My trips

I love traveling. Hold on, I said traveling, not going on vacation (even though I also like going for 1 week of crazy ski, but it's not the subject of those pages). What's the difference? Let me try to define it.

• Vacation: a short amount of time, usually between two working days, that are used to relax and/or see as many things as possible in the most convenient way.
• Traveling: a way of living, for an extended period of time, as close as possible to the local culture, people, lifestyle, food, nature, natural wonders, habits, celebrations, religion, transport, ... . It's about sharing with people and understanding them, diving into the places and exploring them, being free and independent, discovering the authenticity, getting out of the beaten tracks and mass tourism. See, it's not (only) about budget (even though it's a important factor).
• Note that I'm not talking here about what I call "Deluxe pseudo-backpackers" (aka flashpackers): travelers staying only in high-end hostels surrounded by other tourists, going on organized tours, eating in the same place as they stay, traveling in groups. Pretty easy to recognize them as typically after 3 months in South-America, most of them don't know more than 5 words in Spanish, and when talking about money (they're fine to pay 2-3 times the local price for accommodation, food and beverage), they respond "oh yes, we know we pay a lot, but compared to home, it's still cheaper".

Now there's nothing right or wrong. It's all about you. The time you're ready to spend, your mood, your family situation, the current period of your lifethe money you have, . And more than anything, what you want to experience. Traveling is not always easy, you'll suffer and you'll hate it sometimes. But it's rewarding at the end, trust me.

The aim of those pages is to share that passion with you, and to give details on the countries I've visited so you can start thinking of your next trip. There's also some hints to have a better experience on the road. Enjoy your trip!

I've been backpacking 2 years around Asia (in green) between 2002-2004, and then a year around the world (in blue) between 2011-2012. My travel philosophy is "I'll probably never get back here, so I take the time to discover every single bit of every country".

See the interactive maps.

Other places

I've been lucky enough, on top of my trips, to travel a lot around the world. For fun, vacations, work.

Some pitctures from

• Wedding (not mine, don't worry) and backpacking in Sénégal (part 1 and 2)
• Backpacking in Gambia
• Istambul and the F1 Grand Prix 2009
• Study and world expo in China
• USA (San Francisco, Denver)
• Toronto
• Ski in Val Thorens (France)
• Luzern (Switzerland)

Your trip

You're going on the road??? Good idea! There are a few hints on what to do before leaving, what to bring with, how to enjoy and avoid hassles. And remember, it's all personal. This reflects my way of traveling, you'll probably disagree on some points.

Other travel resources & blogs

• Skyscanner : flight comparison tool with useful features such comparison over a month

• Check what visa you need based on your passport and where you go

• Solitary Wanderer, tales and tips of a solo traveler in the Philippines and beyond
• Les petits pas de Juls, a french girl traveling and working around the world (English, Spanish and French)
• Travel in couple
• Riding from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego on a recumbent bicycle
• Laurent, serial traveler in A ride to Asia and Clodo Africa
• Le tour du monde d'Erik & Anita
• Jean-Gabriel Chelala, french explorer

It that useful ? support my next trip!