Changing the world, one plastic bag at a time. Holland & Barrett healthfood store in London bans the bag

My overriding goal for this year is to figure out how I can be of most use. No unkind comments about removing myself from the gene pool, thank you very much! I hope there are actions of a more positive kind that I can take. In Copenhagen, I had hoped to spread some inspiration, and maybe even show some moral leadership on the virtues of leading a less materialistic, more experiential, life.

Yick, yick, yick – you’re probably making gagging noises at this point. Maybe this all sounds very holier-than-thou, in which case please excuse me. But really, what else do I have to offer? I’m not a scientist, politician, or experienced activist. So as far as I could see, my most convincing contribution was to BE the change I wanted to see in the world, by showing that the pursuit of excessive amounts of “stuff” – with all the collateral damage to the environment – is not necessary to have a happy, fulfilling life.

Do I feel like I made a difference in Copenhagen? Yes, I do, but to a very limited extent.

Do I feel my strategy was on the right lines? For a while I doubted this, and wondered if I should get more involved in political activism. But I don’t have the appetite or the inclination for it. I think I was on the right lines, and should stick with the same strategy, but crank up the energy, the urgency, and the outreach by several notches, and build on the new relationships and alliances I forged in Copenhagen to take the strategy to a new level.

So how does this overall strategy look in terms of what I do and where I go? Well, unfortunately it looks like a certain amount of air travel is going to be involved yet again, but less than last year. Although my travels are offset, I completely acknowledge that it is better not to incur the carbon debt in the first place. No doubt some will argue that I only travel as much as I choose to, but my experience has been that having meetings and giving presentations in person is enormously more impactful than through electronic means. So I could sit at home (if I had one) and do all my work over the internet, but that doesn’t seem the right course for me at this stage in my life. I will just ensure that I make every journey pay its way in terms of people met and messages delivered – to the max.

So… here is my approximate itinerary, still extremely subject to change:

Seagulls standing on the frozen boating lake in Regents Park. And yes, global warming IS a reality - but it's about average temperatures, not individual instances of hot or cold weather.

Jan 11 San Francisco

Jan 11-Feb 3 Hawaii – working on book and fundraising

Feb 3-5 Vail, Colorado – Vail Symposium

Feb 5-10 San Francisco Ocean Film Festival – film of “Rowing The Atlantic” being screened (finalist in Banff Film Festival)

Feb 10-28 Hood River, Oregon – working on book (Feb 22-26 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland)

Mar 1-18 Kiribati – as guest of President of Kiribati – TBC

Mar 18-23 Seattle – to speak at National Geographic Live! presentation series

Mar 24-Apr 2 TBC

Apr 3-10 TED Galapagos – I am speaking at this prestigious event. One-off ocean-themed TED in honour of Sylvia Earle

Apr 10-15 Kiribati – to prepare for launch

April 15 to late July or early August – Pacific III: final stage to Australia (fingers crossed!)

Until October or November – in Australia and/or Southeast Asia

December – Mexico City for COP16

So – another quiet, boring year – NOT! Of course you can follow it all here on the blog. I’m excited about the next 12 months, and I hope you’ll be interested enough to follow along through the power of the internet – most of the enjoyment with none of the carbon emissions!

President Anote Tong of Kiribati

One of my abiding memories will be of the dinner I had on Friday night with the President of Kiribati and his delegation. The mood was bittersweet, poignant in its defiant optimism in the face of enormous disappointment – if “disappointment” can be a word adequate to describe a country’s reaction to its own death sentence.

The woman who had danced at the Kiribati side-event made a speech in which she declared, “We still still be here, we will not go down.” The irony was almost too much to bear. The President was open about his feelings, “We are trying to maintain our composure, but I am very sad… We were naive and vulnerable… I wish I was so much more ruthless.”

He acknowledged that he would face criticism at home for not having achieved more, but really, what more could they have done? They came. They presented their case to the assembly. They gave a side event demonstrating the scientists’ projections for their future – or lack of it. But they were ignored. Their voices were not heard, drowned out by the booming baritone of Big Money.

In a veiled criticism of the process that had let them down by excluding them and most of the world’s smaller and still developing nations, the President commented, “There is no exclusion in our society.” And he issued me a personal invitation to spend time with him and his family on one of the outer islands, to witness firsthand the multiple layers of their culture, to its deepest spiritual core.

After the President’s speech, the assembled delegation spontaneously burst into song. It was a beautiful sound. The President translated for the non I-Kiribati speakers. The general gist of the words was that no matter how lovely any other islands may be, there is no place so special to them as the islands of Kiribati. Yet those islands seem unlikely to survive the century, if the scientists are right.

Linda Anderson, the filmmaker who with her husband created the short movie “Kiribati – A Call To The World” (available on YouTube) -summed it up. “They play dirty, don’t they?”

They do. We have all learned a lot about the REAL rules of the game during these formative days in Denmark. And next time we will arrive better prepared. The fight for justice does not end here.

Other Notes:

Another video about Kiribati, the President, and climate change on YouTube

Hard-hitting advice from someone who understand the rules of the game: No one is going to save you fools

NGOs combine forces going forward – We’re not done yet

And a final note - Tweet posted by me yesterday, adapted and updated: Post-COPulation syndrome: a feeling of anticlimax, disillusionment, cynicism. Leading to increased fire in the belly.

Have you noticed how it’s often the most long-awaited and eagerly-anticipated of events that signally fail to deliver satisfaction (while the really good and memorable things happen serendipitously and unexpectedly)? And you wake up the morning after feeling rather jaded, disappointed, and wondering just what went wrong?

Welcome to my mindset after Copenhagen.

I’ve spent most of the last year planning for this event, trying to figure out how I can be of most service. I have been virtually obsessed by COP15 – my 3 Google Alerts are my name (isn’t yours?!), “copenhagen climate change” and “copenhagen conference 2009″. As Beka of TckTckTck.org put it, “We breathe , eat and sleep this issue. We’re not going to go away on Friday just because COP15 is over.”

This morning my mood as I walked through the cold winter sunshine of central Copenhagen to the Fresh Air Centre was decidedly morning-after-the-night-before. The city squares, which for the last 2 weeks have been full of exhibits, trailers, tents, and people, were almost deserted. Everything had been broken down and removed with almost indecent haste.

National leadership - too big a ship to turn?

So, I asked myself, what was it all for? All that effort, energy, and creativity, not to mention 40,500 tons of CO2 – was it all for nothing? No fair, ambitious and legally binding treaty. No commitment to take bold action on climate change. Not even an improvement in international relationships that might bode well for future negotiations – quite the opposite, in fact, with many developing countries leaving Copenhagen feeling disenfranchised and excluded. Money proved to be the strongest player, the process weak.

I don’t know what the pundits will say, or how COP15 will be viewed by the history books. But here are some positives that I will take away from the last two weeks.

- Devolution of power to elected officials of local communities: while national leaders (well, one in particular) struggle to get a clear mandate from their governments, mayors and governors are taking matters into their own hands. I have long wondered what the ideal unit of government might be – a country of 250 million (US) or even 60 million (UK) seems too big a ship to turn – and now it seems that the answer to my question is emerging, as increasing numbers of local politicians decide to provide recycling services, mandate composting, etc, at local level.

One of the faces of the future: Dominic Frongillo

- Emergence of young leaders: as Bill McKibben said yesterday in a panel discussion at the Klimaforum, it seems patronizing to separate youth from adults. Mike Eckhart went further, and suggested that anyone over 40 should be excluded from climate discussions because they’re probably banking on being dead before the full effects are felt (although they may well be mistaken). In the last two days, two of the people who have impressed me the most have been 26-year-old Dominic Frongillo, an elected official in Caroline, New York, and a 17-year-old schoolboy from London who was helping support the Kiribati delegation. Both were eloquent, intelligent, and committed. If only the same could be said of all of their elders.

- My own evolution as an environmental campaigner: I arrived in Copenhagen naive and idealistic. While I hope I haven’t lost, and never will lose, my idealism, I now see the world more as it is, and less as I would like it to be. This is a much stronger position from which to create change in the future. Having the harsh truth come and clobber you between the eyes is not a pleasant experience, but trying to ignore it, or wishing it were otherwise, is a waste of time.

And now, on a lighter note, here are a selection of things I loved about Copenhagen:

1. Being able to sit right at the front of the Metro train – there is no driver’s cab – as it whizzes along tunnels. Feels a bit like a fairground ride.

Secret Kitchen

2. Secretkitchen.dk – my favourite place for caramel lattes and cakes, just around the corner from the downtown Fresh Air Centre. Also great juices, smoothies, soups and salads.

3. Glugg – Danish mulled wine. Marvellously onomatopoeic. As is “hygge” (pronounced hooger) which means cosy, but also sounds like a big hug.

4. Pyt! – Danish word more or less equivalent to the French “tant pis”. Nearest English equivalent is “it happens”, but this lacks the idea of letting go. Pyt! (pronounced almost with no vowel sound – PT!) is a verbal flick of the hand, surrendering the stress and putting it behind you. As eventually one needs to do about the theft of a backpack full of all cherished worldly goods.

5. Friendly natives – helpful and polite, and mostly very good at English, even when facing a major invasion of COP15 foreigners. I would particularly like to mention the wonderful Gaard family, my hosts arranged by New Life Copenhagen. They invite a total stranger (and a strange ocean-rowing stranger at that!) into their home, give her a key, allow her free run of the house. Then when her bag is stolen, lend her a credit card and laptop. Incredible kindness and generosity, but delivered in a low-key and natural way. By way of thanks I arranged with UncaDoug to have some American goodies shipped over to Denmark. They had enjoyed certain all-American foodstuffs during their year in Chicago while Soren was doing his PhD at Northwestern University. The macaroni cheese mix and Aunt Jemima’s (!!!) pancake mix went down extremely well with the two young Gaards especially.

I leave Copenhagen tomorrow, with my luggage considerably lighter, my heart a little heavier, my head a little wiser. I’ll be pondering on what has happened here, and starting to evolve my environmental mission for 2010. As 2009 draws to a close, I’m looking forward to a period of reflection and rejuvenation, and preparation for challenges of the year ahead.

