IMAGE staffer Jennifer Sheerin’s wellness routine balances busy days with carving out space for herself
IMAGE staffer Jennifer Sheerin’s wellness routine balances busy days with carving out space for herself

Jennifer Sheerin

This three-storey Dalkey home has the most beautiful sloping gardens
This three-storey Dalkey home has the most beautiful sloping gardens

IMAGE

Real Weddings: Kelly and Sean’s show-stopping wedding in Co Kerry
Real Weddings: Kelly and Sean’s show-stopping wedding in Co Kerry

Shayna Healy

WIN a bundle of Max Benjamin wall fragrance diffusers worth €165
WIN a bundle of Max Benjamin wall fragrance diffusers worth €165

Megan Burns

If networking is a super power then Mary McKenna deserves a cape
If networking is a super power then Mary McKenna deserves a cape

Fiona Alston

The sunglasses team IMAGE are reaching for this summer
The sunglasses team IMAGE are reaching for this summer

Sarah Gill

Page Turners: ‘Assembling Ailish’ author Sharon Guard
Page Turners: ‘Assembling Ailish’ author Sharon Guard

Sarah Gill

A seafront Skerries home has been given a luxe update with rich colours and hotel-inspired details
A seafront Skerries home has been given a luxe update with rich colours and hotel-inspired...

Megan Burns

Calling all Irish entrepreneurs: The Pitch 2025 is open for applications
Calling all Irish entrepreneurs: The Pitch 2025 is open for applications

IMAGE

Money moves: Smart financial strategies for every chapter of your life
Money moves: Smart financial strategies for every chapter of your life

IMAGE

Image / Editorial

‘Overwhelming’: Greta Thunberg arrives in New York after 15 days at sea


By Grace McGettigan
29th Aug 2019

Greta Thunberg

‘Overwhelming’: Greta Thunberg arrives in New York after 15 days at sea

Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg has just landed in New York after spending 15 days sailing across the North Atlantic. Here’s what she said of her oceanic adventure


Fifteen days after setting sail from Europe, Greta Thunberg has arrived in New York City. The 16-year-old climate activist said the response to her journey has been “very overwhelming”, before thanking everyone for their support.

Speaking to the press from a pier in lower Manhattan, Greta said “the ground is still shaking for me” – which makes sense, given she spent more than two weeks on the rocky racing yacht, Malizia II.

Related: Why Greta Thunberg is my idol –
for more reasons than climate activism

“I want to thank everyone so much, everyone who is here, everyone who is involved in this climate fight, because this is a fight across borders; across continents,” she said.

The young Swede made the ‘zero carbon’ voyage to the States to show that air travel isn’t necessary; that it is possible to cut down on carbon emissions from aeroplanes. It just takes commitment.

Greta Thunberg

‘Peace and quiet’

While answering questions from journalists on the pier, Greta gave some insight into life on the racing yacht.

For example, she didn’t feel seasick, which came as a surprise, as the teen has suffered from seasickness in the past. “I didn’t feel bad at all,” she said. “I felt good even though it was a bit rough sometimes. I was extremely lucky. For me, it was really good.”

She also added that she’ll miss the tranquillity of life at sea. “The best moment of the trip… it’s so hard to pick because there are so incredibly many… But, leaving and to see all the people waving and to arrive and see all the people – and just doing nothing [out at sea].

“Sitting for hours and staring at the ocean, doing nothing, I’m going to miss that a lot. To see the beauty of it, that I’m also going to miss. Peace and quiet.”

Greta Thunberg

What happens now?

For the next few days, Greta plans to rest, relax and explore the city. Then, on Friday, she will attend a strike outside the UN, followed by an upcoming UN Climate Action Summit.

Taking to social media, she shared a photo of herself sitting on the New York subway, adding, “Finally here. Thank you, everyone, who came to see me off in Plymouth, and everyone who welcomed me in New York! Now I’m going to rest for a few days, and on Friday I’m going to participate in the strike outside the UN.”

Greta is then expected to travel to Chile, South America for another climate event.

Photos: Greta Thunberg


Read more: Why Greta Thunberg is my idol – for more reasons than climate activism

Read more: How to talk to your children about climate change

Read more: Iceland held a funeral for its first glacier destroyed by climate change