Andrew White on LinkedIn: What we lose if we stop travelling on business

As my travel lurched to a halt last year and I put my roots further into the ground, I was forced to reflect for some time (and that forced reflection seems to be persisting somewhat!). Here are my insights: 1. I am privileged to be able to experience different cultures through my work and it has certainly enriched my life 2. Many of my trips over the years have been unnecessary but I liked it. It made me feel important, I could tell my friends about it, I ate out in nice restaurants and saw some cool sights! My status certainly got a regular boost. 3. My travel took me away from my own place, my own community. It was only in 2016 when I had a deep community experience away from home that I realised I lacked community at home. I have since been addressing it but I do believe that a sense of community where we live is one of the things that has suffered as a consequence of our global travel obsession. 4. Our planet needs us all to make some tough choices about how much we travel. If we don't do this now we will be forced to later, and I don't want to experience that kind of 'later' Thanks for posting Andrew!

7 Likes

1mo

Dr Bettina Wittneben, MBA

I stopped travelling by plane for work in 2009 as I realised how damaging air travel is for the climate and the shut-down of the climate talks in Copenhagen demonstrated governments' inability to tackle the climate crisis. It is difficult at times to explain this to colleagues when they want you to travel, but overall, I am glad I can look back and know that I didn't contribute as much to the loss of those coastlines described in the article as I could have. Cutting back on air travel may be the most effective way of lowering your carbon footprint. Simply put: fly today, no tomorrow. You can still go to Venice and Toulouse, by the way.

6 Likes

2mo

More from this author

Leadership2050; introduction, critical questions and your feedback

How much is conflict costing you?

Brexit: Our Leadership Challenge

What we lose if we stop travelling on business

ft.com

More from this author

Leadership2050; introduction, critical questions and your feedback

How much is conflict costing you?

Brexit: Our Leadership Challenge