This essay focuses on the way literature treats environmental questions. It looks at how journeys, places, countries and continents are represented in literature. Amongst others, the works of the following authors are considered: Edward Abbey, Rick Bass, Rachel Carson, Annie Dillard, Aldo Leopold, Barry Lopez, John Muir, Hélène Cixous, Marguerite Duras, Jean Henri Fabre, André Gide, Julien Gracq, J. M. G. Le Clézio, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Jean Rolin, Victor Segalen, Mahi Binebine, Ma Jian, Han Shaogong, Gao Xingjian and Lin Yutang.