It’s a question which is on my mind lately. I’m about to book a plane ticket, you know it’s so easy and cheap these days, but everyone knows if you travel by plane it’s impossible to save the planet. The techniques aren’t in place to fly eco friendly, but do I have to wait for that or do I have other options if I have to travel?

Irony

It’s easy. With one click on the button you make your reservation and you can fly to every country you might think of. For me it’s only after 2,5 hours in the plane before I arrive to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. It’s cheap too. You have a one way ticket to Ibiza for only 50 euros when you travel in the right months. But we know if we keep doing this, we ruin ourselves.

It’s ironic, the Dutch government worked on an agreement to diminish the effects of climate change, this agreement will effect the Dutch households in making the costly transition from gas to electrical energy as one of the measures. In the meantime politicians are talking about the growth of Schiphol Airport (more and bigger!) and even a brand new Dutch airport near Lelystad will be built. Airline companies still don’t pay a cent of excise on kerosene and this whole industry isn’t even mentioned in the agreement.

Blind & deaf

Such irony, isn’t it? How can you speak about new measures to curb the damage we all do to our natural environment and leave one huge polluting industry out? It’s all about economic growth and power. Don’t mess with the status quote. This is just one simple example of how crooked politics can be. Those who decide over these issues pretend they are blind and deaf when it comes to one of the biggest industries. And meanwhile we fly to our destinations more than ever. Aren’t we blind and deaf too?

Time-consuming alternatives

And yes, it’s so easy to blame our “leaders”. Don’t wait for them to bring solutions. We have the solutions ourselves. In my case, I can travel by train or by bus, right? I don’t need to fly if I don’t have to. So I started to search the internet for alternatives by train and bus. The first isn’t bad, but a one way ticket is at least twice as expensive as a plane ticket, the second option, travel by bus, is cheap, but takes as long as travelling to New Zealand by airplane. And as I live on an island, I need a ferry to the mainland, so add 9 hours on top of it. Gosh, you need time to travel the alternative way.

Maybe I make a stopover in Barcelona, sit on a terrace and pick an olive? I bring a great book, my laptop and I write while I sit on the bus or train. I can go on an adventure! Actually see something when I look out of the window. Drink coffee in the train while foreign landscapes rush by.

My mum asked if I already booked a plane ticket, so I told her my possible alternative plans this afternoon. Of course, she didn’t like this plan. And that’s okay and I understand. The end of the month we already move to an off grid tiny house made by the skilled hands of Dorus, so that must be enough “alternative living” for a while.

Back to the question above. Am I willing to sacrifice the ease and comfort of travelling by plane for the sake of a smaller ecological footprint? I still didn’t make my bookings.

So what am I waiting for?

Watch this young girl, Greta Thunberg, she sums it up quite as it is.

To be continued..

Con Amor,

Eva