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Preface
This magazine is intended as a mouthpiece to express sentiments, experiences and thoughts to the people I am closest to. It is related to my time in Paris, but also includes references to adventures before, be it on my travels or during my times in Amsterdam.
Préface
Ce magazine se veut un porte-voix destiné à exprimer des sentiments, des expériences et des pensées aux personnes qui me sont les plus proches. Il est lié à mon séjour à Paris, mais comprend également des références à des aventures antérieures, que ce soit lors de mes voyages ou pendant mes périodes passées à Amsterdam.
The Abduction
This story is about Julien and me getting abducted in the middle of the Kazakh desert. I have told this story to many people before, but some may have never heard it in its entirety.
The story starts in March 2025, when Julien and I desired to go on an adventure together. After meeting in Istanbul, we flew to the beautiful country of Kyrgyzstan, continued to Kazakhstan, and then, after a long struggle at the world's biggest land port, entered the People's Republic of China, specifically the autonomous region of Xinjiang. A place in which the local population of the Uyghur people was subjected to Chinese colonial rule. We spoke to the people and explored the muslim culture and cuisine of this Turkic ethnic group. But their suffering is part of another story that has to be told.
L'enlèvement
Cette histoire parle de Julien et moi, enlevés en plein milieu du désert kazakh. J’ai déjà raconté cette histoire à beaucoup de personnes, mais certaines ne l’ont jamais entendue dans son intégralité.
L’histoire commence en mars 2025, lorsque Julien et moi avons eu envie de partir ensemble à l’aventure. Après nous être rencontrés à Istanbul, nous avons pris l’avion pour le magnifique pays du Kirghizistan, puis avons poursuivi notre voyage vers le Kazakhstan et, après une longue épreuve au plus grand poste-frontière terrestre du monde, sommes entrés dans la République populaire de Chine, plus précisément dans la région autonome du Xinjiang. Un endroit où la population locale, le peuple ouïghour, était soumise à la domination coloniale chinoise. Nous avons parlé avec les habitants et exploré la culture musulmane ainsi que la cuisine de ce groupe ethnique turc. Mais leur souffrance fait partie d’une autre histoire qui reste à raconter.
After our very impactful time there, we decided it was time to head back to the Stan-countries, to catch our flight back to Europe, our home.
Après notre séjour très marquant là-bas, nous avons décidé qu’il était temps de retourner dans les pays «stan», pour prendre notre vol de retour vers l’Europe, notre foyer.
During my travels in South America, I was confronted with some of the poorest areas in the world. I had concerns in how far I, as a western tourist can visit this areas and communities without falling into the trap of poverty torism. I raised these concerns with many other euroepan travelers, who offered me various different perspectives on this ethical dilemma, with some not being able to grasp the concept as a whole, and others understanding and advising me to avoid poor areas in general.
How do I avoid to be a poverty tourist? - Refrain from taking pictures! - Spend money locally, including local restaurants, hiring locals, staying at family run posadas and avoid international brands. - Try to avoid asking sensitive questions about politics and the peoples' hardships. In conversations focus on humility by asking questions about the peoples' passions and perspectives. - Learn the context from local sources, not western media coverage. - When talking about the country, focus on culture, resilience, personal stories and human dignity and agency. - To avaoid reproducing colonial and class hierarchies I need to