Meet the Nomads - Michael Schuermann of Easy Hiker

Easy Hiker is a travel blog who focuses on hiking in different places in the world. This blog is created by Michael and Marlys Schuermann initially to encourage their friends to go hiking. But now, it has grown to a blog that caters to a wide of variety of audience who are interested in hiking. they provide tips, routes and a lot more information about hiking in the places that they’ve been to.

Michael is a journalist by profession and worked for the BBC World Service and as a sportscaster for a string of TV stations.

Get to know more about Michael and visit Easy Hiker.

But before you do that, check out my short interview with Michael.

How did you discover your passion for travelling?

“I have had this curiosity about other places for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I once suggested to my parents to stop in every town on the way to our annual beach holiday, just to see what life was like over there. They did not think it was a great idea. (I, conversely, am still convinced that it would have made a far, far better holiday.)”

What’s the most horrible experience that you’ve had on the road?

“The worst thing that can happen to you in hiking – which is what we do – is getting lost. When it slowly dawns on you that you have absolutely no idea where you are. Particularly if, on top of that, it’s getting late in the afternoon and that, if your situation does not improve, you may well be in serious trouble. Although, of course, for the sort of “easy” hiking that we do, “serious trouble” means something like “missing the bus home”. Nevertheless, for a moment at least (until you can put it into a rational perspective), your heart sinks so deep that it could not sink much deeper if you were lost in the Gobi desert.”

What’s the best travel experience that you’ve ever had?

“When, after a day of all kinds of difficulties, including getting lost (perhaps more than once: these things happen), preferably in adverse weather conditions: great heat or a thunderstorm, you finally arrive at your destination, sit down in a café, put your feet up, order a cold beer and light a cigarette, in the safe knowledge that everything has come out well and that this truly is, after all, the best of all possible worlds.”

What’s the biggest realization that you’ve got out of travelling?

“To quote Thoreau, that it’s not worth travelling half way around the world to count the cats in Zanzibar.”

What keeps you going? What keeps you motivated?

“It’s a free country, and people who find travelling too tiring are at liberty to stay at home. To watch their favourite soaps, presumably. I have heard that a re-run of As The World Turns starts on Channel 875 this afternoon. Hurry – you won’t want to miss it.”

This is a silly and hypothetical one. If you would be given a chance to travel with a popular person or a celebrity, who would it be and why?

“Somebody with a lively and original mind. (Hiking gives you plenty of opportunity to talk.) Ten years ago I would have said: Kurt Vonnegut. Today, I would say: A.C. Grayling, probably. (Failing that, however, I would also settle for Jenna Jameson.)”

Where’s your favourite place in this planet and why?

“New York, as a city, and the American West, Northern Arizona and Utah, as a landscape. If I am totally honest, however, I would have to say: home – because that’s where my music’s playing and where my love lies waiting silently for me.”

What’s your best tip for newbie traveller?

“That, no matter where you live, you can find endlessly fascinating places right in front of your own doorstep – and that, if you cannot appreciate their beauty, you are unlikely to get much out of the more faraway places either. Travelling, more than anything else, is a state of mind.”

What’s the funniest and silliest thing you’ve ever done while travelling?

“Oh boy, that’s a difficult one. We laugh a lot, but I put a lot of that down to exhaustion: when you are tired, the slightest thing that happens can make you go completely whacko, as anybody who has ever been around small children a lot will know. These are not the sort of “funny stories” that travel well, I am afraid, which is why I will resist the temptation of giving you a flavour of this.”

What do you think about yourself?

“When I was young man, I had the reputation of someone who could pick a fight alone, with himself, in a cupboard. Since then, I have mellowed, somewhat, but I am well aware that many people who know me still think that I am a complete a***hole. To which I can only say: you think that this is bad? You should have been here twenty years ago!”

“Easy Hiker” promotes adventures for beginners: little escapes – day trips or weekend journeys – into the great outdoors without any of that Daniel Boone s***: no bears, no sleeping bags (we sleep in inns along the way), no campfires. Most of our destinations are in Europe (Germany, France, the UK).”

Michael Schuermann aka Easy Hiker is a German born journalist who started travelling at age 7. An itinerant walker, he has tramped the streets of Paris in search of famous Hollywood movie sites, compiled his finds and got an American publisher to print his guide book Paris Movie Walks – 10 Guided Walking Tours in the City of Lights! Camera! Action!.

Editor’s Note: All pictures are provided by Michael

Next: Will Peach of My Spanish Adventures. Previously: Stephanie of The Travel Chica. For more interviews with travel bloggers, check out the archives of Meet the Nomads.