Shiver Me Timbers
Chris and I had a nice Sunday walk around town. It was nice to see nature, even in spite of the “concrete jungle”, as friends of ours used to call it. It caught my eye, when passing one of our three interconnecting rivers here in Pforzheim, how much natural energy there is for the taking in this world, yet we still have energy problems. If we were just a little cleverer about it, tapping into the world’s natural, renewable resources along with conserving the energy we use, there would definitely be enough to go around.
A subject that has for some time puzzled me is what people, conscious of their own carbon footprints, can do when they must travel internationally. The carbon emitted in order to take one flight across the ocean is so high that it almost cancels out our step forward in getting rid of our car.
I have considered becoming a passenger on one of these giant tankers that make regular crossings over the Atlantic. Did you know that you can book passage on one? It costs about $100 a day, which includes your food. Doing some research on it, I found that a guy wrote a book about his travels on a freighter. It sounds interesting, so I put it on my “to read” list. He said the food wasn’t too shabby on his first voyage. It was:
BREAKFAST
Fresh milk/ chilled orange juice
Asst'd. Cereals
Eggs to order
Fried corn beef hash
Baked beans/ plum tomato Fresh baked bread
Marmalade/jam/butter
Coffee or tea
LUNCH
Soup: Garlic soup w/crouton Salad, Greek salad
M. Course: Stir Fry Beef Tip's w/vegetable, Chips, Fried eggplant
Fresh baked bread Dessert:
Custard with toppings
Coffee or Tea
DINNER
Soup of the day
Salad of the day
Entree: Spaghetti carbonara
M. Course: Chicken in tomato herb, boiled potato Buttered pasta, steamed rice, broccoli
Asstd. Cheese/cold cuts
Fresh baked bread
Dessert: Fruit cake w/custard
Coffee or tea
This sounds good to me. I think I’ll book a ticket just for the bread. I mention it, though, because I thought it was funny when I was weighing the pros and cons aloud to Chris when I said, “Yeah, I could take one of those ships across. But, even when I make it to the States, I am still 500 miles from civilization.” This made both of us laugh, as I inadvertently grouped the entire East Cast into some kind of barbarian wasteland. I kind of feel that way, I guess. That’s probably why it slipped out. As a Midwesterner, though, I find people from the East to have such an almost innate stridency that I never really feel at home unless I’m talking to someone from “back home”, someone whom I can rely on to be somewhat polite and well-intentioned.
There I go again, being close-minded and prejudiced. I’m still voting for Obama in spite of myself.
posted by He sings @ 7:37 PM
1 Comments:
I've been planning a circum-navigation on a cargo ship. Routes and travel times vary with 91 days being the shortest run. For any voyage, the most common variety of ship that you can book passage on are container ships. Most booking agents are either Germans or Brits. Officers are usually European and the rest of the crew is usually Asian. Passengers eat with the officers and have full access to all shipboard amenities. These usually include a ship store, exercise room, lounge, library/media material, internet connectivity, and self service laundry. You also get a stateroom that is usually larger than what can be had on a cruise line, and your room is tended by a steward. Some of the drawbacks to this mode of transportation are :
1. sea-sickness - the ships are not stabilized and have a pronounced roll in even moderate seas.
2. medical issues - while the ships usually have a well equipped infirmary, they do not have doctors as part of the crew. Thus passengers must carry very hefty medical evacuation insurance policies during the voyage.
3. ports of call - most ports of call are fairly isolated from the rest of the city that they are associated with. Transportation from the port facility to some other location (eg, an airport or train station) can be difficult.
Unfortunately, I've had to postpone my round-the-world trip because the dollar has tanked so much against the pound and euro. Most freighter passenger fares are priced in pounds or euros.
On another matter, why do you think that taking a trans-atlantice plane flight increases your carbon footprint? The plane will be flying whether or not you have a seat on it, and your presence will have no, or, at most, an inmaterial effect, on increasing fuel consumption for the flight. Conversely, your decision not to take the plane saves nothing.
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