A: After this first experience, you continued to travel.
B: Yes, I’ve done quite a bit since then. France, of course, Brussels, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Italy, Lisbon, Spain, Germany, Krakow and now Thessaloniki.
But I think my approach has changed a bit now. My goal is no longer to travel without money but rather to meet people. On the road, I meet many people from all walks of life, origins and professions. Each car is a different universe: psychological sessions, confessional, music, silence, laughter. It’s like a life in an accelerated mode, and you share a few minutes of your life with strangers. It’s very enriching.
And recently, I even tested the trip for two.
A: So you have a travel companion?
B: Exactly. Sometimes we only share a part of the journey. But it’s always exciting because when you travel with someone, especially in these conditions, you discover the other person in-depth. It’s easy to like a person when they are doing well or when the situation is easy. But in this kind of experience, you can’t hide. It puts the relationship to the test.
So far, everything has always gone well. And I think we learn a lot from each other, even if sometimes we only stay a few days together, it’s very intense. So these relationships are very precious to me.
A: You have had a YouTube channel on which we can find some of your trips. Do you have other projects?
B: Yes, two.
For a while, I was thinking about making a documentary about my experience as an autistic person. The idea came to me one day when I saw the psychologist who diagnosed me as a child and to whom I was able to tell my travels. He was amazed at what I had accomplished. I was exploding all the conceptions that one can have of Asperger’s. So I thought it would be interesting to share my experience; maybe it could inspire some people and show that there is no fatality.
A: And what is your other project about?
B: The second one would be on a very current subject. A few months ago, I met a Ukrainian refugee during a trip.
Very paradoxically, she was the one who gave me food. She told me about her experience with the war.
This conversation helped me to see beyond reality. It is this kind of testimony that I am looking for. Since my trip to Germany and my visit to the concentration camps, I already had the idea of doing a subject on resilience, how to find the strength to get up again after this ordeal, to keep the will to live… I was thinking of going to Bulgaria or Poland to collect testimonies.
I didn’t think of going in this direction at the beginning, but now I feel the need to investigate and be concerned about this situation.
A: In conclusion, can you tell me what this way of life has taught you?
B: A lot. Initially, I wanted to explore the world, challenge myself and meet people.
Then, as I travelled, I learned to trust the other person because, in this situation, you always need the other person to eat, sleep, and move around. You no longer have the intermediary of money. Such as total trust.
You also learn to open your mind because you will discover many people different from you, and you will see beyond your little world. Concerning my Asperger’s, it also pushed me to be in the exchange, go towards the other, and share things with him. You also learn to say thank you by other means than money.
A: Like what, for example?
B: You can cook, make a drawing, or listen to the person.
A: So you have evolved a lot since the beginning of your travels.
B: Of course, I have learned to trust myself, to take care of myself both physically and mentally, to get out of my comfort zone, but most of all, to be kind to myself. Especially since my trip to Germany, I have changed how I make decisions. Now I try to make it make sense. I give priority to my personal growth.
A: Do you think you’ll ever go back to normal life?
Yes, I would like to settle down one day to be sedentary. Because being nomadic is emotionally exhausting. It’s a lot of stress; you never know where you’re going to sleep at night, and even if you know that everything will be fine, it’s still exhausting in the long run.
And then you can’t build a real relationship or keep it anyway. Some people can, but generally, it’s hard to keep the connection.
So I would say I’ll go back to normal life when it makes sense, but I still have a lot to figure out for now.
