When Sacha Shaw decided to move from Melbourne to Canada, he was determined to travel without flying.
But the environmental researcher and freelance journalist hadn't even left Australian shores when he realized it was going to be harder than he initially thought.
Shaw traveled by bus and train to Mount Isa in January before hitchhiking through the Northern Territory to Darwin.
There he contacted several freighter companies sailing to Indonesia, but he says he was "pretty much laughed out of Darwin harbour".
He eventually put up what he calls his 'lost dog poster' around Darwin harbour, which simply read: 'Are you heading north and looking for your crew?'
Related: 'It takes planning and commitment': how to camp sustainably
It was a month before someone called and said they were sailing to East Timor and then to Indonesia.
The journey was anything but smooth sailing, he says, and included engine failures, a storm that tore the ship's sails and a medical emergency on board that forced them to be towed to Dili port by a port authority vessel.
Since then, his journey has smoothed out and he has now come to Dubai via Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Tibet, Nepal, Northern India, Pakistan and Iran. Travel was a combination of ferries, passenger ships, trains, buses, motorcycles and elevators.
"There are so many ways to travel without flying. It only becomes a problem when crossing international waters," he says.
Many Australians are increasingly concerned about their flygskam (flight shame), but the sad reality is that other options for international travel here may be limited.
Tony Wheeler, founder and former head of Lonely Planet, told Guardian Australia he is "much less convinced" when he hears about fly-free travel from someone living in Europe.
"Not being able to fly is no problem at all for the Greta Thunbergs of this world who live in Stockholm. They would find it a completely different story if they lived in Sydney or Tokyo."
The story continues
So how realistic is it to get to OS from Oz without jumping on a plane?
Cruise ships
There are, of course, plenty of cruise ships leaving Australian shores, but their environmental achievements are hardly something to celebrate.
The International Council on Clean Transportation discovered in 2022 that traveling by cruise ship almost always causes more CO2 emissions than flying and staying in a hotel. The research shows that the world's largest cruise ships emit around 250 grams of CO2 per passenger kilometer, compared to 80 grams on longer flights with lower emissions, although the analysis did not take into account other gases such as methane.
The environmental think tank Energy Monitor calculated that an average seven-day cruise covering a distance of 1,096 km one way would generate an average of three times as many emissions as flying.
Swipe right for a sailboat
Whether you are an established sailor or a novice sailor, there are a number of websites, including Find a Crew or Crew Bay, that match yachts and sailboats with potential crew members from all over the world, including from Australia.
Be sure to take safety precautions as some women have reported unwanted sexual advances and even assault while at sea.
Suggestions from former victims include asking captains for a copy of their passports, video chatting before hopping aboard, and taking down contact information for local police in the areas you're traveling to.
Cargo ships
Worldwide there are websites such as Cargo Ship Travel and Maris Freighter Cruises that offer limited passenger berths on freight ships. But don't expect them to be cheaper than flying, and their schedule is irregular at best.
In terms of time, the duration of the trip depends on how often the ship will stop, but as an idea, a company offers trips from China to Los Angeles, taking fifteen days to cross the Pacific Ocean.
Related: Never fly again? Going vegan? It was too hard. But I still reduced my emissions by 61% and made life easier and better | Jo Klei
Chris Zeiher, senior director at Lonely Planet, says that since Covid it has become virtually impossible to get berths on container ships from Australia.
"Freighter cruising was once a solid no-fly option for Australians, but post-pandemic there are almost no options available locally," he says.
A spokesperson for the Maritime Union of Australia said while cargo ships carried passengers in the past, the practice has largely stopped because these ships are generally crewed by foreign companies and workers who rarely have systems in place to transport passengers.
Other options
If going completely fly-free is too difficult, it can be a lot easier once you get to Indonesia.
Although flying from Melbourne to Jakarta still emits around a tonne of CO2, that is still significantly less than the 3.3 tonnes produced by flying all the way to London.
Of course you have to reserve longer for the trip. Shaw spent six months traveling from Indonesia to Dubai and says he had spectacular experiences. "After I left the sailboat I just used local ferries, and it was a fantastic way to travel, faster than you would expect, even though it can take a while.
"The longest boat trip I took was about 50 hours with about 2,000 other people - I was one of two foreigners and had a great time."
The other option, of course, is to make peace with exploring closer to home.
Related: Airfares are likely to remain stubbornly high as the tastes of travel-loving Australians change
Peter Miller, a Melbourne filmmaker and member of Flight Free Australia, says when he and his wife made the decision to stop flying, they knew it would mean never leaving Australia.
"It was a difficult decision because we have family abroad," he says. "It took some deliberation, but ultimately we understood that we could not in good conscience continue to contribute to the problem in such a major way - especially just for personal pleasure.
"So we revised our life goals, expanded our horizons a little and put our dollars into our own Australian tourism industry. For the most part, it's been a pretty positive experience."
