Guest post by low carbon traveller Barbara Haddrill

The following is a guest post by low carbon traveller Barbara Haddrill. She is the author of Babs2Brisbane, a book documenting her overland journey from the UK to Australia in 2006:

It is strange, now, only a few hours before I embark on my next low carbon travel journey, that I feel quite calm. Considering the enormity of what is to come, I think I should be panicking a bit more. Fear was all I felt three years ago, as I was sitting in Victoria Coach Station in London, waiting to begin my overland trip to Australia, and mulling over all the possible things that could go wrong. Then my mission was to travel, without using an aeroplane, to be the bridesmaid at one of my best friend's wedding in Brisbane. In those final moments before departure, it dawned on me that this was the biggest challenge I had ever faced. But this was one I had set myself. My passion for conserving the environment was strong. I just hoped it was enough to pull me through the unknown road ahead.

Almost as soon as the coach pulled almost noiselessly into the dark autumn night, my life was changed forever. I learnt the way of the slow traveller. Having time for myself and time for other people. And time to stop and stare, watching every mile between my home in Wales and my destination in Brisbane pass slowly by. Slowing down gradually from bus to train to cargo ship, hitch hiking and finally bicycle. Instead of taking 24 hours and emitting 5 .6 tonnes of CO2, my journey took me 7 weeks and the emissions were down to 1 tonne of CO2. I succeeded in my challenge when many thought I would fail (and discussed it at great length on my travel blog www.babs2brisbane.com) But I also learnt so much, from meeting local people and seeing lives so different from my own. I learnt not to fear my worldly neighbours but approached everyone I met with an open heart and positivity and that is what I received by the tonne in return.

My next challenge is to work with horses – driving and logging. Bringing real horsepower back to our oil dependant world. I am taking the bus to pick up my coloured cob called Tyler now. She and I will hopefully enjoy the next slow life journey together.......

For more information about my trip to Brisbane and my new horse adventures look at my blog http://www.babs2brisbane.com/ or buy the book 'Babs2Brisbane' available from most good bookshops.

[Barbara]

Overland and sea to Morocco

It's a little more expensive (by approx. £150) than the budget flights now flying between the UK to Marrakesh but slowmoves gives reason for the extra expense of a train and boat ride. Imagine watching the way the land changes, mile by mile from urban London, through the green fields of Kent and Northern France. Crossing Paris, then in to the evening and south towards the jagged Pyrenees, direct to Madrid. From Madrid, it's down to Algeciras and Tarifa then the boat across the Gibraltar Straight to Tangier, Africa.

Some change in scenery and some difference between what you leave to what you find. slowmoves offers an intimate means of experiencing this. Of course time does not allow us to make such a journey regularly, which is a reason in itself for treasuring the possibility, as is the more practical consideration of a night's accommodation included in the ride, if leaving as below:

1404: London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord (1726) - Train

1945: Paris Gare d'Austerlitz to Madrid (0910) - Train

1505: Madrid to Algeciras (2033) - Train

2100: Algeciras to Tarifa (2145) - Bush

2300: Tarifa to Tangier (2235: 35 minute crossing and time change) - Boat

Of course, there's the option of spending more time in Paris or Madrid or Algeciras, depending what your scheduled, motivation or interest is.

Thanks to The Man in Seat Sixty-One for helping with the travel information and image. The relevant Seat Sixty-On page also tells you how you can travel on from Tangier, and how the cost of travel drops.

This justification of experience, is at the heart of many slowmoves choices. I for one think it's well worth it.

[George]

Grantchester by foot, boat, or bike from Cambridge

If you're looking for a day out of London, why not head to the university town of Cambridge. After only 45 minutes on the train, we were wandering around the streets of historic Cambridge. It took us a while to find the nice bits, as much of the main street was infested by high street shops and unfortunately made it look like any other town in England. But once you head over to the riverside where all the old colleges are, you'll understand the appeal. Amongst the most spectacular colleges that still exist, check out Peterhouse, which was founded in 1284, and Kings College that has an impressive chapel where you can catch a choir concert.



















