Go Slow across Europe! Listen to the Standard podcast

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Remember a few years back, when everyone was obsessed with hygge? This Danish word which defined a specific feeling of coziness was inescapable – not least in the pages of women’s glossies. It had us all dimming the lights, lighting up candles and jumping into our onesies as the days shortened.

Well, we’d like to share with you a Scandi term that we think deserves to supplant that one. Translating as ‘train brag’, tågskryt is a Swedish concept that was coined in 2018 by Sweden’s flight-free movement to encourage anyone travelling by train to post pictures and videos of their journeys on social media. The aim was simple: to celebrate the joys of rail travel, while encouraging people to fly less.

That’s what we’re doing in the latest episode of our sustainable travel podcast, which is brought to you in partnership with Intrepid Travel.

This week, Juliet Kinsman and Jon Weeks are channeling the spirit of tågskryt, to reveal why going slow on your travels around Europe is not just better for the environment, but also just better full stop.

After all, isn’t there something infinitely more rewarding about slow travel? We’d take the opportunity to sit in a carriage and watch the scenery roll lazily by every time over being in a pressurized aircraft cabin – but particularly so when the views are spectacular, as they were for Juliet when she travelled to Arosa in the Swiss Alps on a narrow-gauge railway. You can find out more about that journey in the episode.

Richard Hammond author of The Green Traveller: Conscious adventure that doesn’t cost the earth is also on hand to explain why it’s always better to travel overland. And later in the show, we’ll chug through Slovenia, one of Europe’s greenest nations, with the aid of Tine Murn, of New Deal Europe, and former director of the Slovenian Tourist Board in the UK.

‘But it’s more expensive to travel this way’, we hear you say. Well, it doesn’t have to be if you follow our advice, which includes getting a Eurail pass, which allows access to 40,000 destinations in 33 countries.

Planes emit, on average, 4.84 times more greenhouse gas emissions than trains, so making the decision not to fly really is a no-brainer on so many levels.

And if you want bookable tips for your next trip then allow us to direct you to Helen Coffey’s terrific article, which recommends seven of the best flight-free trips to take right now, from railing it to Sicily to setting sail for Spain.

Also mentioned: The Bucket List Eco Experiences: Traveling the World, Sustaining the Earth by Juliet Kinsman, published by Universe.

In next week’s episode, the Standard’s Sustainable Travel podcast transports you to Ecuador, where the economic impact of the right travel choices is in the spotlight. Our travel-along podcast of sustainable-travel inspiration can be found on Apple, Spotify or wherever you usually stream your podcasts

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