Landboarding trip to Ireland

Isn?t it incredible that flying is cheaper than the railways? And driving is cheaper than the railways? It used to do exasperate, frustrate and infuriate me that a journey from the UK to most cities in Europe was so difficult to arrange by train, and so ridiculously simple to organise by flying. I?ve no anger left on this subject, just a weary resignation that we?re living in a culture far removed from energy efficiency and respect for the Earth?s resources, together with a Green movement so hysterically charged and preachy that for the common man there is no middle ground.

It?s not just that flying is cheaper; it?s easier to sort out. There is a range of web sites that offers information on rail travel in the UK and throughout Europe. Apart from fares to Ireland, rail travel prices are hugely expensive compared to flying, and working out the times and connections are fiddly, complicated and unreliable. You pay tons more for high speed services across Europe, and the cheaper trains mean a seemingly simple trip from, say, London to Prague, takes over 36 hours, including an overnight stay on a freezing cold platform somewhere in North West Germany. A flight takes a few hours and on a budget airline, works out around 90 percent cheaper.

Right now I?m booking a trip to Ireland to go landboarding around the coast of Donegal. Although an overnight rail-ferry-rail trip to Ireland works out cheaper than a train from London to Manchester, there are no railway stations in Donegal ? the Irish neglected their rail infrastructure as much as the British, despite both countries? efforts to revitalise services.

I can?t even take the train to the airport. The train times don?t match the time of the flight, so I?ve got to drive to Heathrow, parking my car their. Heathrow airport parking adds to the overall cost of the trip considerably, so I do a search online to see if there are any budget airport parking companies.

There?s Belfast airport parking but I?m not taking the car on the plane so that?s not necessary though I do need to hire a car from there. Bristol airport parking looks cheap but I can?t fly from there to where I want in Ireland because there they?re booked up.

Birmingham airport parking looks good until I realise I?m wasting time trying to save money on parking my car at the airport but not considering that the convenience of Heathrow airport parking might possibly outweigh the cost seeing as it?s nearer and therefore will save me on fuel.

Then there?s the luggage ? a landboard and a couple of large foil kites wont count as hand luggage and I know some airlines charge lots for surfboards and a landboard (looks like a large skateboard but with big air filled tyres on it) is fairly bulky.

I spend an entire afternoon drudging through different flight times, different airports, different airlines, and different airport parking. For some reason Edinburgh airport parking is free while meet and greet parking is available at some airports, whatever that is, though I guess it means you pay extra for some kind of concierge service.

Stansted airport parking looks reasonable if I book a budget flight, but the airline at Heathrow airport is more reliable than most of those cheap airlines. I decide to buy a special bag for my landboard, just in case whatever airport I fly from has some weird ban on skateboards. The bag is made from tough nylon and could pass for a conventional holdall.

Maybe I could get a bus to the airport? That would do away with the hassle of airport parking and the often high charges associated with it. But coaches take ages, and stop all over the place, and get stuck in traffic just like cars. I look at the prices and unless you book really early it works out more than buying petrol for the equivalent distance in the car.

I decide on Heathrow airport, as the Heathrow airport parking facilities seem reasonable enough, and it is the nearest airport to me. Why would I want to drive to Teesside airport, parking my car there just to save a few quid? Though Cardiff airport is, I suddenly remember, nearer to me, and Cardiff airport parking has got to be easier ? smaller airport, fewer cars, equals less fuss? I don?t count on it though. I imagine: these massive airport parking lots; thousands of identikit cars in which somewhere is yours; where you spend half a day looking for it.

The long sandy beaches of Donegal beckon, and the wind and tide forecasts are just right for a great 3 days of kiting and being blown around by Mother Nature.

In the event Heathrow airport parking proved less stressful than I imagined, but on the flight over my anger over why I couldn?t simply have got a rail-ferry ticket over to Ireland resumed. This constant limitation on transport and promotion of flying has left the railways and ferry companies unable to compete, with the possible exception of certain types of freight.

I suppose I could have got the rail-ferry ticket to Dublin, then a train as far up the west coast as I could, and then hired a car. Maybe next time I will. I just have these haunting memories of previous attempts to negotiate Ireland by public transport then at the point where I needed to hire a car found everything closed because everyone had gone to the races or the pub or something.

Landboarding and kiting in Ireland is great fun by the way. The sport is still in its youth there, which means less people and more space on the sands. In fact you can find some beaches, especially around Kerry, that are utterly empty. 5-mile long beaches. Completely, blissfully, beautifully deserted!

Now that?s worth the stresses of flying and driving and airport parking ? surely?