sneering adding? 😂 And no, not all of the bitching is in regards to environmental concerns. Some posters are evidently just mad that someone is doing something they cant, or won’t and has the audacity to post about it, as if they need to personally approve topics before a thread is submitted.

It’s such a yawn fest that so many threads about holidays get hijacked by the net zero overlords.

i don’t fly at all and have been a vegetarian for decades, so i could be pious in my green credentials. I have one child, who I adopted, go me!! I didn’t contribute to the worlds over population.

Its always the same, individuals reduce what they feel they can without impacting the things they REALLY want to do.

The bingo call goes like this
-those who don’t like flying/holidays in general/ prefer UK holidays.
-those who don’t have pets/kids.
-Vegetarians or even better vegan.
-those who can afford an EV and have somewhere to charge it.
-those who can afford extra taxes on flying or anything deemed polluting.

If you don’t want to do any of these things or have the money, it’s easy isn’t it?

I have never met anyone who has made a choice that would seriously impact their quality of life. Getting ferries and jaunting round Europe are hardly low carbon options whatever you tell yourself. The bloody things have to be built and fuelled for a start!

I wish people would get off their high horses and truly admit they are not making choices that really impact their life and stop lecturing others as if they are.

Is anyone here, not going to have a child, to help off set the worlds over population crisis?

If not, give over! If you are, I take my green hat off to you.

It’s an AMA. Stop trying to police people’s posts.

Ironic.“Let us bitch in peace!”.

Your posts are quite tiresome. The only one trying to “personally approve topics” is YOU. The OP willingly started an AMA, and people are allowed to ask questions and yes, even disagree with her.

Exactly.

Of course you can use a plane. This post, as set up by the OP, is all about excess. The OP has posted on the basis that they’re not the average family and don’t take the average number of holidays per year. Frequent flyers are usually business people and celebs, for example. Any post about excess will be divisive and the OP says they were expecting this, quite rightly. There must be thousands of people posting on Mumsnet about their family holiday and they don’t attract negative comments.

What I can't fathom out is what benefit to an infant of 3 can there possibly be going to 32 countries? i have very scant recollection of anything until I was about 5 and even then it was very specific stuff like my favourite toy.

It’s ok to do things with your child because you enjoy them, providing that they aren’t actually disadvantaging the child or in place of something else.

It is also fine to do things a child won’t remember. DD is fourteen months: she had Christmas presents at five months which she won’t remember, a holiday she won’t remember and a first birthday party she won’t remember. It doesn’t matter because she enjoyed them then.

I think this whole thread is ridiculous but I do think the ‘they won’t remember’ is the worst argument for not doing anything ever. I mean on that logic elderly people with dementia should never experience anything nice either.

I'd hate to feel ill around you, jesus! There's a difference between sitting in your warm house playing games and trailing round York for 2 days when it's cold 🙄

Is this about the partner cancelling because of a cold? I think you might have posted on the wrong thread?

I agree. If ‘they won’t remember’ then there is no point in being a good parent before aged 3 and abuse is ok.

This is so true. People only make changes they personally find easy to do eg. Not having children when they didn’t particularly want them anyway. Not flying much when they don’t like holidays abroad much anyway. Then they judge others for not doing the same. If anyone points out their hypocrisy they play the “it’s impossible to be completely carbon neutral” card.

Not true for me and flying. I was really sad for a while. Other stuff was less of a loss and easier though. When we first switched to an EV I hated it for a couple of months but love it now. Other stuff is easier though. I didn’t eat meat anyway, for example.

But you haven’t given up flying. You said you still fly for funerals and visiting relatives. It sounds like you’ve reduced it, but you clearly aren’t prepared to give it up entirely. I don’t blame you, by the way, I don’t want to give up flying either as I love travelling. However I don’t judge other people for their choices.

So did you go from flying 32 times a year to never flying? And as other posters have pointed out, you’re still doing what works for you.

I flew to get to one funeral and am likely to fly if/when needed to visit aging relatives. I no longer take unnecessary flights. The funeral wasn’t ‘necessary’ in that it would have still happened without me but it was a sudden and tragic death and it felt like a very good reason to fly (no other way to get there in the available time). It was definitely not a holiday, nor was it travel. It was deeply deeply upsetting and difficult.

But I have given up holidays requiring flights. It was a loss at first.

I’ve never flown that much. No. And I don’t tell other people what to do. What I have said on this thread is that I started with smaller steps. If you asked for my advice, I advocate a gradual reduction. So graded decreases, small steps. I’m not an ‘all or nothing’ person.

Show me where I’ve judged anyone for their choices btw. I will then apologise to the person I judged.

It sounded like you were judging the OP for flying so frequently. If you’re not judging the OP then that’s all fine, but then I don’t really see the point of you posting on this thread.

Why shouldn’t I post something?

Yeah it is, I'm too distracted by the Trump pet vids they are stupidly amusing me 😂

This was my original post;

“I don’t have a question but I just feel so sad to hear how high your carbon footprint is. Genuine sadness. Not having a go at you. I don’t think we have been properly informed about climate change and the impact it will have nor the comparative carbon footprint of flying. Once I knew the facts I just couldn’t justify flying unnecessarily again. Sorry. I know this will probably annoy but I just feel like we are in such a dire situation, silence is no longer possible. I worry so much for the next generation.”

If that’s judgmental then I guess I’m ok with that. I am happy enough with what I posted. It came from the heart and was genuine.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/15/catastrophe-of-epic-proportions-six-drown-in-europe-amid-heavy-floods-storm-boris-poland-austria-slovakia-hungary

This is why those of us who know the facts are feeling depressed by the OPs thread. It’s not a judgement of those who fly, it’s that it’s is so urgent we all make changes. The earth can no longer support us leading the lifestyles we have been. So when we read things like ‘32 countries in 3 years’ it’s too big to just pass by. This is only going to get worse.

From the article;

On Saturday, four people died in floods in south-east Romania. In the worst-affected region, Galati in the south-east, 5,000 homes were damaged.
Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, said: “We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences.”