Czech and french travellers a comparision of stereotypes

Being of two nationalities and consequently linked to two cultures, I often hear and read from experiences of my two fellow countrymens.
They are both european nations, both even in the shenghen space and one would say the differences are too small to be percieved. Granted there is not nearly as much difference between French and Czechs as there is between for example French and Chinese but still, if you experience living there for a long time, the differences will blow your mind.
As a blog writer and more generally, travel site designer, I developped a habit of looking at other sites of the same kind. I noticed a couple of things.

The websites

The french have pretty shiny websites, carefully designed and smartly made with the latest of available technologies. Not necessarily a lot of programming work but surely a lot of research for the tools that would be used.
During the trip, the content is rich in quantity, delivery and art potential. Photos are taken with the touch of a professional photographer (and often with a professional camera) and the whole trip is sometimes even filmed. Sometimes you'd wonder if french travellers didn't finish some art school beforehand.
The blog language is almost exclusivly French. English is very occasional, most of the time in the comments, when a merciful soul who a passage for an occasional foreigner. I couldn't understand the reason for this but it was the case for almost every travel site I went to. The weirdest thing is that the authors usually speak english.
Some Czechs do also write blogs but they don't seem to care that much about design. It's better than it was a couple years back but it stays pretty poor. Almost no video sequences. An awful lot of people still write in czech which is borderline useless but you often find either an english version or at least a button to do an automatic google translate to the language of your choice.
Other Czechs don't write blogs at all, mostly due to lack of organisation and preparation - this is linked to their way of travelling. In that case, you see a bunch of commented photos on facebook at the end of the trip.
Some don't write anything. What's the point of taking a break of civilisation only to connect to it virtually. The thing with Czech travellers is that they don't feel that what they are doing is so special. Therefore, they don't feel the need to write about it. Chances are a couple of their friends have done similar adventures and don't brag about it.
On one hand you could say czechs are more humble but on the other hand a lot of their stories have values and I think it is a shame to let them vanish to occasional word-of-mouth between friends.

Destination

To stereotype things, I will say this: French go to Cambodia, Indonesia and Australia, Czechs go to Russia. A notable consequence is that while almost all French return home to tell about their exciting journey, some Czechs never will.

Stereotyped paths, french in orange, czechs in blue

Press

Both parties end up having some amout of press. French press starts even before the trip starts. Media coverage is almost a part of preparations. The organisers are invited to local radios, newspapers, sometimes even TV. And they are wise to do this because French media is the main and often the only media the travellers will be able to interract with since their website and everything related to the trip is in French.
Czechs don't seek media coverage, in fact they don't need it. Contrary to the french they have no project and sometimes no idea where they are going and if they'll manage to get there. Nothing worth to talk to until it's done, if it's done. It's only after a while and far away from home that some journalist discovers soem crazed czech idiots who just crossed tibet without mountain gear nor visas and will write a piece about it.
Were they french, I feel they could be superstars but because they don't know, don't care or don't want a public presence, they will only be covered by media in places like Kazachstan or North-Eastern mongolia, their exploits will quicky fade away and they'll never be famous.

The Why and the interactions

This is, I think, the biggest difference between czech and french travellers. Most czechs will travel because: why not?. They don't have any project or reason to go there, they often travel for the sake of travelling. As a result they don't think that much about how leaving a positive impact on the world they go through. They just go and see what happens.
On the french side, everything has a purpose. Travelling is the big part of the project but that's what it is: a project. French travellers do not travel: they design and realize a project linked to the theme of travelling. This project is well imprinted inside the guidelines of modern ecology and often linked to sustainable developement or social developement.
To do so, they interract with numerous associations who help people in need and whilst doing this, sometimes establish partnerships with new sponsors.
Overall, the french traveller's itinerary looks more like a preseident's political campaign than an actual plan.
Maybe are they ashamed because they took too much vacation and they think that doing humanitarian work will redeem them as well as bring them interaction with the local culture.
The czechs on the other hand don't think. They just go to countries and expect to blend into the local population. But because they don't speak the language and they're caucasian they are mistaken for tourists. But is it really a mistake? So they get angry and only travel to remote places like Siberia or Kazakhstan so they won't be mistaken for tourists because they are no tourists there. In fact, there is no one there.
So don't count on czech travellers to rescue dying children in Africa. At least not while they're on the road. Instead, prey that the dying children in Africa rescue the reckless czechs!

