Less Flying, More Fun
Go Low meets the gap year students who choose to enjoy the journey as much as the destination, and save the planet in the process
Ben Holder
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“I remember being in the middle of the ocean looking up at a plane and thinking, what’s taking me four weeks is taking those guys eight hours,” says Dom Smith about his transatlantic crossing on a 40ft (12m) yacht, “I’d rather be on the boat for sure.”
Travelling by boat, bike, train, or coach almost always produces less CO2 per mile than flying, and as the effects of climate change increase that’s reason enough to choose those types of transport where possible, but that’s not their only appeal, there’s a growing number of students who are flying less to experience more, and discovering a world far beyond the traditional backpacker trail.
Sailing across the Atlantic is the perfect way for an oceanography student to get to know their subject better, and after a year studying in Miami, Dom Smith knew it was how he wanted to return to Southampton Uni, “a big part of it was having an adventure, but I also thought it would be a cool alternative to flying.” Despite no previous sailing experience Dom found a place on a yacht being sailed to Europe through Crewseekers. “It was fully amazing,” he says, “it’s a completely unique experience being out in the ocean with a 360-degree view of the sea, that’s a pretty special thing.” The crew shared expenses, and Dom made short connecting flights at either end of the voyage which all added up to £1000. The trip cost a little more than flying the whole way, but for Dom the experience was worth every penny, “after three weeks at sea catching sight of the Azores for the first time was an assault on the senses, it just looked like the most lush green place I’d ever been, the most beautiful sight.”
Dom Smith in mid-Atlantic with a freshly caught tuna
©Dom Smith
When we start to think more about journeys than destinations our carbon footprints tend to reduce, while the sense of connection with the places we pass through seems to increase. “I think it’s much more interesting to be able to see the landscape in these countries rather than just being sat in a plane and seeing clouds,” says history student Kitty O’Connor Morse. She spent two weeks interrailing around Europe before starting at Manchester Uni. It’s not just places you get to know better, it’s other travellers and locals too, “you have more of an opportunity to speak and meet new people,” says Kitty, who made friends on the train she later hung out with in Berlin. Kitty managed to get a free ticket for her trip as part of the DiscoverEU scheme, UK students may not be eligible for this when it runs again in 2020, but it’s worth keeping an eye on the site, and under 27s still get a 25% discount. Top tip, try The Man in Seat 61 for planning your interrailing adventure.
Why is flying so bad?
Gravity sucks, well not literally, but it’s bad news when it comes to lifting 80 tons of aircraft 30,000ft (9000m) into the air, which takes a vast amount of energy. Using ground-level transport almost always uses less energy per mile simply because it stays at ground level, a rough rule of thumb is that taking the train produces five times less emissions than flying, and because they’re not at high altitude, those emissions do less damage.
Does a flight free gap year really help to reduce global warming? The youth travel market makes up nearly a quarter of all travellers, a significant chunk, and if there’s less demand for flights, less planes will fly. Professor Alice Larkin of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research says, “we should all think about minimising the amount of flying we do, at least until there are technological solutions that can cut the CO2 from aviation, which is unlikely in the coming two decades.”
Graphic design student Megan Barclay also chose to go interrailing in Europe, visiting the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia over two weeks in a summer break from Kingston Uni. Her ticket allowed seven days of train travel over a month, “when you’re interrailing you think, how can we make the best use of our ticket and get to the most countries, so you zigzag and see places you wouldn’t have otherwise have seen,” says Megan.
The 23 year-old is no stranger to low carbon travel, before starting uni she and four friends cycled 280 miles (450km) from London to Paris. Megan had never cycled more than 15 miles (25km) before, “I absolutely loved it, it’s so freeing, you’re on your own schedule, if you get to somewhere beautiful you can stop and spend the night there.” Megan found cycling cheap compared to other holidays because you’re sight-seeing as you travel, “you’ve got your activities sorted, when you’re cycling you’re cycling, that’s a free activity.” Next summer she and a friend are off to Amsterdam for more of the same. Check out Cycling UK for tips on planning bike trips.
Megan Barclay and friend en-route to Paris
©Megan Barclay
Why is flying so cheap?
Flying often works out cheaper than other forms of transport for one simple reason, the fuel it uses isn’t taxed. International aviation has been exempt from fuel tax and VAT since an agreement made by UN states in 1944. To put it in perspective, a litre of petrol for a car costs around £1.24, 25p of that is VAT, 58p is duty, so if cars were planes, petrol would cost two thirds less. There are calls in the EU to introduce tax on aviation fuel, the trouble is unless every country agrees to the same rules, aircraft will simply fly somewhere with lower tax to fill up.
It’s time to rediscover flight-free travel, not just because it’s better for the planet, but because by engaging with the journey as much as the destination you’ll probably have a better time. For Dom Smith it meant even more than that, “it’s changed my life, I’ve done quite a bit of sailing and crewing since, and definitely see myself at some point in the future getting a boat and setting off around the world.”
Best of luck Dom, can I come too?