Previously, I unveiled my minimalist side. Why will you tell me? I needed to tell you so that you could have a better understanding of my projects. There was nothing presumptuous or arrogant in my last post. But on reading again, I had the impression to read one of these false gurus who tries to sell you a way of life, a way of thinking by giving you 10 good reasons to follow this concept. Besides, the 8th will surprise you!
No, unveiling this minimalist side was just a way to express that I like to live simply, without artifice or frills. It was by moving many times from France to China, from China to France and from China to China, that I realized that everything I needed could fit into a backpack. Well ... a big 60-liter hiking backpack, but that is due to my camera equipment and my computer. Without these materials, a bundle would suffice, I think.
while you just wanted one thing: get out of the building and take a deep breath to fill your lungs with the smell of the local atmosphere, the sun caressing your skin, just like in the movies when the hero returns to his homeland after a long and tumultuous journey. There, well ... Your lungs are filled with small fine particles of air pollution and tobacco smoke ... and sometimes with a little smell of piss. Then the decor is super lousy, an airport from the outside is not the sexiest thing ever.
In the end, you take a cab and you spend the night in the first cheap hotel you have found or on the one you have booked online. Even if the room is just ok or does not quite meet your expectations, you keep it because you do not have the strength to look for another one and because of hunger or fatigue and most importantly, you want to enjoy your vacation to visit. You tell yourself that for one night, it will do the job, then the next morning you will have to face a choice : spend another 3 hours to return the room and look for another to stay in or you can keep the room for your entire stay. Does this remind you something or is it just my travel experiences that are lame?
Without transition, one day, killing some time on Youtube, I came across a French girl(Julie Elsenberger), who had the project to join Australia by bike and of course by plane. I thought it could be a crazy life experience. A little too much for me anyway, biking is not much of a deal for me. Sleeping under a tent or under the stars is tempting. Then I thought a second time, security, how to recharge my electronic devices, how and where to shower, how to restore myself on the road, then I thought about the rain ... At the end, too much trouble can kill all the pleasure.
Finally, I come across this community of nomads who move and live year-round in their vans, to travel differently or to live life in a simpler way. We can find them under the tag #vanlife. I was mind blown to finally discover a way of life that could meet all my needs. My desires for escape can be satisfied without even thinking about the boring task of finding a hotel room. Landscapes, scenery, faces, cultures ... a bunch of new subjects for my pictures. A kitchen area to eat healthily and cheaply on the road. A bathroom corner for hygiene. An aspect of independence and freedom in the notion of travel that cannot be matched...The more I think about it and the more I got hooked.
I waited until I was 30 to get my driving license, because before the "van life project" I had no good reason to do so. Since then, I am actively looking for my house on wheels. In parallel, I worked on this website which, in addition to my presence on social networks, will be a showcase for my photographic work and other travel books. If in addition to making me known as a photographer, I could attract sponsors or other benefactors, it would be just really great.
My short-term projects are quite simple and will be a prelude to a world tour in a van. That is to say, to buy a van, to arrange it, then first of all to cross the roads of France and to get used to this way of life while developing my activity of a photographer. If financially the project works and i can adopt this way of life, the next step will be a trip through old Europe. And then, across all other continents.
My dreams are not unusual, just being able to live from one of my passions, photography in particular. Traveling, taking pictures, sharing my stories and getting paid to do it or at least making a living with it, that's my dream. Live, simply.
This concludes this long introduction in three parts. I hope you have enjoyed the reading. We meet again next weekend for a travel story or the presentation of a photo project or anything else that could go through my mind, until then, stay safe.
KITOFOTO