A trip around the world without planes.. A German seeks to reduce his carbon footprint

- After a bicycle accident in Berlin in October 2022, David Busiek was forced to remain in bed for about three months, which gave him the necessary time to think about his life. While recovering from a broken hip and a deep blood clot in his leg, the German videographer, who is now 35 years old, realized that he had a “rare opportunity” to catch his breath and reevaluate his life.

He decided to fulfill his dream of traveling around the world as soon as he regained his ability to move. But Busiek, who was then working in environmental science, didn't want to fly between popular tourist destinations.

Rather, he planned a trip in which he would rely mainly on land and sea, during which he would track his carbon footprint with the aim of compensating for his environmental impact. It set off from Germany in 2024, and since then it has traveled more than 90,000 kilometers across the seven continents, as part of its four-year journey under the name “ONE PLANET Expedition.”

Busiek describes the project as a living environmental experience, stressing that traveling in this way completely changed his outlook on moving around the world. A living environmental experience: “This method allows you to connect with the people and places you visit, and gives you a different sense of distance,” Busic told Ofoq News.

“I think the beauty of a journey is most evident when you slow down, stay in one place to really experience it, try to connect with it and think about how you can leave a positive impact where you're going.” To track his journey, Busiek created a carbon footprint calculator to measure, reduce and offset his travel emissions.

He began his route across Europe to Estonia, then headed south to the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, where he volunteered as a videographer at a local animal shelter. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a sailboat, passing through Cape Verde, he arrived in Brazil, from where he traveled in cars with their drivers to Ushuaia in Argentina.

From the southern tip of South America, he joined an expedition to Antarctica, before gradually making his way north as far as Alaska. Busiek faced several obstacles, including being robbed in Brazil and administrative problems, such as being refused permission to enter Panama on his first attempt.

“There are many moments when you doubt yourself, of course, but growth happens in those moments too,” he says. Busiek admits that his German passport has facilitated his entry to some destinations, as it allows him to travel without a visa to many countries, which gives him privileges that travelers of other nationalities do not enjoy.

Over time, his method of offsetting his carbon footprint has evolved. Instead of waiting for the end of the trip to calculate and address his total emissions, he contributes financially to climate projects, and offers his time and skills to support local initiatives while on the move.

He has volunteered with huskies in Estonia and draft dogs in Alaska, worked on an organic farm in Australia, and organized charity races and group walks. “I don't want my responsibility to start when the trip is over,” he says.

His long-term goals include organizing tree planting initiatives and eventually purchasing land to rehabilitate a degraded ecosystem. Travel rules change But Busiek was eventually forced to abandon his commitment not to travel by air.

In late 2025, after two years of traveling by land and sea, he boarded a plane from Anchorage, Alaska, to Baja California Sur, Mexico, after he was unable to cross Canada by land, and the ferry line to Mexico was halted for months, in addition to being associated with two projects to film documentaries there. “Circumstances explain my decision, but they do not eliminate the emissions generated by it,” he says, explaining that the trip wasted a large part of his carbon savings.

He has since taken two more planes, accepting this compromise of his original plan. He stresses that avoiding flying is still a basic principle in his journey, but adhering to an ideal of a flight completely devoid of flying should not take precedence over its scientific, documentary, and social goals.

From Mexico, he continued his journey via Panama and the Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, then Australia, where he motored through the outback to Alice Springs and Yuendumu, before taking a short flight to Cairns, after having the opportunity to join the crew of a boat heading to Southeast Asia. He says: “The destination is no longer the most important thing, but rather the pleasure of exploring places and having the time to do so.

On vacations and other trips, there is always something or someone waiting for you, but for me it is different.” Busiek documents his trip on his Instagram account, and plans to launch a YouTube channel later this year, in which he will publish documentaries about his trip and the initiatives he learned about while on the move.

As he prepares to head to Asia and the Middle East, he faces a new challenge: traveling through regions where the local languages ​​are not spoken. He is fluent in German, English and Spanish, and speaks some French and a little Estonian.

“So far I have been able to network in all the countries I have visited,” he says. “So this will be an interesting experience, as well as an opportunity to see how the infrastructure and systems there support my goal of reducing my environmental footprint as much as possible.”

Although he is excited about what lies ahead, Busiek says that nearly three years of continuous travel have left a psychological impact on him. He increasingly misses his family and friends, and the simple pleasures of life, such as familiar food and daily routines.

If I want someone to tell me everything that might go wrong, I call her.” But he confirms that he does not imagine staying for a long time without travel, and is likely to be ready to embark on a new adventure shortly after completing his current trip.

“The love of exploration will always be a part of me, and I will always be someone who loves discovering the world,” he says. Side Adventures Busiek relied on his trip on a limited budget and a little savings, but he does not see money as an obstacle, stressing that it should not “determine the itinerary.”

He rarely pays for accommodation, relying on his tent and transportation by car and boat. He has also traversed some areas by bike and kayak, and built a raft that he sailed down the Bolivian Amazon River. He hopes his journey will inspire others to travel slower, more consciously and more adventurously.

He expects to return to Germany in 2028, without specifying a date, leaving room for unexpected adventures and stories. He says that his experience showed how difficult it is to predict the itinerary of a trip, in light of factors such as weather, availability of boats, borders, and political changes, which may force plans to be changed at any moment.

He concludes: "My destination is to return home, but the road and arrival date are still open."