Travelling Thoughts

I don’t think this blog would have come into existence if I didn’t love travelling. Ever since I was a wee boy, I’ve travelled the world. The first trip that I can even very vaguely remember was a trip from Finland to Hawaii, and it must have been nearing the end of the 1970s. Since then, I’ve been going around the globe.

It has definitely been a long journey from my first trip to today, and in the modern age, the climate, modes of transportation, and geopolitics themselves have changed – in more ways than one.

Gone are those airplanes from where you could see thick, black smoke when their engines started propelling the iron bird onwards. Gone are those cruise ships that billowed smoke from their multiple chimneys, and no one batted an eyelid.

As an avid traveller, I have to say that it is excellent that technology goes on and especially towards greener options! The greatest good news on travel in the recent years must be from a Swedish company whose full-electric passenger turboprops have been booked, for instance, by Air Canada.

In other equally excellent travel news is the building of Rail Baltica, connecting the Baltic States to central Europe by train. It means good connection for us Finns from Tallinn onwards if we want to take a train.

Trains Are the Good News?

Climate change, or actually climate emergency is no small matter and all of us should be doing our part to save the only planet we have from destruction. But, and there is always a but, are we willing to sacrifice our creature comforts to work on that?

As a registered nurse I have seen time and time again that going cold turkey doesn’t usually work, or at least it has a greater chance of failure than making the change in small, manageable steps. Those small steps are maybe the key to change our thinking in our everday lives as well as in travels. As an example: my wife and I have been improving our car over the course of past decade; we changed from a diesel car to hybrid Prius, then to hybrid Corolla, which turned out to be a disappointment after the Prius. Then we dabbled with a plug-in RAV4 before ending up with a leased Lynk & Co. 01, which is also a plug-in version. Since Lynk & Co. no longer support their leasing model, we swapped back to Toyota, this time to a more compact Yaris Cross Hybrid. The jury is still out on the quality of this change.

We have done multiple road trips in and across Western Europe with almost all of those cars. Yaris is still lacking in driving this kind of long distance test with us. As a funny side note: we never thought of taking the RAV4 for a spin between Finland and Spain. There wasn’t a single particular reason why, but one of the considerations was the fuel economy that we witnessed whilst driving in Finland. But as it happened… even if it was the heaviest, and sturdiest of the bunch, the fuel economy turned out to be one of the best.

Now you might understand what my point is. There is an ideology that propels us onward; getting more and more fuel economic, and hopefully some day soon, to an affordable full-electric car. At the same time, however, the creature comforts come into play. The majority of full-electric cars don’t currently possess that range what we would like for cross-continent road trips, thus making the drives too dependent on charging point infrastructure all around Europe. And if they do, the cost of the car is too high to bear.

Take a Train, Then?

Don’t get me wrong, I love trains, and even more so after finding out several YouTubers whose channels are all about train journeys all around the globe! And now that train operators in central Europe are re-introcuding night trains on longer routes, taking a road trip on rails is definitely in the cards for us. Or would that be a rail trip?

But… Choosing a car over a train still offers more convenience. Car allows the freedom to go around smaller places, using roads in areas that trains don’t go into. These choices sometimes result in cheaper food and accommodation.

But… on the other hand, taking a train or a multitude of trains, when crossing a continent, would definitely allow both of us to sit down, relax, and watch the scenery go by.

When Rail Baltica is finally finished, hopefully in 2030, the connections between Finland, via Estonia and other Baltic states, connect us with cities such as Berlin and beyond. At the moment we could take a train from Stockholm, Sweden, to Berlin as well, so we are not completely cut off from using trains even when we live behind the Baltic Sea.

But Surely You Are Not Flying!?!

Of course I am flying. It still remains a matter of necessity, even if geopolitics come into play.

When you work in the modern rat race, and you have a mere week off, getting from point A to point B quickly and efficiently becomes mandatory. For us this meant quickly popping to Malaysia for our nephew’s wedding.

Even if it is my dream to be one day able to drive from Finland to Malaysia (sponsors, feel free to contact me 😉 for occasions like these, that would be impossibility. But what is an option is to choose the airline wisely. The newer the aircraft they use, the newer is the technology they use, and the less CO2 emissions is the result.

