Planet Friendly Tourism – June 2009

It’s June, the baking Wedmore sun is beating down on the village, the heat haze is shimmering over Tealham Moor, the wildebeest are roaming past Nyland Hill, summer is here and holidays are calling.

Perhaps I overdid it on the wildebeest.

That leaves me with the perennial dilemma of where to travel that limits the damage to the planet. Sadly I am cursed by a travel bug that doesn’t diminish with age. I tried camping at the bottom of the garden but it just didn’t help. Perhaps a cycle to a B&B in Mark? Perhaps not, lovely though the Mark B&B’s no doubt are. After much debate we have decided on the Isles of Scilly, still involving a short helicopter hop (my wife and I are not good on boats) but offset somewhat by taking the train to Penzance (which will be a fantastic part of the holiday in itself). And by calculating the Carbon Dioxide cost of the trip and making a contribution to the Green Group our conscience is reassured.

As I learn more about the impact I have on the environment I have drastically reduced the travelling I do. This is especially true when I consider my globe-trotting youth. Nothing much I can do about that now except reduce my current travelling. I don’t want this to be seen as a negative mind you. We don’t live in a featureless barren country or continent; we are blessed with an incredible variety of landscapes, people, culture, food within a very short distance.

If only our friends lived closer or I had 3 months spare to travel long distances while avoiding planes and cars. We are thinking of a trip to South Africa to see friends next year! Even with offsetting I’m still working out how I can square this with my eco-values…

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