From October to November 2019 I travelled from England to New Zealand to join a family reunion in the South Island. This blog series details my thinking, decisions and then the stages of the actual trip. It took much more money, probably more emissions, and a lot more time than flying. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures, perhaps reading some of the account, and researching your own train/ferry/ship journey!

Find a CNN article recounting the story of a young man who took twenty-four trains from UK to Ningbo. What was he doing? I only took six! As a sidebar of the article, you will also find a comparison of carbon efficiency in some of the biggest airlines.

Blog Series MENU

Planning Parts

Part I: Is there any other way to get from UK to the Antipodes without flying? Why not fly?

Part II: Should you book your freighter cruise first?

Part III: What reasoning to avoid flying? What is the English environmental movment? What do Totnes, Transition Town and Extinction Rebellion have in common?

Part IV: Is Real Russia a good support system for ticketing and visas? How far should I plan ahead?

Part V: What’s the best way to organise Visas?

Part VI – What do Science, Politics and Spirituality have to do with travel?

Travel Stages

Stage One – ferry from Harwich to Hoek of Holland and visiting Rotterdam

Stage Two – train to Germany and exploring Hamburg harbour

Stage Three – train to Berlin to visit memorials and consider humanity

Stage Four – train to Warsaw and considering a different kind of memorial

Stage Five – overnight train from Warsaw to Moscow

Stage Six – visiting Moscow to marvel at metro stations

Stage Seven – multi-page post TransSiberian – TransMongolian Railway from Moscow to Beijing

Stage Eight – visiting Beijing and the Great Wall of China

Stage Nine – out of China: trains to Ningbo, Fuzhou and Pingtan and ferry to Taiwan

Stage Ten – train travel through Taipei, Tainan and, finally to Kaohsiung, the largest port in Taiwan

Stage Eleven – Two weeks shipping with CMA CGM Coral from Taiwan to New Zealand

Flyskam: flight shame – to Tågskryt: train bragging!