Who are we ?

We’re low-tech engineering students, currently in our gap year. Would you like to know more about us?

As artists at heart, we’re convinced that all the transitional values need to be part of a desirable, achievable social narrative. A vector for this story of the future? We chose low-tech.

Wander’earth : the project

Project genesis

The desire to “take a break” from our respective studies had been in the back of our minds since we entered engineering school. Our studies in low-tech, and in particular the cyclo-exploration we carried out as part of it in Brittany to discover the region’s low-tech actors, gave us the urge to think bigger. Instead of a week, we’ll be going away for 4 months!

Four months to discover cultures, communities, projects and places that are atypical, alternative and resilient, and that speak of desirable imaginations for our societies of tomorrow.

So we’ll both embody a story, the wander’earth’s story. We’ll be setting off on long-distance bikes, accompanied by our travel bags.We’ll be taking the train a few times (that’s planned). We’ll definitely enjoy the trip!

A journey full of adventures and wanderexploration ¹ !

To Wander means to travel without a specific destination. Wander also means getting lost (Lou loves that), both on the way and in our thoughts. So for us, Wander is an invitation to wander the world off the beaten track, to dream and let our thoughts experiment, evolve without being conditioned… we’re wanderers …. or wander’earth!

  To get lost:

  To get lost:

Get lost for a few months, and take full advantage of the wealth of knowledge acquired during our training in low-tech engineering. To get lost and rethink our relationship with technology. After so many years of study, confined to urban areas, to get lost and reconnect with the Earth and human beings.

  To explore:

  To explore:

Travelling around Europe, discovering different, unimportant landscapes, places and cultures. Travelling to places that are close by, but at the same time far away because of our means of transportation.

  To dream:

  To dream:

To build a better world, we need to dream, to renaturalize our imaginations, to install in them the vision of a society that goes beyond today’s challenges.

What are our objectives ?

a/ Regenerative tourism

Objective 1:

Document the low-tech we’ll be using during our cycling trip, as well as the habits and practices of more regenerative tourism.

Throughout the trip, we’ll be taking our inspiration from regenerative tourism: supporting local and alternative economies, causes of social justice and equity, taking care of biodiversity, while practicing zero-waste. So we’ll make sure that every penny we spend is reinvested in a green or local economy.

What’s more, this project is a good pretext for rethinking the concept of travel through the prism of slow-travel, whose motto is: in travel, the destination is not the most important thing. It’s an eulogy to slowness, in which means of transport, encounters during the journey, food and local artisans and producers become an integral part of the travel experience. A possible alternative to mass tourism that we’re going to try out…

We also plan to experiment with low-tech tools (like a solar cooker, a Norwegian pot, a wood-burning stove… and surely other surprises!) to test the compatibility of the low-tech philosophy with long-distance travel. We’ll be sharing our methods, findings and habits on this blog.

b/ Meet the players

Objective 2:

Meet, discuss and exchange ideas with people who are working for an appropriate, user-friendly, emancipating technology. Also meet artists, local and citizen initiatives.

This trip will be an opportunity for us to gather ideas, concepts and resources that will help us imagine the world of tomorrow.

Although we’ll be cycling, the primary objective of our trip is not just sporting. We’ve chosen this mode of transport to show that it’s possible to travel far, in a more sober way, and still enjoy the journey. We’re not looking for a physical feat, but rather a human and enriching experience.

c/ Why a blog ?

Objective 3:

With all this, produce articles and feedback that tell the story of these adventures. Then maybe produce a short film.

We hope to interview inspiring people during our trip, and share there stories. We want to share our experiences and produce a few articles, tutorials, videos about the “low-tech & regenerative” journey we’ll be experimenting with. We’ll be talking about our encounters and difficulties, as well as about the references and resources we’ll discover along the way!

Itinerary

You can follow our day to day progress on the interactive Polarsteps map we’ll be setting up when we leave. The interactive map will be available in the Map page.

Budget

Total budget: 9900€ €

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