I decided to stop flying at the end of 2018 as I realised just how much it conflicted with all my environmental ideals. I realised that everything I loved about travelling, from rainforests to coral reefs to people, was being destroyed by my flight there. And I couldn’t do that any more.
As I was in a long distance relationship from the UK to Germany, and the trains are quite expensive to take every month, I quit my job and moved to Germany. I wish I’d done it sooner – I love living with my partner and having so much more access to the outdoors than I did in the UK. Luckily I can work remotely for 6 months before I need to find a job here. If I travel to see my family, I do it by train. I’m looking at awesome places across Europe to visit by rail instead of flying further away.
My partner is from South America, so I’m also looking at how to travel there without flying – the biggest challenge. I want to learn to sail over on a three masted ship, but might settle for a 3 week journey on a freighter, which is cheaper than I’d thought. I actually love that not flying makes the world seem bigger and more of an adventure to visit, and I find it a good reminder to slow down and not be so hectic.
I am a conservation scientist and communicator. I did my PhD on the ecology of tropical bats, then worked as a science communications postdoc for the Conservation Evidence project.