Homo Viator, travel as a philosophy of life.

There is nothing more beautiful than the moment before a journey, the moment when tomorrow's horizon comes to visit us and tell its promises; 

Milan Kundera

Since the dawn of time, humans have wanted to see the world. While they first appeared in Africa, traces of their presence during the Neolithic period are found at Longuppo in Asia. In the 13th century, Marco Polo, an Italian merchant, wrote The Book of Wonders which recounts his travels to China. With the advent of inventions such as the caravel and the astrolabe, explorers set sail in the 15th century. Then Christopher Columbus set foot in the New World, Vasco de Gama opened the route to India, and Magellan embarked on a world tour. Soon after, the Dutch established the East India Company.

Man is in a perpetual quest to understand the past to better anticipate the future. Discoveries continue to fuel interest and admiration. In December 1994, three amateur speleologists made a truly incredible journey back in time by discovering a masterpiece of cave men's pictorial genius. In the Chauvet cave in France, these three speleologists found drawings on the cave walls dating back "36,000 years." This ancient night will forever be etched in their memory, as they could have never imagined discovering such a work of art. The drawings depict prehistoric animals and Cro-Magnon men hunting and living their daily lives. This discovery was presented to the general public in a report on the program "13h15 le dimanche" in France, which attracted the attention of many scientists and history enthusiasts. The Chauvet cave is now considered one of the most important sites of prehistoric rock art in the world. These three speleologists made a journey into the night and could never have imagined discovering this cathedral of prehistoric art.

From the 17th century, the aristocracy found in educational travel the opportunity to form its elite: the Grand Tour. Nevertheless, it was Jules Verne who made us love geography by exploring unknown lands even before the invention of the train. At a conference for 500 activists against abstinence, Thomas Cook organized a group trip in 1864, thereby creating the first travel agency. With the introduction of paid holidays, the French hit the roads in 1936, and some of them saw the sea for the first time, which led to the development of tourism!

In the 60s, Kerouac wrote On the Road, advocating wandering and launching the road trip. When Michel Le Bris created the Etonnants Voyageurs festival in 1990, readers flocked to meet the writers "flying with the whims of wandering moods and on the soles of the wind".

Have you ever wondered why we travel? Some claim that traveling corresponds to an escape from life's challenges. I’m not going to refute this argument, yet why deprive ourselves of a natural therapy? Meanwhile, this view tends to overshadow the other motivations behind traveling: the spirit of escape, intellectual curiosity, and the search for identity.

The desire for escape dates back to the earliest humans who lived by moving around. Referring to the book "L'homme nomade" by Jacques Attali, we understand how sedentarization is only a parenthesis in human history. It began with the advent of agriculture in the Neolithic period (-10,000 years BC). The fact that some tribes continue to practice this wandering reminds us: the Ghilji in Pakistan or the Nukak in Colombia.

Therefore, it's not too presumptuous to say that wanderlust is embedded in our genetic heritage. However, it is certain that the social and professional constraints we endure further reinforce this impulse. This is what Jean-Didier Urbain, a sociologist, develops. According to him, by traveling we regain our freedom since we choose our itinerary and are masters of our time. He adds that travel, a pledge of regained freedom, makes us willingly repeat the experience whenever it is possible. It turns out that travel provides an essential change of scenery against a life scripted for us.    

In addition, travel serves to satisfy our intellectual curiosity. Indeed, we seek to discover new landscapes like a child filled with wonder. Thus, we are surprised by the black waters of the Rio Grande in the Amazon and the falls of the Zambezi. Moreover, we want to encounter unknown animal species. In his book, the Siberian Panther, Sylvain Tesson, shares his nights on the lookout in the company of wildlife photographer Vincent Munier. It is through his eyes that we observe the yaks and the panther venturing near a river.

More than anything, the traveler seeks to meet the locals. It's not just about learning a few basics of the language but rather understanding their thought process. One travel story particularly struck me: Chatwin's The Songlines. The British travel writer who roamed with his backpack, binoculars - gifted by Herzog! and his Moleskine, shares his experience. He takes us alongside the Aboriginals of Australia who walk in the footsteps of their ancestors following the invisible signs they left behind...

Let's quote Nicolas Bouvier in Usage du Monde: " A journey needs no reasons, soon proving that it is sufficient in itself. One believes that they are going to make a journey, but soon it is the journey that makes and unmakes you. " This quote illustrates the self-discovery that travel brings. On the occasion of a trek to Kala Pattar, one can learn to combat altitude sickness with breathing techniques. Surprisingly, one surpasses oneself, something one would not have believed possible. Another aspect of travel is that one gains wisdom, a quality that will be very useful in guiding our lives. This also implies that at the end of the journey, we will be happy to return to our country and our people. Let's refer to the poem by Joachim de Bellay about Ulysses which summarizes this virtue well:

Happy is he who, like Ulysses, has made a beautiful journey,
And like him who won the fleece,
And then returned, full of experience and wisdom,
To live among his family for the rest of his days.

In light of these arguments, we can believe that traveling allows us to feel alive, to feel our existence, and to be in harmony with ourselves. It seems indeed that the ostentatious aspect of travel has disappeared in favor of a search for meaning. Moreover, what about the stationary traveler? Hergé, for his part, has made us experience extraordinary adventures in places he never visited, yet haven't we been taken by the experience? It seems that travel is not conditioned by physical movement, and this trend is increasingly resonating thanks to sometimes stunning virtual tours that even reconstruct Palmyra in its heyday.

Astonishing travelers! What noble stories
We read in your eyes as deep as the seas!
Show us the caskets of your rich memories,
The marvelous jewels made of stars and ethers.
We want to travel without steam and sail!
Do, to brighten the boredom of our prisons,
Let pass over our minds stretched like a canvas,
Your memories with their horizon frames.
Tell us, what have you seen?

Charles Baudelaire, The Voyage III