Slow travel - the low-carbon alternative

Flying may be the quickest way to get from A to B, but two forthcoming journeys aim to promote ‘low-emissions’ alternatives as the better way to travel. Ed Gillespie (pictured), who co-founded the sustainable communications agency Futerra, is planning a round-the-world trip to promote the idea of ‘slow travel’. He intends to travel solely by trains, buses and cargo ships, hoping, he says, “to breath some life, fun and entertainment into the travel alternatives to flying in our increasingly carbon-constrained world”...

The first leg of the trip, which begins in March, will be by ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao, after which he plans to cross Europe by train to Moscow then on to Ulaan Baator on the Trans-Mongolian Express, through China and Japan and south-east Asia, then from container ship from Singapore to Australia and on to Los Angeles and Costa Rica before finally returning back to the UK by banana boat from Puerto Limon. Gillespie will be blogging about his year-long trip on lowcarbontravel.com

Following hot on the heels, in April, environmental boat designer Mukti Mitchell is to set off from North Devon on a five-month voyage around the British coast to promote low carbon lifestyles. Mukti plans to visit 40 ports, including Liverpool, Edinburgh and London, where he’ll hand out leaflets on how to live more sustainably. His trip is endorsed by a number of luminaries, including Prince Charles, James Lovelock, Jonathon Porritt, Zac Goldsmith, Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Dimbley.

Previously on GreenTraveller: Slow is beautiful.