‘Credit Crunch’ and ‘Energy Crunch’ are terms many of us will have come across at one time or another. To be able to travel we all need to be able to finance our trips and the current credit crunch will affect many travel plans. Of course the credit crunch will come to an end someday but that may not be the end of the challenges facing anyone wanting to travel the world. The energy crunch or at least Peak Oil is waiting in the wings as oil will not last forever and many experts believe that there is not enough oil left in the world to increase production beyond the levels reached in Summer 2008.
Treading lightly as we travel this beautiful world will ensure that our successors can enjoy it as much as we do. I do not endorse luxury travel as it consumes a lot more resources than budget travel. For example a business class traveller can take up the space of up to six passengers on a budget airline. This means that passenger will probably use at least four times as much aviation fuel per passenger mile and emit at least four times as much CO2 as a passenger on budget airline. Of course train and bus passengers will consume even less.
This blog has been started to discuss these issues and share experiences and tips for travellers who are want keep the cost of their travel to themselves and the environment to a minimum.
A photo essay of the Udal Peninsula on North Uist, Western Isles, Scotland.
While walking the streets of Brussels, I am often aware that I am following in the footsteps of Georges Rémi, better known as Hergé, creator of Tintin. From where I type this article, I can see both of the schools he attended in his youth. He left his mark in the form [...]
It is the overhead snippets of conversation, that tells me that Winter Wonders or Plaisirs d’Hiver in French, is popular with visitors. “I was like…” the repeated “like” in twenty something females’ conversations. The oral version of a Facebook Wall. Or “I am lucky, as I can catch a train [...]
The theme for the photo sharing day on Twitter on Friday 18 November 2011 was Flags. If you look at my Twitter profile you will see that I tend to spend time between three locations. In this piece, I will include photos, including flags from each of these places. Wales [...]
There are a lot of widely held views built on hearsay and misinformation. The deeper I look, the more complicated the story seems to get. One of my aims is to educate myself on travel environmental issues. Then to share my findings on this site and hopefully start a discussion [...]
#FriFotos is the weekly photo sharing day on Twitter. On Friday November 11, the theme is “Fall”, but as is usual, it is open to interpretation. Fall is the term used for Autumn in North America. However, the eleventh of November is Armistice Day and a Public Holiday in much [...]
The abbey of Val-Dieu was founded in 1216 by Cistercian monks. Surviving wars, floods and moral crises, it was temporarily dissolved by the French Revolution. Then in 1844 with the aid of the church and the last surviving monk, it was re-established and flourished again for another 150 years. The [...]
Have you ever stood on a railway station concourse and stared longingly at destinations on the Departures Board that were not printed on your tickets? Have you ever found yourself on the road somewhere and found that the you were travelling along one of the world’s more famous long distance [...]
Street art Last week I visited the Ixelles Museum here in Brussels before their exhibition on Street Art closed and is replaced by a Dubuffet exhibition. Bonom was featured heavily, with insights into how he plans his pieces. The photo above shows a spider on a concrete building by Chapelle [...]
Why is it so many people aspire to fly in First Class, sleep in Five Star hotels (or even Seven Star hotels) and eat in Michelin Three Star restaurants? Don’t they know that it is very poor value for money? That you can sleep just as well in a £29 [...]
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Airlines aside, I think luxury travel is becoming far more aware of its environmental responsibilities. For example, I know Richard Branson had plans for a resort in the Caribbean (Mosquito Island) which was going to be self-sufficient for its power (using wind and solar energy made on site). Not sure where that project is up at the moment.
That said, it still has a long way to go. Particularly concerning is Donald Trump’s latest venture in Aberdeenshire.
Richard Branson does quite a lot to operate his businesses in a sustainable way. He has done a lot to make rail travel more desirable through his Virgin Trains franchise. He has also run one of his aircraft on bio-fuel. However the issue of bio-fuels is down as an issue for a future post on my blog.