How do they travel?

If you'vre read so far, you can take this quizz:
Two groups of bike riders, one French and one Polish travel the world and stop in a town called T.
Can you recognize the Polish guys?
HINT:Polish are like czechs but with a bigger country

What about us?

I like to think we'll take a bit of each of our cultures. As you've noticed I and my not-at-all humble nature are convinced that our trip kicks ass and that you and all your friends should hear about it. Hence this site.

I would argue this is my french side and that it is predominant. However I won't be going as far as actively seeking media coverage. If we deserve it, then we shall get it.
I also want to document the trip as much as I can. Maybe not in film but I do intend to publish photos and blog. I even go further by sharing our GPS position on a regular basis.
What about a travel project, working with charity organisations? Unfortunately, I'll be honest with you, this is where my french side stops. I do like the idea but I think that with our tight budget and way of life, we will be those in need of assistance. Secondly, the idea is to live outside civilisation, free of any obligations or ties society puts on us. Getting into organised help is a way of not leaving civilisation behind, to still be part of the system.
And most importantly, the more the start is getting near, the more I realise that you cannot do such a trip for another person than yourself. You can have all the humanitarian plans and projects, as many admirers as your ego wishes, all the media coverage in the world, in the end, it's just you and your fellow traveller facing the delusion of grandeur that constitutes such a project. Everything else is just air. Don't bother painting it, colors won't stick.
Does this mean I will not help people? Of course not. I will, as much as I can, but as an individual, not an organisation.
Ilona seems to be a more private person than me. Unfortunatelly for... everyone... you will be seeing much more of me than of her. I could write a paragraph about what I think is her point of view but I'd rather leave that to fate.
But she'll surely bring more of the czech element to the mix, though maybe not the stereotypical one I described above (the whole post kind of deals in stereotypes).

Meeting I.

I arrived at my great-uncle's place still quite tired from yesterdays expedition. My great uncle is now a very old but kind guy with some life experience I could say. We talked about my trip a little, it peculiar to get an old man's input. I would have thought he wouldn't even know where Kamcatka was. Anyway he greeted me with an enormous dinner as it seems to be the tradition in southern Moravia.

When I was getting sleepy because of too much food, old uncle decided we should drink to this occasion. I had some doubts but just didn't have the heart to refuse. By 7PM and because of my very low resistance to alcohol I was nearly drunk. I was supposed to meet I. in a few minutes.

At the moment, I. was my only shot, my ticket to the east. I can't say there won't be others but I didn't want to mess that one up.

I. studies medicine, it's her last year I think. She seems smart. Not the kind of person you could easily manipulate. Not the manipulative kind either. Those things are subjective but it's my quick guess. She did kickboxing and travelled to Syria. Crazy enough to come with me but not suicidal either. Not to mention the obvious benefits of medical studies. Her language skills might be rustier than mine but I must have some advantages musn't I, otherwise she wouldn't want to go with me. Overall, she always was the rational choice even though my intuition was sometimes shifting me towards K.

We met on a square with a replica of a giant dildo. My head was still spinning because of my uncle's slivovica and I was focusing on not letting it show. It would be quite stupid to sabotage this epic trip to the east because of some booze, right?

I recognized I. even though I only saw her on a few summer pictures. I am always dead curious about the people I meet in real life after knowing them on the internet. I don't know what particular stuff there is to expect, maybe I expect them to float or to exist in 2D or something. The encounter of the third kind went fairly smooth. It wasn't akward at all. Maybe meeting people with no goal feels akward but when you have a common project it's very different. We went to some german castle; I thought it was very nice actually. I like being on top of eastern castles, looking down on the effing city powdered in snow. Truly effing romandic if you ask me, especially during the night. I have the same impression on each eastern euroepean castle, not the western ones so much, don't know why, maybe they're too posh or something. It's kind of lame so I tried not to show too much enthousiasm otherwise it would look fake. I hope I didn't look bored because I wasn't.

Then a security guty threw us out. I thought we could climb accross the wall but I was feeling lazy and i didn't want to look immature so soon during the encounter. I mean, I am doomed to look immature at some point, I know that, I just hope she'll realize it somewhere in Armenia or something.

