to go to Australia for the weekend?!

[HufflepuffHarpy]

My best friend (male if relevant) is getting married in the autumn. I'm in the UK (where we both grew up) he now lives in Australia.

I desperately want to go to the wedding.

It will cost £1000 for the flight plus accomodation etc over there which is in no way small money.

I have 4DC so would be asking my parents (very hands on babysitters, have had them for me and DH to go on holiday etc) to have the DC (all under 10) while DH is at work.

I would leave on a thursday AM flight and get back tuesday pm. SO literally fly in for the wedding, the day after and then back home.

Am I being totally crazy to consider this?! (Haven't actually asked DH yet!!)

Feelingquitewarm great post, wholeheartedly agree.

The birth rate in the UK and most developed nations is declining dramatically. So much so that we can’t sustain our aging demographic. The low birth rate in the UK and the aging population is a big part of the reason that both health and social care in this country is so underfunded and in such a crisis.
We need the young to care for, work for, and provide taxes/money/food/support for the elderly. That’s why we need immigration. We actually don’t have enough young working people to contribute to taxation that supports the most vulnerable.

The energy guy on R4 this morning was talking about a carbon charge, as well as developing electric planes - that’d be good

It was a very quick interview and I was busy I’d like to look into it. One issue being lack of competitiveness when a country does it

Love this, great points being raised everywhere

I’m so glad and inspired that some people on this thread ARE thinking about these issues seriously and making massive changes to their lives. I think the people making these changes are growing in number, and we MUST keep challenging eaxh other.
It’s tough to change, but when you do, and you know you are doing all you can, that horrible sinking feeling of desperation starts to turn to a faint glimmer of hope.

With respect to flying, we haven’t flown in years now and we honestly don’t miss it. We have become so much less agitated and find our contentment with much simpler things that are not destructive to our own species. And that makes me much happier than flying anywhere in the world could.

It starts to get very difficult when people are asked to give up things they enjoy and get something out of.

So if you really enjoy travel and have given up planes then wow, big kudos from me.

I suspect that at least some of the loudest advocates on here for giving it up either didn’t enjoy it much in the first place or didn’t get much of a chance to do it. That won’t be everyone though.

The problem is that to make a difference we’ll all need to give up things we love or get something out of. Meat, dairy, a third child, pets, our car, imported food.

That’s when it’s going to get difficult and people’s need to feel that others are sacrificing similar amounts will come to the fore.

The hypocrisy arguments need to end. They are unhelpful and in constructive.

I think that depends on what the individual is saying. If someone wants to preach to others about how harmful flying is to the environment, that OP shouldn't do this trip, but admits to still flying once a year, then that is hypocrisy that needs to be pointed out to that individual. How on earth are they going to be taken seriously on this issue if they are not even prepared to stop flying themselves? Practice what you preach comes to mind.

I respect the posters who used to fly, or used to eat meat, and have now stopped entirely because of their environmental concerns. I'm not there yet. But it's certainly on my mind.

Laurie yes absolutely I loved travel. I think your statement is a generalisation. I’m sure many of the posters here arguing against flying, probably used to travel too. I travelled all over the world before I really started thinking about climate change seriously. I lived and worked abroad in various countries too. Including Australia. But that was years ago. I could afford to fly regularly, and would still love to travel, of course. It’s enjoyable, and I love experiencing other cultures. And I have lots of family abroad, all over the world, in different continents.
But that is not the point. If we want to survive, as a species, we MUST change. I think in our lifetimes, and definitely in our children’s, awful and horrifying things are going to happen if we don’t. We won’t be able to hide or protect ourselves from the consequences of climate change. It will be terrifying and horrific.
We gave up flying, meat, dairy, we shop locally only or at least UK produce, no single use plastics, only durable ethical clothes and no manmade fibers, plus many other changes and it’s not been easy and costs us much more financially, but so worth it and nothing could make me go back to our old life.
We have stopped at 2 kids which has been the hardest decision. I would love more, but tbh, I don’t want to inflict the future on anymore of my babies, knowing what I know now.
I guess we always knew it really, but so many of us were not thinking about it. We’ve been indoctrinated to carry on, keep travelling, keep flying, keep buying, keep consuming, keep spending, keep posting on social media. By the corporations who benefit from this mess.
We were sleepwalking before. Now we have woken up to the irrefutable facts, and we must all do what we can to change.