Yesterday there were frequent snow flurries, and this morning I woke up to a white Copenhagen. On my way to the Fresh Air Centre (FAC), the downtown media hangout for COP15, I passed a department store with large cheery penguins singing along to Boney M. All very Christmassy. But I wasn’t feeling festive. I had woken up feeling angry. Last night I had attended an excellent but disturbing event at the FAC, where George Monbiot and Naomi Klein were among the panellists. To a thronged room, the panel gave their view on recent events. Here is my best effort to summarize their comments:

1. The enforced resignation of Connie Hedegaard as President of COP15 was seen as a bad thing. She had urged the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to keep up the pressure on the decision-makers. When she was asked to stand down in favour of the Prime Minister of Denmark, the official reason was that with an unprecedented number of heads of state arriving in Copenhagen, it was more appropriate that the president of the conference should also be a head of state. But some saw a more sinister agenda: the Danish Prime Minister had last week advanced a draft treaty that was close to the weak US position. This was very unpopular with the developing nations, and his succession to the COP Presidency was seen as a negative move.

Kumi Naidoo

2. Despite this bad news, some of the panellists were still urging a last-ditch attempt to seal the deal. Barry Coates, Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand, demanded that the policy-makers “bring their sleeping bags” and not leave the Bella Center until they reach agreement. Kumi Naidoo, the dynamic Chair of TckTckTck, delivered a rousing speech saying that, “It ain’t over till the thin man in Washington signs a fair, ambitious, and legally binding treaty… it’s still a Hopenhagen, not a Flopenhagen or a Nopenhagen…”. Click here to see Kumi’s open letter to Barack Obama, and to sign the petition.

Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives

3. Naomi Klein, in a voice cracking and fading after a week of too much talking, stressed the significance of the moral high ground now held by the developing nations. “Let’s get out of our nationalistic boxes and see which countries have the most moral authority, and stand with them.” She commended the work that 350.org have done in bringing the plight of the Maldives to the fore. “We need a human face to this issue.” Using hard-hitting terminology, she likened the ecological recklessness of the developed nations to genocide – if by omission to act they permit the systematic killing of a racial or cultural group by famine, drought, or warfare over diminishing resources.

But the words that hit me hardest came from George Monbiot, a British writer, environmental and political activist. He sees climate change as a symptom of the deeper problem of “sheer bloody selfishness”. The developed countries have prioritized financial growth over our shared humanity, not caring “if I swing my fist and your nose gets in my way.” He concluded a rabble-rousing speech by saying, “Those who urge that human decency is paramount must win, and those who believe we can trash other people’s right must lose.”

As I walked home last night, I reflected on the eloquence and intelligence not just of the speakers, but also of the members of the audience who asked follow-up questions. I noted with interest that the climate change believers tend to be smart people.

Their powerful speeches percolated through my mind as I slept, and I woke up feeling angry – for all the right reasons – rather than the logistical post-theft weariness that has been my first emotion on the last few mornings. I was angry at having my illusions shattered. Angry that Big Money is running the show here. Angry at the global leaders who have been so cheaply bought. Angry that the process seems to be failing, corrupted by the love of money, the root of all evil.

Candlelight vigil - all very lovely, but what have they really achieved?

I felt angry, but also stupid. How could I have been so naive? How could I have believed that we could really make a difference? It seemed to me that the Dobermanns of Big Money was going to win the day, and we were just a bunch of fleas jumping up and down and futilely squeaking our protests.

In this frame of mind it didn’t take much to reduce me to tears.

I was among the first handful of people to arrive at TckTckTck’s Fresh Air Center, and headed for the row of communal computers. Bill McKibben arrived a few minutes later, and sat at the computer next to me. As he greeted me I apologized. I had read his 350.org newsletter yesterday and knew that he was fasting today in a show of solidarity with the poor of the world. And I was sitting with a caramel latte and croissant at my side. Even worse, my latte was in a disposable cup, my lovely Sigg mug having been stolen along with everything else.

“Hey, at this stage, a coffee cup isn’t going to make much difference,” he said. He was in self-confessed bitter mood. As the talks in the Bella Center reach their most intense – and tense – stage yet, he was pessimistic. He opined that the collapse of the talks might be the best outcome we can hope for.

“And do you think there will be another COP in July?” I asked.

“We could have COPs until the end of time, and we still wouldn’t agree anything,” he said.

Bill McKibben at the march on Sunday

I looked at him, stunned and speechless. My eyes misted. I didn’t want to believe that I had just heard him say what he had just said. I have known throughout that my optimism was based on a stubborn refusal to contemplate the consequences of failure in Copenhagen, rather than on any evidence that we might get a positive outcome, but tit was nonetheless a slap in the face to hear it stated so starkly, by a man whose opinion I respect.

Bill went on to tell me his view that COP15 has been a display of naked power. He told me that small countries have been threatened by the IMF that it will withdraw its funding if they don’t toe the line. He gave an example of a small country that had been promised two new hospitals by the Chinese if it would back their position here. Money talks, and here it has been talking the message of business as usual, and continued financial growth at the expense of our poor aching Earth.

I confessed to Bill that I had been naive when I arrived here. I really thought I could make a difference. I thought that the global leaders could surely not remain unmoved by such passionate demonstrations in support of a fair, ambitious, and legally binding deal on climate change.

But it seems I was wrong. I will leave Copenhagen more jaded than I arrived, but more realistic too, and hence hopefully more effective. The theft of my backpack has not made me believe that every person is a criminal. Likewise, I’m not going to believe that every international negotiation is hopeless. The truth lies somewhere in between my former idealism and my present cynicism. To see the world as it is, rather than as I wish it was, is no bad thing.

Other Stuff:

On a sunnier note… I had a chat with Kim Nguyen, the impressive young man who cycled here from Australia for COP15. We were comparing notes on our respective plans and adventures. He pointed out that even those who represent Big Money are human beings. And human beings can change. Awareness is growing. If we can change the hearts and minds, we can change the system.

And as I’ve been writing this blog, the word is out on Twitter that Hillary Clinton has pledged USD 100 billion (although reading this article it seems less exciting than I first thought), up from the original commitment to USD 10 billion. Definitely a move in the right direction.

So the news isn’t all bad, but personally, I’m feeling despondent and exhausted. I’ve been running nonstop since I arrived back on dry land 3 months ago, and it’s catching up with me. The theft of all my most valued possessions has been quite stressful. My eyes are tired and strained from hours of squinting at a computer screen without my glasses. I haven’t been eating properly, trying to eke out scarce cash resources borrowed from friends, by eating cheaply rather than healthily. A persistent tic in my right eyelid is a clear signal that I’m nearing my limits. Physically, psychologically, and financially, I feel pretty destroyed.

But all this pales into insignificance compared with what we will lose if there is no miracle within the next 36 hours. The loss of my laptop is nothing compared with the loss of the world as we know it.

Others have rallied around. Misty Weeks organized a whip-round in the restaurant. Yves Mathieu, a Climate Project presenter who is here in Copenhagen, has loaned me some cash. Mike Korchinsky of Wildlife Works bought me dinner last night. My host family, arranged through New Life Copenhagen, have loaned me their son’s mobile phone (ever tried using an unfamiliar phone – in Danish?!) and allowed me to use the family laptop (although I do have to fit in around the children’s homework). DaKine have been in touch to ask if they can replace my backpack and wallet.

So gradually I am getting things sorted out. My main problem at the moment is that I had hoped to rent a car for the 10 days I am in the UK, as I won’t be back there again until October next year and it would be the biggest Christmas present I could give myself to whizz around catching up with friends between Christmas and New Year. My itinerary would be just too complicated and too expensive to do by train. But I can’t rent a car without my driver’s licence and credit card, so my plans are on hold unless I can find someone to lend me a car. Any suggestions or offers welcome! And, err, I promise I’ll get my glasses replaced too before I try to drive anybody’s car anywhere!

Luckily I already had my train tickets from Copenhagen to Brussels, and Brussels to London, so at least I can get home in time for my birthday next Wednesday. 42 years old. Blimey! 21 years past 21. I probably own less, and hopefully know more, than 21 years ago.

So hopefully soon I will be getting back to normal and can refocus on what I came here for – doing my bit to help seal the deal here at COP15.

Other Stuff:

A top techie tip if your iPhone goes astray - if you use MobileMe you can use it to locate your iPhone (provided your data roaming is turned on, which unfortunately mine wasn’t).

Apologies for lack of COP15 reporting. Also apologies for no photos, but with no laptop, iPhone or camera I have no way of taking pics. But here is a short video message recorded in less impoverished times, for Planet Positive’s Vision 2020.

Until I get this mess sorted out and figure out how I’m going to get home, I will be rather busy and preoccupied. Also really rather upset. So it may be some time before I blog again.

This is the last thing I needed. I was here in Copenhagen to do all I can to help the cause. But this personal disaster is rather a distraction. It is little consolation to know that several other people at the same event were also victims of theft.

Out of interest, and also to assist in the police report, I have started to compile a list of what went missing. So you always wondered what a woman carries in her bag….?!

Macbook Pro laptop – my only computer. Software, financial information, contact info, appointments, etc. Last backup about 2 weeks ago, and excludes my photos of BB2B, COP15, etc, as well as much new contact info and details of many appointments.

iPhone 3G

Recharger cables

Sanyo Xacti video camera with footage from COP15

4 x SD memory cards (1 x 4GB, 3 x 2GB)

Quality headset for Skype calls and recording podcasts

SD card reader

SIM cards for US and UK phone numbers

Journal of personal thoughts – volume almost full

Book – The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, by Thom Hartmann

DaKine backpack

DaKine wallet

DaKine cables bag

Credit cards

Cash – krona, euros, pounds and dollars

Drivers license

Reading glasses

Notebook of To Do lists

Coat, hat, gloves

Travelcards for Copenhagen and London

Access passes for Bella Center and Fresh Air Center

USB sticks (4)

Coffee mug (made by Sigg)

Nalgene water bottle (with logo of 350.org)

DVD of my intro video for use in presentations

Postcards I was going to send out to Kickstarter backers

Map of Copenhagen

Small food container full of nuts

Larabars x 2

Pens

Lipstick

I keep thinking of more things that are going to cause problems. I’d booked my Eurostar ticket yesterday to get back to the UK, but I can’t pick it up without the debit card I used to make the booking – which of course I’ve had to cancel. I have no cards that weren’t in the bag. No doubt as today goes on I’ll think of more things that will be very difficult to replace, especially with Christmas coming up fast so anything that takes “x working days” will be affected.

So I’m hoping and praying that the culprits might have just taken the cash, even the valuables, and just dumped everything else in a bin somewhere.

The things I will miss most, of course, are my laptop and iPhone. With no insurance I don’t know if/when I will be able to replace them. For a wandering nomad, these things are my lifeline - the main way that I interface with the world. I know that worse things happen, but at the moment this is a massive inconvenience, at a crucial point in time.

Everything happens for a reason, I keep telling myself. And this had better be a darned good one.