We discussed the important questions, whether or not each of us is hoping to return alive and well (and we both are, amen to us!), how annoying we are, what reactions should we expect of ourselves in various crazy situations. And there is the independence issue.

I need my privacy and my time alone after a while and that's a big issue when you're travelling one glued to the other. One of the few disadvantages of travelling with women is that a lot of them don't have that issue, I mean statistically. Or maybe that's my misunderstanding of female logic.

Everything went well and for the first time I felt this journey would be possible. I mean I really could see us both standing on the side of some mongolian dirt road with thumbs up.

We agreed on a definite maybe. If we depart it'll be in the first half of May and the final decision should be in April. Seems great but such decision lies still very far ahead. Who knows how many times we'll change our minds until then.

Anyhow, it's a wonderful perspective.

Winter test

My morals are down. My latest blog posts converge into philosophical nonsense. I need some fresh air.

Thank god, I left France and it's stressful computer projects. My plane landed in Prague where I was to meet my cousin Zevla. The reason for me being in Czech Republic is to ask for a Czech passport to which I am entitled to because of my double nationality. I also intended to meet I., a girl who I was writing to for some time now about going together to Kamchatka.

Zevla was kind of tired of constantly studying so we decided to pack our stuff and go visit an abandonned military airport around Prague. It was a two day journey and an occasion to test my new sleeping bag in temparatures down to -17°C during the night. And I proudly conclude that I doidn't freeze. I can't say it was confortable but enough to sleep. I guess I could do -20 but easier said than done. The morning was quite terrible. My wet shoes froze and became stone solid. It was like wearning ski boots.

Freezing in a cave, an only too common situation in the future

Our drinks froze, our propane-butane gaz cooker didn't have enough pressure to work properly, we managed to light a fire and maintain it long enough to cook some sausages. After that, it died quickly. I would say it's survivable for one night but a week in -20 would be very difficult. I just hope it won't happen, I cannot say much more.


Some images of abandonned the military complex:

Abandonned thing to put planes in

What's this trip about?

I have to get to preparations again. I'm getting really sick of my situation, of doing all this computer stuff. All this casual work.

I'm thinking about my life now. Or anybody elses but mine is as good an example as any. No matter what you decide, you always miss things. I was quite a naive, perhaps even completly clueless person until I was 13, until that semester in Vancouver woke me up to reality. Since then I tried to miss as few opportunities as possible. But still, I did miss a lot.

I certainly didn't miss the giant parties at Max's place or at my place for that matter but maybe I should've gone to Mary's too. I'm kind of glad I didn't continue hiking with Greg, he was a crazy bastard, I probably only missed my own death there.

I didn't have the opportunity to connect with Lucy and her friend Thé since we lost contact after a while, I feel there was some interesting stuff there too. Or maybe not that much, not for me at least. When I think about it, maybe I didn't miss that much, maybe I had quite a full life. Or maybe we all missed at life?

I certainly missed my two years of college since I didn't go to university but to the more recognized "preparatory school" where you basically do nothing besides working like crazy for some kind of final competition. But if I didn't go there, maybe I wouldn't have a choice of going on this trip now.

I don't really regret having done practiclally nothing special for my semester in Singapore. The people I knew there signed themselves up for nearly organized trips and a bunch of really lame parties, the memories of which were proudly recorded on facebook. Or maybe I regret not to have met the right people there.

I am not complaining, life is what you do of it and I had my decent share of craziness and I do believe a lot of people settle for less, not that it is a competition or something of the sort. But I want to use this trip to patch my past regrets and quite a lot of future ones too. I would publish a list of experiences I want to do in the following year or so but I'm afraid my potential hitchhiking partners are reading this and I wouldn't want to scare them off too fast. And my parents could be reading that too since they have the site and I didn't have time to design a parent-control filter yet.

