Today I’m travelling from Turnpike Lane to Thonon-Les Bains via train. Over the next few hours I’ll give 9 reasons why the train beats the plane when heading to Europe, linking some of the themes coming out of my research with @cabotinstitute

1. You can (actually) work while travelling. The @Eurostar has passable wifi and French high speed trains have great wifi – why not spend a day working undisturbed instead of frantically typing away on a cramped 2hr Easyjet flight? See @_wearepossible's Climate Perks for more.

2. Sense of adventure. Yes there’s a bit of work in getting your trip lined up, but it all adds to the sense of adventure you get from successfully navigating dodgy websites, tucking into your first #baguette and speeding South through the French countryside.

3. It’s not as expensive as you think. @seatsixtyone has some great mythbusting advice on this. If you book in advance you can get a rn from London to Geneva for £78. If you go to the Alps why not take the train next time? @snowcarbon for ski train stuff. https://www.seat61.com/ 

4. Carbon footprint. Here is a rough calc from @raileurope on the emissions difference in taking the train vs taking the plane for my trip. The plane is over 26 TIMES more emissions intensive. See image below from @StayGroundedNet for more on what this actually means.

5. The journey is part of the holiday. Table seats mean that you and your pals can sit opposite one another and tuck into a bottle of red, some cheese and a few card games without fear of the seatbelt sign.

6. Reconnecting with surroundings. Something about travelling overland that gives you a great sense of where you are and how far you’ve travelled. We lose this with air travel – maybe we’d take a bit more care of the natural world if we had deeper connections with surroundings?

7. Less stress. There’s no strict luggage policy, no crappy airport food, no more hawk-eyed competition at the baggage carousels and no need for airport transfers. You still get stag dos though.

8. Setting an example. Recent research shows how leaders who change behaviours influence their followers (see @steviedubyu work). I’m not a leader, but hopefully this thread will get a couple of people to think about taking the train next time? More: https://theconversation.com/climate-change-yes-your-individual-action-does-make-a-difference-115169

9. Feelgood factor. It actually feels good to not fly, for all the reasons above. My aim today was to try and articulate some less climate, more cultural reasons for travelling differently. Now let’s get better at talking about this stuff and find new ways of communicating it.