4th of July Independence Day – showed me the exact opposite of Independence. It’s a nightmare how dependant we are on our communication devices. To write such a Blog or let’s call it “travel diary” I need to be connected via WiFi or Roaming. So far that shouldn’t be a problem. But as I needed a second cell phone for our navigation the trouble started already there. It needed only a Data SIM card and no telephone service. Waking up this morning I thought I could simply start with loading up some photos and exchange some data from phone to phone, but as I logged into my data phone it…

3rd of July after the hottest day of the year we are trying to start really early at 5:00 am on our way to Kempten. Not only to escape the heat, but we try to avoid the crowd, as we are not allowed with bikes in the rush hour on Munich’s public transport. As we are packing up our bikes during dawn, we were suddenly surprised by Carsten Zehm and our Past Governor Christian Fey. They helped us to get the bikes and luggage up on the train platform at Starnberg station. Arriving in Memmingen we were by coincidence just in time for the raise of the rainbow banner at…

Our first attempt to bike to Kempten was already a perfect day to let us experience what it means to bike in hot summer. We were ready to start towards the monastery of Andechs for getting our first stamp in our pilgrim passes on the way towards Santiago de Compostella. Andechs in the heart of the #regionstarnbergammersee is called the ‘holy mountain’ as the monastery and church is located on the top of a ‘drumlin’ left on the moraine by the glaciers after the last ice age. We will try to find what’s left of present glaciers on our tour later. Andechs is a well known pilgrimage place with its…

Travelling by train instead of flying is particularly easy in Europe, as we have a dense network of rail connections. It is much easier to avoid flying in Europe than in the USA. As an architect, I believe it is important to raise awareness of the construction industry’s contribution to CO2 emissions, which accounts for 40% of the total. Fifteen years ago, we designed the first eco-hotel in Nepal, at the foot of Everest. This project was recognised by UNESCO as an example of education for sustainable development. Unfortunately, the 2015 earthquake and the subsequent corona crisis have delayed its completion until today. Along the way, we will visit examples…

Since several months we are trying to get in contact with the Rotary Clubs of ten countries being part of our ‘Less-is-More-Tour’. Due to the privacy policy within Europe we had no idea how difficult this could be, but we managed already to have most of the Rotary Clubs contacted for the first two weeks of our tour plan. The rhythm of our stages is trying to adapt mostly to the meeting rhythm of the local Rotary Clubs. Some of the Clubs which already answered were even willing to alter their common meeting schedule and offer us alternative dates to be able to do our lecture for Climate Change. We…

The first week has already been organised with the Rotary Clubs along the route, which goes from Starnberg via Kempten, Rorschach, Liechtenstein, Thusis, Flims-Laax, Disentis and Andermatt, over the Furka Pass and into the Rhône Valley. The highest stages of the ‘Less – is – More Tour’ lead over the Furka Pass past the Rhone and Aletsch glaciers. The rapid loss of glacier ice due to global warming since industrialisation becomes extremely visible here and is part of the presentation. (Image copyright: Jürgen Merz)

At the Rotary District 1841 conference Governor 2024/2025 Christian Fey awarded the “Less-is-more-Tour” among other projects for the Environmental Grant Plus together with our incoming Governor 2025/2026 Linda Gebser. After the ceremony we celebrated the evening with a boat ride on the Starnberg lake and the hand over to Governor Linda Gebser. A beautiful raibow accompanied the festive atmosphere. Some impressions from the beauty of the Starnberg lake boatride in the #regionstarnbergammersee