Footprints in 2007

Pete, Nicola, Lola, 9, and Nell, 6, spent three happy months during summer of 2007 traveling around Britain. Now we’re home, but the travel bug is still there. Join us for the occasional sightseeing plus tips on how to shrink your carbon footprint. This post is from Nicola

Summing up: it's been a year of adventure and we had no need to spend any part of it on a plane or at the airport. Fog chaos holds no fears. The best memories include...

• 40 countries visited and no plane used


• three months of travel around Britain even though we don't own a car (although we've sometimes used them by borrowing, sharing, renting and also as a member or a car club)


• being aware of the need to tackle climate change makes it easier to make decisions about leisure and pleasure.


• adventures on our doorstep have been easy to organise (you can even be spontaneous), are carbon light and have made us all appreciate our home a bit more.


• when we set out a Daily Telegraph travel journalist called our doorstep tour of the globe "either mad or genius", hopefully readers of this blog will be able to make up their own minds.


• thanks to everyone who helped us.
  

On the road again

Nicola, Pete, Lola and Nell want to travel the world with a difference. We hope to get a taste of many countries without adding to climate change (with needless emissions from aeroplanes) or having to waste hours of holiday time in airport terminals. We hope our adventures inspire you to take a Grand Tour of your neighbourhood. This post is from Nicola (note fishing nets in the pic)

We're packed up and ready to roll our suitcases and stagger under a combination of backpacks and plastic bags to our next spot: a field by Ullswater in the Lake District. The weather forecast isn't putting us off yet. I think we have been lucky to stick to trains (and sometimes cars) thereby missing the worries of Glasgow's airport strike, and not had plans to visit poor, soaked Sheffield.

Travel with us

Nicola, Pete, Lola and Nell want to travel the world with a difference. We hope to get a taste of loads of countries without adding to climate change (with needless emissions from aeroplanes) or having to waste hours of holiday time in aiport terminals. We hope our adventures inspire you to take a Grand Tour of your neighbourhood. This post is from Nicola.

Nell (6) has never flown, Lola (in the pic) and I haven’t been on a plane since 2000 (seven years!) and now we have three months to get around the world in a carbon lite way. We're doing this by staying in the UK pretending to be in other parts of the world from the Arctic to the Yemen. As the man at the Daily Telegraph newspaper's travel section said: "it's either mad or genius."

Staying in the UK is great for the local economy, and we will use local businesses and public transport whenever we can. But because accommodation can be pricey in the summer, especially in the Lake District, we are housesitting, houseswapping (more detail on this as we travel) and staying with friends. At times we will be camping, renting a cottage or using B&Bs… You can help us travel to 80 countries - just order mint tea in a Lebanese cafe, eat pizza in an Italian restaurant or go to the US by watching a baseball game - and then tell us about it.

If you haven't decided what to do for your summer holiday, or happen to be near us you can join the adventure. This is where we will be:

JUNE
8 June: Orient Express (plus a bit of Harry Potter) aka night train to Glasgow
9 June: New Zealand also known as (aka) YHA Rowardennan on Loch Lomond, Scotland
10-15 June: Arctic, aka village near Oban on the River Orchy
16-22 June: climbing Mt Everest (Nepal) via Skiddaw in the Lake District
23-24 June: Nigeria aka village near Skipton, north Yorks
25-26 June: North American Praires via a village near Bedale, north Yorks

JULY
27 June – 1 July: Yemen & Roman time travelling along Hadrian’s Wall in Newcastle (east end)
1-5 July: Canada & Chile, camping by Ullswater, Lake District
5-14 July: Germany & Baird family history around Aberdeenshire
15-16 July: Visiting the only polar bear in the UK, plus Edinburgh highlights
17-22 July: chance to be free spirits – where do you think we should go?
23-24 July: probably back to Hadrian’s Wall (west end).

AUGUST
25 July – 2 August: Roman time travelling along & Great Wall of China, aka Hexham
3-10 August: France via Devon & the plastic bag free town of Modbury
11-26 August: possibly Brighton, Hornby or Wakefield. Which place do you like best?

SEPTEMBER
27 August – 2 September: to the home counties (Herts) with a trip to Stansted airport’s bank holiday departure lounge…
5 September: school starts