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challenges
October 2009 
A small step for a woman and a man, but no giant leap for mankind
Posted on Sep 4th, 2008
by 
Daroy
Daroy
Diana and i recently returned from a week-long vacation in the Highlands of Scotland. I should feel quite happy about the trip, because we managed to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible.
We had decided not to travel by air but by train and bus (which meant it took us about 20 hours to get to our destination ... -- Diana deserves a big hug for agreeing to this despite her love of flying).
Moreover we stayed at Shenval (about 12 miles west of Loch Ness) in a likeable little bed and breakfast place with organic food and low energy consumption. As we explored the surroundings, we did so only on foot, by bike and bus, and occasionally by hitchhiking. And when we went to the supermarket, we used our own bags and bought mostly local and organic food.
Apart from those efforts at travelling sustainably, we thoroughly enjoyed the wild beauty and grandeur of the landscape, the friendliness and helpfulness of the inhabitants, and the spiritual quality of places like Findhorn (yes, we made it there!) and Glen Affric.
The fact that i'm still not really satisfied is due to the sad news i keep hearing about world leaders' poor vision with regard to the real challenges of mankind, powerful lobbyists who either influence decision-makers against their own long-term interests, or the decision-makers themselves who follow their primitive instincts instead of common sense and spiritual wisdom. There is a president who keeps talking about the dangerous world we live in and how America needs to fight terrorism, but of course he never mentions the dangers of dwindling forests and species, of rising seas, of multiplying storms, of starving masses, because those can't be fought with weapons and tanks and the oily blood they need to come to life -- the products of an economy based on fear.
How much worth is a little effort like ours in the face of such giant ignorance, arrogance, insanity??
We had decided not to travel by air but by train and bus (which meant it took us about 20 hours to get to our destination ... -- Diana deserves a big hug for agreeing to this despite her love of flying).
Moreover we stayed at Shenval (about 12 miles west of Loch Ness) in a likeable little bed and breakfast place with organic food and low energy consumption. As we explored the surroundings, we did so only on foot, by bike and bus, and occasionally by hitchhiking. And when we went to the supermarket, we used our own bags and bought mostly local and organic food.
Apart from those efforts at travelling sustainably, we thoroughly enjoyed the wild beauty and grandeur of the landscape, the friendliness and helpfulness of the inhabitants, and the spiritual quality of places like Findhorn (yes, we made it there!) and Glen Affric.
The fact that i'm still not really satisfied is due to the sad news i keep hearing about world leaders' poor vision with regard to the real challenges of mankind, powerful lobbyists who either influence decision-makers against their own long-term interests, or the decision-makers themselves who follow their primitive instincts instead of common sense and spiritual wisdom. There is a president who keeps talking about the dangerous world we live in and how America needs to fight terrorism, but of course he never mentions the dangers of dwindling forests and species, of rising seas, of multiplying storms, of starving masses, because those can't be fought with weapons and tanks and the oily blood they need to come to life -- the products of an economy based on fear.
How much worth is a little effort like ours in the face of such giant ignorance, arrogance, insanity??
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Makes me reflect back to 1982 when my wife and I bicycled from York up through the Lake District, to Edinburgh, to Inverness, through the Highlands and ending at the Isle of Skye. We stayed at a few youth hostels, with some friends and at some B ans B's. Unfortunately, the B and B's at that time mostly served massive amounts of cured meats!
Loved your story!