A must for contemporary adventurer

Unusual in nature, this travelogue recounts a world tour hitchhiked over five years, from its genesis to its completion through his preparations and conduct. Its shape is mainly chronological since the narrator follows his route, accompanying him on his decisions along the way such as spending three years longer than expected on the road, crossing or not a country or region, etc . Beyond the initial challenge is to never pay for a transport outside cities, except for occasional trips, a common thread underlying the project: the pedagogical approach of the adventurer. In connection with young cancer patients from Strasbourg hospital, he travels for young people, and they travel through it while teachers find there a teaching aid for lessons in geography, biology, French, art, etc. .

After crossing the Sahara and the Atlantic, after adventures in Ushuaia as in Colombia, Ludovic reached the gates of the United States with a new idea which will lead to greatly extend his tour by giving it a deeper meaning. Based on its practical experience of human kindness on the road rather than a theoretical or abstract idealism ideology, he began in North America a series of conferences that open the doors to intercultural dialogue, especially when pursuing its approach the other side of the globe, Oceania, Asia and the Middle East. His project seems then become greater than himself, such a mission that charge to accomplish. The task is not always easy, and it notes from the first lecture series, while most Republicans States systematically closing down its free presentations.

Ludovic Hubler is not intended to become a writer-traveler. His writing is neither lyrical nor literary, rather it is true, direct and striking sincerity. Very hard to imagine the author embellishing his story, looking for style effects! It simply comes to offer us five years of its existence, pieces of travel, meaning bits, leaving the passage track of his career and perhaps allowing for recording memories that can not be told on the corner of a table during a family celebration. The writing seems vital to him, so must the author can externalize his experiences and write his memoirs in history.

The reader is cautioned from the outset that will be carried around the world at the speed of light, since this book of several hundred pages is extracted from a manuscript whose volume is four times higher. The pace of the book suffers at times from one action to another discontinuously, seeking to provide selected slices of life all the space they deserve despite the lack of space while trying to reflect diversity experiences. One senses the author was forced and sometimes it seems to be somewhat catapulted into his journey of losing its bearings. However, this rate is also characteristic travel hitchhiking: intense links, created quickly and then abandoned to fate. The brevity effort accelerates this phenomenon: the characters in and out of his life to the rhythm of paragraphs.

Despite this effect "slide show", the reader is not fazed 'the story holds water! It is not the content that is missing but sometimes I wanted to interrupt his narrative to ask him about his feelings, his fears. One often has the impression of being in his head, and very seldom in his heart. Could he really do better in so few pages? Throughout the chapters, this sensation of "lived collected" (exacerbated some statistics and superlatives so dear adventurers), however, fades to let appear a little more experienced, emotional challenges, particularly from its arrival in Asia in the Middle East.

This is a must read for those who want to make a round the world adventure, wanting to become nomadic with or without hitchhiking. All in all, it is very well written for a first work. We want more. What are the details that have not been told? He tells other stories! The knowledge of the course, more than willing was to "live" more intimately the road he did come to us, its vision of the world and access the wisdom he seems to have acquired: it is at least I hope that by closing this book.