Getting to the slow travel bit... You can rent bikes at Cambridge station which I would highly recommend as it's a very bike-able city (if the thousands of bikes around the city are anything to go by). It reminded me of a Dutch city. Alternatively you can make your way to the riverside at Mill Lane Boatyard and rent a self-hire punt to go punting along the river. This is THE Cambridge thing to do and seems like a lot of fun, especially if you're in a big group. Then either cycle, punt or walk to Grantchester, a lovely little village 3 miles from Cambridge. Grantchester is a tiny village with thatched cottages, a few good pubs and the highest proportion of Nobel prize winners.

If you're opting for the walking option, I'd recommend walking through Newnham and stopping along Grantchester meadows for a picnic. Then once in Grantchester, treat yourself to a nice pint at the Red Lion pub or traditional tea at the Orchard in the garden.

[Anouk]

Great historic journeys across the world

People have been travelling since the beginning of time, it just took them a lot longer to get anywhere. As well as going from a to b, travel allows us to escape and discover new landscapes, people and culture. It's dreamy and aspirational and the subject of many great books and films. Take Jules Verne's 'Around the world in 80 days', or Jack Kerouac's 'On the road'.

















Good magazine brilliantly documents some of these inspiring historic journeys, from the silk road to the trans-Siberian Railway. You can click on any of the adventures, real or fictional, and learn about the interesting points along the journey. Why not base your next trip on one of these voyages? You can walk in the footsteps of great explorers and get a history lesson in the process. And of course you'd travel 'slowly', as they really didn't have another alternative back then.

http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/features/011/Wanderlust/

[Anouk]

Tales from the rails in America

"I think all Americans should take the train once, it would do wonders for the American spirit", says Jackie, a traveler aboard a cross-country train in America. Jackie is one of the 5 travelers who shares her story and appreciation for train travel in one of the brilliant short videos for the New York Times article 'Riding the rails'.

Train travel may be a routine occurrence here in Europe, but in the US, where the distances are vast and a large majority drive their cars everywhere, train travel is rare. But with global warming becoming a more mainstream concern and Obama focusing on better public transport, rail travel is gaining popularity.

Jackie points out that people talk to each other more on trains - it's normal to ask fellow passengers where they're going, where they've come from and just enjoy watching the changing landscapes together from the observation deck. In tune with the slowmoves ethos, one man, Gerald calls it therapeutic because it's less fast-paced. As opposed to the airplane, or even the car, you can watch farmlands, desserts and rivers, observe the changing seasons and comfortably walk through the carriages.



The Cardinal
This U-shaped train journey takes you from New York to Chicago, taking 27 hours and stopping 31 times at many of the hot spots of American history - Baltimore, Washington, Cincinatti...
Fares start at $84

The California Zephyr
Runs daily from Chicago all the way to Emeryville, California. It can take less than 4 days and passes through the Rocky mountains, the Nevada dessert and the Sierra Nevada.
Fares start at $145

All photos from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/08/travel/20090308-train-travel.html

One of the most beautiful train journeys I ever took was along the coast from Marseilles in France to Nice. There's something so dreamy and inspiring about seeing the coastline change little by little. What are some of your favourite train journeys?

[Anouk]

From London to the Caucasus by train

Photo of Batumi Tbilisi train by Alex

The following is an itinerary for travelling from the U.K. to the Caucasus by train!

The main leg of this week-long journey will take you, comfortably ensconced in a succession of sleeper compartments, to Tbilisi, the capital of the (now unfortunately notorious) Republic of Georgia, from where you could easily hop up into the highest mountains in Europe and get blind-drunk with shepherds in fortified mediaeval towers well out of the range of any mobile telephone network!
(You might find it useful to follow this itinerary on the Google Map I have created for it, which you can see here.)