Sucked into civilisation

I have not been writing for a while and that is beacause I've been incredibly busy.
Incredibly might be such a strong word, but very busy let's say. The reason for this that my parents kind of got in trouble. I don't mean trouble like gangster-related trouble, more like I-can't-meet-my-professional-deadline trouble.
My mother is a website designer. She started to learn how to do stuff with computers 5 years ago when she was approaching 50 and now she sells websites to some research centers or something.
The thing whith computer programming when you're 50 is that you are pretty much out of the picture, the web is evolving too quickly, you don't have the right reflexes long story short: people over 35 years old rarely do webdesign.
So came what should have come eventually, my mother got a pretty good web-developping opportunity to be done in a very short amount of time and it was just too fast for her.
So I offered to help because she basically didn't have a choice. I don't believe that parents should get professionaly involved with their children but I am not enough of a jerk to let my own mother down so I programmed the damn thing. I am actually not a website programmer, my job is to work with robots but I manage a thing or two website-wise.
So that was the why. But this raises a more important point.
The more I stay in civilisation, the more I only talk about leaving, the more civilisation is holding to me.
I always thought, as in revolutionary road, the hardest part would be to face all the people who will tell me not to go. But nothing of that sort came. Everybody I know has been supportive so far. People have been enthousiastically sharing my website and offering suggestions. Even the people who don't like me didn't say too despisable stuff about my project.
So the hardest obstacle are not people discouraging me. It's all the tasks they need me to do before I go. And at some point, I'll just have to say no. Because I am not ending up like the couple in that movie! It would be a shame and even more so now that I've gone public and people are watching.

Cutting ties

A few months ago I broke up with my girlfriend. It was a long and planned breakup, to sever ties efficiently while minimizing the amount of hate and suffering that most of people would endure.
A breakup, is a necessary step before starting such a trip because you just cannot keep a relationship while fighting bears in volcanoes with a 12-hour time difference. Be serious.
But as I plan this trip, I realize that there are way more ties I'll have to cut.
Here is a list:

Teach my parents how to set up a web server so they don't bother me with it.	48%
Quit my job	100%
Say farewell to Alex... and sail on her boat	0%
Meet my old biker friend from and say bye at the same time	0%
Say goodbye to my banker and my bank	0%
See my cousin who is so dissapointed that she can't go too	0%
Spacially leave my former gf who is now my best friend (this won't be easy)	0%
Say bye to my parents without triggering emotional explosions from my mother.	-40%

It's a little weird to think about cutting ties when you know you'll be coming back (at least probably). It actually doesn't feel like cutting ties for me but I think it feels that way for the others. I don't want to leave my loved ones but I don't feel that I do. I'm just travelling, I don't have time to think. It must be hard when you think too much.
On the other hand I'm getting more and more fed up with civilisation. I just moved out from my old appartment and now have to handle loads of ugly french burocracy and various negociations with the new appartment's owner about why he can't repair the heater this winter.
Yeah, I live in a new appartment, not mine, it's temporary.
But really, if it was only about me, I couldn't care less about water heaters, job opportunities and resumés, web servers, bus cards and what not. I can't see how this can affect me in any way in the nothingness of Kazakhstan.

I am saved! Or I might be.

I really thought It would be a waste of time to call Chinese embassies imagining they would employ the kind of people who follow instructions like robots and therefore the dialog would be something like:
- How do I get to china without air tickets?
- You cannot go to china without air tickets.
- But I enter through mongolia, by land (that actually might be the case) and I exit in Hong Kong, also by land (that's bullshit).
- You... shall... not... pass!

But I called anyway and all lines were busy. So I called action visa, a french company that proxies the visa process. I thought they would be even worse than the embassy but the guy I had on the line was actually very friendly. He didn't seem at all shoked when I wanted to enter without plane tickets and after understanding that my itinerary was a little too random for there-and-back planes he suggested I use the pre-reservation on the air france site.
You can actually pre-buy watever plane ticket you like for 15 euros and finish buying it one week later. So I'll just have to spend 15 euros to fake my tickets. Neat! Then I'll ask for the visa and then I'll not pay for any flights. I almost wanted to hug the guy or at least my phone or whatever neighbouring object. He really seemed to want to help me with my precise situation and I felt kind of guilty feeding him bullshit about me flying to Ulaanbataar and then taking trains to shanghai and to hong kong before continuing to the philippines.
But I told myself not to push it; maybe behind this kind voice was a beast that would notify the chinese authorities and tell them to strangle me if I told him I intended to hitchhike.
So things are quite allright again. I still have no visas, no partner so basically I'm still on square one. But I can feel the good vibes! And that's really great.