Words from the Man with Green Visions in Bosnia & Herzegovina

WHL Group
17 November 2010

Every month, we delve into the travel experiences of people in the extended WHL Group network. This month we talk to Thierry Joubert, office manager at Green Visions, the whl.travel local connection based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Describing himself as the real Flying Dutchman, Thierry Joubert has lived and travelled all over the world. Originally from Curacao, a small island in the Dutch Antilles, Thierry currently lives in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, ironically a place and country he fell in love with during the conflict in the 1990s. After lots of work with children in refugee centres, setting up kindergartens and a brief stint in software development, he decided to try his luck in outdoor adventure and ecotourism.

In 2000 he set up Green Visions with a few friends. As a social business, their main aim is to assist Bosnia & Herzegovina and its small, rural and mountainous villages and communities develop forms of tourism that are responsible and, above all, benefit the locals.

The Green Visions team are Azra , Nina , Dzenita, Samer, Lorenc, Alex and Thierry (front left)

This year Green Visions celebrated their 10th anniversary and are proud of their small achievements, including writing the first English guidebook to Bosnia (Bradt), doing over 2000 one- and multi-day walking, cultural, mountain biking, rafting and snowshoeing trips throughout Bosnia and the region, implementing various tourism development and environmental projects worth more than 500,000 euros, and setting up Eko Akcija, an environmental organisation involved in the protection of protected areas.

WHL Group: Which is your favourite WHL Group destination and which would you most like to visit?

Thierry: The Island of Mljet on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia is my favourite destination. I just love how the lakes and the sea are set so close together. Ideal for long walks and refreshing swims.

I would love to explore Turkey. The historical connection between Turkey and Bosnia & Herzegovina (my current home) has fascinated me for some time now. I originally planned to bike with my partner from Bosnia to Istanbul.

Thierry Joubert's passion for travel is not really about the travel itself, but more about feeling the place and its people. For him, travel is an endless and ongoing affair and right now he is happy to call Bosnia his home.

WHLG: What would you never travel without?

Thierry: My Swiss pocketknife

WHLG: What do you miss most about home when travelling?

Thierry: The coffee and quiet walks up to my mountain hut.

WHLG: What’s the most interesting trip you’ve ever taken?

Thierry: A one-month trek through Namibia – walking through Fish River Canyon, the Namib Desert and along the Skeleton Coast.

WHLG: What is your funniest travel experience?

Thierry: I set out on a four-day trek in Yosemite National Park (USA). I was warned of a lone bear stealing people’s supplies in the area I planned to walk. After I had set up camp and hoisted the food high up in a nearby tree, I went out to explore the nearby lakes and waterfall. After a great two days of walking around and no bear, I settled into my tent for the night. At around 1 in the morning I heard something climbing the tree and playing Tarzan with the bag of supplies. I jumped out of the tent screaming and ran after this big black bear. After chasing it for a while, it dawned on me what if it suddenly decided to stop and turn around. It ran off with all my food and for the next hour I sat at the fire listening to how it was enjoying my food and throwing around my pans. I thought it was hilarious.

WHLG: What is your scariest travel experience?

Thierry: I arrived late by plane in Zimbabwe, rented a car and set out on a four-hour drive to a friend’s hut in the bush. It was getting dark and all of a sudden a car coming from the opposite direction started flashing its lights. It was only when he got really really close that I realised I was driving on the wrong side of the road! We narrowly missed each other and I had the shock of my life.

WHLG: If you could go on holiday with anyone famous – living or dead – who would you take?

Thierry: Louis Theroux because he cares and is not afraid to ask questions.

WHLG: Describe the best and worst accommodation you’ve ever stayed in.

Thierry: The best was in Ulpotha, a small village with a yoga retreat in Sri Lanka. The worst must be the Hotel Belle I stayed in this October in Brussels.

WHLG: Describe your earliest travel memory.

Thierry: Travelling for two months with my parents when I was 7 in a camper van from Vancouver to New Orleans. This was the first time I saw snow, bears and moose.

Thierry and his kids, Luna and Ilija, on one of their mountain explorations.

WHLG: Please briefly explain what you think local travel is.

Thierry: Travel that is slow and allows you to immerse yourself in the local culture through meaningful relationships with people you meet along the way.

WHLG: In what ways do you see local travel benefiting the country in which you live?

Thierry: There are many rural villages in Bosnia & Herzegovina. These communities are off the beaten path and not frequented other than by really adventurous travellers. Local travel, if supported with the right type of infrastructure, i.e. accommodation and public transportation, can ensure that people get to see these small communities. Here they can experience authentic Bosnian life and culture directly from the source. Most money will then directly be exchanged between the traveller and local villagers.