Last 30th March, I was honoured to be interviewed by Nataly Rader on @womansharecultures (Instagram). It was two and a half hours of intense and interesting conversation about travelling, photography, cultures, respect and more. Eventually, Nataly made a fantastic video out of it.
But here is a bit of a summary if you don’t have much time:
When did your fascination for cultures start?
Oh, I will have to go backwards some years ago, when I used to travel with my parents and sister by car around Europe. I am thankful to my parents for opening up my mind to make me be aware of the Other. We never went to hotels, but we used to camp. I also remember being fascinated by Tintin comics, which portrayed cultures very well. Later on, I started anthropology but never had the chance to work on that. In a way, University deceived me…
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I needed to travel more and more. You only live once, I needed to go somewhere, couldn’t stay at home. I didn’t want o miss anything. It’s a passion for learning.
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For me travelling is going somewhere totally different from my place. I don’t like travelling to Europe anymore because it’s too similar.
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I am a teacher and I love teaching, but there was a point in my life when I was about to turn 50, that I asked myself “Is that the only thing I can do?”
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Once you go two or three times to the same place, you start really to get to know people, real people, not just “the tribe”. It’s friends you are going to meet, eventually.
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Some people get out of the car and start taking pictures and off they go…
Yes, unfortunately, but we (Last Places) travel with respect, we have a protocol on how to approach communities, so they welcome us when we visit them again. They are so happy. They recognize me, and I am so proud of that, because it’s something you have to build. You start to create bonds with them.
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I don’t want to be regarded as superior, because I am not. I like to approach them as a human being, naked, without judging them.
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Remember to click for the whole interview. And please, subscribe it and give it a like ;)
ES
