A 19-Year-old has co-founded with his father an Agency. They organized long-distance train travel around the world.
Even without traveling on the Orient Express to Bangkok from Europe with train photo: Imago/photographer: Jack Kurtz
BERLIN taz | For the eco-conscious and open-minded man of today knows that he is influenced by his own action in the climate and thus the future of all the generations, he flies with a bad Conscience.
4.206 kilograms of CO2 caused, for example, a flight from Frankfurt to Hanoi in Vietnam and back. That the climate is friendly year budget a Person only 2,300 kilograms of CO2, does not want to know the environmentally conscious, man-day. The Per-capita emissions in India will amount to in a whole year, only 1,600 kilograms of CO2, also. In the times of flight of shame and Fridays for the Future, he justifies his vacation to warmer, and far-away foreign countries prefer to donate in climate protection projects over compensation payments to organizations such as Atmosfair. 97 euros, the relief of one’s own conscience for a return flight from Frankfurt to Hanoi costs.
Together with his father, Matthias, climate activist Elijah Bohun wants to harmful, this Problem of global long-distance travel tackle, which employs the environment-conscious people for quite some time. Since then, the 19-year-old Austrian, decided last year against the fly, is flying, shame it is no longer an issue. Traveling half way around the world he still. From January 2020, Elias and Matthias individual train journeys in Europe, to organize, to Asia and North Africa and to open the first travel Agency of this kind. The idea is to “travel by train as far as it goes.”
At Traivelling, the Name of the travel Agency in lower Austria, Mödling, is it going to be different than in the case of luxury package tours such as the Orient Express train, with room to manoeuvre. “It’s just a matter of, to see along the way,” says Matthias.
the journey is The destination. When you get to Vienna in the train, you can disembark for about 650 euros, eight days later, in Vietnam. They take a little more time, you will see Kiev, Moscow, Astana (capital of Kazakhstan), the Gobi desert, and several cities in China. When Elias was 18 years old, he completed the trip with his girlfriend in 16 days. “Elias has spent more time in the preparation of its travel, as in high school,” says his father. “Many have said, my travel plans are crazy,” says Elias.
Elias describes himself as a Zugfreak. Three to four months he had planned almost every day on Russian and Kazakh train ticket portals his journey. Therefore, he knows well the people and agencies on the ground, where he will have to buy Tickets for travellers, and Deposit can. “You pay us, and we are putting together the train tickets, which our customers pick up on your trip,” explains Elias. That any normal person of the portals was quenched, he could well understand, he says. Most of the time he is now busy to answer E-Mails and requests to Traivelling. Studying Chemistry in Vienna he has for pause. And, in fact, sustainable mobility is interested in a lot more than chemistry. “We are consistently climate-friendly rail travel agent” on the site traivelling.com.
Five main routes to Hanoi, Bangkok, Tokyo, Barcelona, and Lisbon show examples of how the global train journey can look like. The individual travel request, you can enter via the Website on Elias and Matthias more. Starting in January, you want to be able to conduct business and train tickets to buy. Requests for the summer holidays, you can make but also the end of the year already. “I know the train services in Europe and Asia by heart,” says Elias. He takes care, therefore, to the ticket bookings.
Matthias, has made a proficiency test for the opening of a travel Agency and organizes sales and distribution partnerships with railway companies. The demand for tickets is already incredibly high, says Elias. “Not reduced to the protection of the environment, trains are one of the most amazing things there is”, was one of the first messages have been to the travel Agency.
A stressed Elias especially: “If people book now with us or not: My hope is simply that people see that there is an Alternative to the plane. You have the idea of travelling and Enjoy getting away from the concept, to fly cheap anywhere.“ For Elias, the difference between slow and fast travelling like the difference between slow and fast food is Not a sacrifice but a gain.
