Bristol to Tokyo Plane Free!

Yesterday, Louise Rouse, environmental illustrator (and my girlfriend for the last 4 months), embarked from Bristol Temple Meads Train Station on a journey by train and boat that will take her across nine time zones and ten countries over the next three and a half weeks (you can do it in two if you go direct). When she arrives in Tokyo, she plans to study Japanese language and illustration for the next two years. I am so sad to see her go, but share her excitement about her new life in Japan, and her adventure getting there. It’s also a great excuse to do this journey myself and go visit her! Lou was partly inspired by my plane free trip a year ago from San Francisco to Bristol, and like me, has decided to give up flying because of the growing damage that aviation is inflicting on our climate.

As I write this on Sunday morning, Louise has just arrived in Berlin on an overnight train from Brussels, and will take another train this evening to St Petersburg, Russia. Then, a train to Moscow. From there, she rides the Trans-Siberian railway to Ulan Bataar, Mongolia. Then its on to Beijing, Shanghai, and a ferry to Yokohama.

You can follow her travels during September on her very erudite LouiseRouse.com/blog and also be sure to check out her wonderful and humorous environmentally themed illustrations at LouiseRouse.com. To book your own rail and sea voyage anywhere in the world, instead of flying, see seat61.com. Bon Voyage my dear!