#refusetofly — Public Fediverse posts

Day 65: After a smooth 9-hour boat ride over the Sepik river, we made it to Sisimagung, Northern Papua. This is the 65th day of my no-fly trip from Italy to the Solomon islands. The coastline is beautiful, what you could describe as paradise on earth. Coconut trees gently bend over sandy beaches and the sound of the waves quietly resound among villagers busy with their fishing nets or cooking earths. It is then all the more upsetting that this beauty is slowly but incessantly being destroyed by sea level rise. This is what Jeffery Bae, a local resident, tells me in the few hours I have here before getting on a truck to Madang. It seems impossible that a sea so quiet can become the agent of destruction, but this is precisely what happens, as Jeffery shows traditional houses made with sago and bamboo leaves having been dismantled by the latest storm surges.
"We will have to relocate", tells me Jeffrey with an empty, "but we don't know where, because right behind our village there's a swamp".
Once more, I hear the same story: no help from national, regional governments, and neither from international organisations.
How many million stories are similar to Jeffrey's, and I wouldn't hear were it not for my slow travel.

Check interview here:
https://youtu.be/hk4Vr9p5ZFc

#refusetofly #travel #slowtravel #decarbonise #climateemergency #globalwarming #climateBreakdown #collapse #TippingPoint #papuaisland #PNG #Wewak #Sepik #WestSepik #researcher #researcherlife #AFuoco

Day 65: After a smooth 9-hour boat ride over the Sepik river, we made it to Sisimagung, Northern Papua. This is the 65th day of my no-fly trip from Italy to the Solomon islands. The coastline is beautiful, what you could describe as paradise on earth. Coconut trees gently bend over sandy beaches and the sound of the waves quietly resound among villagers busy with their fishing nets or cooking earths. It is then all the more upsetting that this beauty is slowly but incessantly being destroyed by sea level rise. This is what Jeffery Bae, a local resident, tells me in the few hours I have here before getting on a truck to Madang. It seems impossible that a sea so quiet can become the agent of destruction, but this is precisely what happens, as Jeffery shows traditional houses made with sago and bamboo leaves having been dismantled by the latest storm surges.
"We will have to relocate", tells me Jeffrey with an empty, "but we don't know where, because right behind our village there's a swamp".
Once more, I hear the same story: no help from national, regional governments, and neither from international organisations.
How many million stories are similar to Jeffrey's, and I wouldn't hear were it not for my slow travel.

Check interview here:
https://youtu.be/hk4Vr9p5ZFc

#refusetofly #travel #slowtravel #decarbonise #climateemergency #globalwarming #climateBreakdown #collapse #TippingPoint #papuaisland #PNG #Wewak #Sepik #WestSepik #researcher #researcherlife #AFuoco

Day 65: I cross the Sepik river in a 9-hour night boat ride. I didn't know it was possible to sleep comfortably on betel nut bags, but it is. The quiet of the sunrise in the foggy dimmed-light awakening will never die in me. So the warmth of the fellow passengers and the skipper Bendol. Incidentally, his torch faded away soon after setting off. What would he have done if I hadn't lent me my own torch to navigate the boat in the night? This is typical Papua: no thinking about the future, everything will be alright.

I slow travel mainly to reduce my carbon footprint (by 10 times according to available estimates) but also to experience travel as most people in this world do.

#refusetofly #travel #slowtravel #decarbonise #climateemergency #globalwarming #climateBreakdown #collapse #TippingPoint #papuaisland #PNG #Wewak #Sepik #WestSepik #researcher #researcherlife #AFuoco

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Day 65: I cross the Sepik river in a 9-hour night boat ride. I didn't know it was possible to sleep comfortably on betel nut bags, but it is. The quiet of the sunrise in the foggy dimmed-light awakening will never die in me. So the warmth of the fellow passengers and the skipper Bendol. Incidentally, his torch faded away soon after setting off. What would he have done if I hadn't lent me my own torch to navigate the boat in the night? This is typical Papua: no thinking about the future, everything will be alright.

I slow travel mainly to reduce my carbon footprint (by 10 times according to available estimates) but also to experience travel as most people in this world do.