I had to confess that my access, truth be told, is more on a spiritual level than on a direct level. Of course I would welcome an opportunity to have a chat with my mate Obama about our need for him to show strong leadership on a global move towards sustainability – but in the real world, it isn’t going to happen.

Much hilarity in the Fresh Air Center yesterday when this reporter, livestreaming from the Bella Center, was upstaged by a 350-toting polar bear

No doubt the decision-makers are aware that there is a multitude of NGOs, campaigners, scientists, bloggers, economists, activists, artists and random eco-adventurers assembled in Copenhagen, and all making a great deal of noise – demonstrations, exhibitions, side events, art installations and so on. But how much of this noise filters through the heavy doors and tight security of the Bella Center to the delegates within? Not so much, I suspect.

So what are we all doing here? Is there any point to all this frenzied activity (and all the tons of CO2 generated to get here) or is this just lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing? How open are the delegates to persuasion at this stage? Have their minds already been made up – possibly after extensive consultation with ministers, advisors, lobbyists, and captains of industry?

I don’t know the answers to these questions. I’ve been asking them for over a year now, trying to figure out what I can do to make a few waves, spread a few ripples, without being completely engulfed by the tsunami of activity around COP15. And after all this thinking I still don’t have an answer.

The Copenhagen Metro plugs Hopenhagen

All I know is that I felt an irresistible compulsion to be here. I couldn’t stand on the sidelines. I had to be here, to do what I can to make a difference. And so I write and I present and I talk to cameras and journalists and bloggers.

But most of all I am contributing my energy and intention to the cause. I might be just one of many thousands, but I have to believe that the accumulated effect of our desire for a greener future will have some influence on the politicians. To use the metaphor of the million oarstrokes it takes me to get across an ocean, one stroke doesn’t get me very far, but a million strokes carries me 3,000 miles. Likewise, my voice here may be small, but when you take the combined forces of the thousands of people in Copenhagen, and millions around the world, who are all focused on this one city and this one history-making event, and maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference.

Or to take my more recent theme that “he who controls the wind, controls all the ships” - I might just be one person standing on the shore, cheeks puffed out and blowing for all I’m worth, but if there are enough of us doing the same thing, standing on the shore and huffing and puffing, maybe we can get those ships of nations pointing the same way, moving in the same direction towards the same goal, instead of meandering around slowly on collision courses with each other.

If we all pull together, we CAN save the world!

Here's something you don't see every day. The Angry Mermaid travels home by Metro last night.

Other Stuff:

I realize here that I am veering into climate change territory – no doubt to the delight of Christopher Schmidt and the derision of the deniers. So to reassure myself, and others, that I’m standing on firm factual ground, here are 10 Facts on Climate Science – issued by the UK Government’s Act on Copenhagen team.

This afternoon I am joining in with the march from central Copenhagen to the Bella Center, followed by a candlelit vigil. I have never been on a march before – the closest I have come was the bike rally on Capitol Hill at the end of the Climate Ride in September. There have been some predictions that this afternoon could turn violent (ooh, and look -there’s a mention of my ships!) but I sincerely hope that these fears are unfounded. I am sure that most of the activists want a peaceful demonstration, and will not be happy if the event is hijacked by a small handful of troublemakers. Violence has never solved anything.

I’ll be walking with the gang from 350.org. Details of candlelight vigils around the world are on their website. It will be wonderful to imagine a global community showing solidarity with the campaigners here in Copenhagen.

Please feel free to pass the details on to anybody you know who is here in Copenhagen. All welcome!

Any overflow from the room can buy themselves a drink in the hotel bar, and the eco-adventurers will mingle with them there afterwards.

With grateful thanks to our sponsors, Green People, who provide me with organic sun lotion for my ocean adventures.

A final image from BB2B - Roz with rose from Frank

One chapter ends, another begins…. Hobbled out of BB2B and plunged straight into COP15.

Today, my first full day in Copenhagen, got off to a slightly late start. The Climate Express arrived in the Danish capital around 11pm last night, and we were directed straight up the green carpet to a welcoming party at a bar/restaurant within the station.  So what can you do when faced with free champagne and delicious-looking canapés but say “thank you very much” and partake freely? It would have been rude not to….

So it was a slightly tipsy Roz that first met Rikke Gaard, the lovely woman who has volunteered her family’s spare bedroom to a complete stranger through New Life Copenhagen. Generous householders like Rikke are accommodating thousands of visitors to COP15 – for which we are extremely grateful. It was about 1am by the time we got back to her home in the suburbs, near the airport, and I gratefully tottered off to my bedroom on the lower ground floor.

This morning I was able to get online for the first time in 36 hours, to face the resulting avalanche of emails. Buried in the morass was a message letting me know that the camera crew from the Will Steger Foundation would be ready to interview me at 10.30 this morning. I read their message at 10.25. Eeek! After firing off a quick email to let them know I would be horrendously late I got some quick directions from my hosts and headed off to the Metro stop.

Will Steger and friends

Arriving in central Copenhagen, I realized I really didn’t know where I was going. No iPhone Google Maps (due to extortionate data roaming charges) and no paper map in hand. After utterly failing to find a map shop, and getting contradictory directions from various people, I finally stumbled across a crowd of people and spotted my good friend Will Steger in their midst. Aha! And only one and a half hours late….

As it turned out, my timing was perfect. Any earlier would have been too early for them. So this is now my philosophy on COP15. There is SO much going on here, between the high level conference and the multitude of side events, that it would be impossible to come up with the perfect master plan – and I could drive myself insane even trying.

So I will go with the flow, and trust to gut feel, fate and serendipity to steer me in the “right” direction. In the midst of so much frenzied jockeying for position, these guides are as good as any.

Alison Gannett - never off duty when it comes to Saving Our Snow from the effects of climate change

And so far, the strategy is working well. After my video interview I joined UNEP for the opening of the Climate Maze and Hard Rain photo exhibition in Kongens Nytorv Square. The Mayor of Copenhagen and Achim Steiner gave rousing speeches, emphasizing the incredible importance of this historic summit. The photos, played to the accompaniment of Bob Dylan’s Hard Rain, moved me almost to tears. And I accidentally got into conversation with Achim Steiner – possibly one of the most influential, and certainly one of the most personable, people at the climate change conference.

Moving on from the freezing square into the relative warmth of the Radisson, I joined fellow BB2Been Alison Gannet for a final filmed interview with our BB2B filmmaker, Nora McDevitt, and caught up on a few emails by freeloading off the Radisson Hotel WiFii. And went for an early supper with Earth rights lawyer Polly Higgins – definitely one to watch at this conference.

But as I boarded the Metro to head home I realized I had only the haziest idea where “home” was. I had been in such a hurry in the morning that I hadn’t even noticed the name of the Metro stop where Rikke had dropped me. Eeek! This was one set of directions that gut feel wasn’t going to help me with. How embarrassing! Most people expect ocean rowers to be able to navigate their way out of anything, but there is a world of difference between navigating across an ocean and navigating an unfamiliar metro system. Eventually I had to admit defeat and with much wincing turned on the data roaming on my iPhone for the 3 minutes it took me to enter Rikke’s address and figure out the nearest metro stop. At £3 per MB I hope not to make a habit of this!

So it was with a sense of relief that I arrived at Rikke’s house tonight to be greeted by a very welcome mug of glogg (pronounced gluck, more or less) – the Danish version of mulled wine. It was a much-appreciated nightcap after a long day navigating the tricky terrains of a new city and a global summit.

Ideally I would stay up for another couple of hours to edit together a video of our BB2B walk for our sponsors Keen Footwear, but there is another busy day tomorrow and it’s already 11pm, so it may just have to wait. Sigh. It’s not easy saving the world!

Notes from today:

I have now downloaded two new apps for my iPhone that work offline, so don’t incur data charges: Metro Copenhagen and Copenhagen Offline Street Map. And also obtained a paper map of each. Phew! Now I feel more secure and less prone to navigational embarrassment!

Nice supper tonight, and probably not a bad price as Copenhagen goes – apparently recently deemed 3rd most expensive city in the world. I can recommend La Vecchia Gastronomia, Falkoner Alle 17, 2000 Frederiksberg. The mussels were especially good!

To buy Hard Rain on Amazon, here’s the link:

With Cornelia in Cologne

Apologies for not blogging Friday – yet again my laptop had gone AWOL in the camera car, as had my iPhone recharger, so I couldn’t even resort to my previous Plan B. So sorry that I wasn’t able to update you sooner, but I hope you enjoyed following our arrival on Baldwin’s Blogspot.

So here are the stats: 3 countries, 15 days, 250 miles, an estimated 500,000 steps. Big Ben to Brussels. Me and 4 fantastic but footsore friends.

Friday:

Friday seemed almost too easy. We woke up with less than 10 miles to go, and had to dawdle along to allow the camera crew time to film us. Walking slowly was surprisingly hard – after 2 weeks on the road we had settled into a natural rhythm, and to slow down was at least as hard as walking faster would have been.

We ended as we had begun – in the rain. To slow ourselves down we stopped for several breaks along the way, including a coffee break in one of Brussels’s more elegant hotels. Think W Hotels (US) or the Sanderson (London) – and imagine 5 little orange people traipsing across the achingly chic reception into the bar, dripping rainwater and shedding mud as they go. Yup, we were about as welcome as pork pies at a bar mitzvah.

The waiter sniffed disdainfully as we deposited our backpacks and skis on the floor and settled ourselves gratefully into their elegant armchairs. Belatedly, and with a sigh of resignation, he finally deigned to take our order. Supermodels and smart businessmen looked in bafflement at these oddballs in their midst. We didn’t care. We were warm and dry and about to have hot chocolate.

Restored, we headed back out into the grey winter’s day. Luckily the media had not been deterred by the weather. We had a good little turnout, including several representatives from UNRIC, the United Nations Regional Information Centre.

Frank Koelewijn, who had contacted me via my blog and became our local “fixer”, presented us with lovely orange roses. Baldwin (who hosted us for dinner at his home in Bergen op Zoom) arrived late and breathless, having been sent to the wrong side of town by a not-so-helpful passerby. He may well have covered more miles than we did yesterday in his desperate search around the city.

Interviews and photographs complete, we went for a short walk through the beautiful squares of Brussels, cheerful with Christmas decorations in the gathering dusk. We dropped off our bags at the house of Yves Mathieu, a Climate Project presenter who had offered us accommodation and then headed out by Metro to find Les Larmes du Tigre (the tears of the tiger) – a Thai restaurant chosen by Frank for our celebratory dinner.

