I had the honor of contributing a chapter on train travel in Finland to the book Europa mit dem Zug by Reisedepeschen.

Reisedepeschen is an independent publisher from Berlin, Germany. Started out as a blog, they now publish a fine line of beautifully designed travel books. In summer 2019 I was contacted by Johannes and Marianna, the people behind Reisedepeschen. They told me about their idea of a guidebook on train travel in Europe, in which many different authors would contribute their expertise and experience.

I liked the idea and immediately started writing about Finland, in particular a night train trip up north to Kemijärvi in Lapland. Together we fine-tuned the concept of how to present train travel in each country. I also helped to find authors through my contacts from the blog and social media.

It’s this community approach I enjoyed the most about being part of the project. There are many talented writers and photographers around in the railway bubble and it’s great to see some of their work being promoted so prominently.

The book was supposed to come out earlier, but then things were brought to a halt by a pandemic. You may have heard about it. I think it was a good idea to wait until this summer to release it, now that everyone is craving to travel again.

Two years after we started talking about the project, I’m very happy to hold the final product in my hands. It’s a great book that not only looks and feels good, but makes you want to hop on the next train right away and explore the amazing continent that is Europe. Thanks to Johannes, Marianna and all the other people involved for the nice collaboration.