Like I say, kudos to you if you are giving up things that you love.

I think most people aren’t at that stage yet, they’re making adjustments on the easy things (see all the focus on plastic reduction lately). There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s an important starting point. But things get interesting when the choices get tougher.

You raise an important point about being indoctrinated to consume. The problem is that our whole economic system is built around consumption. I’m not sure western governments know how to function any other way. We need to get beyond ‘growth’ as a measure. That’s going to be hard.

Thank you Laurie, but I’m honestly not after kudos. I just wanted to highlight that it is possible to change the way we live. Other examples are we have both changed our job so we no longer need to drive. My husband actually changed his whole profession. I just had to relocate. We changed energy providers too, so our energy comes from renewables not fossil fuels or nuclear. Again this costs us more financially. But these are necessary changes. Flying is a luxury for most people. And if we can make so many sacrifices that have been tough and have made life harder and more expensive, I would say that giving up flying is the least people can do. The carbon emissions from flying are massive.

Yes I totally agree about part of the problem being world debt and growth economies. I made the same point actually a few pages back, but we must not obsess about what we can’t change. We must change what is in our power to change, and protest against the rest.

At the end of the day if OP wants to go, then go.

Just a bit puzzled by the need to get approval/disapproval from the mumsnet jury.

Be true to yourself and do what you think is right.

We have stopped at 2 kids which has been the hardest decision. I would love more, but tbh, I don’t want to inflict the future on anymore of my babies,

Wow. What a sad statement.

I find it strange that there's a whole section on Mumsnet about travel, with a specific board for long haul travel, and yet none of the environmental posters arguing so vociferously against the OP's weekend are evident on there.

Just a bit puzzled by the need to get approval/disapproval from the mumsnet jury.

This, absolutely. Who cares whether mumsnet readers deem your trip environmentally acceptable? Just go, or don’t, but don’t base your decision on what people here have to say about it.

Jilly it is a sad statement, but unfortunately unless we all act soon and change our ways of living, the future is not a happy place. Whether or not you want to think about that is another matter.

BIWI I actually don’t use mumsnet much tbh. But this thread horrified me in it’s frivolous disregard for climate change. So I decided to post. I’m going to bed now. Night night.

I think the whole climate change issue is aspirational.

I reckon that airports all over the UK and the world are totally packed with people travelling here there and yonder right now.

I can never see the day when such travel will ever diminish much. But what is an unnecessary journey in anyone's language?

Pipe dream unfortunately. And I do understand the environmental issues involved. But reality bites.

Environmental credits would be a good idea, in theory at least!

I don't have a car atm so I wouldn't miss that. Ditto meat. Would rather spend my credits on flights than two children tbh.

Credits would be fair.

Do it if you can afford it (worried about you paying it off over the year - that suggests you can’t afford it surely?). If you really can then why not. Your decision. You’ll be shattered in return home but somethings are important enough to just do. Don’t worry about what anyone else things.
I once did something very similar for a family funeral. I just needed to.

BIWI what exactly is your motivation here, what do you stand for?

Feeling I love your posts and totally agree. We also love travel but are scaling back which hurt initially but appreciating places closer to home this constant push for more more more including the visiting of far away places, we drove to Dorset 1.5 hours away by car in the recent heatwave. Beach pretty much the same as the one we went to in Indonesia. Our parents didn’t travel the way we did and had very happy lives. We don’t need this. It’s a mindset and it’s so damaging.

Outsomnia the travel will stop because it has to sadly.

It isn't as simple as 'the travel will stop'. Many, many people travel for reasons other than holidays, and nice beaches in Indonesia.

People are much more far-flung these days, and they won't stop travelling when the motivator is family (especially ageing parents).

I think what's more likely is (hopefully) pressure on carriers to come up with ways of having less of an impact on the environment.

If OP has booked her flights she didn't need our advice really. Will go and put the kettle on then

Rache49 she had got several hundred posts of advice before she booked. Surely it’s not too difficult to understand that when someone is making a decision they might ask others if they have any advice/experience? It’s not about “needing Mumsnet to agree with her” it’s just normal human interaction when making a decision. And MN is more likely to throw up people who have done similar before and can talk about how it went for them, than the more limited social circle OP will have access to IRL.