The icing on the cake of a very special day was to find Anthony Swift sitting at our table with Frank. Team BB2B has much to thank Anthony for – it was through him and his wife Bex that I met Laura and Jane, and also the Cherry family who plied us with tea and chocolate cake at their home in Essex, many miles and 2 countries ago. Unable to resist the allure of a party in honour of several good friends, Anthony had in mid-afternoon decided to hop on the Eurostar and come and join us.

So the journey that had taken us over 2 weeks took Anthony just 2 hours. Sigh.

Reflections:

But the quality of a journey cannot necessarily be measured by its speed. My ocean rows have taught me, if anything can, that the journey can matter more than the destination.

Sore of foot, aching of limb, and ever so slightly smelly after our long walk from Big Ben to Brussels, I wouldn’t change a single thing about our amazing trek. We set out almost as strangers – I had met Jane just once before we started planning BB2B, Laura likewise, Alison only during the Climate Ride in September, and Mary briefly at the October 24 Day of Action organized by 350.org – but we were all firmly committed to our goal, and supported each other through thick and thin. Not one of us avoided injury and pain, but we jollied each other along and made each other laugh, think, and grow.

Saturday:

I was feeling nostalgic about our time together even before we had parted company. We are now scattering to the four winds – Laura caught the train back to London last night, and Mary will travel back with Jane and her husband Sunday, while Alison and I caught the UN Climate Express train Saturday morning, bound for Copenhagen.

Photo opp in the UNEP carriage of the Climate Express. I'm bottom left, next to Franny Armstrong and in front of Lizzie Gillett of Age of Stupid. Alison Gannett with the dark hair, in the middle. Nora McDevitt, filmmaker, on far right.

As I wrote this I was sitting in Coach 2, while Achim Steiner (UNEP’s Executive Director and UN Under-Secretary General) was sitting in the seat behind me being interviewed. In the morning Alison and I were walking along the train when I spotted Franny Armstrong and Lizzie Gillett (of Age of Stupid fame) in a private compartment so we dropped in for an impromptu interview. They will be hosting a daily internet show from Copenhagen, in which a “horse race” will show how countries are progressing, depending on their declarations regarding climate change. Make sure you check it out – no doubt it will combine their irreverent humour with incisive analysis of the latest developments.

Our short stop in Cologne was enlivened by meeting up with two German sisters, Cornelia and Kirsten, who brought their copies of my book for me to sign. Unfortunately we were running late due to an unscheduled stop for an engine change, so they had frozen on the platform for half an hour before the Climate Express arrived. But we still had time for a quick chat and for them to give me a box of Belgian chocolate truffles – one for each day of our walk. Much appreciated!

Alison and I are did a joint presentation at 6pm in Carriage 9. Dinner was followed by a screening of Age of Stupid (I may well watch it for now the third time – always worthwhile) and a late arrival at Copenhagen around 11pm.

I plan to continue with daily blogs throughout my time at Copenhagen. Much is still TBD – beyond a few presentations, interviews and events, my diary is still very fluid. But I like it that way – ultimate flexibility to seize opportunities as they arise.

Watch this space!

And finally:

I’d like to say a huge thank you to all who made BB2B possible – the families who spared their wives and girlfriends to come on the walk, our Kickstarter backers, the blog readers who contributed comments and good wishes – and of course my magnificent teammates, Jane, Laura, Alison, Mary and Nora. It was special. And now, in Copenhagen, we will make it count.

Roz in Belgium - entering the last few miles

Our friendly local techie, Baldwin Hopmans, has created a blog especially for the final day of BB2B. His email says: “From the moment I will join tomorrow I can make pictures and movies with a mobile phone. Then post them “live” on the picture blog (delay of 30 sec).” He aims to leave work at noon local time to come and join us, so look out for the pics and vids from about 1pm Central European Time (noon GMT, 7am EST or 4am PST).

Last night I uploaded a whole load of BB2B photos to Flickr. I haven’t had time to finish labelling them yet – that will have to wait until Copenhagen – but wanted to at least let you know they are there for your delectation.

I also created a slideshow of my favourite pictures, available now on YouTube. It’s a little rough and ready, but please make allowances for a hectic schedule on the road.

Must run – time to pack up and hit the road for the last time. This time tomorrow I will be boarding the UN’s Climate Express train from Brussels Midi station – but still a few more miles of human powered transport to go between now and then. See you in Brussels!

Laura, Jane and Roz - and lots of mud

We have just arrived in Grimbergen, which is much nicer than it sounds. And most importantly from our perspective is that it lies a mere 10 miles from Brussels. Tomorrow will be a relatively short stroll to our final destination. Funny how your perspective changes after getting used to 15-18 miles a day!

We are now sitting at our hotel hatching plans for our arrival. We have put the word out to anyone we know in Brussels, and our new best friend Frank has also notified the local media. He is here now – having handed out photocopied maps to show us exactly where we need to be and when, he and Alison are now engaged in a major debate on a whole spectrum of environmental issues, while Nora and Todd capture their animated discussion on camera.

While I am writing this blog to put out the word about tomorrow. We’d like to get as much coverage as we can. We’ve walked 250 miles to make a point about our desire for a sustainable future, and to urge global leaders to help enable this dream to come true. The more exposure we can get the better.

Tomorrow we will be walking (or hobbling, or limping!) into the small park at Schuman, proudly wearing our orange jackets and caps, and bearing our signed Earth Balls. We are hoping for a welcoming committee of journalists, TV crews, and people coming out to show their support for our cause.

If you happen to be in Belgium, or know anybody who lives here, please let them know about this happening and urge them to come along. The weather forecast is for dry conditions (phew!) and there will be 5 radiantly sunny (and relieved!) smiles to brighten up even the dullest afternoon.

So we hope to see a good bunch of people there. If we all pull together, we CAN save the world – one step/oarstroke at a time!

Other Stuff:

Please also check out Alison Gannett’s blog. She has loads of photos of our walk – plus an account of BB2B from her own unique perspective. To be honest, I haven’t had time to read it – would be interesting to find out how the view of an extreme skier differs from that of an ocean rower. I know she got a lot more excited about hills than I did!

Alison will be coming on to Copenhagen. We will be doing a joint presentation on the Climate Express on Saturday at 6pm, and have further plans to collaborate once we are at COP15.

Please also consider supporting her Kickstarter project. She is 94% of the way there, with 8 days to go!

Early morning departure from Antwerp

The end is nigh… of the walk, I mean, rather than the world. Although that end might also be nigh if our esteemed leaders don’t get their act together in Copenhagen and set us on the path towards a sustainable future.

But for now let’s focus on the end of the walk – it’s a bit easier on the psyche at this stage of a long day.

Tonight we arrived in Mechelen, Belgium (where we are staying at the Youth Hostel near the train station, UncaDoug) and since we arrived 2.5 hours ago I’ve been sorting out final arrangements for our arrival into Brussels on Friday, and plans for Copenhagen. It’s all shaping up very nicely – with a bit of help from our friends. I have countless reasons to be grateful to the members of the Rozling community. Here are a few examples:

Team BB2B in Antwerp

Baldwin Hopmans, without whom I would not be posting this blog. He loaned us a wonderful little gizmo that gives us high speed internet access for the duration of our stay in Belgium. Also thanks to him that we got some local TV coverage and this nice mention in the local press in Bergen Op Zoom. Not to mention the delicious home-cooked dinner! See also photo for a pic of coverage in an Antwerp newspaper today.

Frank Koelewijn, who I haven’t yet met but who has been spreading the word through Brussels about our imminent arrival – to media and others who hopefully might form a welcoming committee to greet our footsore but triumphant crew. He has also arranged a booking for us at a local restaurant for a celebratory dinner.

Yves Mathieu, presenter for The Climate Project, who heard me speak in Nashville in May and has put his Brussels house at our disposal for accommodation – as well as taking delivery of various parcels to await our arrival.

Plus various friends at the United Nations, UK Department of the Environment and Climate Change, Act on Climate Change, the British Council, and many others who are lining up interviews and presentations for Alison and me in Copenhagen. It looks like our long and winding road through Europe is going to be worth the effort – and I am very much looking forward to seeing what we can achieve.

As with my ocean rows, when the going gets tough (and yesterday was!) it makes it so much easier to keep going when you know that in the end it’s all going to be worthwhile.

Thoughts of a more reflective nature coming soon, I hope, but it’s now 10.20pm and my pillow beckons. Tot ziens!

Hotel Postiljon at dawn this morning

A final note:

Last night’s top tips for places to dine and drink in Antwerp:

Pelgrom: if you love a sense of history, you’d adore this restaurant – vaulted ceilings and candelabra make for a uniquely gothic ambience!

The Eleventh Commandment (Elfde Gebod) – retired here for a nightcap, and spent a happy half hour commenting on the various facial expressions of the religious figurines that adorn every sill, shelf and beam. Endless entertainment!

Thanks again to Baldwin for two great recommendations!

And last but not least, a really great and very clean little hotel, right in the centre of Antwerp, offering excellent value accommodation – the Hotel Postiljon. Also a very decent breakfast to set us up for a good day’s walking – it was so nice to get some fresh fruit, as we’re mostly pretty done with the standard continental breakfast of bread, ham and cheese!

That was the question uppermost in Team BB2B’s minds when we traipsed into Antwerp today after a long day’s walk. Unfortunately early bed was not an option. After walking about 28km (plenty long enough on Day 12, with packs on backs) we found our hotel in Antwerp, just off the gloriously beautiful central square. Hungry and thirsty, we headed into the square to find refreshment, and were met by a local journalist and a camera crew from the local TV station.

Alison producing the goods for the camera - how does she find the energy?!

Alison is very good at pulling some energy out of the hat when a camera is pointed at her. And I struggle on through too. Media attention is a powerful motivator – after all, it is one of the key objectives of this walk to raise awareness and inspire action, and if that requires obliging local media when body and spirit has other ideas, then so be it.

But it’s not always easy. Team BB2B is still soldiering on, but legs and feet are suffering.

So, let’s talk about walking. It’s how human beings got around for many millennia. Many, many human beings worldwide still do. Without technical walking boots or Nike trainers. Often carrying large loads. Over rough and often hostile terrain. So how come we namby-pamby 21st century Western walkers are finding the going so tough?

