Musings on the impact of travel
I am working on a post about our trip to Costa Rica earlier this year (so overdue!) and as a result, travel and its environmental impact have been on my mind. Actually, I frequently wrestle with the issue of travel and how responsible I am as an individual to decrease my travel due to the climate crisis. Light thoughts, right? Phew.
I don’t have many answers but I am always trying to learn more and to be aware of how my behavior fits into the larger picture. Apparently tourism accounts for 8-11% of annual greenhouse gas emissions globally, and that is mostly how you get where you’re going: car or plane. Planes are more polluting, but more people travel by car.
Like many people, I have always loved to travel, and I am so appreciative of the opportunities I’ve had in my lifetime to experience new places, both near and far. I grew up in a small, rural town, and always longed for adventures. My parents instilled a love of travel in me from a young age. Most of our trips were in North America: spring break in Florida at my grandparents’ house, holidays with family in Ohio, road trips across the country with stops at national parks.
When I was in high school, I had a unique opportunity to go on a school trip to China. I can’t remember all the details, but there was a lot of fundraising and some mandatory language lessons. I spent almost two weeks in Beijing, living with a host family. That experience prompted me to study Mandarin Chinese in college, which afforded me several more trips to China and Asia more broadly.
But before studying Chinese, I first worked on my French skills as an exchange student in France in between graduating high school and starting college. That was in the fall 2001, so my ability to explore France and Europe as an American was limited due to concerns in the aftermath of 9/11, but I did manage a solo trip to visit a friend in Germany.
When I was taking these trips, I was blissfully unaware of the impact airplane travel has on the climate. Admittedly, I was selfish. I can recognize now that I was broadening my own horizons to the detriment of others.
But it’s not like I stopped traveling. Like I said, I love it. So many of us do... Before having kids I went to Greece, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Switzerland, Italy, and Aruba. As a family, we’ve traveled with one to three kids to Costa Rica, Mexico, Iceland, Germany, and Denmark.
I don’t mean to sound like a braggart here (does anyone even use that word anymore?); my main goal is to reflect on my past to help inform future choices, but I can see how listing where I’ve traveled might sound a little annoying. So let me get on with my point, shall I?
I have no plans to give up flying altogether. I do, however, try to be more thoughtful all the time about our trips, and only take the ones that are really important to our family. I also hope to go on a few longer trips where we can see several sights at the “cost” of only one long flight. There are also so many places closer to home we have yet to explore. I’m always reminding myself to explore my city; the state; our region.
Another way I think about the impact of travel is through a yearly carbon budget, similar to the way I think of how the plane tickets I purchase affect our finances. I don’t do any actual calculations, but I just think about how it wouldn’t be good for my bank account to take five international trips a year, and it isn’t great for my “carbon footprint” to do that either. Now, there could be a year in which five international trips are necessary, whether it be for your work or if your family is abroad. I’m not judging. I’m not telling you what to do. I’m just suggesting we all think about it when we are booking our plane tickets.
There’s no doubt that flying is the single most polluting thing an individual can do, but there is some doubt about how much individual action has an impact on changing the systemic problems that got us into this mess. If my family stops flying, it won’t get us out of this mess. But if we all are more conscious about all our actions and we use them to educate others and advocate for change across industries and society, that might actually move the needle just a smidge.
I’d love to hear your musings in the comments!
If you could only take one international trip in the next five years, where would you go?
Where’s your favorite place to explore in your city/town?
What’s a road trip you hope to take in the next year?
More reading: the New York Times recently wrote about how to Be a More Sustainable Traveler