Tag Archives: mountains
Milford Sound, Southland, New Zealand
Just as a precision: sound means fjörd.
Yeah, because it took me months to figure it out. In Chile. In an English-Spanish dictionary. No, seriously.
The Routeburn Track, New Zealand
Queenstown, Otago, New Zealand
I have to say, that never have I been so amazed by the nature and wilderness of a city before entering Queenstown.
Let us be clear though: Queenstown is a rich, expensive town, a bit touristy on some sides, and clearly not as wild as a farmers’ village. However, the nature around it is arguably the most beautiful I have ever seen in the vicinity of such a town, which without a doubt makes it a really incredible place to live in.
Like Ben’s parents, my hosts at that time and friends now, do.
Three Sisters Track, Blue Mountains National Park (Katoomba), New South Wales, Australia
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo) part 1: Mount Kinabalu
Freedom came back into my heart when I walked above the clouds.
No kidding. The fresh air (the coldness being intensified by the humidity of all my clothes, but well), the rocks, the climbers around me, the silence, the light of the dawn. My equipment. And this incredible landscape. Nothing above me but the dome of the sky. And under me, a sea of clouds.
A sea of clouds.
Welcome back, my friend.
Hong Kong, China (香港,中國)
I remember how every single traveler I talked with was so eager to pronounce the word ‘family’ as soon as Christmas entered in the conversation. I am going home for Christmas! I am gonna see my girlfriend for Christmas! I will be so happy to be with my family for Christmas! Where will you be for Christmas? Oh, first Christmas away from home?
Seriously, what the hell. Is the first Christmas away from home a big celebration, a big step in life, like the first laundry your mum does not do for you, like the first lion you kill, like the first time you get caught by the police? Or is it something like a blasphemy, something forbidden by the gods themselves – or by the conventions, normality rules of the Western society?
Christmas is a day in the calendar, a day like all others, only this day, a few thousands years ago, someone special for the Christians was born – and now, alright, nowadays it has become a world-wide pretext to express love with your family, to gather, to celebrate together. Fair enough. That’s cool. Not a bad idea, after all.
But, for the love of all the gods from all the pantheons, stop acting like being away from home during Christmas is the saddest thing that can happen to a human. It might seem strange to you, but I am happy wherever this planet is in its revolutions around the Sun, I am happy at any possible place on Earth, and I am happy to see my family at any time of the year, even if it is not a celebration in a specific calendar. Oh, and I do not need an excuse from the calendar to offer gifts to people that I care about.
Because Christmas is just a day. Because my family does not magically change during a precise day. Nor does my relationship with them. And I am proud of it – and of them. I am proud that they are honest and constant, contrary to what the Western conventions seem to think about the society. About us.
And because of the fact that actually, the whole world is my home.
Petra, Jordan
I used to hate taking pictures of people, and even more of myself. After all, if I am traveling, the purpose is mainly to discover places – not show my face with a changing background behind, as if to yell to the world “I have been there and not you, and look at me, I am smiling, I am happy.” Holy crap I hate tourists. No, what I prefer is to show my friends incredible landscapes and places. “C’mon guys, check this out, you have to come here and have fun with me, it is so awesome – travel more, it is worth it!”
It is worth it.
I used to hate taking pictures of people, until I met these guys, our travel group formed in Cairo and Dahab. Until I found that the ultimate happiness in traveling was the human adventure, the sharing, the joy of simply being with friends, doing things together, and sometimes facing hard times together. Let me thus introduce our happy Middle East party: the Donkeys.
Dahab, Egypt
To be honest, I was not expecting anything like Dahab when I thought “I am going to Egypt.” Okay, actually I did not make any research on places worth a visit before taking off from Paris – no, I am not reckless, I just hate planning. Or at least I hate planning a round-the-world trip. No way I am going to do research for every single country I will visit. Too much effort and less pleasure in discovering unexpected places. And meeting unexpected people.