Last Friday, I went and bought a travel guide. Now, at home, I page though it. Great stuff in there. But now come the questions: How much time do I take where, what do I actually want so see? If I stop to look at everything that interests me along my Europastrasse, I’ll need at least a year! A series of thoughts unfurls itself.

But then, clarity returns: I want to see the road, observe it, read the traces people have left behind. That, I think, is worth seeing! Which brings me to the very essence of a road: road means motion. A road isn’t a place for staying in one place, I think to myself.

So with that in mind, I’m getting ready to spend the next few months on the move. Guidebook maps are bad in that they lead you past what’s really interesting.

I’ve hit upon an question that interests me:
What is an Europastrasse?

Most of us know these “E-roads” (green sign, white letters and numbers), but few of us know what they actually are. And I belong to this majority of the few: So just what is an Europastrasse?

That’s what I’d like to figure out, now. So I’ve decided to travel such an Europastrasse from beginning to end. That’s nearly 5,000 kilometers.

In any case, they’re roads that we’ve made—this much is certain. WE as a society have made them. Which naturally begs the question: Who are WE?

The answers can be found on the road. And come April, I’ll be on my way!