Back in May, a flight tracking service registered 22,000 planes simultaneously in the air — a new record.
Since then, Europe has had two heatwaves, with temperatures soaring to 49 degrees in parts of Italy. To the growing ranks scanning for signs of a climate in decline, the association was clear, if reductive.
When this record was announced, I was in the final stages of planning a trip through Europe.
These days, flying makes me uneasy beyond vertigo. After eight years of covering the climate, I have seen the conversation turn to travel and the choices are pretty grim. Enjoy this world while you can and contribute to the problem, or stay at home and watch it burn.
My partner (who lives in Germany) and I wanted to investigate a third option. Travel, but minimise our footprint.
Reducing our footprint
We opted for a pragmatic approach, on the basis that net zero travel was nearly impossible and calculating emissions, especially indirect emissions, was like any budgeting during a holiday — liable to turn a lighthearted jaunt into a painstaking accounting exercise.
Instead, my focus was on identifying and mitigating the most carbon-intensive aspects.
First, the largest emission of almost any international trip, my plane ticket. We chose an Australian not-for-profit carbon offset provider that replants native forests with an eye for biodiversity and habitat restoration.
Again, pragmatism: neither offsets nor their calculation are ever perfect. It's always better not to fly than to offset but if flying is unavoidable reducing your footprint helps.
Planes, trains, bikes or automobiles?
So that just left getting around.
Europe's extensive train network meant that travelling between cities would emit far less than flying and, to be honest, be far more enjoyable.
For me, a 12-hour train journey gazing out the window as countryside drifts by is infinitely preferable to the mad taxi ride to the airport, the security checks and the expensive food before being crammed into a long titanium alloy tube.
Yet even the European rail network only covers so much and schlepping from one major city to another was nice as a backpacker but eventually all churches and castles look the same.
Then I discovered another, less well-known, European bicycle network called the EuroVelo.
These are long (some nearly 10,000 kilometres) bicycle tracks that crisscross Europe. Many are themed, whether historically — such as the Iron Curtain Trail, geographically — such as the Danube Cycle Route, or culturally — like the Capitals Cycle Route.
Dotted along are bicycle repair stations, shops, guesthouses and restaurants — the journey would be the destination.
Once fully opened these long-distance cycle routes will crisscross the entire European continent.
Mountains, wine country and alpine villages
In Vienna, we hired bicycles with panniers, repacked our luggage then set off.
Over two weeks we traversed 600 kilometres, crossing three countries each with their distinct language branch — beginning in the Germanic, then the Slavic and ending in the Romance.
We visited wine country in Austria, climbed mountains and caved in Slovenia, rode through dark forests and rested in alpine villages before landing in the Italian city of Trieste, satisfyingly nicknamed Vienna on the Adriatic.
Neither my partner nor I had ridden for longer than a weekend but understood that fatigue builds over days. We also had to return our hired bicycles to Vienna.
Our route followed the Vienna to Trieste train line, meaning not only could we return by train but also hop on at any station along the way.
At the Slovenian-Austrian border, heat and fatigue meant we picked up our bicycles and took the train 150 kilometres to the Solvenian capital Ljubljana.
Alpine climbs and heatwaves
It wasn't all chilled white wine. Opting for regular bicycles felt masochistic at times. Most other riders had e-bikes and glided up alpine climbs, supercharged like superheroes, while we were panting roadside.
Then there was the heat. After we rode through the first heatwave, we began to plan the day's ride not just in terms of elevation, but also temperature.
By starting early and finishing by lunch we rode during the cool bright mornings. It also meant we could dedicate afternoons to restorative activities like thermal springs, having a nap or exploring the old town.
The road less travelled
The deepest realisation came from a different approach to travel: the well-beaten track is worn by tourists travelling with the same priorities and goals.
Some are explicit, such as the The White Lotus effect, named after the HBO show filmed in Sicily — now inundated with tourists.
By aiming to minimise emissions we managed to explore a beautiful part of the world as 22,000 planes waited to land.
Kurt Johnson is a Melbourne-based writer, journalist and solution architect who works in the environment, tech and digital health sector. He can be found on Twitter.
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