Hey There! I’m Julien

I am the guy behind Exploration Junkie | Crazy about all things Discovery, Nature Travel, Wildlife, Archaeology, Adventure and Exploration | Unlimited curiosity | Slightly nerdy | Never feeling more alive than when in the wilderness or wandering in ancient temples | A secret dream? Exploring it all (that’s a heck of a challenge!).

A Few Words About Me – The Birth of a Passion

My passport is French but my mind has no border. As far as I can remember, I have always had a wandering mind. As a kid, I was fond of anything that would make me travel all around the planet and learn new things, such as the Adventures of Tintin cartoons, animal documentaries, and so on.

I believe that what you read and watch when you are a kid conditions your adult dreams. So when you think about it, what other passions than travel and nature could have I developed?

However, this travel thing has just remained a vague thought in my mind for many years. But when I was 12 years old, an event that doesn’t sound like much would change my life. I stepped on a plane for the first time in my life.

The destination? Israel. The heat, the desert, the Dead Sea, the people who didn’t speak my language. It all hit me in the face. I was hooked. At 20 I eventually went on my first big trip alone, to South America. It was my first discovery of the tropical world. It was my first time seeing a jungle, a mangrove, wild exotic birds, and snow-capped volcanoes… and I was blown away.

Flash forward more than 18 years and 50 countries later, I am still here, more addicted than ever! And as if my life wasn’t “international” enough, I found a way to fall in love 10,700 km away from home, with a lovely girl from Singapore. We have been in a long-distance relationship for 7 years, and she followed me on a number of my adventures. UPDATE: we finally got married, and we now live together in Singapore 🙂

Travel and nature are now a significant part of my life. OK, rather an obsession. I go on several trips a year – sometimes alone, sometimes with my wife, visiting new places or going back to places I loved to explore them more extensively – and always seizing all opportunities to immerse myself in the wilderness and observe new species.

But I must admit that the most obscure, remote, rarely visited a place is, the most attracted I am to it. Talk about an obsessional curiosity!

My Travel Mindset – The Importance of Curiosity

Curiosity is the base of everything. Without curiosity, humankind would not be where it is now. Without curiosity, travel wouldn’t be very meaningful. Curiosity is the reason why we travel.

Everybody is into different things but at the end of the day, we want to see how it is out there. We are curious to know what it’s like to experience a different culture, walk in different landscapes, and eat different food.

When I travel, I never expect anything. I don’t want to expect it “to be good”. The only reason why I am traveling to a place, is because I simply want to know how it’s like to be there. So many people expect so many things from their destination even before getting on the place, I think that’s too bad.

Take Qatar for example. So many people have a layover in Doha without ever taking the chance to go out and explore. It is not exactly an extremely rich destination in terms of things to see, if you compare with heavyweights like Europe, the US or others.

But I went out anyway, rented a car, and explored. With no expectation, no disappointment. With the only goal to see how it’s like. And I liked what I saw there! I have even been there twice. I saw Doha, and ventured into the desert.

Many people would say that there is nothing there, why should they bother going there? But the way I see it is, yes there is nothing. That’s amazing. Apart from the southern part of the country where you can find some nice sand dunes, most of Qatar is a very flat and very empty desert.

How often in your life did you find yourself lost in the middle of a vast emptiness? How many times in your life have you walked in the desert under an absolutely unbearable heat to the point of feeling vulnerable? As far as I am concerned, I find it amazing. It’s not something exactly pleasant, and definitely not comfortable, but it’s memorable. And it’s unusual. It is an experience worth living. That’s all that matters in the end, in my opinion.

When Love For Nature and The Outdoors Meet Travel – How Exploration Junkie Was Born

As I started to travel more and more, live incredible experiences and meet wonderful people around the world, I quickly realized that what truly brings me joy when I travel is exploring the wilderness and encountering wildlife (be it animals or plants), but also the feeling of becoming more and more travel-smart. The feeling of being able to adapt to local cultures, and get what you need when you need it, independently, wherever you are in the world.

I didn’t want to keep these experiences to myself. I needed them to serve a purpose. I needed to share them with the world. On the day of my birthday, 19 Nov. 2013, I registered the explorationjunkie.com domain name, without really knowing what I was doing.

In the first years, Exploration Junkie remained a hobby, a site where I would just write about the various trips I have been on without much of a second thought. But over time it became a place where readers can find a wealth of information in order for them to prepare for their next trip.

Why Should You Read Exploration Junkie?

My mission on this site is to help you discover the wonders of our planet, encounter its wildlife, explore its archaeological marvels, and discover its astonishing variety of cultures  – always respectfully and responsibly.

In addition, you will find practical travel advice, so you too can quickly become travel-smart, and also master various outdoor activities related to adventure travel and exploration. You will also get to learn a great deal about the wildlife that call our planet home. And finally, I teach you how to take great pictures during your trips!

Exploration Junkie is primarily a travel website, exploring plenty of destinations around the world. Naturally, I find myself blogging about trekking, kayaking, or other kinds of outdoor activities, but my naturalist spirit likes to step back and observe, pay attention to this fragile and discreet wildlife that surrounds me and feature it in my articles so you can pay attention to it too on your next trip.

As a result, a large part of the content on this site is about nature/outdoors-related activities and guides. You will find a large wildlife section where I am sure you will learn many new fascinating things about animals – and this is precisely what makes it so amazing: to actually know and understand what you are looking at when you encounter wildlife. I sometimes like to publish travel itineraries, and culture or archaeology-related articles as well.

In addition, I wanted to include a trip planning section. After all, I have been planning and going on independent travels for more than 18 years, I certainly developed some travel skills and I wanted to share them with you. I also use this section to share more general travel advice that is not necessarily related to adventure travel, but can be useful for any traveler. 

I am also very keen on photography. I feel it is a crucial element of any trip. And well, many things and landscapes we encounter while traveling are just SO photogenic. Over the years, my experience grew, my equipment improved and my techniques evolved.

Travel pics are great, but how to explore a place with a static, limited image? Panoramic photography and virtual tours are the answer! Virtual tours are a cool feature of this site, and you can them in some of my travel articles. 

So in a nutshell, if:

• You are a curious, nature-loving, discovery-minded traveler looking for inspiration for your next trip
• You are looking to prepare for your next adventure with precise information
• You are wondering what is the best piece of gear you should get
• You wish to improve your photography skills and maybe get started at panoramic photography

… then you will love Exploration Junkie!

Thanks for making it to the end of this lengthy introduction – You can now browse the website via the main menu! 🙂