Julie traveled for fifteen months to China, India and Cambodia. This trip allowed her to find herself and gave birth to a new life project at home. At the microphone of "La Libre antenne", on Europe 1, Julie tells Olivier Delacroix what her trip to Asia has brought her.

TESTIMONY

One day, Julie took a one-way trip to Beijing and traveled for fifteen months to China, India and Cambodia. Thanks to this trip, Julie says that she found herself reconnecting with adventure and nature. This trip gave birth to a new life project that corresponds to her. At the microphone of "La Libre antenne", Julie tells Olivier Delacroix about her trip to Asia, her difficult return to France and her new life plan.

>> Listen to Julie's testimony in full here

"At the end of 2017, I took a one-way trip to Beijing. I was in Guadeloupe for a business seminar. There, I reconnected with nature, travel and adventure. It awoke something in I did not know how to explain it and that pushed me to buy this ticket for Asia. I traveled there for fifteen months. I came back a year ago now.

There, I found myself. As a child, I was very close to nature, always on my bike to explore. Then I studied in a computer course. Thanks to this trip, I returned to nature, travel and adventure. I am naturally quite calm and zen, and I found myself in this very simple lifestyle. Human warmth deeply touched me, especially in China and India.

" It was my second home "

I have traveled all over Southeast Asia, mainly in China, India and Cambodia, where I stayed for nine months. People there helped me so much. These are sensations impossible to describe. It provides so much human warmth and well-being. We feel the love that naturally exists between all humans.

These three countries impressed me the most. China is where I started. Cambodia is where I have most entered culture. I stayed there nine months, I started to learn the language. For me it was my second home. And India is where I finished. These three countries really turned me upside down.

" It's like I forgot that I lived in France "

When I got home, it was very shocking. India is a very marked culture and extremely contrasted compared to France. It took me a month or two to realize that I was back, to rediscover habits and ways of thinking. At first, I couldn't help but compare everything. When you walk in the street, everything is different, traffic, markets, businesses, people.

Having been there for fifteen months is almost as if I had forgotten that I had lived in France all this time. I found myself in a world that suited me better and I melted into it. So readjusting to the world which is that of France and in which I find it difficult to find myself, it was very hard.

>> Find Olivier Delacroix's Free Antenna in replay and podcast here

When I returned, I wanted to recreate a way of life that suited me better. I had the idea of ​​fitting out a van. I have almost finished transforming a utility vehicle to make it my home. At the end of confinement, it will be the big departure for me. I don't have a specific plan, I'll let myself go. I will see where life takes me. "