Green Travelling
Happy Holidays in the trailer
© Bogdan Sonyakhnyj / Shutterstock
Vacation in a trailer in the country? Sounds like drizzle, shivering nights and four- and eight-legged friends romping around the trailer or in its cracks. In short: it sounds like little recovery! Our editor puts it to the test – and is thrilled! A plea for greener travel.
When it comes to our holidays, the bar can sometimes be set quite high: get out, experience new things, see distant countries, stylish accommodation and, preferably, have lots of adventures too! Everyone can imagine that this is not exactly the best for our environment. But last year not only did I feel ashamed to fly, the corona virus also made some travel plans unsafe and sometimes thwarted the plans. In recent years, globetrotters have involuntarily become couch potatoes and frequent travelers have either become forest bathers or permanent campers. What was difficult for some of us and put a damper on the tourism industry in particular, was all the better for our environment. Global air traffic has been greatly reduced and nature has finally breathed a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, in the period between lockdowns, many holiday-seekers found that that it can also be really beautiful in the home region – and thus automatically moved towards the Slow/Green Traveling category. So did I: A week’s vacation in October lay ahead of me – and the desire (not only due to Corona) to stay close by and in things to keep your eyes peeled for more sustainable holiday options. So I clicked through various online sites and finally found a restored, small construction trailer that stands in a garden in the country.
Hygge and green
Holidays in a trailer – in autumn, without heating and with an outside toilet – that sounded like an adventure! The question of getting there remained. Since I had made slow traveling my motto and didn’t own a car anyway, the matter was quickly clarified: bike and train make a good combination and took me relaxed from Hamburg to MeckPomm. The outward journey was Pure deceleration and as I cycled through the fields, I felt right into that kind of coziness that rural villages exude per se. The trailer itself was really a surprise: the gem, which was restored with so much love and craftsmanship, stood on a meadow orchard and can best be described by the word hyggelig: small, cozy and furnished with sustainable materials – so that you just feel had to feel comfortable. What followed then is reminiscent of the motto “living close to nature”: When it got cold in the evenings, I practiced the art of making a fire, water was filled in canisters, waste water was taken away in the same way. There was light as long as the supply of solar energy allowed it, and in the morning apples rolled straight from the tree in front of the “front door”. Conclusion: I loved it!
© private
Rarely have I been able to switch off so well on vacation as there in this small trailer in the middle of nowhere. Maybe it was the lack of internet reception or because I was confronted with the opposite of sensory overload in this place. Maybe it was because there just wasn’t that much to do there, except for walks, short bike rides, evenings in front of the fireplace and good books. The fact is, a few days in the construction trailer felt like weeks in which I was “get out of it all” and found what one often desires on vacation: relaxation. My energy level refilled as if by itself in the small idyll. Also, the thought made me happy Letting sustainability and travel go well together!
© private
Travel and see new things with greener options
It is clear that as soon as we are on the move, we humans always have a leave an ecological footprint – and it is also clear to me that such a construction trailer is not the epitome of vacation for everyone. Nevertheless, it shows that there are many beautiful and, above all, greener options out there (and especially around the corner): Be it the privately run guesthouse, which opens at breakfast organic products of local farmers sets; The hotel that green energy involves and one sustainable water and waste management tracked; Or the many accommodation options that are out sustainable, recycled or local materials are made and placed directly in the countryside (tree house, tiny house, tipi, etc.) – they all try to do their part to rethink sustainability.
We humans will always like to travel and see new things – the only question is how and at whose expense! I’m not an advocate of saying that we should all never fly again – there are far too beautiful places in the world that one or the other would still like to discover in the course of life. Nevertheless, it is worth keeping in mind that tourism can also destroy what we actually love so much. Looking for greener options may even provide more exciting or relaxing alternatives – even if or precisely because there are perhaps not even 100 kilometers between home and vacation spot. And even if it should go a little further south at some point, there will definitely be a Mediterranean construction trailer version there – with even more solar energy potential.