You smell a trend when you read 2 articles covering the issue of air travel and the damage to the environment in 2 week-end papers.
Michelle Higgins in Buzzword of the year: Carbon Neutral (New York Times, Sunday, Travel Section)
relates how various Tour Operators and Online Travel Sites such as Expedia and Travelocity make it possible for travelers to buy ‘carbon offsets‘. Taking the guilt sting out of your trip will cost anywhere from $5 to $30. All depends on the length of your trip.
On a lighter note, in the FT Week-End, Harry Eyres offers us 12 Green Gifts for Christmas ideas including traveling by Rail using Rail Europe instead of flying.
Following his thread, I found attractive deals such as the Eurail Selectpass Drive which gives 3 days unlimited Rail Travel and 2 Days Car Rental within one country or between 3 bordering countries. For example you could start in France and then go to Italy and Spain if you like a marathon.
The cost would be $716.00 if you pick the package for 2 adults with 1st class train travel.
This product is available only for booking in North America according to their website.
When I was a kid in Brittany, my parents and brothers and sisters, all 9 of us, used to spend our month of summer vacation in the Pyrenees and travel there by train. This expedition or should I say adventure took us all the way from Brest to La Tour de Carol in about 20 hours.
We passed Agen (les pruneaux d"Agen) and Foix (la marchande de Foix qui vendait…).
Excuse my French but I remember the music of these words as they sounded coming from the locals aboard the train.
An invitation to travel, in the slow lane I guess.