A bus too far?

Are we returning to the earlier modes of arduous yet adventurous mobility of travel? As of now tickets go on sale for an express coach service from London to China. It's called the BuddhaBus - is this the future for low-impact long-haul travel....or traveling hell??

It wasn't that long ago that a 16-day journey to China would have been seen as a minor miracle: today having to spend more than 24 hours travelling anywhere fills us with horror. Flying has spoilt us.

Spending two weeks in a bus is about as appealing to most people as a stretch in prison. But our grandparents would spend months at sea and regard it as nothing worse than an adventure. They travelled that way out of necessity - because there was no other means. For those who feel they must cross continents today, longer, slower journeys are a necessity of a different kind. There is another means, but it is wrecking the biosphere.

Read more - 'A bus too far?'

See also, a new company called noflights.com, whose purpose is to make it easier for people to journey without flying - just launched March 08.

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