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> I planned for this year's eclipse two years in advance, and it was a bit disappointing: the eclipse, just before sunset, disappeared behind some wisps of clouds just before the totality.

On the other hand, we didn't plan at all, threw some plans together the same day, ended up on the top of a parking lot from Mercadona outside of Tarragona somewhere, and it was magical, about 60 seconds of clear totality and no clouds as far as the eye could see :)

Do it, worst case scenario you've seen more places in the world!

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>Do it, worst case scenario you've seen more places in the world!

There is a cost to be paid - somewhere, by someone - of mindless travel. I know this is not a popular position but it's true.

I would correct your advice to: "Do it if you are not too far away". Otherwise enjoy the photos. The real thing is not so very different. I speak from experience too.

Yeah, sorry for not being inclusive enough to the people on the other side of the planet :) I'd also advise people with very late pregnancy to not board an airplane to fly here either, and people without legs might want to figure out transportation far ahead, and people not liking big groups might prefer more secluded areas instead of cities.

But yes, YMMV depending on your personal circumstance, don't do it regardless of other constraints you might have :)

I was rather talking about the multiple tons of carbon emitted for the purpose of one person's 40-second esthetic experience. Disappointed that here we are in 2026, the world is burning before our eyes, and yet still almost nobody is ready to accept the slightest constraint on their personal choices.

Well, we also have straight up data why the world is currently burning, and it's not because few people travel with airplanes to other places in the world to view eclipses once or twice in their life.

But it's easy to blame the individual, rather than the larger problems, probably because you can't really write directly to "Larger Problems" and get that off your chest, but it's much easier when it comes to individuals.

Flying is a completely unscalable form of transport. One scientist has calculated the marginally sustainable lifetime quota at "4" long-haul flights.* If you or I are flying and the climate is still livable that's because most people in the world have never got on a plane. If all 8 billion people did it to view eclipses even "once or twice in their life", the impact would be massive.

My arguments are "easy"? What's even easier is to blame politicians, and corporations, and systems, and basically anyone and anything but oneself. In the end we're all in this together and every action will count.

*https://www.lechotouristique.com/article/quota-de-4-vols-par...

True. I try not to fly, and prefer to travel by train. We saw this eclipse on Mallorca, and we got there by train and boat. I don't know how viable that will be to get to Tunesia from northern Europe, though.

That's great to hear. I did Mallorca by ferry once, from Barcelona. I've also got to Tunisia, from Palermo. It's surprisingly easy and quick, the main issue is to make sure your documents are strictly in order because the Tunis port police are, let's say, more corrupt than their counterparts at the airport.

As for next summer's eclipse, I recommend you forget Tunisia and just go to Tangier, opposite Gibraltar! It's a quick hop on a catamaran from Tarifa. Morocco is good value and much better set up for independent tourism. And Tangier is right on the line of the eclipse, from memory it will be a full 4 minutes there! Should be quite special if the clouds stay at bay.

Sad to hear about the Tunis port police. High speed train to southern Italy is otherwise an excellent idea. We'd probably also spend some time on Sicily, which has been on our wishlist for a while.

Tangier is absolutely also an option. In fact, doesn't the totality also pass over parts of Spain? But I figured that might be too expensive and crowded. I thought Tunis has been doing reasonably well lately (though I haven't been keeping up to date) and it has the advantage of also having Star Wars-related locations to visit.

But I haven't looked into any details at all yet. I'll keep all of this in mind.

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