A number of theories:

a) We’re just not used to it. Although Jane habitually walks 10 miles a day with her dogs, Alison is an extremely fit extreme skier, and I’ve been known to do a bit of rowing, we’re just not used to walking these distances day after day, carrying loads.

b) Since we arrived in continental Europe we have been walking mostly on paved cycle paths and pavements. This has been noticeably tougher on the joints than walking on the footpaths and trails of Essex.

c) And, errr, I don’t know what else. Maybe we’re just not used to having to tolerate pain. In this era of doctors, dentists, and painkillers, there are so many ways to avoid or medicate pain. We’re not used to just putting up with it. When something hurts, we want it fixed. And fast. Even a hundred years ago this was not possible for most people – even for those who could afford the best medical treatment, aches, pains and illness were a fact of life.

But to be philosophical about it, it is actually part of our mission that this walk should not be easy. Our message to the Copenhagen delegates says that nothing great is ever easy. There ARE obstacles along the way, but when you have a goal that matters to you, you just buckle down and get on with it. Some things are just worth fighting for, no matter what the pain.

And so we plow on. Today I was thinking about Oliver Hicks, whose film Tenacity on the Tasman I went to see the night before I left London (which seems SO long ago now!). During his row across the northern Atlantic in 2005, and again during his attempt on the Southern Ocean this year, he had the letters KBO in front of his rowing position. Attributed to Winston Churchill, it stands for Keep Buggering On. And that is what we will do. No matter what, through thick and thin, wet and dry, urban and rural. Only 3 more days to go. We have come so far already. KBO.

Alison, Jane and Laura checking the map - and note Dutch sign in the background. Both photos thanks to Nora McDevitt.

Other Stuff:

Today we walked across the border into Belgium in pleasant winter sunshine – a welcome change from the rain and cloudy skies that we encountered almost throughout our time in Holland. Several hours were spent walking through pretty woodland and small towns before we entered the outskirts of Antwerp. The industrial outer areas were a bit grim, but the center of the city is absolutely gorgeous – old squares, towering church spires, cosy cafes and characterful bars. I would happily return here to explore further. Recommended!

Would love to write more, but it’s now 9.30pm, and way past my bedtime. I can hear the cathedral bells chiming me to bed. The twin room I’m sharing with Alison is on the 3rd floor, so with my decrepit limbs it may take me some time to get up there. Time I hit the hay!

Laura - and a lot of not very much

When I am on the ocean I dream a lot. On dry land, less so, but last night was an exception. Maybe the monotony of the landscape we have been traversing since we reached Holland has triggered the same dream response that the ocean does.

My dreams are usually not much more than a re-hash of the day’s sensory input, jumbled up into some surreal juxtapositions – but while there is less sensory input, either on the ocean or in flat, grey Dutch landscapes, it takes less time for my sleeping brain to sort and assimilate it, leaving more time and headspace for dreams of a more interesting nature.

Last night’s dream started out in amusing enough fashion. Loosely based on Pirates of the Caribbean (but unfortunately not featuring Johnny Depp – boo!) I was the captain of a ship, breaking some news to the crew. The bad news was that all our booty had been plundered by another crew of pirates. The good news was that our boat had been chartered to make the next film in the Pirates of the Caribbean saga so we were going to have enough money to keep going.

But then a particular phrase popped out, which has been reverberating around my head all day – particularly this morning as we trudged through exceptionally flat and featureless surroundings, heads down into the rain.

The phrase was: He Who Controls The Wind Controls All The Ships.

Now, this might mean nothing, but given my current near-obsession with Copenhagen, and the fact that the phrase did not evaporate with the morning light as most of my dreams do, I had to give it due consideration. It does seem particularly relevant to Copenhagen. My goal in going to the conference is a little nebulous. What do I have to offer that is not already being offered by 350.org, the Climate Project, the Climate Group, WWF, or the multitude of other NGOs and individuals descending on the Danish capital?

Sign spotted by Alison in Essex - You've made the difference!

Yet despite the smallness of my individual voice in all this hubbub, I have a powerful feeling that I do have a message that, provided I get the opportunity to deliver it, might just be the one straw on the back of the one camel that could make a difference. My message may possibly strike a chord with someone, or some people, and end up changing the chemistry of the debate. This might sound big-headed, but you just never know – and for my own satisfaction I needed to know, when I look back on 2009 and this crucial moment in human history, that I did all I could to make a difference for the good.

This phrase from my dream seems to sum up what I hope to achieve. The wind is invisible, yet incredibly powerful (and don’t we know it after walking into or across it for the last few days!). If the wind represents the invisible energy of the Copenhagen conference, and the ships represent the countries which currently are heading every which way – with some on collision course – then if the wind of change can become strong enough to get all the ships moving in the same direction, there may be hope for a satisfactory outcome.

But my next question is, what IS the wind? What is this invisible force that could make all the difference? Is it the attitude of the US? Is it the governments of China and India? Is it the NGOs? Is it public opinion? Or is it something more spiritual – the intangible energy created wherever large numbers of humans congregate, especially when united by a common focus?

I don’t know the answer, but I’d welcome comments and opinions. Given the lead-up to the conference, it might seem impossible that we will see any decisive action. But who knows – if we can generate a sufficiently powerful wind of change, we may yet achieve the miracle we need in order to create a sustainable future for humanity.

Team BB2B with new friends Philip and Melanie in Holland

As we have passed through the countryside of England and Holland it has been interesting to gauge the level of awareness amongst Joe Public. Would a mention of Copenhagen produce blank looks, or an immediate recognition?

Generally it seems that, as marketing professionals would say, the Copenhagen climate change conference enjoys good brand awareness. Most people know what we are talking about. A few examples:

The postman in Dedham not only knew all about Copenhagen, but was planning to do his bit by going to London for the climate change march on December 5th.

A couple of men working in woodland in Essex, thinning out the trees, referred to their wood as a “carbon sink”. It was interesting to find that carbon sinks are now almost as much a part of the English vocabulary as kitchen sinks.

A Dutch chiropractor who got talking with us outside the Spar supermarket in Nieuwe Tonge not only knew about Copenhagen but had his own ideas about what countries should be there and what they should say. He had some interesting things to say about American representation… before realizing that we had two Americans in our party who were listening to his every word.

By definition, the people who have stopped to engage with us have been more than averagely engaged and interested – their curiosity about us probably extends to their attitude to the world at large, so they probably read the serious newspapers and pay attention to what is going on in the world. But even so, it has been heartening to find the level of awareness of the issues, the vocabulary, and what needs to be done to address the problem.

But are people taking action? That is harder to gauge. This is a problem that I have pondered at length. My perception is that awareness and action are both on the rise, but I am also keenly aware that the people I encounter are a self-selecting sample of the more actively engaged. And I have not been in a position (yet) to gauge awareness and action in countries such as India, China and Brazil.

I am sure that much work still remains to be done. There is no time for complacency.

Other Stuff:

Thanks, all, for your lovely comments! I’ve had very intermittent email access (most blogs have been posted by my mother after very hasty turning on of data roaming for just long enough to send her an email via my iPhone – ridiculously expensive otherwise), but whenever I manage to pick up my emails I pass your messages on to the team – and we all appreciate them very much!

(This message originally posted as a comment, but now replicated here to make sure everybody sees it.)

Loads of photos now posted online at our Flickr account – PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR GALLERY!!!

Today was challenging – flat, featureless and windy. But thankfully the rain that poured down throughout the night gave us a break, and we walked in mostly dry conditions. Heads down, chins up, striding out! Now in Oude Tonge, staying at the Hotel Lely.

The World's Most Confusing Signpost

We had wondered in advance which would be our “hump day”, as the Americans call it. This might possibly have rather different connotations in the UK, but in the context of an all-female hiking group it means the toughest day, when the aches and pains have kicked in but the new fitness levels haven’t.

I’m rather hoping that today was the hump day, because if we get much more decrepit than this we might be in trouble. We were not helped today by some very muddy sections, that in mere minutes added pounds of clodded earth to our boots and further slowed our weary legs.
Jane’s feet were causing her some problems, even though her boots are very well worn in, so she decided to start a new trend – hiking loafers. Her evening shoes provided a welcome break for her feet. They did the trick surprisingly well, at least until we were able to stop at a garden centre for our lunch break and she bought some very fetching pink wellies. Of course, what she REALLY needs is some Keen boots, but we tried phoning around nearby outdoor shops, to no avail, alas.
Dodgy knees are an occupational hazard of the extreme skier, and Alison’s have undergone 8 surgeries in their lifetime. She calls them her Frankenstein knees. Today she was finding it more comfortable to jog gently rather than walk, as jogging brought into play her well-developed skier’s thighs and took the pressure off her calves.

I’m feeling a little bit of general tiredness in my ankles and hips, but otherwise not too bad. And Laura is still fit as a fiddle.

We’re all generally holding it together, and spirits are good as ever, but we are lining up a few contingency plans just in case – possibly renting a couple of bicycles for a few days when we get to Holland. We just hope that our navigator, Jane, stays the course. She might get a lot of abuse during the final “Jane miles” of the day, but we’d be lost – literally! – without her.

Tonight we are staying in Marks Tey, at the home of Laura’s brother. Luckily he wasn’t here to see 4 bedraggled, mud-coated women traipse up his driveway just before dusk.

As I sit here typing this, Jane has gone into Colchester to seek better footwear. Alison is hobbling around getting organized. Laura, as the most able-bodied member of the team and at least a near relative of the homeowner, is on cooking duties. And Mary is on her way back to her studies at the University of Essex. We are hoping her absence is only temporarily, as we’re trying to press-gang her into coming over to Holland to help us out with logistics. She has proved herself so indispensable that we will drug and abduct her if need be.

It is quite amazing how the team has already gelled. For a very random assortment of distant acquaintances, we are getting along famously. Even our various decrepitudes have not caused tempers to fray. What a team – BB2B, or not 2B…. boom, boom!

Team BB2B: Laura, Jane and Roz

Today we finally got into the groove. Days 1 and 2 were a bit stoppy-starty, but today we had no time for delay. 18 miles planned, so after stoking ourselves up with a magnificent full English breakfast at Ivy Cottage (Greensted Green) we departed promptly at 8.15am.

Last night I had woken several times to the sound of torrential rain, so had been suitably apprehensive about what kind of day would greet us, but we set out under clear blue rainwashed skies, and the first few hours of walking were a sheer joy.

The film crew also got into their groove today – largely thanks to Mary, an American student at the University of Essex and an unofficial addition to our core team. She had had to drop out of walking after Day 1 due to an old sporting injury. But for the rest of us this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Last night she carefully plotted out our route, and figured out places where our film crew car could intercept our walk. Repeatedly today we would round a corner to be greeted by the sight of a bright orange Marmot jacket on the far side of a field, camera pointed in our direction. We were able to forge on without frequent phone calls between the two halves of our team trying to arrange rendezvous points.