#refusetofly #travel #slowtravel #decarbonise #climateemergency #globalwarming #climateBreakdown #collapse #TippingPoint #papuaisland #PNG #Wewak #Sepik #WestSepik #researcher #researcherlife #AFuoco

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The original plan was to take a boat straightaway after my arrival in Angoram, in the Sepik river, but I thought I'd better take a rest instead - even if I had nothing booked. the local priest put me up and in the morning local guy Morgan shows me arob Ng the local market, open everyday. the main food from here is sago, a tree from the palm oil family, from which the locals take almost everything. from the internal pulp that is eaten raw or processed to make flour, to its leaves that are used to make up houses' roofs. Watch YT video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/cdcVaPis2MY

I slow travel mainly to reduce my carbon footprint (by 10 times according to available estimates) but also to experience travel as most people in this world do. 78/

#refusetofly #travel #slowtravel #decarbonise #climateemergency #globalwarming #climateBreakdown #collapse #TippingPoint #papuaisland #PNG #Wewak #Sepik #WestSepik #researcher #researcherlife #AFuoco

The original plan was to take a boat straightaway after my arrival in Angoram, in the Sepik river, but I thought I'd better take a rest instead - even if I had nothing booked. the local priest put me up and in the morning local guy Morgan shows me arob Ng the local market, open everyday. the main food from here is sago, a tree from the palm oil family, from which the locals take almost everything. from the internal pulp that is eaten raw or processed to make flour, to its leaves that are used to make up houses' roofs. Watch YT video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/cdcVaPis2MY

I slow travel mainly to reduce my carbon footprint (by 10 times according to available estimates) but also to experience travel as most people in this world do. 78/

#refusetofly #travel #slowtravel #decarbonise #climateemergency #globalwarming #climateBreakdown #collapse #TippingPoint #papuaisland #PNG #Wewak #Sepik #WestSepik #researcher #researcherlife #AFuoco

Day 63: Big setback as only ferry serving Wewak has broken engine. The pastor looking after me recommends an alternative route through the Sepik river.

He leaves it late, but in the end he manages to find a place on the last truck of the day travelling to Angoram on the Sepik river. They leave me the privilege of travelling on the front of the truck where I have a comfy seat rather than the wooden benches all the other passengers use on the back. the scenery is very diverse from the ones I used to in Bougainville. there's no rainforest here, but rather grassland and bushes. it strikes me that even this very old, noisy and rusty truck is a luxury in comparison with the many who cannot afford it and walk over the main (and only) road. actually, we are lucky there's a road at all. This will stop at the Sepik river, as there's no bridge crossing over it.

I get to Angoram after an 8-hour drive. I have no idea where to stay and find a place to sleep in the local church (along with rats & insects).

https://youtube.com/shorts/xT5dboTbjP8

#refusetofly #travel #slowtravel #decarbonise #climateemergency #globalwarming #climateBreakdown #collapse #TippingPoint #papuaisland #PNG #Wewak #Sepik #WestSepik #researcher #researcherlife #AFuoco

I slow travel mainly to reduce my carbon footprint (by 10 times according to available estimates) but also to experience travel as most people in this world do.

Day 63: Big setback as only ferry serving Wewak has broken engine. The pastor looking after me recommends an alternative route through the Sepik river.

He leaves it late, but in the end he manages to find a place on the last truck of the day travelling to Angoram on the Sepik river. They leave me the privilege of travelling on the front of the truck where I have a comfy seat rather than the wooden benches all the other passengers use on the back. the scenery is very diverse from the ones I used to in Bougainville. there's no rainforest here, but rather grassland and bushes. it strikes me that even this very old, noisy and rusty truck is a luxury in comparison with the many who cannot afford it and walk over the main (and only) road. actually, we are lucky there's a road at all. This will stop at the Sepik river, as there's no bridge crossing over it.

I get to Angoram after an 8-hour drive. I have no idea where to stay and find a place to sleep in the local church (along with rats & insects).

https://youtube.com/shorts/xT5dboTbjP8

#refusetofly #travel #slowtravel #decarbonise #climateemergency #globalwarming #climateBreakdown #collapse #TippingPoint #papuaisland #PNG #Wewak #Sepik #WestSepik #researcher #researcherlife #AFuoco

I slow travel mainly to reduce my carbon footprint (by 10 times according to available estimates) but also to experience travel as most people in this world do.

