A SoCal pandemic-selfie.
My hope is to never set foot on an airplane again. Since my closest family lives an ocean and a continent away, I know that under certain circumstances I might need to reconsider my non-flying choice, want it or not. But as far as I can, I want to continue from here by train, by foot, by ship, for the rest of my life.
Having ended up in a country this far from “home”, I am one example of how the possibility for long-haul traveling can be both uniting (as in falling in love with a person I would probably never have met if it wasn’t for air travel) and separating (as in that former circumstance now causing me to live way too far from my Swedish and Danish family).
As grateful as I am for having met my partner, as hopeful I am for a future with fewer airplanes in the sky. The travel norm of a few affects the living conditions for us all. And the individual choice to not fly - the biggest part of our personal CO2 emissions if we are part of the small fraction of the world who does fly at all - will spread waves of consciousness and calls to action for politicians and companies alike, if only enough of us join in. That is my belief, and that is why I am part of the Flight Free 2021-campaign.
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You can read more about Jenny’s choice to stay on the ground while sharing her life between two countries here:
www.pancakesonthethird.com/2019/02/27/why-i-stopped-flying-and-why-im-quitting-again