Challenge

Long-distance travel has exploded in the last few decades. Encouraged by falling prices of airline tickets, marketing and social media, more and more of us are travelling further, and more often. Even though the ability to cross a continent in a few hours, and the world in a day, is no longer brand new, the feeling that the planet is our playground and we can go wherever we like is still intoxicating. However, that freedom is, to a large extent, an illusion.

The travel comes at a cost that is not reflected by the price of the ticket. The true cost is in the damage caused by the greenhouse gasses emitted in carrying us across the planet. It can feel too remote from us personally to be a significant deterrent, but it is becoming harder and harder to ignore. In our enthusiasm to rush all over the globe and see everything we possibly can, we are in danger of suffocating it.

There is an urgent need to rethink how we see and enjoy our world, but attached to that need there are also wonderful opportunities.

This is a chance to not only cut emissions, but to challenge some widely held narratives and assumptions about travel, which may serve fossil-fuel companies more than they serve us. Does it do us any good to be shown alluring photos of destinations thousands of miles away, which lead us to wish we were somewhere else? Are we feeling less and less connected and increasingly dissatisfied with where we live? Are all those miles that pass by, unnoticed on a long journey, doing a disservice to both us and planet?

What might we find if we look near first?