by When Sacha Shaw decided to move from Melbourne to Canada, he was determined to travel without flying.
But the environmental researcher and freelance journalist did not leave the shores of Australia even when he realized that it was going to be more difficult than he first thought.
Shaw traveled to Mount Isa by bus and train in January before traveling through the Northern Territory to Darwin.
He contacted various cargo ship companies sailing to Indonesia but says he was “laughed out of Port Darwin”.
Eventually he put up his “lost dog poster” around the port of Darwin which said: “Are you going north and looking for a crew?”
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It took a month for someone to call, saying they were shipping to Timor-Leste and from there on to Indonesia.
The journey was just plain sailing, he says, and included engine failure, a storm that ripped the ship’s sails and a medical emergency on board, which meant they had to be towed into Dili Port by a port authority ship.
Since then, his journey has become smoother, and he has now made his way to Dubai via Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Tibet, Nepal, northern India, Pakistan and the Iran. Travel was a mix of ferries, passenger ships, trains, buses, motorbikes and hitchhiking.
“There are so many ways to travel without flying. It is only when crossing international waters that there is a problem,” he says.
Many Australians are increasingly worried about their flygskam (flight embarrassment), but the sad reality is that other options for international travel can be limited here.
Tony Wheeler, founder and former head of Lonely Planet, told Guardian Australia that he is “much less convinced” when he hears anything about non-flying travel from someone who lives in Europe.
“Going without a flight is no problem for the Greta Thunbergs of this world who live in Stockholm. It would be a very different story if they lived in Sydney or Tokyo.”
So how realistic is it to go OS from Oz without hopping on a plane?
Cruise ships
Of course, there are plenty of cruise ships sailing off Australian shores but their environmental record is hardly anything to celebrate.
The International Clean Transportation Council found in 2022 that traveling by cruise ship almost always creates more carbon emissions than flying and staying in a hotel. The research suggests that the world’s largest cruise ships emit around 250 grams of CO2 per passenger kilometre, compared to 80g on lower-emitting longer flights, although the analysis did not add other gases such as methane included.
The Environmental Think Tank Energy has calculated that an average seven-day cruise over a distance of 1,096 km each way would generate, on average, three times the emissions of flying.
Swipe right for a sailboat
Whether you are an established sea dog or a first-time sailor, there are a number of websites including Find a Crew or Crew Bay that match yachts and sailboats with potential crew worldwide, including from Australia.
Be sure to take safety precautions, as some women have reported unwanted sexual advances, and even assault, while out at sea.
Suggestions from former victims include asking captains for a copy of their passport, a video chat before jumping on board and to note the contact details of the local police in the areas you are traveling to.
Cargo ships
Worldwide, there are websites such as Cargo Ship Travel and Maris Freighter Cruises that offer limited places for passengers on cargo ships. But don’t expect them to be cheaper than flying, and their schedule is irregular at best.
The length of your trip will depend on how often the ship stops, but as an idea one company offers trips from China to Los Angeles that take 15 days to cross the Pacific Ocean.
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Chris Zeiher, senior director at Lonely Planet, says since it is almost impossible to get plots on container ships from Australia since Covid.
“Once a cargo ship cruise was a solid non-flying option for Aussies, but after the pandemic there are almost no options available locally,” he says.
A spokesman for the Australian Maritime Union said that while in the past cargo ships would take passengers, the practice has largely ceased because these ships are generally crewed by foreign companies and workers often do not have systems in place to to take passengers.
Other options
If it’s too difficult to go completely free by flying, it can be much easier once you arrive in Indonesia.
While a flight from Melbourne to Jakarta may still emit around one tonne of CO2, that’s still far less than the 3.3 tonnes produced by flying all the way to London.
Of course, you will need to set aside longer for the trip. Shaw has spent six months going from Indonesia to Dubai and says he has had great experiences. “After I left the sailing boat, I only used local ferries, and it was a great way to travel, faster than you’d expect, although it does take a while.
“The longest boat trip I did was about 50 hours with about 2,000 other people – I was one of two foreigners and I had a great time.”
The other option, of course, is to try to make peace with exploring closer to home.
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Melbourne film maker and Flight Free Australia member Peter Miller says when he and his wife made the decision to stop flying they knew it would mean he would never leave Australia again.
“It was a hard decision because we have family abroad,” he says. “It took us some thought, but in the end we realized that we could not, in good conscience, continue to contribute to the problem in such a big way – especially for personal enjoyment.
“So we reviewed our life goals, pulled back a bit in our lives and put our dollars into our own tourism industry in Australia. It was a pretty positive experience for the most part.”
