I've always liked airplanes. At a young age when my family emigrated from Iran, even though we were leaving our home behind, planes represented a way of leaving the dangers of war and the possibilities of finding a new home. Also as a kid looking out the windows at the airport, I was amazed by the massive size of planes and imagined someday flying them as a pilot.
Throughout my life I've been incredibly lucky and privileged to be able to take flights throughout the U.S. and to other countries to visit friends and family or purely to travel. I love all parts of flying, from building up speed and taking off, seeing clouds, cities, and landscapes from above, to visiting new places and reconnecting with family. Despite all this, I realize that the amount of energy it takes planes to leave the ground and pull themselves through the sky means burning fuel and depositing tons of carbon into the atmosphere.
In recent years I've also had the opportunity to take trains, including taking Amtrak across the country from Los Angeles to Boston, which was beautiful and awesome in its own ways. Right now it's not super convenient or cheaper to travel by train in the U.S., and we need to change that. I think that replacing flying with ground transit will not only decrease carbon emissions, but also demonstrate the demand for this type of travel and help improve funding and investment from the government. Going forward, I will replace my air travel with buses and trains whenever possible. It might take more time to get to places, but I've found there are lots of benefits to slower travel.