Travel Agents of Change exhibition opens on Saturday

Travel Agents of Change project showcases stories of flight-free holidays from Edinburgh

Local sustainable transport project Porty Community Energy launches an exhibition this coming Saturday featuring the stories of local people who have bucked the holiday trend and opted not to take a cheap flight to their vacations from the capital, choosing to travel more slowly instead.

Porty Community Energy launched their ‘Travel Agents Of Change’ project last November as a competition for people in Edinburgh, asking to be sent the best stories of flight-free travel from the capital.

The project organisers were delighted to receive more than sixty entries. The best stories have now been published as a colourful Zine that will be sold in bookshops across the city.

And a smorgasboard of colourful photos, top slow travel tips, recommendations for the best places to go, and quotes from contributors explaining the highlights of their trips, has been made into a 21 panel outdoor exhibition that will tour the city.

While some contributors to the project found scenic adventures in Scotland and the UK, many more travelled further afield.

Competition entrants shared their slow travel adventures which included a trip to a monastery in Belgium, taking the Eurostar to a hotel in Venice, family Eurorail passes to go skiing in the Alps, and biking and sailing in the Friesian isles.

What’s more, contributors argued that, far from being a second-rate option, travel by bus, train and ferry is the very best way to go on holiday, offering a chance to wind down, enjoy the view, and is very sociable too.

The aim of the exhibition is to persuade people of the delights of a flight-free holiday and to help make it easy to plan such a holiday whether they have a small family, are looking for something more active, or really want a once in a lifetime experience.

The first exhibition opening will take place in Portobello and will feature presentations from two of the contributors. Councillor Jane Meagher, Head of Edinburgh City Council will officially open the exhibition.

Future destinations for the exhibition will include a couple of weeks at the Water of Leith visitor’s centre in February, and a Pancake Day launch in Bruntsfield organised by BANZAI – Bruntsfield Area Net Zero Action Initiative in March.

Project coordinator Hazel Darwin-Clements said: “‘Less than 20% of the global population has been on a plane. It’s time we stopped seeing it as either normal or aspirational to fly regularly for holidays.

“As someone who now considers it quite normal to plan a summer holiday with my family using trains, buses or a car share, I know what great holidays there are out there for people who no longer wish to burn the excessive carbon needed for a cheap flight abroad.

“Dark, cold January is apparently the most popular time for people to book their holidays away. So this exhibition is to inspire this year’s holiday-makers – because it’s easier than you think to choose a flight-free holiday and there are so many hidden gems out there.’

PICTURES:

Skiing in the alps – Sarah Lewis

Cairngorm Mountain – Kathalena Leung