Travel in the pandemic, climate change and war era

Travel by sailboat is one of the most environmentally sound ways to see the world, especially with all the new ways to avoid using fossil fuels. You can make your own fresh water, you can harness the power of the wind, the sun, and the seas, and you use the wind to propel your vessel to new places. New anchors help us limit the damage we do to the seabed. We still have issues with waste disposal, but we are dealing with them better than we once did.  

Yet, often we leave our boats behind to return home or travel to distant places to see family scattered around the earth. That travel comes with a cost. We learned during the pandemic that we don't really need to travel so much and yet the airlines now have more passengers than pre-Covid times. Everything takes longer. Longer to pass through security due to Covid restrictions and post-9/11 issues, longer to queue for everything as there are fewer people willing to take menial jobs, and longer to get from one place to another due to disruptions from climate breakdown. Overall, I think it's becoming more difficult to justify leaving home. 

What is it that draws us to see new places?  People used to grow up and live in the same community their entire lives. There they had a support network they could rely on. Today, we scatter about and live alone. There were always nomadic tribes but, much like sailors, they followed the weather patterns to ensure survival. Today, we just get up and go on a whim. Does it make sense?

I've been dealing with Ukrainians trying to find a safe haven in wartime. The war is costing everyone a great deal, especially the Ukrainians killed or subjugated by the Russians. Prices are skyrocketing on everything - fuel, food, fertilizer and cars among other things. Life is not what it was just three months ago. Putin - stupid disruptor supreme. He had everything -- power, billions, yachts, estates, girlfriends, daughters -- as did all his friends. He's ruined it all for his personal glory following the path of Stalin.

But Ukraine has won Eurovision and both Finland and Sweden have vowed to join NATO. Putin's plan has backfired big time. Today Ukrainian heroes fought the Russians at Kharkiv back to the border. Hopefully, things will get back on a good track soon. 

Meanwhile, the world has forgotten about getting off fossil fuels, inflation is rampant, and interest rates are rising. The cost of electricity has gone through the roof so we postponed buying an electric car and bought a used diesel Ford Focus instead. 

Sherpa has launched a site providing up-to-date restrictions and rules information. That's helpful in choosing where to go and what to do before you leave. 

Google has just announced that they would post the carbon cost of every flight so that we may choose to reduce our carbon footprint. Okay, that's a start.