Flight free in 2020

[former player]

I ran this poll in 2019 and thought it would be interesting to see whether there is any discernable change in the responses.

I pledged not to fly in 2019 and kept that promise.

[never give up]

Well done former player. I also voted last year to not fly and I kept that promise. I have voted the same again this year.

[Hirondelle]

Unfortunately I will not be able to not fly at all this year.

I am aiming at flying less and preferably much less than last year though. 2019 was a big fail on that front although my job was responsible for the worst flight.

Another thing I aim to do is no flights within Europe. If I want to go somewhere close, I want to travel by train or bus even when that's more expensive and takes 10x the amount of time. 

[former player]

Hirondelle: I've added an option 4 for "will still fly but will reduce for environmental reasons", which I hope might garner some support.

[RWTL]

What's the reason for not flying?  Money, environment, other?

[kittykat]

I pledge to only fly for work which I know I will have to do, and to only fly for personal reasons with the points I accumulate from those work flights (if I do fly for personal reasons at all). I do plan to staycation and vacation locally more in 2020 than fly anywhere. My main goal is financial tbh.

[former player]

What's the reason for not flying?  Money, environment, other?

The societal benefit to not flying is of course reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.  The environment isn't going to care why someone is flying less, just that they do.  (Although Option 4 does now refer to an environmental motivation.)

I was rather surprised by the results of the previous poll: I would have thought mustachians not to have been quite so gung-ho regarding their personal environmental footprint.  Hence repeating the exercise to see if the news over the last year is starting to shift opinion.

[RWTL]

What's the reason for not flying?  Money, environment, other?

The societal benefit to not flying is of course reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.  The environment isn't going to care why someone is flying less, just that they do.  (Although Option 4 does now refer to an environmental motivation.)

I was rather surprised by the results of the previous poll: I would have thought mustachians not to have been quite so gung-ho regarding their personal environmental footprint.  Hence repeating the exercise to see if the news over the last year is starting to shift opinion.

This is an interesting discussion from the BBC.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49349566

Frankly, I've never really looked into the differences.  Ideally, I'd like to minimize impact to the environment - but I also can't take a couple of weeks off work to travel across country.

I appreciate the discussion.  As always, I appreciate this forum for more than just financial independence thought.

[former player]

Huh.  280 views and only 10 votes.  I had no idea mustachians were so shy.

[Hirondelle]

Hirondelle: I've added an option 4 for "will still fly but will reduce for environmental reasons", which I hope might garner some support.

Thank you! I voted and I also hope that that option may inspire more people to have a look at their flying behavior and look at a reduction :)

No flights at all would be ideal but like with other environmental steps, the perfect shouldn't be the enemy of the good.

[Raenia]

I voted I will not fly in 2020.  I also didn't fly in 2019, so it should be possible to keep the pledge.  The only reason I can see breaking that is if something happens to DH's grandmother, we would definitely want to go to the funeral (across the ocean, so we would have to fly).  She's been in good health, though, so hopefully all will remain well.

[ketchup]

I didn't fly in 2019, and will be flying this weekend for a funeral (close family).  I don't anticipate flying any more than that this year.

GF flies a ton, but all for work.

We both drive a shitload though; hopefully we'll put less than 30k on our cars this year.

[Photograph 51]

I haven't traveled outside of a 100 mile radius from my house for the past 15 years and I see no reason why that will change in the next year.

[mm1970]

I flew once in 2019 and have 1 planned trip in 2020.  But may very well make it two. Our families are on the opposite coast.

[Mongoose]

We live a long ways from some family plus have business trips. We drive when we can but there is no reliable train service at all here in flyover USA. So, it's several days of driving or one of flying to get anywhere. I didn't vote in the poll because the "I'll fly whenever I please" just seemed too...stringent? But, we will continue to fly unless the US suddenly develops a reliable high-speed rail system that actually functions as well as the one's I've used in Europe (disclaimer: I've only used rail in Europe once but it was fantastic. My experience may not be at all representative of "normal".)

[mtn]

Flying once for pleasure later this month, although it is really to see my brother. It'd be a 26 hour roundtrip car ride, so we're flying it since we don't have the vacation time/funds once you consider the cost to board the dog.

Flying once for my side-gig. This will be the first and likely only time I take a flight for that job, and I've been doing it for 12 years now. Not impossible that I don't fly again for it, just unlikely.

Then I'm sure I'll have 2-4 trips for my real job. Those would be a 35 hour round trip car ride, so they're certainly not happening in any way other than a flight.

Hopefully other than my real jobs trips, I won't have any flights in 2021.

[JLR]

I last flew in 2015. Being in Australia, I would love to fly and take an overseas holiday, but just can't do it with a good conscience.

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

I didn't fly at all in 2019 so I couldn't fly less. This year I'm flying twice, once on vacation and once to visit husband's brother and his wife who is sick and doesn't have long to live.

[Raenia]

I voted I will not fly in 2020.  I also didn't fly in 2019, so it should be possible to keep the pledge.  The only reason I can see breaking that is if something happens to DH's grandmother, we would definitely want to go to the funeral (across the ocean, so we would have to fly).  She's been in good health, though, so hopefully all will remain well.

Unfortunately, I will be breaking the pledge to not fly this year.  DH's grandmother declined quickly and passed away, so we'll be flying to the funeral next week.

How is everyone else doing on their goals?