Eco Comment – Travelling the Eco Way

I feel like I’ve been on the move for a few weeks now and other than a taxi for a 4:30am start, I haven’t been in a car!

Like many people, I tend to think that going somewhere in the car offers so much freedom. There’s room to pack all those little extras when you can’t quite decide what you really need plus you’re then prepared for all eventualities. Travelling by car also means you’re not really tied to set times for departures and arrivals, so it gives flexibility.

Instead I’ve been made to conform to a specific bag (soft topped) and, possibly more importantly, I’ve got to be able to carry it when necessary. This certainly concentrates the mind as to what you take especially when travelling in the UK and Northern Europe. The weather can and does change from dry and sub-tropical to gale-force winds and freezing torrential rain. It could just be a British summer, but we’ve experienced all of this in the last few weeks.

Letting someone else be in charge of your destiny is liberating. You see so much and not just the countryside. I’ve seen so much evidence of green technologies on my travels; numerous wind farms both on land and off shore plus fields of solar panels. You also notice the number of new builds without obvious green technologies. (A subject for another day?) OK there are still lots of planes taking off, but more people are not only thinking of financial savings, but ecological savings. I did an internet search for Eco Tourism. There are so many companies offering holidays under this banner. For instance, I discovered that pilgrimages of all faiths are also taking on eco credentials and really trying to help local people benefit from monies spent. Some travel companies might be accused of Green washing, but I feel there is real desire for more thoughtful travel out there and people willing to help us change our ways. The world has never been smaller and opportunities to find nature in the wild alongside helping communities that suffer from the results of our industrial past abound.

I have yet to experience that sort of a holiday. Until I do, whenever possible I’ll let others take the strain and I’ll just sit back with a good book and look out of the window.

Susan Morgan
Eco Group