Flying for my work
“Why do you fly so much? Flying is bad for the climate, isn't it?”
On a regular basis, I get questions like this, so I think it's good to write about it. Because it is true that flying has a significant influence and on a regular basis I do get on a plane.
The main reason why I travel by plane for my work is this:
- some of my tasks and work, including the Korowai translation work, I cannot do from the Netherlands but they are very important. And the most efficient way to get there and do my work is to fly there.
However, because I know that flying is bad for the climate, I do try to minimize my flying as much as possible. I do this by:
- going for a longer period of time (4-6 weeks).
- combining several activities during one visit (translation work and creation care, or two translation checks instead of one).
- combining multiple countries and visits during one trip (a partner visit in Papua and a course in Thailand).
- planning visits in the most efficient itinerary and combination (from team meeting in Canada to the Biodiversity Summit in Colombia).