In Europe, we have a great example of this, greener thinking. Air Baltic, the Latvian air carrier, is only using the Airbus A220s, which have been hailed as one of the most green aircraft for the moment. Finnair just placed an order for Embraer’s E195-E2’s which helps to cut down on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Making a conscious, and vocalised choice with airlines will make them renew their fleet greener, over time of course. This choice, for now, comes with a price tag. Usually newer airplanes mean more costs for the companies and those costs trickle down to the ticket prices. But, as the consumer, the choice is yours.

The Wallet Factor

Sadly I am not an influencer with tens of thousands of followers on my YouTube, Instagram, and other accounts, so I could use all of that revenue to fuel our travels. This reality check factor means that there is the bank balance to consider as part of any planning we do. I dare suggest that this applies to most of us.

Pre-Covid, we had the low-cost airline boom, which forced all air travel prices to come down. Post-Covid, we have seen the prices of the airline tickets go up again. But not all is bleak. At least here in Finland, the cost of the train travel has gone down post-Covid.

As anyone knows, the fuel prices have gone up, yet again, as the Russia-Ukraine war keeps on dragging on, and the current conflict between USA, Israel, and Iran has caused every supply chain possible to panic. This has definitely increased the cost of driving, locally and if you even think of any road trips.

And all this when we, the normal people, should be ecological and think of the climate effect of our travels, and choose the most climate neutral option.

But when it comes to travel and expenses, one of the key considerations in our family is the wellbeing of our doggoes. As you can see, we have two of them, Mika and Lola, who have been in more countries during their 9 years of life, than many people in their lifetime. Having furry babies means logistics cost more, and need to be planned more carefully. Some airlines charge ridiculous amounts for transporting pets, but luckily there are also those, which should be labelled as pet friendly. Maybe I should do a comparison on the airlines based on this, what do you think?

Travelling Paws

Having pets is also one of the reasons why we often opt in for a car. This allows them to travel in familiar setting, and we can have pee breaks when we need them, not when some timetable tells us to. Also, many train companies don’t really allow pets, except when muzzled and/or kept in a carrier box, which would add more luggage to be hauled around. Another topic to be covered in the future?

Even if you travel with a car, taking ferries is another question. Again, some companies allow pets in cabins, and even have designated pet cabins for this. Fantastic pet friendliness.

But then there are some that only allow pets to stay in kennels for the duration of the voyage. We recently checked Brittany Ferries from North of Spain to Ireland as an idea of making a detour to an island which we love. The crossing is more than 24 hours, which is expected as the distance is long. But for that time you would have to keep dogs in a kennel room in cages. For me, that borders animal abuse, as the sounds and whereabouts are completely different from what your pets are accustomed to. To top this off with restricted visitor hours, would make the experience more of a prison sentence than relaxing sea voyage on a summer break.

Do You Always Have To Go Far?

Why take a long road trip if it is difficult? Well, the answer is that you don’t have to! There are so many places and hidden gems in your vicinity to explore. During the last Halloween, we drove from Central Finland to Kemi, in Lapland, as we wanted to do something for my few days off from work.

Recently, in Spain, we drove from Malaga to the Alpujarras area spending a fabulous day there in the small villages. That is what makes the road trips so much fun. You don’t have to plan an extensive route covering thousands of kilometres and multiple countries to make most of it.

And that’s where I am at; stuck between a hybrid Yaris and a night train, between a dream of driving to Malaysia and the stark reality of a 24‑hour ferry kennel for our poodles. Stuck, but in the best way—because being stuck between things means there are still paths to choose.

The truth is, travel in this era is a constant negotiation. With your budget, your conscience, your schedule, and your pets. But it’s also a privilege. Even when it’s messy, even when the price jumps or the route closes, the act of choosing to explore—to see what’s around the next bend or across the next border—is one I hope I never lose. And judging from my history… I don’t think I will.

So tell me: how do you make it work? What’s your non‑negotiable when you travel? Where do I find thr sponsors for my mad idea of driving all thr way to Malaysia, and documenting it on the way. And should I really do that airline pet‑policy comparison?

Let me know in the comments. And if you’d like to help fund the next road trip (or the next blog post), you know where to find the coffee link.