When Sacha Shaw decided to move from Melbourne to Canada, he was determined to travel without flying.
But the environmental researcher and freelance journalist had not even left Australian shores when he realized it would be more difficult than he first thought.
Shaw traveled to Mount Isa by bus and train in January before hitchhiking to Darwin via the Northern Territory.
There he contacted various cargo shipping companies bound for Indonesia but said he was “quite laughed at in Darwin Port”.
He eventually put up what he called a “lost dog poster” around Darwin harbour, saying simply: “Going north looking for crew?”
Relating to: ‘It takes planning and commitment’: how to camp sustainably
It took a month for someone to call and say they were going to East Timor and then on to Indonesia.
He says the voyage was no ordinary voyage and included engine failure, a storm that shredded the ship’s sails, and an onboard medical emergency, meaning they had to be towed to Dili Port by a port authority ship.
Since then, his journey has become smoother and he now heads towards Dubai via Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Tibet, Nepal, northern India, Pakistan and Iran. Trip; It consisted of ferries, cruise ships, trains, buses, motorcycles and hitchhiking.
“There are many ways to travel without flying. “Just crossing international waters becomes a problem,” he says.
Many Australians are increasingly worried about flying shame (flygskam), but the sad truth is that other options for international travel here may be limited.
Tony Wheeler, founder and former chairman of Lonely Planet, told Guardian Australia he was “much less convinced” when he heard about fly-free travel from someone living in Europe.
“Flying without flying is no problem for the Greta Thunbergs of the world, who live in Stockholm. “If they lived in Sydney or Tokyo they would see this as a very different story.”
So how realistic is it to jump from Oz to the operating system without jumping on a plane?
cruise ships
Of course, there are plenty of cruise ships leaving Australian shores, but their environmental records are hardly cause for celebration.
The International Council on Clean Transportation found that traveling by cruise ship in 2022 almost always results in more carbon emissions than flying and staying in a hotel. The research suggests that the world’s largest cruise ships emit around 250 grams of CO2 per passenger kilometer, compared to 80 grams of CO2 on longer flights with lower emissions; but the analysis does not take into account other gases such as methane.
Environmental think tank Energy Monitor calculated that an average seven-day journey in both directions over a distance of 1,096 km would create on average three times more emissions than flying.
Swipe right for sailboat
Whether you’re an experienced sea dog or a first-time sailor, there are numerous websites such as Find a Crew or Crew Bay that match yachts and sailboats with potential crew members around the world, including Australia.
Be sure to take safety precautions as some women report unwanted sexual advances or even assault while at sea.
Suggestions from former victims include asking captains for a copy of their passports, video chatting before boarding, and taking note of the contact information for local police in the areas you travel to.
cargo ships
There are websites worldwide such as Cargo Ship Travel and Maris Freighter Cruises that offer limited passenger space on cargo ships. But don’t expect these to be cheaper than flying, and their schedules are sporadic at best.
Your trip length in terms of time will depend on how often the ship is scheduled to stop, but as an idea one company offers trips from China to Los Angeles that take 15 days to cross the Pacific.
Relating to: Will you never fly again? Go vegan? It was very difficult. But I still reduced my emissions by 61% and it made life simpler and better | Jo Kil
Chris Zeiher, senior director at Lonely Planet, says since Covid it has become almost impossible to dock container ships from Australia.
“Travel by cargo ship was once a no-fly option for Australians, but post-pandemic there are almost no options locally,” he says.
A spokesman for the Australian Maritime Union said that although cargo ships had taken passengers in the past, the practice had mostly ceased because they were often crewed by foreign companies and workers who rarely had systems to take passengers.
Other options
If going completely flightless is too difficult, it can be much easier once you arrive in Indonesia.
While flying from Melbourne to Jakarta still emits around a tonne of CO2, this is still much less than the 3.3 tonnes produced by flying all the way to London.
Of course, you will need to devote more time to the journey. Shaw traveled from Indonesia to Dubai for six months and said he had amazing experiences. “After leaving the sailboat I only used the local ferries and although it took a while it was a great way to travel faster than you might expect.
“The longest boat trip I went on lasted about 50 hours with about 2,000 people; I was one of two foreigners and had a great time.”
The other option, of course, is to try to make peace with exploring what’s closer to home.
Relating to: Flight tickets likely to remain stubbornly high as travel-hungry Australians’ tastes change
Melbourne filmmaker and Flight Free Australia member Peter Miller says when he and his wife made the decision to stop flying, they knew it would mean never leaving Australia again.
“This was a difficult decision because we have family abroad,” he says. “It took some thinking, but in the end we realized that, in good conscience, we cannot continue to contribute so much to the problem; especially just for personal pleasure.
“So we reviewed our life goals, broadened our horizons a bit and invested our dollars into our own Australian tourism industry. “For the most part it has been a very positive experience.”