A Postcard from the Atlantic

Sustainable Travel
My partner and I have been tracking our carbon footprint over the last several years in an attempt to better understand our impact and work towards achieving the 2030 UN global greenhouse gas goals. This tracking has made it clear that the frequency and mode of our travel between destinations makes a big difference. To that end we have made it a priority in 2025 to limit our flights and seek out more sustainable options. So rather than flying from the Canary Islands to the Iberian Peninsula we chose to take a 3 night ferry journey with a company that is committed to lowering the impact of travel and provides information about the carbon footprint of their routes. You can check them out here.

You can check out our carbon footprint summary here.

Defining Place
One of the most powerful tools we have in defining place is through cartography. While most maps focus on land there is a long history of navel charts and a global map with a focus on better describing the distribution of water rather than terra firma has gained popularity in the last several years. If you feel like looking at the world from a different perspective and want to dive into the history of ocean mapping check out this article.

Seeing our Planet from Space
I love space photography. The images that come from NASA are always a source of wonder and inspiration for me. There are a couple different NASA photographs of earth that have really stuck with me.

The first is Voyager 1’s 1990 “Pale Blue Dot.” I saw this image at a child and it fundamentally changed the way I thought about our planet and the scale of everything.

The other is the “Blue Marble” photos from Apollo 17’s 1972 mission and the updated version from the Terra Satellite in 2002. These images have had a huge impact on how people conceive of and visualize our planet. The “blue marble” photos have also played a role in how we understanding the impact of climate change. If you want to learn more about it, this is a great article.