Longer Trips, Remote Locations, Greener Options
We won’t be involved in acts of flygskam (flight shame) but a pandemic-forced travel hibernation coupled with the stark reality of climate change has led us to reconsider our travel plans once we hit the road again. Our formula will be simple: Limit air travel by taking one extended trip rather than two shorter ones, ride trains whenever possible, which is our favorite mode of transport anyway though you won’t see any tagskryt, (train bragging), and continue to find out-of-the-way places.
If all goes well, we’ll land somewhere that is hardly out of the way, Rome, sometime in 2021 and slowly make our way to Varese in Italy’s Lombardy region, which was devastated by COVID-19. Varese is home to the Bernasconi family, part of Gary’s family heritage. From there, we’ll try to corral our daughter in Lyon and make our way through the Black Forest.
From Germany we’ll begin a slow northern climb by rail, with many stops along the way, to Denmark, Sweden and ultimately Norway where, in addition to the fjords, we’ll touch down in Sigdal and Eggedal, small towns northwest of Oslo that are home to Debbie’s Norwegian heritage.
The last leg, where we travel to Scotland, will be the tricky one to maneuver without the aid of an airplane. After a quick scan of options, we’ve only seen freight ferries from Scandinavia to England (18 to 26 hours) and trains south through Amsterdam to a ferry from Calais to England. More work needs to be done — and any suggestions are welcome.
