How to Airplane Diet: Fly Less, Videocall More (Video)

"Should it not be possible to see by telegraph...?"- Alexander Graham Bell, April 11, 1891.

Today, anyone with a webcam and an Internet connection can make a videocall and that is changing the way we communicate and could change the way we move about. If you can see and talk to our family and friends at any given moment that we're both online, shouldn't we be able to fly or drive just a bit less? Businesses are cutting their travel budgets thanks to telepresence systems -- so why can't we apply the same concept at home?

Obviously, other senses like touch are more important to families than to co-workers, so while we won't entirely give up traveling to see loved ones, I think we can fly or drive less and still be just as happy if not happier for it.

A Year Without Flying

For the sake of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, I (a former-frequent-flier) have decided to not fly for a year (or thereabouts) and instead use Internet video calls -- in my case Skype -- to stay in touch with friends and family.

Since I live 6,000 miles from my parents and several thousand from most good friends and family, I can't simply fall back on a bicycle to avoid air travel and instead, I've had to change the way I communicate to make the distance- at least momentarily- disappear. I've substituted intense camped-out-at-mom-and-dad's-house visits for more frequent let-me-see-the-weather or check-out-my-new-dress type chats.

Now six months into my experiment, I don't feel isolated, but instead I've talked to a more diverse range of friends and family members than I normally would have in the same time period and I haven't missed many moments.

In this video, I've edited together moments from my video calls for the past year. It's part family album (my parents watched my belly grow and met my 2nd daughter online while I watched my older sister's stomach stretch with twins and met her two boys) and part adventures in babysitting (my parents mind my daughter, and have helped potty train her, via Skype). I've met friends' new boyfriends, my daughter has watched my parents put the angel on their Christmas tree and my parents have watched us brush our teeth (a lot). Basically, what happens in our house, happens on videophone.

• For more on my year without flying, see my extended post on faircompanies Life on the small screen: fly less, video chat more.

 

Follow Kirsten Dirksen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kirstendirksen

Comments

[Philip123]

10:23 PM on 03/03/2010

What is interesting to me is to also consider just how much of government and business work could be done through telecommunications. Probably could eliminate almost all travel. As I also feel that quite often the "work" being done by government and many big businesses is actually counterproductive to a prosperous society, the least they could do is to be frugal while trying to screw things up for everyone else;)
http://healthjournalclub.blogspot.com/

[Kirsten Dirksen]

06:19 AM on 03/09/2010

I would agree that nearly anyone could benefit from less travel and more video chat. And some companies are using it more, but I think there is still some reliance on the importance of face time, at least for some businesses. Though as bandwidth and technology improve (there are now options for HD webcams, screens, etc), I think we'll find less of a difference between being somewhere in person and being there via telepresence, especially with businesses and governments where there are no hugs from grandpa that you miss out on.