Day 45: I only know their names, Dina and Rizki, and that today is supposed to be the happiest day in their lives. Their wedding takes place under a tent that is crowded with relatives and friends. Their silky clothes are luxurious, and every embroidery seems to have been crafted by an expert hand. The bride is crowned with fake jewels. Perhaps this dress has been passed down from generation to generation. Dina's smile is too static to be authentic. Rizki, instead, seems to be thoroughly enjoying the day. Her parents sit in a semi-circle opposite her. This is probably the moment in which they are “handing” the girl over to the groom’s family. You could exchange what goes on under the tent for a wedding in Dubai. Outside the tent, life goes on as normal in this coastal district, among the rubble, the dirt road, the house foundations eroded by the rising seas, and the wooden roofs collapsing under the power of typhoons.
Maybe this tent is a metaphor of global warming. We live in a bubble where everything seems joyful and luxurious, but reality bites outside. The brides can hardly pronounce my name, but they share their food with me as if I were a member of their family. My van to Yogjakarta departs soon, so I leave the gathering well before the wedding is over. I leave under the illusion their future will be bright... 65/

#RefuseToFly #slowtravel #Semarang #Indonesia #JavaIsland #JavaneseWedding #coasters #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #ClimateBreakdown #DontLookUp

Day 45: I only know their names, Dina and Rizki, and that today is supposed to be the happiest day in their lives. Their wedding takes place under a tent that is crowded with relatives and friends. Their silky clothes are luxurious, and every embroidery seems to have been crafted by an expert hand. The bride is crowned with fake jewels. Perhaps this dress has been passed down from generation to generation. Dina's smile is too static to be authentic. Rizki, instead, seems to be thoroughly enjoying the day. Her parents sit in a semi-circle opposite her. This is probably the moment in which they are “handing” the girl over to the groom’s family. You could exchange what goes on under the tent for a wedding in Dubai. Outside the tent, life goes on as normal in this coastal district, among the rubble, the dirt road, the house foundations eroded by the rising seas, and the wooden roofs collapsing under the power of typhoons.
Maybe this tent is a metaphor of global warming. We live in a bubble where everything seems joyful and luxurious, but reality bites outside. The brides can hardly pronounce my name, but they share their food with me as if I were a member of their family. My van to Yogjakarta departs soon, so I leave the gathering well before the wedding is over. I leave under the illusion their future will be bright... 65/

#RefuseToFly #slowtravel #Semarang #Indonesia #JavaIsland #JavaneseWedding #coasters #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #ClimateBreakdown #DontLookUp

Day 45: I only know their names, Dina and Rizki, and that today is supposed to be the happiest day in their lives. Their wedding takes place under a tent that is crowded with relatives and friends. Their silky clothes are luxurious, and every embroidery seems to have been crafted by an expert hand. The bride is crowned with fake jewels. Perhaps this dress has been passed down from generation to generation. Dina's smile is too static to be authentic. Rizki, instead, seems to be thoroughly enjoying the day. Her parents sit in a semi-circle opposite her. This is probably the moment in which they are “handing” the girl over to the groom’s family. You could exchange what goes on under the tent for a wedding in Dubai. Outside the tent, life goes on as normal in this coastal district, among the rubble, the dirt road, the house foundations eroded by the rising seas, and the wooden roofs collapsing under the power of typhoons.
Maybe this tent is a metaphor of global warming. We live in a bubble where everything seems joyful and luxurious, but reality bites outside. The brides can hardly pronounce my name, but they share their food with me as if I were a member of their family. My van to Yogjakarta departs soon, so I leave the gathering well before the wedding is over. I leave under the illusion their future will be bright... 65/

#RefuseToFly #slowtravel #Semarang #Indonesia #JavaIsland #JavaneseWedding #coasters #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #ClimateBreakdown #DontLookUp

Day 45: I only know their names, Dina and Rizki, and that today is supposed to be the happiest day in their lives. Their wedding takes place under a tent that is crowded with relatives and friends. Their silky clothes are luxurious, and every embroidery seems to have been crafted by an expert hand. The bride is crowned with fake jewels. Perhaps this dress has been passed down from generation to generation. Dina's smile is too static to be authentic. Rizki, instead, seems to be thoroughly enjoying the day. Her parents sit in a semi-circle opposite her. This is probably the moment in which they are “handing” the girl over to the groom’s family. You could exchange what goes on under the tent for a wedding in Dubai. Outside the tent, life goes on as normal in this coastal district, among the rubble, the dirt road, the house foundations eroded by the rising seas, and the wooden roofs collapsing under the power of typhoons.
Maybe this tent is a metaphor of global warming. We live in a bubble where everything seems joyful and luxurious, but reality bites outside. The brides can hardly pronounce my name, but they share their food with me as if I were a member of their family. My van to Yogjakarta departs soon, so I leave the gathering well before the wedding is over. I leave under the illusion their future will be bright... 65/

