I’m working on lowering my transportation emissions this year by assessing how much I am flying and talking to friends and family about how to reduce the number of flights I’m taking. This is hard for me because I grew up across the country and have friends and family who live far away. It seems important to me to have these conversations with others so that we can creatively come up with flight-free solutions to seeing loved ones and also so that this thinking and conversations have a ripple effect in the broader community.

My partner and I wanted to go on a spring vacation to somewhere warmer and with good access to hiking, biking and mountains. Even though a flight to Arizona or California was tempting, this was the perfect opportunity to challenge ourselves to go somewhere we could drive to – so we headed to Ashville NC and Greenville SC area. Driving allowed us to easily transport bikes and camping gear, and dramatically cut our emissions and costs of travel. This is definitely a vacation idea I will share with others!

—Lucia