Annechien was immediately enthusiastic when she was asked to accompany a group of six master's students to an exchange in Malta. Students from four European universities travelled to this southern European country to talk about education around climate change.

For Annechien, there was no doubt that she did not want to fly to Malta. "It's not like I never fly, but it did not feel right to take a plane to a meeting about climate change. Is my contribution worth so much that it compensates for the CO2 emissions of the plane flight?"

Alternatives
Annechien explored the alternatives: the high-speed train emits the least CO2, followed by the train and ferry. With her trip, Annechien saved three quarters of the CO2 she would have emitted by flying. 

Planning the trip was quite a challenge. Annechien: "The further you go, the more options there are to travel to your destination. The key to a smooth journey is to have as few transfers as possible. Transferring always creates stress. If there is a more expensive train connection that covers the distance in one go, that is always the best option."

Climbing in the local bouldering hall
The outward journey took Annechien four days. She travelled by train via Paris and Turin to Genoa in Italy. There she took the boat to Palermo in Sicily before catching a boat to Malta from the other side of the island. Annechien: "On the way, I planned as many mini excursions as possible. My first transfer was in Paris. There I ate a crêpe along the Seine and visited the Louvre. In Palermo, I went climbing at the local bouldering hall."

Lemon trees
"As I got further from home, it became more and more fun to look out of the window and observe the scenery. Gradually the landscape changed: in the Netherlands I saw meadows with cows, in Italy the groves with lemon trees flashed by and in Sicily I spotted a snow-capped Etna."

During the exchange, Annechien had not mentioned how she had travelled to Malta. On the last day at dinner, it happened to come up. The Maltese in particular didn't understand: was it even possible to travel there by train?

Annechien: "The next morning, the others of my group took the plane to the Netherlands. When they messaged that they had landed at Schiphol, I only travelled 200 kilometers."

The return journey was not without difficulties: on the boat from Palermo to Genoa, Annechien became ill. She had food poisoning. Annechien: " In that situation, 24 hours on a rocking boat is a very long time. You can probably imagine that I was relieved when I set foot on the shore. The next day I stepped off the train in the Netherlands and thought: never again. But now - three months later - I am actually looking forward to another train adventure!"