Let’s get acquainted !

Well, this is it. I have been struggling over this article for a while now.  How can I write this without sounding pretentiously ordinary and relatively honest ? 

The answer I have is a list. I do lists. Yep, I know. A Serial List Maker, rigorous, simple, efficient, exhaustive. 

So it goes. 

WHAT IS IT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ME ? 

1. I love pineapple, walking, Tequila, wine, and pasta. 
2. I don’t like coconuts, rain, winter, snow, bullies. 

1. I used to be a public policy expert in higher education and research,
2. My first trips was in the UK in 2009, Bali in 2015, Mexico and Morocco in 2018,
3. In 2019 – 2020, Nepal, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Loas, Cambodia,
4. I came back to France because of the COVID 19 epidemic, so no Viet Nam yet,
5. I am now living in Paris with my sexy Mexicano fiancée.

MEET ME HERE !

WHY I CHOOSE TO WALK

First, let’s clear sometime up : I don’t walk all the way. Trains, buses, inch-hiking, I try to avoid flying as much as I can. We will talk about transportations later on anyway. I would love to walk that much, but I have a specific walker pattern.

I love cities. For me, the wandering walking part of the discovery is the best thing ever ! I wear the same clothes every time or close enough, bandana of the side, a map in my phone just in case, three points stop through out the city. I leave my accommodation with everything in need for a one day visit, check if I have something to do logistically speaking, a few bucks, and go. I did this for the first time in London, and oh boy, ten years later, I still feel the humiliation of an epic fall due to a bad-weather-bad-shoe combination.

Some days, I walk more than 25 Kms from dusk to dawn. Coming up articles about Mexico City, Katmandou and Mumbai should help. This feeling is just amazing. I can close my eyes now and still smell, hear, sense the life of the Medina in Fès (Morocco). Walking in the city is the only way to experience, in my opinion, everything it has to offer. You are going to meet people, try new stuff, learn stuff, get exercice done, and be able to remember it for ever.

I want to create a space where we, as a community, will be able to share experiences, and tips. A safe space, a place for exchange, advises, a place to provide and help in anyway. You know, a place for funny day drinking stories and Walks Of Shame, politics and photography. 

Sharing my experience as a queer solo backpacker, explain the way I do things from beginning to end, offer ideas, tips and mostly self-made tools for people to use on their terms, I believe this could help, could help someone make the move and finally jump, take a leap. 

One hopes that this, in helping us share those stories, will give some the strength to act on this dream. You know the « I want to quit my job and go cycling in central Asia » dream. Well, honey, you can. 

Doing this, I am also working on improving my skill-set. For exemple, I know I am terrible with computers. This time, I chose to learn graphic design, web developing and social media branding. 

To sum up on in a listing way  

1. JOURNEYLISM is about providing self-made tools to plan the entire trip, manage your budget, borders, visas, logistical stuff.
2. THE SERIAL WALKER is part of a plan to better myself and try on learning new tricks while sharing experiences, writing articles with queer-related content. 

Basically, I am that dude who quit jobs to go around the globe with a pig teddy bear, now trying to be proactive while stuck in Paris because of the pandemic. 

PLEASE BE ADVISED THIS IS ALL IN PROGRESS.

I hope this will prove to be useful. 

Terribly yours,

L.