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.

OP, you've already been abroad twice as often as me, and I'm 60. My son is 31 and he and his family normally go abroad twice a year.
Maybe you could try being a little bit ageist, eh?

Blimey, the weather can be amazing, were you here in 2018, have you ever been to Scotland or the Gower or the Antrim Coast for views, isn't ease of communication a good thing, I hate being the stupid Brit who can't speak the local language (and I do speak German and some French and Italian), food is very good, but you have to choose carefully - as for the overpriced, given the £ to euro exchange rate everywhere is expensive.

The weather is capricious and never guaranteed. No, ease of communication is not a good thing, there are lots of languages other than English that I want to hear and learn. I've been to Scotland, and I still insist that there are many far more beautiful places in the world.
Food isn't great really. I never liked the stodgy British grub. Street food in Asia OTOH...

@Lordfrontpaw I will remember that! I want to see more of Scotland, it’s just so beautiful!
My family are Italian so I go there every year...it’s beautiful too!

Even though we aren’t really driving anywhere and flights are down to a tiny number we are still producing green house gases in abundance.

Maybe we should look closer to home before we start blaming air travel or cars.

I wonder if people just tried to cut their power bills a small amount. Only filling the kettle with enough water for the number of cups of coffee/tea you are making.

Just waiting 30 minutes before turning the heating on. Etc

And thinking twice before buying stuff for the home or some plastic crap that has to be shipped Miles.

I think we would see more of a change than demonising car drivers and those that like the heat and want to holiday in warmer climes in the winter.

FWIW I have been to Scotland in July.

I froze

Some nights I slept in my clothes because I was so cold

Were you camping?

No. I was in an old Inn. Even if I was camping I would have expected it to be warmer than it was.

It was bitterly cold and I was in jeans and jumpers

@Oliversmumsarmy unless people have been living under a rock they already do this. Most people I know already try to cut their energy use and carbon foot print where they can and clearly until we have completely green energy it is still not enough.

I don’t know about you @Oliversmumsarmy but I have been doing that for more than 10 years now. That’s also why we have solar panels on our roofs, at a time they were deemed an issue when you were selling your house.
I also have never bought a phone or iPad new (environment but I so have an issue with the way the metals used in there are mined - slavery).
There are many ways to help.

I certainly don’t buy plastic crap and ornaments or pictures for my house but if I am cold and want the heating on it goes on and don’t know anyone who doesn’t put the heating on straight away if they are cold.

I think you will be surprised how many people do these things

If we were all so aware and did everything we could then shops wouldn’t stock ornaments, picture frames, cushions and other unnecessary stuff and China, India etc wouldn’t have factories and sweat shops producing cheap shoes and clothing as there wouldn’t be a market for it.

LOL OP I wouldn’t even bother thinking about international travel at this moment in time. It’ll be a LONG time before you have any opportunity to spread your wings.

In any case the future of flying is about to look very different. There amount of air travel had actually doubled since 2009 which is unbelievable to think about really, the number of flights in the air worldwide had doubled in a single decade! That has ended for good or at least a long time.

Industry experts are predicting that air travel could be reduced overall by 60% when we have through this pandemic. Fewer flights, fewer seats on planes as they will have to be reconfigured to allow greater distance. Apparently airlines are already dumping their largest jumbo jets for good. The cost of flying will rise sharply and the idea of taking international holidays will once again become mostly the preserve of the wealthy.

On the plus side, rail travel is a good alternative for European destinations, and more pleasant IMO. That will likely cost more as well however as they reduce seats on trains. There hasn't been an announcement but the planned third runway for Heathrow is completely dead. Air quality will improve.

By the way, feelings aren’t facts.

We need to fly less regardless of whether you want to fly.

LOL OP I wouldn’t even bother thinking about international travel at this moment in time. It’ll be a LONG time before you have any opportunity to spread your wings.
Why do some on here seem to take great delight in people not being able to go on holidays this year ?
Dementors are real it seems

LOL OP I wouldn’t even bother thinking about international travel at this moment in time. It’ll be a LONG time before you have any opportunity to spread your wings

Lots of airlines are starting to think about resuming flights. Sure there will be far more restrictions, but flights will operate.

And why LOL? Why are you ‘lolling’ at the fact that people aren’t going to be able to travel? Surely you don’t just delight in other people’s misery? Surely not?

What about you plant X number of trees for everytime you fly?

LOL OP I wouldn’t even bother thinking about international travel at this moment in time. It’ll be a LONG time before you have any opportunity to spread your wings

Yes, please revel in the fact I can’t see my family because of this. I typically take 4-6 long hauls a year to visit family members. I’m sure I’m not the only one in this position, far from it.

I'm 60 and have never been in a plane in my life, so I resent everything being blamed on "the older generation".

This is so typical of some young people. They whine about what generations before have done, but see no reason why they should behave any different. If you don't want to "save the planet" then shame on you!

Yeah. How hilarious is it that some people might not be able to see their family for years? LOL.

@Oliversmumsarmy - and you really think some of us aren't already doing those things?

Interesting to note that the older generation who are being blamed for being the cause of global warming and going on too many flights in reality are the ones who would use the ferry and either car, bus or train to get to places in Europe.

I know growing up, even in middle class suburbia that people very few people went on planes for holidays. If they did it was a real treat. Most went by car/bus/train or walked and did youth hosteling.

I remember a few of my friends at school talking about how they would go hiking in Austria or Switzerland and finding the cabins up in the mountains and being the only ones in there and making dinner out of what was in the cupboards and what they had brought and leaving British tinned food behind for the next people.
Or them driving to Italy/Spain /France for their holidays.

I think it wasn’t until the start of Easy Jet type airlines did the real mass cheap flying took off

Agree, it's not all 'woohoo, the environment' problem is fixed because people can't fly on holiday any more.

As others have said, some people can't see their families without spending days on a train. The train is not such an easy solution if you don't live in SE England and/or are not going to mainland Europe.

The economies of southern Europe are significantly boosted due to northern European tourists. What do you think is going to happen to the economies of the Greek Islands, Cyprus, Canary Islands, Balearics, Malta etc if far fewer British, Irish, German and Scandinavians holiday there? People who are already struggling will lose much of their income. But it's OK because it's due to people not taking a type of holiday that some don't approve of.

I agree it's frustrating for you, but the entitlement to cheap travel is a very recent thing.I'm late 50s and didn't fly at all until I was mid 20s, because only the wealthy holidayed abroad when I was young. My parents had never flown, apart from my dad's army service, until the cost of flights came down in the 80s - when they were in their 40s.

We are a family of scientists and have been aware of the need to reduce our carbon footprint since our children were young. We have had holidays abroad, but the vast majority have been in Europe and we have used ferries, trains and bikes rather than fly. I do see a lot of my generation retiring and flying a lot, and know a few people who have holiday homes abroad and fly frequently. I think it's the casual entitlement to frequent travel that has to stop. So you might still have your exciting travel experiences, but less often. You definitely wouldn't be popping over to Barcelona for a weekend, or even worse, New York - but you might have a long haul holiday every few years.

Our concern for the environment - and the choices we've made, e.g. using resuable nappies in the 90s, biking to work rather than driving, reducing our meat consumption - are sincere and do involve a level of effort/deprivation on our part. I can assure you I would much rather drive the 7 miles to my work on a dark wet winter morning than cycle. My husband has turned down prestigious speaking engagements because he couldn't get there without flying. But we are making these choices to protect the environment for your future more than ours.

In the end, you can do what you like. But don't assume the people preaching at you are total hypocrites.