Life Squared - Helping you to live well

Travel is one of the most important aspects of our lives - it gives us freedom and connects us with other people, and we spend a great deal of money on it.  Our travel habits also have a substantial effect on our environment - both local and global.

The mass use of cars, and more recently, air travel, in the last century has changed our lives, but this has led to some peculiar thinking - firstly 'getting away' is seen as a good thing in itself and we often forget the pleasures of staying at home - whether it's in our own country, town or house.

Secondly, many people now (incorrectly) feel it is their right to have unlimited cheap travel - as explained in this article by Simon Jenkins which explores our obsession with hypermobility.  Many companies are also offering 'ethical' or 'green' travel or holidays that are nothing of the sort - flying half way round the world for a holiday is not green just because you are staying in a treehouse when you get there.

To live in a more enlightened way, we will need to consider our relationship with places and travel.  Here are a few links to help us do this:

The Man in Seat 61

A brilliant travel website that gives you all the information you need to find and buy tickets for international travel (particularly in Europe) without needing to fly.  It makes a complicated European rail system (reasonably) easy to navigate!

Sustrans

Organisation campaigning for sustainable transport.  They run the national cycle path network and have guides, routes and advice on various forms of sustainable transport - from public transport to cycling to walking.