Since 2019, I've pledged to take no more than one flight per year. Living locally keeps us more peaceful, happy, grounded, and involved in our local communities - in addition to reducing our carbon footprint. Life here is enough.

I've been aware of the outsized impact of airline flying since becoming acquainted with www.footprintnetwork.org in the early 2000s. This group won the top award from the Nobel Sustainability Trust in 2024. I learned about FlightFree.org at the Kinetic Grand Championship in Humboldt County, California, where the FLYtLESS kinetic sculpture took top prize in this "triathlon of the art world." These achievements represent, in my opinion, the new definitions of "success" and "glamour." It's great to know a little about the wide, wide world, but there are plenty of ways to do that without flying in airplanes.

I haven't flown since 2001 due to my neurodivergencies, and later, due to my size due to medications I take for my neurodivergencies. I now also refuse to fly due to the dangers from FAA cuts, due to the flagrant constitutional violations of ICE, and due to the Climate Crisis that is exacerbated by flight emissions. I pledge to continue to be flight free until the Climate Crisis, and all of the other above issues, are addressed!