[Note: the carbon emissions of the camera car are being offset by Carbon Foresight, as are our ferry journeys across the North Sea to the Hook of Holland.]

Roz clambering over a stile - in style. Note the Keen boots - stood up well to the ultimate wet test today!

But the mellow late autumn weather of the morning did not last. Gradually the clouds gathered and by lunchtime we had our heads down and hoods up, battling through torrential rain and hail, our boots growing heavy with accumulated mud. I started counting paces, just as I count strokes on the ocean when the going gets tough. The difference this time was having the rest of a team around me. When the going gets tough, it’s great to have partners in grime!

Luckily we had a welcome refuge to look forward to. Some good friends live in a house rejoicing in the name of Fridays, which lay directly on our route if we took a shortcut by diverging from the Essex Way. At 1pm, just as the rain stopped, we reached the home of the Cherrys. We were able to dry ourselves out in front of their Aga stove, and gorge ourselves on hot coffee and chocolate cake. After a blissful 30 minutes in their kitchen we hit the road again feeling restored, dry, and happy, leaving little evidence of our visit but a pile of cake crumbs and a few dollops of mud.

More good news – Jane our navigator discovered that 1 mile of the route repeated itself on the other side of the map, so what had looked like 5 miles turned out to be closer to 4. Happy days! So after a shorter than expected time we entered Chatham Green and saw a sign saying “Windmill Inn 100 yds”.

Checking the map: is that a statute mile, a nautical mile, a country mile, or a Jane mile?!

So we all had to eat our words. The last couple of days we had been getting tired and looking forward to reaching our destination, and had been reassured by our esteemed navigator that we had just one more mile to go. 20 minutes later, it would appear that we STILL had one more mile to go. And et cetera. So we had started to joke that there are statute miles, nautical miles, country miles, and Jane miles.

But today we were set up to expect 18 miles, and the final tally after the Fridays shortcut and the overlap mile between one side of the map and the other was a mere (!) 16 miles, or 31,648 steps.

Just goes to show, when you aim really high, to achieve even a little less is a major achievement.

Other Stuff:

We passed through another verb-ish sounding town today: Chipping Ongar. We thought of several possible meanings for Chipping:

a)    to feel chipper, cheerful
b)    to chip away at a long journey, one step or one mile at a time
c)    to eat lots of chips to restore carbohydrates after a long day’s walking
d)    to walk briskly in an attempt to keep up with the turbo-charged Jane.

Chipping along the Essex Way - Go Team BB2B!

So we have now Wapped, Epped and Chipped our way through East London and Essex. Oh, and walked a bit too. About 45 miles down, 205ish to go. But when you’re having as much fun as we are, who’s counting?!

Nora, our American filmmaker, left us this evening after dinner. She has to go back to the US for a few days to work on another project, but plans to return by Dec 1 at the latest. She recorded our dinnertime conversation tonight as we discussed sustainability, energy security, environmental messaging, politics, business, and financial strategies for a greener – and more prosperous – future. And the great thing was that the conversation was not at all contrived. These are just the things we care about and talk about in a genuine exchange of ideas and a search for solutions.

Team BB2B is putting the world to rights, one idea and one mile at a time!

A new version of our logo - but one final refinement still to come...

This evening Jane emailed through an outline plan for Belgium, so for anyone who would like to join us for the whole walk, or for the European side of the journey, here we go – the combined UK and Belgium routes. Both countries well known for their beer! Well, we have to replenish our carbs somehow…

Day 1 Friday 20th November 2009
About 14 miles (5 from Big Ben to Limehouse Basin, 2.5 to the Foot Tunnel, 5 to Eltham, 2 to Sunridge Park)
10.00 am Big Ben London – meet with the media
10.30 start walk – head East along the Thames Path on the Northern side of the river
12.30 Limehouse Basin
1.15 Northern entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel
1.30 Southern entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel then walk south through Greenwich Park, Blackheath, cross the A2 and turn to the east along Shooters Hill until turning south into Kidbrooke Grove.  Take first east into Westbrook Road and continue until the T junction with Rochester Way.  Turn south down Rochester Way and continue along, over the A2 until Bridbook Road.  Turn down Bridbrook Road (south/south/west) and continue under the A2 and into Eltham Green Road (south).  Continue southward until the A210, Eltham Road, cross the road, and cross Westhorne Avenue, turn eastward to the major roundabout and pick up Middle Park Avenue.  Continue down Middle Park Avenue until the junction with Eltham Palace Road, turn east, continue until Eltham Palace and the grounds are in front of you and pick up St John’s Walk.
3.00 Pick up St John’s Walk at Eltham Palace and follow to Mottingham, picking up the Green Chain Walk.
At Elmstead Wood leave the Green Chain Walk and walk through to Sunridge Park and the Sunridge Park Hotel

Day 1 Accommodation: Sunridge Park Hotel

Day 2 Saturday 21st November
Approximately 16 miles (10 to Eynsford and then 6 to South Street)
8.30 start from Sunridge Park Hotel – walk north/east to pick up the Green Chain Walk at the edge of Elmstead Wood.  Walk through Chislehurst west to Chislehurst Common.
9.15 Chisltehurst Common then through the edge of Park Wood and into St Paul’s Cray.  Cross the River Cray at Brooks Way, and pick up the footpath that joins to Chapmans Lane between Cray Valley Golf Club and Pauls Cray Hill Park which links to Hockenden.
From Hockenden take the eastern bridlepath and then footpath across the fields along the side of Bourne Wood crossing the railway by the footbridge and continuing until picking up the back road into Crockenhill
11.30 Centre of Crockenhill, follow the Church Road southwards and then turn east down Harvest Way and pick up the footpath at the end of the road and continue until the M25, turn south east and follow the footpath along until the subway under the motorway, continue along the path the other side, connecting up to a track that takes you through Hulberry Farm and then pick up the Darent Valley Path, traverse the railway line and into Eynesford.
12.30 Eynsford Pub: The Malt Shovel Inn
1.00 From Eynsford to in a northerly direction along the A225 until a small turning to the right signposted Prior Lane, take that and pick up the bridleway across the fields, pick up Donkey Lane, cross the A20 and continue on the footpath to Gabrielspring Wood.  Turn left towards the M20 and follow the path to the footbridge across the motorway.  Once over the motorway take the path straight ahead to the wood, entering the wood and then turning right after a short distance.  This track follows down to Speedgate Farm and the road.  Turn right at the road, continue straight across at the cross roads with Oak Racing Kennels to your left, picking up a path at the edge of the kennels to the left.  Follow that to the embankment of the M20 and in front there should be a junction with one road going under the motorway and another going away in front of you, Brands Hatch Road.  Follow the road along, taking the left hand branch and crossing straight over at the cross roads towards Ash.  At the T juncion to New Ash Green take the footpath straight ahead, joining a road again as you go past Ash Place Farm to pick up a bridleway to White Ash Wood.  Half way through the wood take the right hand path going east, cross the road picking up the path on the opposite side which takes you south eastward past another wood, picking up a track and into Ridley.  In Ridley turn left on the road and then right at the junction along Bunkers Hill towards South Street.  Continue along this road for about half a mile going straight across at the cross roads until you come into South Street.

Day 2 Accommodation: Beechfield B&B, South Street

Day 3 Sunday 22nd November
Approximately 14.5 miles (About 5.5 to Medway Bridge, then 9 miles to Thurnham)
9.00am start from South Street.  Follow Heron Hill eastward until just after the end of the village where there is a confusion of footpaths and bridlepaths.  Where the land bends to the left take the footpath to the south, then after a very short distance there should be a branch that goes south easterly over a field towards Harvel.  Take this and go into Harvel Village, turn left at the road then right at the cross roads and continue out of the village, past a road to the left and shortly after this there should be a track/footpath to the left which goes to Little Delmar Farm.  Take this track and at Little Delmar Farm you pick up the Wealdway.  Cross the road and continue southward on the Wealdway, through Lie Wood, Luson Wood and to Lockyers Hill where you pick up the road.  At the triangle road junction take the footpath to the east, and continue eastward through a wood, at this junction you should meet up with the North Downs Way which is coming up from the south.
About 2.00pm passing through Kits Coty and briefly resting at Kits Coty Brassier on the Old Chatham Road.

Day 3 Accommodation: Black Horse Inn, Pilgrims Way, Thurnham

Day 4 Monday 23rd November
About 18 miles
8.30am start from the Black Horse, going North to pick up the North Downs Way again.
North Downs Way via Hollingbourne, Harrietsham, Charing (possibly stopping here for a brief rest), Dunn Street, Boughton Lees to Wye.

Day 4 Accommodation: Wye (Wife Of Bath Inn or Kings Head)

Day 5 Tuesday 24th November
Longest day: just over 20 miles
8.30am start, prompt!!  Wye to Etchinghill, past the Channel Tunnel Terminal, Folkestone, Capel-le Ferne and into Dover.

Day 5 Accommodation: Dover with ferry crossing to Calais on the morning of Day 6 (Wednesday 25th November)

BELGIUM

Day 6 (Wednesday 25th) (@10 miles)
Ferry from Dover to Calais.  Foot passengers book in 45 minutes ahead of crossing, P&O crossing takes 90 minutes.  9.15am sailing arrives 11.45 (cost on 5th Nov: £14.00 per adult)
12.00 start walking: Calais to Marck
Accommodation: Le manoir du meldick
2528, Avenue du Général de Gaulle, 62730 Marck, Pas-de-Calais, France  03 21 85 74 34‎

Day 7 (Thursday 26th) (@20 miles)
Marck to Dunkerque

Day 8 (Friday 27th) (@20 miles)
Dunkerque to Neuiwpoort

Day 9 (Saturday 28th) (@ 18 miles)
Neuiwpoort to Diksmuide

Day 10 (Sunday 29th) (about 18 miles)
Diksmuide to Ruddervoorde
Accommodation: Domein Leegendael   domeinleegendael.be
Kortrijksestraat 498
8020 Ruddervoorde, Oostkamp, Belgium  050 67 96

Day 11 (Monday 30th) (about 18 miles)
Ruddervoorde to Lotenhulle
Accommodation: Lomolen B&B   lomolenlogies.be
Lomolenstraat 112
9880 Lotenhulle, Aalter, Belgium  09 371 95 15

Day 12 (Tuesday 1st December) (about 20 miles)
Lotenhulle to Ghent

Day 13 (Wednesday 2nd) (about 18 miles)
Ghent to Appels
Accommodation: ets Jerry Pierre‎
Hoofdstraat 53
9200 Dendermonde, Belgium  052 21 14 07

Day 14 (Thursday 3rd) (about 18 miles)
Appels to Mollem
Accommodation: B&B Kezenestje    kezenestje.be
Kezeweide 33
1730 Mollem, Asse, Belgium  02 452 76 59

Peeters / B.
Voorstehoeve 42
1730 Mollem, Belgium  02 452 63 61

Day 15 (Friday 4th) (about 12 miles)
Mollem to Brussels

Our draft logo for BB2B, although likely to end up with two feet on the Earth. Two feet definitely better than one!

