Will we travel again?
This is the pirouette-question posed as a postulate by the tireless traveler Julien Blanc-Gras (1).
“A pandemic arrived so quickly!”, he slips.
But it is above all the link between travel and the climate issue that is central to him.
“Given environmental concerns, air travel is in trouble.
With limits however.
I'm surrounded by people who claim they don't fly anymore...until they realize it's not easy to vacation in Greece by train!”
This “somewhat special envoy” has integrated reflection on modes of transport into his professional plans.
But unfortunately this is not always easy to achieve.
“I had a book project around the longest train journey, going from Portugal to Vietnam.
It was recorded with the publisher, but it will not happen for the moment.
You have to go through China, which is still very closed, and through Russia.
Like what, even when we are very motivated, everything seems to conspire to increase our carbon footprint!
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And in what state of mind?
“Slower, longer too, prophesies the author.
The long-distance journey is the most rewarding.
A week galloping across a country does not allow you to discover it.
So, you might as well take the time to settle down, to take over a place and really live there rather than just passing through.
The most magical thing is not knowing when you're going back: you're no longer in tourism but in a way of life.
Of course, it is not given to everyone.
Before choosing with whom we are going to crisscross a part of the planet, it is therefore essential, from now on, to think about how we are going to do it and, finally, to approach the notion of distance differently.
“Why consider traveling only away from home? asks Julien Blanc-Gras.
Adventure is also around the corner.
Last year, when like everyone else I was stuck at home due to a health crisis, I worked little.
I was therefore more available and curious about what was happening around me.
That's how I met my babysitter.
With her, I took a trip to a few metro stations from my house.
In Montreuil.
I discovered there, thanks to her, the Comorian community.
I learned a billion things!
This is the advantage of cosmopolitan cities: you can travel there, not physically but by asking questions, by opening your eyes.
It sounds naive, but tomorrow's journey can, without a doubt, be with its neighbours."
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Why not with family?
“I traveled alone for a long time.
It's great because no one is holding you accountable.
It's the only way to be free while traveling, believes Julien Blanc-Gras.
However, I now have a 9-year-old child and I want to share these adventures with him.
When he was very young, it didn't seem necessary to me.
But now, hanging out with the family seems very satisfying to me.
It's a wonderful gift for a child.
It is to show him that other worlds exist.
It's part of a form of education."
According to the journalist, it is also a gift that parents give each other.
Traveling with your children really means being together all the time.
These are other links that are being woven.
“Especially, he specifies, as moving around allows you to look elsewhere,
to take a step back.
It opens up other paths, other ways of being together.
And for me, it is a quest for meaning in overloaded lives.”
(1)
Sent a little special
, by Julien Blanc-Gras, Stock editions, 250 p., €20.50.