#RefuseToFly #slowtravel #Semarang #Indonesia #JavaIsland #JavaneseWedding #coasters #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #ClimateBreakdown #DontLookUp

Day 45:
I know that slow travel offers the incomparable opportunity to see with my own eyes how most people live on this planet. After taking the 6-hour train from Jakarta, I'm keen to visit people living on the coastline in Semarang, as they have been exposed to constant flooding in recent years. A local couchsurfer takes me there by scooter.

The meeting with Deby is by far the most touching experience of this travel, maybe of all my travels. Check it our on my YT channel: https://youtu.be/Gl7IXxYpDgc?si=mcbo_xTXx_njcB8_ .

Relentless flooding destroyed her family's lives to the point they have nothing to eat. When she suddenly burst into tears after confessing that she didn't have the money to send their children to school, I felt the powerlessness that so many people in this world experience in their daily lives. Theirs is a small house compared to European standards, less than 20 m2, and yet I could see all the love they put to build their home. The floor is made of concrete. They must have wanted this construction to be as stable as it could. But they didn't consider that relentless sea level rise, accompanied by land subsidence, would have exposed this building to constant flooding. Inundations bring about lack of sleep, inability to work, loss of capital equipment - in particular, the scooter they used to go to work - and, in the end, food scarcity. This is climate breakdown in action.

#RefuseTofly #Semarang #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #Slowtravel #researcherlife #Indonesia

Day 45:
I know that slow travel offers the incomparable opportunity to see with my own eyes how most people live on this planet. After taking the 6-hour train from Jakarta, I'm keen to visit people living on the coastline in Semarang, as they have been exposed to constant flooding in recent years. A local couchsurfer takes me there by scooter.

The meeting with Deby is by far the most touching experience of this travel, maybe of all my travels. Check it our on my YT channel: https://youtu.be/Gl7IXxYpDgc?si=mcbo_xTXx_njcB8_ .

Relentless flooding destroyed her family's lives to the point they have nothing to eat. When she suddenly burst into tears after confessing that she didn't have the money to send their children to school, I felt the powerlessness that so many people in this world experience in their daily lives. Theirs is a small house compared to European standards, less than 20 m2, and yet I could see all the love they put to build their home. The floor is made of concrete. They must have wanted this construction to be as stable as it could. But they didn't consider that relentless sea level rise, accompanied by land subsidence, would have exposed this building to constant flooding. Inundations bring about lack of sleep, inability to work, loss of capital equipment - in particular, the scooter they used to go to work - and, in the end, food scarcity. This is climate breakdown in action.

#RefuseTofly #Semarang #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #Slowtravel #researcherlife #Indonesia

Day 45:
I know that slow travel offers the incomparable opportunity to see with my own eyes how most people live on this planet. After taking the 6-hour train from Jakarta, I'm keen to visit people living on the coastline in Semarang, as they have been exposed to constant flooding in recent years. A local couchsurfer takes me there by scooter.

The meeting with Deby is by far the most touching experience of this travel, maybe of all my travels. Check it our on my YT channel: https://youtu.be/Gl7IXxYpDgc?si=mcbo_xTXx_njcB8_ .

Relentless flooding destroyed her family's lives to the point they have nothing to eat. When she suddenly burst into tears after confessing that she didn't have the money to send their children to school, I felt the powerlessness that so many people in this world experience in their daily lives. Theirs is a small house compared to European standards, less than 20 m2, and yet I could see all the love they put to build their home. The floor is made of concrete. They must have wanted this construction to be as stable as it could. But they didn't consider that relentless sea level rise, accompanied by land subsidence, would have exposed this building to constant flooding. Inundations bring about lack of sleep, inability to work, loss of capital equipment - in particular, the scooter they used to go to work - and, in the end, food scarcity. This is climate breakdown in action.

