A Journey by Bicycle through Europe, Siberia, Mongolia & China

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15th October 2003

For a number of years I have been the subject of a self-imposed no-fly zone. This means that mosquitoes, gnats, and suchlike airborne insects are not allowed to approach within 15 feet of my person.

…If only. From reports received from Mark and Ju, Siberian biters are not signatories to the relevant protocol. I'm hoping a friendly mosquito-net manufacturer will want to sponsor me to the tune of one hand-crafted mosquito headnet. (Do you know it? No, but if you hum it I'm sure I'll pick it up.)

Sorry, I'm missing my own point. Again. The point is that I have decided not to fly. No aeroplanes, helicopters, etc. If it's not fossil-fuel powered then I might make an exception - if you know any airlines offering budget deals on solar-powered aircraft then please let me know.

I have flown on planes in the past, but I think the last time was in 1998. That will be the last.

Why? People ask me that. I have reasons in my head, but they don't always come out right, so I'm going to try writing them down here. Next time someone asks, I'll just tell them to see my website.

These reasons are given in the order they come to me, which may not coincide with either a descending or ascending order of seriousness, importance, or validity.

1. Greenhouse gases. Flying, I am led to believe, is the least efficient means of transport in terms of passenger miles per gallon. This may not hold true if you drive your own private articulated lorry or supertanker. If everyone in the world were to fly around as much as the average citizen of my own country does, that could cause some problems.
2. Noise pollution. I don't like aircraft noise over my roof at home. Luckily I don't live near a major airport. But why should other people suffer?
3. Culture shock. This applies particularly for long-haul flights. I don't like waking up one morning in London, stepping into a steri-sealed tube and walking out later the same day in the middle of downtown Calcutta. Overland travel connects places gradually. Air travel just provides wormholes.
4. Escape. To me it feels strange to be walking through a foreign, unknown city and yet be safe in the knowledge that, by the wonder of air travel, I could be back in my home country within 24 hours if at any time I decided that I was no longer happy or comfortable or safe. In most parts of the world, most of the inhabitants of that foreign, unknown city do not have that option.
5. Distance. Air travel makes the world smaller. Jump on a plane and you can travel from England to Australia in 24 hours or from London to Moscow in three or four hours. That sounds like good news, but the downside of this shrinking of distance is sometimes overlooked. It's easy to lose your appreciation of distance and of difference when you can travel from any international airport on the globe to another within 24 hours. Air travel is responsible for a lot of the cultural homogenisation of the world over the last 50 years. People travel so fast they don't have time to adapt to difference; instead wherever they go they seek sameness- and, more and more, they can get it.
6. Increasing travel frequency. Travel for most people is a luxury and know that I for one have been luckier than most in being able to take advantage of the experiences it offers. However, 150 years ago, travelling from London to Lvov would have been a major undertaking requiring weeks or perhaps months to accomplish. Now that you can get there in an afternoon, you might be tempted, if you were a real Lvov fan, to make the trip once a month rather than once every few years. This increased frequency of travel, made possible by the shrinking of distance, is not environmentally sustainable if it is extended to the whole world rather than just a privileged few as at present.
7. Refusing to fly makes it hard to go to America.
8. From the traveller's perspective - if you have the time, you learn more, see more, understand more, and meet more people, if you travel overland rather than hop on a plane.

To some people, some of these points look like arguments for travelling by air, rather than arguments against it. As with many things in life, it is all a matter of perspective.

Finally, I should say that these points are personal. They are written down as they make sense to me, not to try to persuade other people. I have benefited too much from flying in the past to be able to make a public stand against air travel, though I'm not averse to extolling the virtues of some of the alternatives. Lots of people travel by air for lots of good reasons. I have never tried to persuade anyone else not to fly, except perhaps for my very closest friends, my immediate family, and the occasional person who has asked me to try.

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