Where to go backpacking this year?, it’s the same question each spring. I have for five years being advocating hiking in Finland, and since last year you can now take my Pirkan Taival Hiking Guide along on your trip on this wonderful trail in the heart of Finland. Reason enough to introduce you to the book and encourage you to come backpacking on the Pirkan Taival!

Writing a book, even a little one like my Pirkan Taival Travel Guide, is a lot of work. First there’s the hiking and collecting data: 300 km of trails were hiked several times, XC skiing trails were explored in the winter, and I went off-trail over frozen lakes with snowshoes and through blooming forests to find the best spots and areas to showcase in the book. After all that outdoors time it’s time to distill it all into a smart format, organize maps, work with the local authorities, find photos from my extensive library, and then put it into a logical whole.

However, I was lucky that I didn’t need to take care of the layout, printing, and drawing maps - that’s what the fabulous team from the Conrad Stein Verlag took care off, who is my Publisher. They got the book looking really great and into the book stores across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, from Freytag & Berndt to the Geobuchhandlung Kiel and Bergzeit - walk into any of the thousands of book stores in Germany and you can either pick up the book right away or get it the next day.

For me it was a great pleasure to go hiking on the Pirkan Taival and write about it: I often was accompanied by good friends and clients on the trail with whom I could share my love of the outdoors. I saw the trail in each season - in early spring I was hiking through knee-deep snow, on dark and rainy autumns I listend to the rain on my tarp, during sunny summer nights the call of Swans was echoing over the lakes and sitting besides a warm fire in winter. With the book you’re able to plan and hike the Pirkan Taival yourself in any season, and see all those beautiful places along the trail. It’s easy to reach by public transportation, and you can be within half a working day from your door step to the start of the trail in Finland, which makes it excellent for even just a long weekend hike if you need a Nordic outdoor-fix.

But don’t just believe me: Hear what Axel has to say about my book and read the reviews, then read my trekking Magazin article and browse my trip reports.

Then you can go and get the book from your local book shop in Austria, Switzerland and Germany, online from Freytag & Berndt, Geobuchhandlung Kiel, Bergzeit, Amazon.de or directly from the Conrad Stein Verlag.

The book is in German! I might write an English or Finnish version in the future =)