#RefuseTofly #Semarang #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #Slowtravel #researcherlife #Indonesia

Day 45:
I know that slow travel offers the incomparable opportunity to see with my own eyes how most people live on this planet. After taking the 6-hour train from Jakarta, I'm keen to visit people living on the coastline in Semarang, as they have been exposed to constant flooding in recent years. A local couchsurfer takes me there by scooter.

The meeting with Deby is by far the most touching experience of this travel, maybe of all my travels. Check it our on my YT channel: https://youtu.be/Gl7IXxYpDgc?si=mcbo_xTXx_njcB8_ .

Relentless flooding destroyed her family's lives to the point they have nothing to eat. When she suddenly burst into tears after confessing that she didn't have the money to send their children to school, I felt the powerlessness that so many people in this world experience in their daily lives. Theirs is a small house compared to European standards, less than 20 m2, and yet I could see all the love they put to build their home. The floor is made of concrete. They must have wanted this construction to be as stable as it could. But they didn't consider that relentless sea level rise, accompanied by land subsidence, would have exposed this building to constant flooding. Inundations bring about lack of sleep, inability to work, loss of capital equipment - in particular, the scooter they used to go to work - and, in the end, food scarcity. This is climate breakdown in action.

#RefuseTofly #Semarang #SeaLevelRise #LandSubsidence #Slowtravel #researcherlife #Indonesia

New job, new film, new book...Merci Olivier Monod @libe Liberation for summarising my 2025 so far!
Indeed I accepted a job offer @ Masaryk University in Czechia. They have a programme on regional peripheries that seems perfect to continue my research on the effects of climate change & market integration on indigenous communities in Papua New Guinea (PNG) (among my other research on social cohesion).

The film "The Researcher" by @produzionifuorifuoco has already been screened in 13 different countries around the world and recently won the award for "Best Educational Pathway Film" @ International Frome Climate Film Festival.

Finally, my book "A fuoco" (Zooming in) has just been published by @feltrinelli_. It’s the diary of my 28,000 km #NoFly journey from PNG to Europe to reduce my carbon footprint.

Many people ask me if losing my job was "worthwhile". These outcomes would make one feel that it was. But, honestly, I would have done the same even if no one had talked about my story and I hadn't "achieved" anything. For me, the important thing was to remain true to my "climate conscience". I couldn't have done otherwise.

Read article (in French)👉:
https://www.liberation.fr/environnement/licencie-pour-avoir-refuse-de-prendre-lavion-lobjecteur-de-conscience-climatique-gianluca-grimalda-a-retrouve-un-emploi-20250604_PDX6ADGP5FAS3O2XPMMBNEW6R4/

Watch trailer of the film👉https://www.produzionifuorifuoco.it/portfolio_researcher.html

Read extract of the book (in Italian): https://www.feltrinellieditore.it/opera/a-fuoco/

#RefuseToFly #ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis #Decarbonize
Photo @ Alexander Pohl/Sipa USA

New job, new film, new book...Merci Olivier Monod @libe Liberation for summarising my 2025 so far!
Indeed I accepted a job offer @ Masaryk University in Czechia. They have a programme on regional peripheries that seems perfect to continue my research on the effects of climate change & market integration on indigenous communities in Papua New Guinea (PNG) (among my other research on social cohesion).

The film "The Researcher" by @produzionifuorifuoco has already been screened in 13 different countries around the world and recently won the award for "Best Educational Pathway Film" @ International Frome Climate Film Festival.

Finally, my book "A fuoco" (Zooming in) has just been published by @feltrinelli_. It’s the diary of my 28,000 km #NoFly journey from PNG to Europe to reduce my carbon footprint.

Many people ask me if losing my job was "worthwhile". These outcomes would make one feel that it was. But, honestly, I would have done the same even if no one had talked about my story and I hadn't "achieved" anything. For me, the important thing was to remain true to my "climate conscience". I couldn't have done otherwise.

Read article (in French)👉:
https://www.liberation.fr/environnement/licencie-pour-avoir-refuse-de-prendre-lavion-lobjecteur-de-conscience-climatique-gianluca-grimalda-a-retrouve-un-emploi-20250604_PDX6ADGP5FAS3O2XPMMBNEW6R4/

Watch trailer of the film👉https://www.produzionifuorifuoco.it/portfolio_researcher.html

Read extract of the book (in Italian): https://www.feltrinellieditore.it/opera/a-fuoco/

#RefuseToFly #ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis #Decarbonize
Photo @ Alexander Pohl/Sipa USA