Are we flying more to escape work and home?

Most of us fly more than we want each year, whether for work, to see family or for a holiday. But many of us also fly to escape from cramped, cold flats in winter, often without a garden.

Do we need to rethink holidays and also try to feel more of a sense of home and belonging, seeking better living conditions and houses where we work and live, so that we are not forever seeking to fly?

According to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), "over two million British people" were set to travel overseas for holidays on the weekend of 26-29 July, coinciding with the beginning of the summer holidays for the majority of schools in England. Cold weather could not have been their reason, but escape from home may well be. Either way, that's a lot of people.

Further, ABTA figures show that in 2012, younger travellers are taking more holidays a year, "with people aged 15-24 years taking on average five breaks in the UK or overseas in the past 12 months compared to four holidays in 2011".

However people are becoming more aware of climate change and the amounts of fossil fuels used when flying, and many want to fly less for the environment. So why do we continue to fly so often if we are environmentally aware?

All work and no play

One challenge is the realities of the modern workplace. I have never worked in an office where my manager allowed me to take more than 10 days at a time, meaning that I was always forced to take shorter multiple breaks throughout the year. As a result, I generally fly to visit family in Australia once a year, and then take a few short European breaks (flying to my destination, as the train is too expensive), when I have the money.

Managers can help this situation. They can be more flexible, allowing and encouraging employees to take their three- to four-week holidays at one time, which would help employees make better, greener holiday choices. I, for one, would like just to take one longer overseas holiday to see family a year, meaning less unnecessary travel. (It would also help the environment if effective carbon offsets were compulsory for each flight.)

Some managers, from my experience, are generally unsupportive of distance working when it comes to difficult and unavoidable events in employee's lives, such as illness of a loved one. As more people are living longer, adult children will become carers of their parents for longer as well. The modern workplace is not set up for this changing trend in lifestyle, forcing people to fly backwards and forwards to help family, taking a few days in isolation, regularly.

A report from the Institute of Leadership and Management in London advises CEOs and senior managers that successful flexible working in a workplace is due to shifting focus from being present to goals to help such workers.

"One of the best indicators of effective management is the extent to which it measures outputs, not inputs. The notable shift towards flexible working represents a change in thinking – performance is no longer measured by attendance, but instead by who is producing," according to their report, Flexible Working.

Seeking home and gardens

Contributing to the problem of frequent individual travel is the fact that housing conditions can be pretty poor. Street noise and cramped housing also is a factor in wanting to escape from home. Being on a relatively low salary (working for NGOs and as a journalist) means that all of the London flats I have lived in have been small, many without a garden, meaning I want to escape during the holidays. I may not be able to afford a better flat but I can afford cheap flights (some years, at least).

According to the World Health Organisation in Geneva, poor quality housing has significant effects on people's mental health as well as their heart and general wellbeing. A recent WHO report on housing conditions in Europe states: "The physical structure of the house, the home (psychosocial, economic and cultural), the neighbourhood infrastructure and the community all have an impact on health. Each of these four dimensions has the potential to have a direct or indirect impact on physical, social and mental health."

It's true that after visiting the current LS Lowry painting exhibition at Tate Britain, I realised after grumbling quite a lot, that my own living conditions weren't as poor as they were for many living in Britain in the early 20th century, but still, we have a long way to go, to make better, happier houses and gardens for the majority of people on average to low incomes.

One advocate for better, happier gardens at least in the UK, is the RSPB, who advise letting your garden "go wild" to encourage wildlife, let a variety of plant species grow and not least, to make it more fun in your tiny plot of land.

It's good advice: I can let it go completely crazy as I go on my overseas summer holiday, away from our cute, but tiny, noisy flat where you can hear everything that our neighbours say and do.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Become GSB member to get more stories like this direct to your inbox