I'm an Avid Traveler: Here's Why I Am Flying Far Less Than Ever

10.09.2024 - 22:09 / travelpulse.com / Bryce Canyon / Mia Taylor

I became a travel writer for the same reason many people do: I'm an avid traveler and have been for as long as I can remember.

I love nothing better than to get as far off the beaten path as possible, immersing myself in nature or having genuine interactions with people from other cultures.

My earliest travel memories are of my mother taking me on adventure-filled, cross-country trips each summer during middle school. We would pack up her van and the two of us would hit the open road, leaving behind our small apartment in upstate New York to spend weeks exploring each and every one of the national parks throughout America’s southwest.

Zion. Check.

Arches National Park.

Also, check.

Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Canyonlands national parks. Also check, check and check.

Those summer adventures continue to be among my fondest memories, and I firmly believe they played a formative role in my life trajectory. Now as a mother myself, I love nothing more than showing my son the world, inspiring his own wanderlust and allowing him to grow as a global citizen whose mindset stretches far beyond the boundaries of our California zip code.

All of which makes it even harder for me to scale back my globetrotting.

I have always been my happiest and truly in my element when exploring new countries.

But with each passing year, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, I'm also sadly and increasingly aware of how each flight I take impacts the planet amid the worsening climate crisis.

And I feel it is my responsibility to change my ways, as much as is possible.

As a travel writer, I’m offered hundreds of press trip opportunities each year and the old me would have jumped at as many of those invites as my calendar would allow. But the new me takes a far different approach, one inspired by an article I read last year In The New York Times titled "The No Jet-Set: They've Given Up Flying to Save the Planet."

“With airplanes producing a large amount of climate-warming emissions, a growing number of travelers are signing pledges to keep their journeys on the ground,” says the article, which goes on to explain that a small, yet growing, number of travelers, are giving up flying because of its impact on the climate.

The article also points out that the last eight years on earth have been the hottest on record.