Since a few months, we see appearing everywhere in the media articles and reports with catchy title: “he made the World Tour without money”, “she crossed Europe with 0 €”. Is traveling without money a real or false good idea? This is one of the sensitive questions that we asked ourselves … A real question that gave us to think about it, but also collectively!
During our trip, we asked ourselves several times this question: “Should we boycott over-frequented places?” Indeed our way of traveling tried to be the more responsible possible, but is it really responsible to visit a place that suffers from mass tourism? We wanted to put our thoughts here, bringing both our personal and documented lights on the subject, in order to bring out some answers… but especially solutions!
Read More »Responsible travel: should we refrain from visiting over-frequented places?
It was a sunny Thursday. We had just arrived in Belgrade (Serbia), and the good weather made us decide to eat outside. Sitting on a bench in the small park facing the central station, sandwich in hand, we contemplated scenes of life, people talking, walking, laughing. And then, when we got up from the bench, two young people with oriental features spoke to us in English: “Can we take a picture of you?” they asked, showing our bags and our cardboard, on which we had drawn the Eiffel Tower. “Of course, do you live here in Belgrade?” Silence. “No… We are from Afghanistan” We then realized … “Are you refugees?” “Yes”.
When we finally crossed Thailand border, we knew that the next step of our trip was going to be much harder: we soon had to find a boat to continue our hitchhiking adventure, a sailboat on which we could learn how to sail; while crossing the oceans to reach other continents… With zero experience and a bit of nerve, we finally got on board to hitchsail for the first time!
When we left our Parisian life back in 2016, we also said “goodbye” to our routine of eco-friendly city dwellers – a shame, you tell us, when we often went on flying trips . We admit it: we didn’t question ourselves about our flights impact and then, as we read somewhere “driving cars pollute more than flying”, or “we pollute less by flying once a year than our neighbor who takes his car every day”. Fake news, truths?… After two years on the road, we wanted this time to be sure: studies reports, calculators, calculation methodologies… We screened all the data found to make them speak – and tell you why we stopped flying!
“Are you traveling around the world?” “Yes, we are!” “So, are you also planning to go to America?” “No, not at the moment…” “So you’re not really going on a round-the-world trip…” But what does it mean exactly, to really going on a round-the-world tour? Is it necessary to travel in a certain way? To visit all the continents? To visit a minimum number of countries? From these exchanges and questions a deep reflection was born, on the definition given to the words “round-the-world trip” – an expression commonly used to describe a long journey. So, round-the-world or not round-the-world?
In 2018, we celebrated our two years anniversary on the road: two years on the road, to raise our thumbs up and write signs in all languages… And as you know, who says “anniversary” says “yearly overview”! It’s the perfect time, since we left our country and made our first assessment, so many things happened… So what better than to relive with you this second year in photos?
Read More »Two years overview in travel stories, figures and photos
Central Asia cuisine consists of simple and tasty, often hearty dishes – the kind of dishes that help you get through a harsh winter in the heart of the steppes. A mixture of Turkish-Asian-Russian influence and nomadic traditions, there is a lot of grilled meat (mutton, horse) but also vegetarian dishes made of fresh vegetables and herbs that colour the stalls of street bazaars. We took pleasure in watching these foods being meticulously prepared and then cooked in steam, in a wok or tandoor (traditional oven used in Uzbekistan). But most of all, we enjoyed eating them by hand – the traditional way of tasting food in Central Asia!
Bonjour, Hello, Ciao, Dober dan, Dobar dan, Mirëdita, Geai sou, Merhaba, Barev, Gamarjoba, Salam, Salom! Welcome to our series of newletters which retraces, chapter by chapter, our great hitchhiking jouney. Here is the chapter 13 of our travel stories: “Silk and Doppas” – Roadtrip in Uzbekistan & Kyrgyz Pamir.
Read More »Silk and Doppas – Roadtrip in Uzbekistan & Kyrgyz Pamir
Bonjour, Hello, Ciao, Dober dan, Dobar dan, Mirëdita, Geai sou, Merhaba, Barev, Gamarjoba, Salam! Welcome to our series of newletters which retraces, chapter by chapter, our great hitchhiking jouney. Here is the chapter 12 of our travel stories: “Getting higher” – Roadtrip in Kyrgyzstan.
In 2012, Kyrgyzstan embarked on a major project to establish World Nomad Games, an sports event similar to the Olympic Games, in order to preserve and promote sports that are part of all around the world nomadic people cultures. These include horse-riding, hunting, wrestling, archery, tug-of-war and intellectual games (ossicles, marble games). For the third edition this year, the World Nomad Games brought together more than 2,000 athletes from 77 different countries, including France. And we were there!
Read More »Unusual experience: World Nomad Games, there we were! – Kyrgyzstan
On our way through Croatia, we met a cyclist near Dubrovnik while we were hitchhiking the opposite way. Axel was, actually, on his way back home from a world cycling trip of almost 3 years. It was just him on the road with his three-wheeled bike heavily loaded with supplies, and a Malaysian flag flapping in the back. We talked and decided to make an interview of this incredible traveler!