A conversation with
Constant Pelhate
My name is Constant Pelhate, I'm 27 years old and I'm an adventurer and public speaker.
DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN THREE WORDS.
If I had to describe myself in three words, I'd say I'm solitary, sociable and joyful.
HOW DID YOUR PROJECT EN ROUTE WITH ETAHLEP COME ABOUT? WHAT INSPIRED YOU?
It is above all my dreams, and in particular reading Ludovic Hubler's book, The World by Hitchhiking, along with a longing to travel and discover the world, that gave me the urge to set up my project En route avec Etahlep.
WHICH COUNTRY HAS LEFT ITS MARK ON YOU THE MOST?
Mexico left a lasting impression on me, with its landscapes and the many different cultures I discovered there. It was also a moment in my life when my projects suddenly gathered pace.
« The reading of Ludovic Hubler's book, Le Monde en stop, together with the urge to travel, gave me the idea of launching my own project, En route avec Etahlep. »
FOR 2 YEARS NOW, YOU'VE BEEN LIVING A NOMADIC LIFE: WHAT'S YOUR PHILOSOPHY ON LIFE?
My credo is to let myself be carried along by chance encounters and whims, and to let the magic of uncertainty, of wandering, work its charm. I love throwing myself into the unknown, seeing how my body reacts, how people react to my various travels. I'm keen to try out plenty more new adventures. I'm planning a canoe trip across France, to try new things and always set off on unknown projects.
WHAT DID YOU FEEL, ALONE ON YOUR BIKE AT THE END OF THE WORLD?
Alone on my bike, I feel a sense of freedom that's almost wild, a sense of calm, a sense that anything's possible, a sense of wellbeing that's quite something. I think wandering has become truly vital to me these days, I can say that now, after three years of roaming all over the world.
WHICH ENCOUNTER MARKED YOU THE MOST?
Mama Carmen in Guatemala left a real mark on me, she's a woman who has been running an orphanage in Guatemala City for 40 years.
I organised a bicycle day, where I gave bikes to the orphans. I stayed for 5h talking with her one evening. In 40 years, she's saved more than 2500 children from the streets by selling tabalaises and frijoles to feed these children. This woman has a quite remarkable humility, she has done so much good for the world and for these children of Guatemala.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE OF THIS JOURNEY?
After a trip like that, I feel like there's no real hardship, just pure joy. In Mexico, I had four punctures in the same day, and there was some pretty wild frustration in that moment. As for missing my family, I won't pretend I didn't miss them. But I was living the adventure so fully that, these days, thanks to social media, to Instagram, you can stay in touch with your family.
So I don't think I really felt the absence in the end. Every obstacle helps you move forward.
YOU'RE PLANNING TO WRITE A BOOK, CAN YOU TELL US MORE?
I'm right in the thick of writing. Writing is a real journey in itself, I love it, and I'm going back through all my notes. It's also a huge amount of research work. I realised this as I was writing: I spend my time looking things up, about towns and cities I passed through. It's a travel narrative where I try to weave in some reflection on these two and a half years by bike. It's a little bit of an ode to itinerant settledness. The art I'm trying to bring to my life today is living between periods of staying put and periods of roaming. So I'm trying to capture all of that in my book, and to tell all the beautiful stories that happened to me in every corner of the world.
YOU REMIND US OF LE MERVEILLEUX, OF LA NOMADE. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?
The Marvellous reminds me of human beings, how people are marvellous pretty much everywhere.
Recently, I walked across France on foot. I was welcomed by all sorts of different people. The Marvellous also reminds me of the marvellous nature of our world. Wherever you go, whatever the landscape, whatever the country.
La Nomade makes me think of wandering, and it reminds me to go and see other realities. What I love about my travels in this nomadic life is constantly coming face to face with new realities, so that, in the end, our own reality broadens.
HOW DID YOU EXPERIENCE CHRISTMAS DURING THIS ROUND-THE-WORLD TRIP?
The first Christmas, I was working as a waiter in a hotel in the middle of Auckland, and I was Father Christmas. The second Christmas, I spent in Mexico, in a hostel where the atmosphere was far more festive, with young people from all over the world. Those two Christmases were quite different from one another. One thing I did miss, my family, because that time of year is rather a pivotal one: Christmas, for a Frenchman, is widely celebrated back home, so it's the moment when I'd have loved to be with my family.
Thank you to By Charlot, thank you for welcoming me into this new experience, this new adventure I'm now living as a settled Parisian.
« What I love about roaming through this nomadic life is the constant confrontation with new realities, and in the end, our own reality grows wider for it. »