Hot off the press – this is our planned route for the first few days from Big Ben to Brussels. We would love it if you want to come and join us for part of our walk. Details of the second leg from Dunkerque to Brussels coming soon, when our wonderfully efficient route-planner Jane manages to get hold of some better maps for Belgium.

Note from Jane: “I have assessed the times over the first two days on a walking speed of about 3 to 3.5 miles per hour  ALL TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE (that also applies to mileages!)”

Note from me: VERY IMPORTANT! We are exploring a number of options for crossing the Channel. At the moment we are planning to take the ferry, but if a zero-carbon option becomes available we will leap at the chance. So ALL PLANS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT SHORT NOTICE! Please do check the website for updates before you set out to join us. Any changes will be posted here as soon as we know about them.

We can’t offer to arrange accommodation and food for everybody, alas – it would be logistically impossible to organize this for an unknown number of people – so you’ll need to be self-sufficient. But you WILL have the opportunity to be interviewed for our documentary, and be a part of a historic adventure!

Day 1 Friday 20th November 2009
About 14 miles (5 from Big Ben to Limehouse Basin, 2.5 to the Foot Tunnel, 5 to Eltham, 2 to Sunridge Park)
10.00 am Big Ben London – meet with the media
10.30 start walk – head East along the Thames Path on the Northern side of the river
12.30 Limehouse Basin
1.15 Northern entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel
1.30 Southern entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel then walk south through Greenwich Park, Blackheath, cross the A2 and turn to the east along Shooters Hill until turning south into Kidbrooke Grove.  Take first east into Westbrook Road and continue until the T junction with Rochester Way.  Turn south down Rochester Way and continue along, over the A2 until Bridbook Road.  Turn down Bridbrook Road (south/south/west) and continue under the A2 and into Eltham Green Road (south).  Continue southward until the A210, Eltham Road, cross the road, and cross Westhorne Avenue, turn eastward to the major roundabout and pick up Middle Park Avenue.  Continue down Middle Park Avenue until the junction with Eltham Palace Road, turn east, continue until Eltham Palace and the grounds are in front of you and pick up St John’s Walk.
3.00 Pick up St John’s Walk at Eltham Palace and follow to Mottingham, picking up the Green Chain Walk.
At Elmstead Wood leave the Green Chain Walk and walk through to Sunridge Park and the Sunridge Park Hotel

Day 1 Accommodation: Sunridge Park Hotel

Day 2 Saturday 21st November
Approximately 16 miles (10 to Eynsford and then 6 to South Street)
8.30 start from Sunridge Park Hotel – walk north/east to pick up the Green Chain Walk at the edge of Elmstead Wood.  Walk through Chislehurst west to Chislehurst Common.
9.15 Chislehurst Common then through the edge of Park Wood and into St Paul’s Cray.  Cross the River Cray at Brooks Way, and pick up the footpath that joins to Chapmans Lane between Cray Valley Golf Club and Pauls Cray Hill Park which links to Hockenden.
From Hockenden take the eastern bridlepath and then footpath across the fields along the side of Bourne Wood crossing the railway by the footbridge and continuing until picking up the back road into Crockenhill
11.30 Centre of Crockenhill, follow the Church Road southwards and then turn east down Harvest Way and pick up the footpath at the end of the road and continue until the M25, turn south east and follow the footpath along until the subway under the motorway, continue along the path the other side, connecting up to a track that takes you through Hulberry Farm and then pick up the Darent Valley Path, traverse the railway line and into Eynesford.
12.30 Eynsford Pub: The Malt Shovel Inn
1.00 From Eynsford to in a northerly direction along the A225 until a small turning to the right signposted Prior Lane, take that and pick up the bridleway across the fields, pick up Donkey Lane, cross the A20 and continue on the footpath to Gabrielspring Wood.  Turn left towards the M20 and follow the path to the footbridge across the motorway.  Once over the motorway take the path straight ahead to the wood, entering the wood and then turning right after a short distance.  This track follows down to Speedgate Farm and the road.  Turn right at the road, continue straight across at the cross roads with Oak Racing Kennels to your left, picking up a path at the edge of the kennels to the left.  Follow that to the embankment of the M20 and in front there should be a junction with one road going under the motorway and another going away in front of you, Brands Hatch Road.  Follow the road along, taking the left hand branch and crossing straight over at the cross roads towards Ash.  At the T juncion to New Ash Green take the footpath straight ahead, joining a road again as you go past Ash Place Farm to pick up a bridleway to White Ash Wood.  Half way through the wood take the right hand path going east, cross the road picking up the path on the opposite side which takes you south eastward past another wood, picking up a track and into Ridley.  In Ridley turn left on the road and then right at the junction along Bunkers Hill towards South Street.  Continue along this road for about half a mile going straight across at the cross roads until you come into South Street.

Day 2 Accommodation: Beechfield B&B, South Street

Day 3 Sunday 22nd November
Approximately 14.5 miles (About 5.5 to Medway Bridge, then 9 miles to Thurnham)
9.00am start from South Street.  Follow Heron Hill eastward until just after the end of the village where there is a confusion of footpaths and bridlepaths.  Where the land bends to the left take the footpath to the south, then after a very short distance there should be a branch that goes south easterly over a field towards Harvel.  Take this and go into Harvel Village, turn left at the road then right at the cross roads and continue out of the village, past a road to the left and shortly after this there should be a track/footpath to the left which goes to Little Delmar Farm.  Take this track and at Little Delmar Farm you pick up the Wealdway.  Cross the road and continue southward on the Wealdway, through Lie Wood, Luson Wood and to Lockyers Hill where you pick up the road.  At the triangle road junction take the footpath to the east, and continue eastward through a wood, at this junction you should meet up with the North Downs Way which is coming up from the south.
About 2.00pm passing through Kits Coty and briefly resting at Kits Coty Brassier on the Old Chatham Road.

Day 3 Accommodation: Black Horse Inn, Pilgrims Way, Thurnham

Day 4 Monday 23rd November
About 18 miles
8.30am start from the Black Horse, going North to pick up the North Downs Way again.
North Downs Way via Hollingbourne, Harrietsham, Charing (possibly stopping here for a brief rest), Dunn Street, Boughton Lees to Wye.

Day 4 Accommodation: Wye (Wife Of Bath Inn or Kings Head)

Day 5 Tuesday 24th November
Longest day: just over 20 miles
8.30am start, prompt!!  Wye to Etchinghill, past the Channel Tunnel Terminal, Folkestone, Capel-le Ferne and into Dover.

Day 5 Accommodation: Dover with ferry crossing on the morning of Day 6 (Wednesday)

The 16ft ball is definitely TOO big

Thank you to all who have pledged support. We are now over 60% of the way to our target – and the nailbiting is getting worse! It’s all or nothing, so if we don’t get at least 100% of target, we get a big round $000 – which would be a bummer! Thanks also to those of you who have passed the link to our project on to your networks of friends – it really helps to spread the word.

If it helps inspire you, here is what Joan in Atlanta posted to her Facebook page: “Do you feel like your karma needs a boost? Kickstarter is an awesome way to do it, and do a good deed for the day. C’mon. A ten-spot. It’s way better than spending it on lottery scratch-offs. Of course, I want you to choose my pet cause (Roz! Roz!), but you might find another endeavor that really speaks to you, and that’s cool, too. Take your first step into meaningful philanthropy.”

I had a meeting with teammate Jane yesterday – she is in charge of route planning and logistics. It hasn’t been easy to find safe walking routes out of London – amazing how many roads and bridges don’t have paths for pedestrians. So Jane has had her work cut out! Google Earth has come in very handy for zooming right in and seeing if there is a footpath or not.

We sat there in the coffee shop with maps everywhere, and Jane’s trails of little multicolored stickers traipsing across them to show our route. Hopefully by the end of today we’ll be able to post details of our route online, with rendezvous points, so that people can come and join us for a day to show solidarity with the cause.

Even just the planning process has been an education. With such restricted facilities for walkers and cyclists, how can we expect to coax people out of their cars?

Now on to the next stage of the planning process – sorting out our kit, including our Earths. What size to get….?

Carrying the world on our shoulders (image courtesy of 350.org)

Ever had a great idea for a project, but lacked the finance to get it off the ground? You might want to check out Kickstarter, a website founded earlier this year to help small-scale projects get funding. I’m trying it out for the first time – to cover the basic costs of our walk from Big Ben to Brussels. Details of our mission follow, but first I wanted to give you my first impressions of Kickstarter.

Points to note, including some insider info from a friend who advised the creators of Kickstarter:

1. It’s all or nothing. If you don’t get to 100% of your target, you get nothing. Nada. Not a bean. And all the pledges are cancelled. So it’s better to set a slightly conservative target rather than aim too high and end up with zilch.

2. If a project gets to 40% of its target, chances are good (about 90%) that it will go on to achieve 100%. So I wrote to a few people who had previously been generous to ask them individually if they would help me achieve this critical threshold – which we have now done. It remains to be seen if we get all the way to 100%.

3. It’s not designed for charitable giving. Donors expect the rewards on offer to be commensurate with the amount pledged. So obviously, if this is going to make sense financially, it takes a bit of creative thinking to figure out rewards that will be exciting for the recipient, while not costing so much that they cancel out the value of the pledge. I found some great examples on a project to create a cartoon book called “Poorcraft”:
$1 Access to exclusive blog about the creation of the book
$5 Complete PDF of the book
$10 Signed copy of the book
$30 3 more copies of the book
$50 Thank you in the acknowledgements
$100 Page of original art
$250 Cameo in book
$500 Cameo on cover of the book
Most of these cost little or nothing to the creators of the book, but are thoughtful and special ways to acknowledge their supporters.