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Day 1

Head to London's St. Pancras International railway station, and catch the 10:57 Eurostar high-speed train to Brussels (Bruxelles-Midi); your Eurostar arrives at 14:03 local time (GMT+1). Head into town, and enjoy a nice lunch washed down with Belgian beers, then make your way back to Bruxelles-Midi station and catch the 17:25 Thalys high-speed train to Köln (Cologne), which arrives at Cologne's magnificent Hauptbahnhof at 19:45. A quick change of platform, and you will be in your compartment on board the 20:06 sleeper to Vienna!

Day 2

The sleeper from Brussels arrives in Vienna's Westbahnhof at 09:04 (GMT+2). You will have all day to visit Vienna, so there is no need to hurry! Leave your suitcase in a locker, and head into town. You need to be back at the Westbahnhof in time to catch the 18:50 sleeper to Sofia.

Day 3

After having travelled all day and all night, the sleeper from Vienna arrives in Sofia at 17:40. You will only have two hours before the sleeper to Istanbul departs, so it would probably be best to stay close to the station. The train to Istanbul leaves at 19:30.

Day 4

Your train will arrive in Istanbul's Sirkeci station at 08:00 (GMT+3), and this is where it gets tricky: Sirkeci station is on the European side of the Bosphorus, and your connecting train (which will take you across Anatolia) leaves from Istanbul's Asian railway station, Haydarpaşa, at 08:35. Even by taking the direct boat across to the station, I doubt it is possible to make it in time for the train... So it is extremely likely that you will have to spend a night in Istanbul. (My personal recommendation would be the "Chill Out" Hostel next to the Galata Tower: Central, comfortable, and cheap!)

Day 5

The "Mountain Express" sleeper train leaves Istanbul's Haydarpaşa station at 08:35, and crosses Anatolia in about 40 hours, via Eskişehir, Ankara, Kayseri, Sivas, Erzincan, and Erzurum. Your destination is the bleak town of Kars, a frontier-town in north-eastern Turkey where the train "terminates". (It used to continue to Armenia.)


Photo of the views from the Istanbul to Kars train by Alex

Day 6

The sleeper pulls in at Kars' railway station at 22:00. Take a taxi, and head into town to find a hotel for the night. I recommend the Güngören Otel – good value for money. Have dinner and go to bed early, as you will need to get up for an early start!

Day 7

Head for Kars' otogar (bus station), where you need to find either an otobus (bus) or dolmuş (minibus) to take you to the town of Hopa on the Black Sea coast, via Ardahan and Artvin. This journey takes around 6 hours. From Hopa, you can either take a taxi or a minibus to the border with Georgia, which you will cross on foot before continuing by either taxi or minibus to Batumi, Georgia's second-largest city. Batumi's railway station is slightly out-of-town, in a nearby village with the rather amusing name of Makhindjauri ("Child of [the] Ugly [person]"). The sleeper from Batumi to Tbilisi leaves at around 22:00 (GMT+4).

Day 8

The sleeper from Batumi arrives at Tbilisi's railway station at around 08:00 local time. From Tbilisi, you can either take the sleeper to Baku (8 hours) or to Yerevan (15 hours).

Tbilisi, Georgia (www.george-natalie.us/)

There is no single website which can provide you with all the timetabling information you would need for this journey.

The Man in Seat 61 can help you with the London-Istanbul stretch, but after that, you will have to resort to the Turkish State Railways website, whose English version can be found here. Essentially, once you reach Kars, you are on your own!

Georgian Railways do have a website, but it is completely useless, and as there is only one train you can take from Batumi to Tbilisi, which leaves daily, your chances of either missing it or of boarding the wrong one are slim.

My personal recommendations would be: Carry plenty of photocopies of your passport (to avoid having to trust the conductors with the original); take plenty of books with you; bring spare batteries for every electronic item you think you will need during the journey (the electricity supply in the compartments doesn't always work); buy picnics at every available opportunity; carry a not-too-thick-but-just-about-enough wad of cash with you (you will not always have the time to find ATMs along the way); bring a fresh duvet cover with you in case the bedding is unsatisfactory; and plan your ticket purchases carefully, for you will sometimes have to change trains in a hurry.

[Alex]