The main reason for travelers to decide not to fly is undoubtedly the protection of our planet. But what if we told you that our choice was not, at first glance, motivated by the same argument? It's been 4 months now since we left home, we have barely arrived in Colombia and although it has been a while, we can assure you that we would not change this way of traveling for the world.
1- Travel slowly
With the plane, a crossing from Morocco to Colombia would only take about ten hours and it would not be excessively expensive, which makes it a very accessible means of transport. In our case, we took 80 days (pure coincidence? ..) to make the same trip, but the experience was all the more beautiful. Indeed, one of the most satisfying reasons for this way of traveling is simple but is too often neglected: taking the time to "deserve" your destination. The point is that in our society we are adept at having everything, right away. If, on the contrary, we decide to take the time to arrive at the place of our dreams, then the wait becomes more and more urgent. But the many adventures that make up this journey make us realize the distances that separate us from these places, and the many people we would surely never have met. But then, when our feet tread the ground of the destination so dreamed of and our eyes lay their first glance on this place, we believe ourselves in full dream.
That's it, I'm finally there.
The joy is then much greater than it would have been after a few hours on the plane. But while we get lost in this magical place, all the memories of the people who allowed us to get here and all the hassles of travel come back to us and we wonder:
What matters most between where I am and how I got here?
2 - The unexpected
Whether you decide to get to your destination on foot, by hitchhiking, by van, by bike or even by electric scooter (we won't judge), the routes you will take can be endless. But you don't have to go far for this, you just have to leave room, time, for the unexpected. And as you make your way to your destination, you might pass by the most beautiful village you have ever seen picking up a hitchhiker, or even eat the best couscous in the world while stopping by chance at a restaurant. Don't we say that all roads lead to Rome? Certainly, but the journeys that make up these paths will then be very different.
Here, for example, while we were in Morocco, we were looking for a way to reach the Canary Islands by ferry. We had read that there was one that went from a city in the Sahara Desert, to the coveted islands. We hurried to get there by hitchhiking, but it was getting late so we asked our motorists if they could accommodate us for the night. It is only a week later that we will leave them, they have been so welcoming and generous. We then realized that we would never have met this family otherwise and we would never have received this wonderful lesson in hospitality made in Morocco.
Likewise, we would never have crossed the Atlantic on a sailboat, which remains to this day one of the strongest experiences we have ever had. Or again, we would never have put our bags down on the island of Grenade and therefore would never have met its incredibly generous inhabitants, its tormented history and its breathtaking landscapes. You will understand, during these last 80 days, our primary goal was to reach the American continent, goal that we could have achieved in a few hours by plane. But during this trip, we met extremely interesting people, some of them became friends of whom we hope to cross paths again, we saw vertiginous landscapes that we had never heard of before and finally, lived unforgettable experiences. This journey, which could only have been a banal passage between two airports, gave way to nostalgia. It's a page that turns and we are quickly intoxicated by the excitement of finally crossing these valleys and these American villages that have been our dreams for the past few months.
3 - Another way to travel
The purpose of this article is not to lecture those who fly, despite its disastrous impact on ecology, it remains an invention that allows us to go anywhere on the planet and bring us closer to each other. Its purpose is not to tell you to go to South America by boat, it is a long and perilous journey and we suspect that most will neither have the time nor the inclination.
On reading this text, we are simply presenting to you our way of traveling that some might qualify as adventurous, unpredictable or completely crazy and which suits our lifestyle and our characters. It is not "the best way to travel of 2020", it has, like any other, its qualities and its faults. But what we want you to understand is that it is not essential to have a huge budget or to go to the other side of the world to live adventures. Especially since France remains an incredibly varied country, whether in terms of landscapes, cultures or even cuisine. All you need is a little time and courage to hit the road and let the unexpected lead you. And who knows, you might get further than you ever imagined. For example, on the first day of our world tour, it was also Robin's first time hitchhiking. We were 3 boys leaving Pau with big travel bags, so the chances of finding a car quickly were going to be slim. But less than 24 hours after our departure, we reached the city of Porto, 800km away. All we had to do was extend our thumbs, smile, and count on our lucky stars. It's nothing insurmountable! So what will your next vacation be?
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