Overall, it seems like a great concept. I’m excited (and rather nail-bitingly nervous!) to see if it works out well for our project. Speaking of which, here it is:

The Mission:
To send a message to the COP15 conference expressing public desire for action on climate change

Background:
This summer British ocean rower Roz Savage rowed solo 2,600 miles across the Pacific from Hawaii to Kiribati, where she saw the human face of climate change. Kiribati, a scattering of small coral atolls, will be uninhabitable within the next 50 years as climate change causes rises in sea level and increasingly frequent major weather events. Click here to watch a video about Kiribati and climate change.

Big Ben to Brussels:
Roz Savage is now taking a message to the climate change conference in Copenhagen, in her role as United Nations “Climate Hero”. With a small group of friends she will set out on Nov 20 to walk 200 miles from Big Ben to Brussels, where she will join the United Nations Climate Express train for the remainder of the journey to Copenhagen.

Earth Balls:
During the walk they will gather signatures on inflatable “Earth” balls, to be delivered to the conference as a petition calling on the delegates to take decisive action on climate change so that more countries and regions do not suffer the same fate as Kiribati.

Documentary Film – The Long Walk to Copenhagen:
The walk will also be the subject of a documentary film, “The Long Walk to Copenhagen”, focusing on the walkers and the people they meet en route to show how humankind is reacting to the biggest challenge of all time.

Global Initiative – Pull Together:
The global online community will be encouraged to show solidarity with the walkers by joining Roz’s environmental mission, called Pull Together. This initiative aims to inspire people to take action on CO2 levels by walking more and driving less. Calling upon her supporters around the world to Pull Together, Roz will challenge them to match the 10,000 oar strokes she does each day on the ocean by walking 10,000 steps a day.

Online Participation:
Using photos, videos, blogs and several social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, her mission is to connect and engage people of all ages around the world, and demonstrate that every action, no matter how small it may seem, does indeed matter. http://www.rozsavage.com.

Motto:
If we all pull together, we CAN save the world!

If you want to find out more, including a little video of me talking about the project and details of the rewards on offer, then check it out here. I’d also be grateful if you would pass on this link to your network of friends and family.

Only 15 days left, and over $2,000 still to raise. Please help us reach our target!

I’d also be interested if you have any suggestions of things that you might like to see as rewards for future projects. Exclusive access to a special blog? Exclusive video updates? E-books? Let me know!

Elizabeth II - Queen for 21,900 days

Queen Elizabeth will be celebrating her Diamond Jubilee – 60 years  – in 2012. I can still remember the Silver Jubilee in 1977, when I was at the grand old age of 9. Mine was one of probably millions of gaudily illustrated children’s cards winging their way to her Majesty to congratulate her on her 25 years on the throne.

I remember doing an exercise at school to say what I would do if I were queen for a day. I seem to recall imposing some horrendously over-the-top punishment for dropping litter, so maybe even then I had a certain awareness of the need to take care of the Earth.

Now my decrees might be a bit different – but still mostly Earth-oriented:

- no plastic or styrofoam packaging – including takeout containers, coffee cups, and packaging on technology. ALL would have to be biodegradable – as would all doggy poop bags.

- free broadband wireless internet in every town center

- government subsidies on public transport, with schedules for trains, buses and tubes all coordinated so that it is quicker, cheaper and easier to use public transport than private cars

- massive investment in extending the network of paths for cyclists and pedestrians, so it is safe and pleasurable to use human-powered transport

- an end to global hunger, war and injustice – so we could stop fighting each other and start fighting our shared problem instead

Hmm, I think that will do for my first week in power, anyway…

From our western democratic perspective, it’s almost impossible to contemplate 60 years in power. Although 60 years of a bad ruler would obviously be undesirable, it would be interesting to see if the longer term in office encouraged a shift towards longer term thinking – in itself a kind of wisdom. We would have to think carefully how we would exercise our power if we had to live with the consequences for the next 60 years.

Our prevailing system of short term government has many advantages, but (at least) one serious flaw – it discourages leaders from addressing long-term problems. We have been aware of the possible existence of anthropogenic climate change for the last 20 years, but it was a political hot potato, being tossed rapidly from hand to hand down the years. Nobody wanted to deal with it. There was a perception that to tackle the problem would be costly, difficult, and unpopular with the electorate. So leave it to the next government.

So we are now 20 years deeper in trouble, with CO2 reaching critical levels, and still there is reluctance to hang onto the hot potato – and it’s getting hotter all the time. In Copenhagen, will our leaders finally have the moral courage to do what needs to be done for the long term future of our species – and the many other species who are suffering the side-effects of our addiction to fossil fuel? I hope so.

Public perception is changing, and decisive action on climate change would now be popular with a significant proportion of the electorate. Most people are concerned about it, and are looking for strong leadership. Although in an ideal world we would all take responsibility for going green, in the real world most people are too overburdened already. If national policy made it easier to do the right thing – to recycle, use public transport, and so on – this would be a huge step in the right direction.

Do you ever think about what you would change if you were running the world? For the purposes of this exercise in fantasy, you don’t have to get anything passed by Congress. You don’t even have to worry about whether you will be re-elected. You can choose whatever you like – a ban on facial hair, mandatory training in good manners, a three-day working week, free caramel lattes for all.

What would you do, and why?

Friis Arne Petersen, Danish Ambassador to USA, Talks at Climate Ride 2009

Today the energy flagged. I thought it was just me, and my lack of biking fitness taking its toll, but almost everyone I’ve spoken to has felt the accumulated weariness of 4 days and 234 miles. Even the pretty Maryland countryside failed to revive flagging spirits, and the rolling hills – some of which rolled just a bit too steeply – taxed our tired legs.

But this evening the energy stepped up again, with presentations by the Danish Ambassador, and Mike Tidwell of Chesapeake Climate Action Network, both of whom had some very interesting and stimulating thoughts on what needs to be done about climate change and what might happen in Copenhagen. Both the speakers participated in the ride today – very impressive.

Some of us are already planning a Climate Ride reunion in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, I’m trying to figure out how I can be of most use in the run-up to the conference. My presentation last night seems to have been extremely well received. I’ve been very touched and flattered by the number of people who have come up to me with all kinds of comments and compliments – on the video, the presentation, my speaking style, the substance of my speech, and my perception of what we need to do collectively to take action on climate change.

But seriously – who could have wished for a warmer or more supportive audience?! The true challenge will be how to elicit a similar response from a more conservative audience. With all due humility, I want to do my utmost to help ensure a positive outcome in Copenhagen, and at the moment am thinking of little else.

Tonight we are staying in the beautiful Pearlstone Conference Center. When I walked into my shared room and saw the two huge double beds and the private bathroom, it felt like I’d arrived in heaven. At last I can dry out some of the stuff that has been wet since Day 1 of the ride. I am writing this blog sitting in front of the gas fire in the lobby, enjoying its toasty warmth despite feeling slightly guilty about the fossil fuel it is burning. My green guilt gauge is obviously on high alert after 5 days of hanging around with such keen greens!

Writing this in haste. Early start tomorrow. Bike rally in DC starts at 3.30pm – and we have to cover 68 miles before then!

Other Stuff:

My minor injuries from yesterday were no trouble today. The nurse embarrassed me by applying an enormous dressing over my knee to protect it – way out of all proportion to the actual injury!

Today’s drama was a flat tire. Thanks to Michael Proulx for helping out a fellow Climate Rider in distress! I’ve been seriously impressed by just how NICE all these people are! Are greens the new good Samaritans?!

Watch out for us tomorrow – hopefully there will be coverage of our DC bike rally in the media. I’ve never taken part in a political(ish) rally before – I’m excited!

Today is World Environment Day — and as I mentioned in my blog
yesterday, I'm very proud to be working with the United Nations
Environment Programme to help inspire others to take action now on
climate change. My mission this year is called Pull Together, and I'm
asking you all to walk more and drive less, matching my 10,000 oar
strokes a day with 10,000 steps.

Pull Together will continue even beyond my completion of Stage 2 of
the Pacific Row. On October 24th, I'll begin a walk from London to
Copenhagen to help drive home the message that global action is needed
RIGHT NOW on climate change. I'll arrive in Copenhagen just as the
world's governments come together to discuss a new climate change
agreement. It's called COP15 – you'll be hearing about it much more in
the news in the months ahead. The new agreement must be ambitious,
fair and effective in reducing emissions while assisting countries as
they adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change.

Time is absolutely precious. The latest science shows our climate is
changing more rapidly than previously estimated. The effects of
climate change impact us all and will radically alter our way of life.
Leadership at the highest level is needed to protect the planet, save
lives, and build a more sustainable global economy for all.

This year my row and the walk from London to Copenhagen are my way of
getting world leaders to "Seal the Deal" in Copenhagen. What can you
do to help? Well, for starters, you can join me in my Pull Together
effort! You can also check out UNEP's Seal the Deal campaign by
visiting www.sealthedeal2009.org to sign the online petition or to
learn more about UNEP activities taking place in your home town.

I'd love to hear YOUR ideas about ways that you and your family will
help be a part of the solution to this, the most important global
crisis we currently face. I am absolutely certain that if we all PULL
TOGETHER, we CAN and WILL save the world.

[photo: taken tonight at sunset]

Other Stuff:

I now feel like I'm out in the open ocean. The waves have been much
larger today than previously – possibly because I am now beyond the lee
of the Big Island of Hawaii. Anyway, the bigger seas, and being south of
the Big Island, combine to make me feel that I have now left Hawaii
behind. And it is with mixed feelings that I realize I am now beyond the
reach of the US Coast Guard (see 2007…).

This morning I woke to find 4 birds hanging out on my fore cabin, and
overnight they had deposited a huge quantity of poo. I shooed them away
and tried to scrub away the evidence, but it has got quite ingrained in
the texture of the solar panels, and is tenacious sticky stuff that is
very difficult to shift. Grrr.

I've been taking it easy on the rowing front today. I've been struggling
with various skin issues that, errr, to put it delicately, were making
it quite painful to sit and row for prolonged periods. So after a few
hours rowing this morning, I've spent most of the rest of the day lying
on my front and anointing my backside with tea tree oil.

From trying to save the world to scrubbing bird poop to oiling my bum.
All part of the rich and varied life of an ocean rower….

Weather:

Position at 1930 HST: 18 17.484N, 160 40.674W
Wind: 20kts E
Sea: Waves and swell from E, waves steep at times, 8ft approx, getting
less rough towards evening

Weather forecast courtesy of weatherguy.com:

Forecast below is for a SWerly course.
Date/Time HST Wind kts Seas (ft)
05/1800-06/0300 E-ENE 15-20 4-5
06/0300-07/1200 E-ENE 18-23 5-6
07/1200-10/0000 E-ENE 16-21 4-6

Partly cloudy with a slight chance of rainshowers.