june-2012

On the road
with Rula
Novelist and travel
writer Rodney Bolt recalls
writing the fi rst guide to a
newly reunifi ed Germany,
in this exclusive story
“Just go!”
I wasn’t so sure.
My fl atmate Juanito was daring me to take up an off er to write a guidebook to Germany. It was 1991, and a
few months earlier, the country had doubled in size. My book would be one of the fi rst guides. If f I did it.
Not only was the new Germany huge, but because it was once a collection of (mostly rich) principalities,
even the smallest towns seemed to have something to write about – churches or palaces, famous paintings, a
historic centre. Everywhere seemed important. And expensive. I knew that guidebook writing was no allexpenses
paid glee trip. But if I signed on the dotted line, I would be setting off with a tiny advance to pay my
own way through one of the costliest countries in Europe. I still don’t have the faintest idea what possessed
me to say ‘yes’.
First step was to bundle transport and accommodation together, spending a sizeable chunk of the advance
on a Volkswagen camper van – a gracefully aging 1978 model, whose registration (RUL 871 T) inspired the
nickname ‘Rula’.
A yacht builder had done the conversion to camper van, so instead of the usual Formica and plastic, Rula
was resplendent in mahogany and equipped with all sorts of intelligently placed cupboards.
But if this was to be my home, I reasoned, then it needed a more personal touch. Out went foam cushions,
and in came a futon with a fi ne olive-green Egyptian cotton cover. Th en came Liberty’s off -cut curtains,
TRAVEL TALE GO!
Holland Herald 47