Released in 1987, The Joshua Tree by U2 is probably my all-time favourite album. I’ve listened to it countless times, always with the same pleasure and the same emotions. So when I visited the Joshua Tree National Park in California during spring 2018, there was only one soundtrack option… While I was driving in this gorgeous place, listening to these songs that I loved, an idea came to my mind: combining both experiences, the music and the landscape. This is the result of this idea, this is The Joshua Tree, an album and a National Park.
In the spring of 2018, I realised one of my dreams: I did an unforgettable six-week road trip in the American West. Between a very complicated beginning in Los Angeles, the discovery of the Anza-Borrego desert and the emotion of a visit to Salvation Mountain, here is the story of the first few days of this journey.
88 days. Every backpacker who ever came to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa knows what this figure means: it is the minimum number of working days on a farm to be eligible for a second visa. I went through it too, twice, during my first stay in the country between 2016 and 2017. I still have very mixed feelings today about this period of my life, but one thing is certain, it marked me deeply and I'll never forget it. Here's the story of my first farmwork experience: picking strawberries at Caboolture in Queensland.
Sacred place for the Aboriginal people, UIuru, huge ocher monolith in the middle of the arid desert of Australia's Red Centre, is truly a magical place. I went there in June 2017, at the very end of my first trip around the country, and I really loved my brief stay... Here's the story of it!
When I arrived in Australia at the end of June 2016, I stayed for two days with an extremely welcoming couple: Viv and Craig. They were the first people I met and I never forgot this encounter. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to see them again, and it was on Facebook that I learned of Craig's passing on May 9 2022. A year later, I decided to publish the story of these two days, in tribute to Craig and in memory of this wonderful encounter.
From mid-March to mid-April, Japan lives to the rythm of the Sakura season, the period during which the cherry blossoms are blooming. It's an extraordinary sight, worth a trip just for itself! Here are 5 suggestions of places around Tokyo to enjoy it as much as possible.
Tokyo is a city of contrasts: I particularly felt it during the day I spent in the streets of the neighbour suburbs of Harajuku and Shibuya, from the peaceful atmosphere of a shinto shrine to the busiest crossing in the world, from an alternative art gallery to the fanciest street of the city. Here's the hour by hour story of that day, with some useful tips if you'd like to explore these suburbs yourself!
From the bright neons from Yasukuni-dori avenue to the narrow lanes of Golden Gai, from the strip clubs of Kabukicho to the cherry blossoms of Gyoen Park, the district of Shinjuku in Tokyo is extremely contrasted. Come explore its many faces with me!
The movie Lost in Translation is one of my favourites, but it became even more special for me when I re-watched it after travelling in Japan. It reminded my last melancholic day in Tokyo, of which here is the story!
A giant red torii emerging from the water, a beautiful temple and a tall pagoda, wooded hills overlooking the bay: that’s the extraordinary view awaiting visitors taking the ferry to Miyajima, a little island close to Hiroshima. Here's the story of the day I spent there, one of my best memories of Japan!