To be pissed off at people who constantly say we need to fly less?

[lockdowncockdown]

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but here goes. Am I being unreasonable to be annoyed by the people who constantly say 'well, we need to fly less anyway'. Well, yes that's ok for you to say at 40/50 years old after you've spent the last 20 years flying all over the world and brandishing yourself as ' well travelled' and cultured. What about those of us in our early twenties like me who has been abroad four times in my whole life, not even to anywhere particularly exciting and I'm just about to finish university and was hoping to finally be able to travel a bit? It's ok to spout nonsense about flying less when you've been lucky and already had your experiences but I find it very hypocritical to want to deny others the same experiences that you were lucky enough to have.

It’s really not over the course of a year.
It is. You just can’t see it because it’s become normal to you and you now expect it.

I’ll be candid - I won’t be stopping.

I think it’s going to be fabulous for young people. I can see a return to the ‘Grand Tour’ and real travelling on an extended (and slower) basis in that ‘gap year’ mentality, but possibly a couple of year’s later with some money under your belt, before promotion/ kids. No more getting bollocksed in Ibiza for four days and checking in still pissed up. No more drunken lobster brits in Benidorm because the flights are so cheap you can spend your money getting wankered.
Travel will be something you have to work for, and will be done slowly and savoured.
Businesses are going to have to continue their current habits. Bloated capitalists will be saving money using zoom instead of Emirates and will be displaying their green credentials. And the oil industry can get tae fuck.

Fly all you like and have fun visiting other countries. It won't make any difference to our environment when Countries like China, USA and Russia spew out a huge amount of pollution and will not change. Slowing up on flying is a drop in the Ocean. Live your life and don't let others dictate to you unless they don't drive cars, buy goods made in China etc and eat organic food, live without electricity and don't use any cleaning products!!! Think your be fine lol

Inter-railing. Much better fun.

YABU How do you think this spread?

@emz771 You don't have to answer to anyone regarding your holidays. Live your life as you see fit . People who tell you not to fly so much are still happy buying a mobile every year made in a choke ridden factory in China!!

You can’t be working that hard emz if you have time to holiday abroad five times a year ! I really do hope we move forward with some kind of rationing . What on earth do you do that provides so much disposable income ? You need a reality check .

Things change. Global warming wasn’t on the (public) radar when I was 25.

When I was a child, we had an outside toilet and I was bathed in a butler sink.

I don’t envy you for, probably, having an indoor bathroom while you were growing up because that wasn’t your fault either, you were just a child of your time.

Doesn’t really matter to me if the environment goes to pot, I’ll die a long time before you (I hope). But you might just like to invest in your own future with the knowledge that you now have.

I’m nothing but a high street solicitor - and only work 3 days a week due to having 4 kids.

Husband is a property developer.

People who tell you not to fly so much are still happy buying a mobile every year made in a choke ridden factory in China!!
What a ridiculous and untrue thing to say. Who buys a mobile every year? Maybe the same people who have numerous foreign trips.

Anyone who buys a new phone every year needs to take a long, hard look at themselves.

I fly once a year to visit my family who live in a remote part of the UK. Travelling by train would take 36 hours minimum and require 4 to 5 changes. Fuck that, that’s not an adventure, that’s sheer bloody misery. Not everyone lives within easy reach of Eurostar or a ferry port.

It’s really not over the course of a year.

Are you for real? Five return flights a year is really excessive. Your flights alone create a carbon footprint as big as the average Brit's entire lifestyle.

Yes I’m for real.

@emz771 can you see the problem we would have if everyone went on 5 holidays a year? do you realise how selfish you sound

But not everybody does - just like we will do lots for the country that many don’t.

@emz771 The more expensive it is the less people will do it so in the end which will drastically reduce fights. Go on your flights up to you but it is exessive just admit that

It’s a decent amount - but not excessive.

I'm nearly 40. The best holidays I've had have been flying, wandering around different cities or destinations via train for as long as my annual leave will allow, then flying back, sometimes from a different airport (I am gutted that this looks like it's going to be more difficult for the forseeable future).

I think that's more sustainable than city breaks abroad to different destinations 2-3 times a year; we go on trips by road or rail instead and see more of the UK.

Erm, cheap flights are even outside of antisocial times. There are more budget providers than Ryanair. That's why I picked EasyJet. Similar times to the Eurostar arrival to Paris.
You can find super cheap train tickets, but who would want to travel 3+ hours to just get on another train when in that time you could be in your destination? That was my point, which I thought I made very clear.
There is no surprise people rather use planes than train since trains cost much more AND take much longer often with number of changes. There is just no way to argue against that even with advance ticket discount.
@OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow
Travel to the airport, fly to Paris CDG, transfer to city. Plenty of hassle there. Time-wise it's an hour and a half to the airport, two hours check in (according to the airport's website), an hour and a half flight time, wait for baggage reclaim and 40 mins to the centre of Paris. At least six hours then. An Easyjet return flight at a sensible time is £70. Add in the cost of transport to the airport (£50 for a return rail ticket to Manchester or £40/day for airport parking plus the fuel used driving 70 miles).

Compared with getting a train from my local station and changing in London for a Eurostar straight to Paris Gare Du Nord. Time-wise, three hours to Euston, ten minutes to St Pancras, 45 minute check in and two-and-a-quarter hours to Paris. Six-and-a-half hours. Using Advances We're talking £140 return.

Not so much in it.

@emz771

No, you are not for real. This is an anonymous internet chat forum. None of us are real.

It’s a decent amount - but not excessive.
The sustainable carbon emissions per capita per year is three tonnes. If you fly three returns a year you have already used up your fair share and wouldn't have any left to do much more than live in a tent gathering wild berries. Five return flights plus the normal lifestyle of a middle class family and you'd better get used to a new-found sea view when the Thames Barrier cannot cope.

emz771

You are wasting your time trying to convince these bunch of killjoys.

Don’t apologise and keep on travelling. They just don’t get it and never will. They want to see us trapped for absolutely zero reduction in carbon emissions (the entire aviation industry, including freight, is only 2-3% total global emissions).

Since there is no real reduction in carbon emissions from killing the aviation industry, what is their real purpose in trying to get us to stop flying? Makes one wonder....

So we need better train links in the UK, and to start subsidising more sustainable travel instead of flight. That’s not a surprise, it’s what most of us have been saying for years.

Those pushing flight really aren’t coming across very well, it really sounds like ‘I want, therefore the whole planet can die as long as I get what I want’. Very few fliers ever really want to immerse themselves in these many different cultures you claim to love: you can’t in short trips. It’s purely about collecting a few pictures or boasts on social media. As for the effects on other countries livelihoods - you do know what the effects of climate change will be on those countries, right?? Human populations around the world will be decimated if sea levels rise: land areas will be restricted and food production capability will suffer. We have too many refugees and no space for them already.