Green Travelling – Einfach nachhaltig reisen. A book by Julia-Maria Blesin

A little (German) book tip for spring! The book “Green Travelling – Einfach nachhaltig reisen” was published by the oekom Verlag in 2021, but has lost little of its topicality. Anyone looking for climate-friendly inspiration for travel destinations, packing lists and means of transport this year will find great ideas, tips and travel anecdotes in this book. A short review of the book follows:

Illustrations
The book is illustrated with numerous photos, graphics and drawings, making it easy to read in a magazine style and even giving some people wanderlust. However, the 189 pages are quickly read through, as the illustrations reduce the amount of text to about half. It’s also a shame that tstock photos were used to supplement the author’s photos – this takes away some of the book’s personal flair.

Contents
The first 90 pages discuss the basics of sustainable travel: why sustainable tourism should be pursued at all; destinations and duration of trips; ecologically sustainable accommodation, travel utensils, food and clothing as well as the topic of climate-damaging air travel.
A further 80 pages explain various green travel options: hiking, cycling, using buses and trains, vanlife and car camping as well as travelling by canoe, houseboat or sailing boat. The book ends with a greeting from the author, website and reading tips as well as a keyword index and picture credits and sources.

Different types of text
The chapters on travel options, such as hiking, cycling, etc., are supported by “travel reports”. The author interviewed five different bloggers, often couples, who document a special kind of sustainable travelling on their website. They include, for example, two friends who are travelling by sailing boat in the North and Baltic Seas and a blogger who also travels long distances, such as from Great Britain to Serbia, by train.
From time to time, the author also includes “travel anecdotes” as inserts in the chapters. Due to the mistakes she reveals in her own travel planning, these are likeable and not instructive. They liven up the reading in an entertaining way.
The short lists in the chapters are also worth mentioning. These summarise the tips on equipment and packing so that readers don’t have to write them down themselves. A plus point!

Specific tips and suggestions
The inclusion of the topic of “travelling with children” is striking, which is explained by the author for every travel option, whether by van or boat. Another bonus are the very specific suggestions for travel destinations. For example, the book contains the top five hiking routes for northern Germany, i.e. far away from the Alps, and the five most beautiful cycle tour routes in Europe. Readers may be irritated by the specific, subjective selection, as so many places are simply left out. Nevertheless, the selective suggestions make sense at second glance, as they inspire direct travel planning. They also encourage people to travel in Europe and draw attention to the exciting places in and around their own country.

Trend topics
The author also mentions the current trend topics in terms of climate-friendly or climate-damaging travel: cruises are discouraged, microadventures, i.e. travelling on your own doorstep, are promoted and even Slow Travel is mentioned in two places in the book and briefly described as “travelling without haste and hurry “¹. There is no further explanation of the term.
The trend of vanlife, i.e. (long-term) travelling in a camper van, is also mentioned under the heading of camping. The author writes that travelling in a 3.5-tonne van is not so harmful to the climate if more than two people travel in it. Then the ecological footprint falls below that of travelling by ship or plane.² But who travels with three or more people in a limited-space camper van? More helpful are the indications that travellers tend to stay at home when camping or compensate for their kilometres travelled with donations for climate protection.

Conclusion
All in all, the book “Green Travelling – Einfach nachhaltig reisen” by Julia-Maria Blesin is highly recommended and well worth its 17.00 Euros. The author herself remains pleasantly in the background with individual travel anecdotes and yet skilfully guides you through the complex world of sustainable travel planning with numerous tips and hints. The book inspires and whets the appetite for green travel – thus fully fulfilling its mission integrated in the title “simply travelling sustainably”.

1Blesin, Julia-Maria (2021): Green Travelling. Einfach nachhaltig reisen, S. 131.

2Vgl. Ebd, S. 138 – 139.

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Article and pictures by Anika Neugart.

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