American adventure

Last year I was invited to take part in a study programme in the US, focusing on my pet topics, including climate change and LGBT issues. It’s been a far-off abstract idea since then. This morning, after worse-than-usual last minute nightmares with packing, passports and visa forms, I’m leaving.

The invitation was a really exciting opportunity, but it did face me with the usual quandry about flying – it’s one which everyone who’s concerned about climate change needs to work out for themselves. I’ve never thought we need to scrap aviation and never fly again, but I do think we need to fly less (at least until these wonderful creations come into service). For several years now I’ve been willing to fly for some work-related purposes like international development, but not for holidays. This trip is somewhere in between – it is work, but it’s more about pursuing my own interests than helping someone else’s.

So here’s the compromise I reached with myself. I’ll go, but I’ll try to do it as low carbon as possible, and be willing to commit the time and the money that requires. There will be some flying involved, but by replacing internal flights with buses and trains when possible, and by replacing the flight home with passage on a cargo freighter, I reckon I’ve made substantial cuts into the carbon impact of the journey.

I’ll be blogging, tweeting and hopefully doing a few video clips along the way, so check back here over the next six weeks or so for what might turn out to be the trip of a lifetime, or a nightmare of late trains and seasickness!