Do You View Travel Differently Now?

[happystuff]

Looking at the app and articles, and also found this article. I'll take it as a decent answer to my hypothetical question.

https://www.treehugger.com/plane-tra...tprint-4868815

[razz]

Happystuff, that is a very interesting site to explore and yes, it does answer a frequent hypothetical question very well. Thanks.

[Yppej]

I guess my car is better than train, plane or automobile as I tend to do leisure travel with others and routinely get 50 mpg which is what a lot of hybrids get. My new record in this car is 55.5 mpg. I love to hypermile.

[happystuff]

Happystuff, that is a very interesting site to explore and yes, it does answer a frequent hypothetical question very well. Thanks.

It's interesting that the best mode of transportation can vary dependent on different variables. I found this very interesting:

Further complicating the picture for planes is that they produce vapor trails and emit tropospheric ozone, which have big — but not long-lasting — climate impacts. CO2 from your car’s exhaust, by contrast, will stay in the atmosphere for centuries.

[ApatheticNoMore]

If we are comparing cars to planes for travel, by definition we aren't talking transatlantic travel. Noone in the U.S. is driving to France. The comparisons don't even exist for things like that because you can't drive across an ocean. OF COURSE that's high emission. Shorter plane travel is more inefficient per mile than further away plane travel, but still of course is less emissions overall. Such articles easily gloss over the fact that planes allow people to travel distances cars don't and make it easy.

Some of the plane travel's impact like the vapor trails is very short term, of course there is also the CO2, but personally I suspect paying more attention to medium term emissions like methane might be the only worthwhile thing to do now. Because the medium term emissions will tip us into further long term climate change due to feedback loops (that can not easily be controlled) and if it was stopped it's quick bang for the buck because it much more quickly clears from the atmosphere! And we're in a crisis right? I mean we are. So if you can quickly stop the bleeding at least ... These are purely my musings. But it's not like experts have any currency to change our course anymore than I do. So we have decades of screaming into the void there.

[happystuff]

Back from vacation and had a relaxing and good time visiting mom and siblings. Did think about this thread - planes to and from were full to capacity, but were not "uncomfortable". EVERYONE over 2 years old wore masks - no arguments, drama, or anything else either on the planes or in any of the airports. It was really nice to see everyone being considerate of those around them.

Realization for myself - I definitely need to take more vacations!

[Teacher Terry]

Glad you had a good time Happy!

[razz]

Back from vacation and had a relaxing and good time visiting mom and siblings. Did think about this thread - planes to and from were full to capacity, but were not "uncomfortable". EVERYONE over 2 years old wore masks - no arguments, drama, or anything else either on the planes or in any of the airports. It was really nice to see everyone being considerate of those around them.

Realization for myself - I definitely need to take more vacations!

Life flows when all make an effort to thoughtfully consider others. Sounds like a lovely break after a very busy time. Glad it all worked out well. Wishing you well in your new job.

[catherine]

Back from vacation and had a relaxing and good time visiting mom and siblings. Did think about this thread - planes to and from were full to capacity, but were not "uncomfortable". EVERYONE over 2 years old wore masks - no arguments, drama, or anything else either on the planes or in any of the airports. It was really nice to see everyone being considerate of those around them.

Realization for myself - I definitely need to take more vacations!

So glad you had a good time!!

[catherine]

I posted on this thread earlier and then didn't like it and deleted it, but I do want to comment on the bottom line and the questions posed by the OP. I do think of travel differently now. First of all, I'm so close to retirement, maybe by a couple of years. I have a million-plus miles in the air, and I have enjoyed immensely the opportunity to see all the places I otherwise wouldn't have seen if I had had to pay for them myself.

COVID may have put a hard stop to these business/personal adventures. My last plane flight was in January of 2020, to Buffalo, NY of all places. I'm still working solidly, but all from the comfort of my own home, and I sometimes wonder, is this it?? No one has asked me to go to another city to do market research since COVID.

So then I think about what do I WANT to do? DH is happy here. I really have no desire to fly at this very moment, subject to change. I'll do a road trip, for sure, but I really don't know if this sea-change in my worklife will determine my opportunities for travel in the future. Is it over? And if it is, I think I'm OK with that.