Exchanging through internet with scientists or explorers, training on computers or for digital photography, attending to writing or drawing workshops, such are the offers made by  « L’enfant@l’hôpital »to ill children.

A thousand ways to learn differently !

Via Kolibri, a private internet platform, their cyber-reporters send, seldom from the end of the world, short reports with photos and enigmas. They answer personnaly to the children. 

The young ill an disabled may also express themselves trough writing, drawing or digital photo workshops. With the most modern tools, culture can so meet ill children.

Since more than 20 years, volonteers of this association intervene at request, in all of France, to help hospitaized ill or disabled children or adolescents.

Born in 1986, the association « L’enfant @ l’hôpital » has always had for mission to equip and accompany ill children and those who take care of them, to modern technologies, in  order to establish a continuity school.

Each year, nearly 3000 hospitalized children benefit from the services of  « L’enfant@l’hôpital » and several hundreds connect themselves each day to Kolibri.

And I will be one of their correspondants during my world tour. I have made an appointement with the children from the hospital of Valence (France) in January, to introduce them to my project and invite them to follow me for the two coming years.

If you wish, you may read the terms of the agreement I made with the association here below.
Thanks to the two "rémois", Anne et Benjamin de BiketoSchool who mentionned this association during our exchanges. And thank you to  Ludovic Hubler who's book encouraged my desire to provoke this meeting. Yet niether one of the three are members of this association.

Special thanks to Anne Dunoyer, Déléguée générale de l'association, for having welcomed me me to discuss my project. It was very pleasant.

And soon I will be meeting Lauréline Perotin,trainee at the 'association and who will be my contact during my journey. 
Hi Lauréline,
Meet you soon,

How to define my world trip route?

In my head, the earth not only have spun from west to east... I look at all horizons and all directions before deciding.
It depend how long time you go around and I changed that too.

First of all, I thought travelling with my backpack to visit the world during one year. Then, I said I want to stop in some place to feel it and share peolpe's life, one year seem to be short. When I decided to make a bigger projet of my world trip, two years appear to be necessary.

Anyway, you still don't know which country I'm going to visit, so I'm telling it now.

I'm not going to visit rich country,because of b budget and I know a bit the "western" way of life :-) Anyway, I'll casue the oportunity to go ther later.

I'll start in Asia, in Turkey. I'm looking for a boat (sailing boat, ferry or freighter) which is going to Turkey from France and accept to bring me there.

Then, I'm doing a return, a circle, first way by the North and back by the south. Thus, I'm not going to turn around the world because I don't cross the Pacific ocean whereas I'm going to cross all the continent except Oceania.
So, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Tibet (I know it's in China but, it's, at least, different geographically , historically  and the climat is different too), Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, Irak, and Israel.

I'm back to the Eurasian-African boreder, back from my first end of earth.
Ther, if I want to respect the good timing for climate, I have to cross rapidly Egypt, where I can go later anyway.
Then, I go down Africa, along the rift valley. I took this decision after reading Africa trek.
I'll live for some time in Sudan (We don't know yet the name of the two nexte state), Ethiopia , Kenya,  Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Finally South Africa, my second end of earth.

Next, I'll need to find a boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
I'll arrive somewhere along east coast of South America. I'll go to the South, crossing Argentina and Chile in order to stretch to ground fire .
Finally, I'll go North, Peru and Colombia.

I'll write the end next time. I may go back France or continue to the North to Mexico and USA. There are also countries of West Africa that I would like to visit...

I heard about CouchSurfing (CS) around 2006 for the first time.
Then, many time I heard about without taking the time to come on the web site.
Finally, I heard about someone who travelled around the world only using CS two years ago.

I offer you to discover Wikipedia description:

Couchsurfing is a neologism referring to the practice of moving from one friend's house to another, sleeping in whatever spare space is available, floor or couch, generally staying a few days before moving on to the next house.

Free to register, members have the option of providing information and pictures of themselves and of the sleeping accommodation they offer, if any. More information provided by a member, and other members, improves the chances that someone will find the member trustworthy enough to be his host or guest. Security is often measured in the reference established by networking. Volunteers may verify names and addresses. Members looking for accommodation can search for hosts using several parameters such as age, location, gender and activity level.

Homestays are consensual between the host and guest, and the duration, nature, and terms of the guest's stay are generally worked out in advance. No monetary exchange takes place except for compensation of incurred expenses (e.g. food).

The mission statement of CouchSurfing is Create Inspiring Experiences:

"At CouchSurfing International, we envision a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter. Building meaningful connections across cultures enables us to respond to diversity with curiosity, appreciation and respect. The appreciation of diversity spreads tolerance and creates a global community."

I'm sure I 'll apreciate CS during my trip. For now, I only meet people for a coffe. I have never host anybody and when I wneeded a couch I always used my own network.

There are plenty of site similar, BeWelcome and Hospitality Club very close to Cs, or also HelpX and WWOOF (World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) which is a world network of organique farm created in England in 1971. Farms offer to host you if you want to share there daily life and farm job during some time.

I was a Wwoofer during a bit more than a month in two different farm in England. I really apreciate this way of meeting people. If you want to (re)discover the value of work (work to feed people), if you want to travel, if you want to take time to meet people from here or there, Wwoofing is a very good way.

From the point of view of science, I am a member of the big family of the, Eukaryota, Unikonta, Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Theria, Eutheria, Primates, Haplorrhini, Simiiformes, Catarrhini, Hominoidea, Hominidae, Homininae, Hominini, Homo sapiens.

A poet would say in a nobler manner that I am a Man, living on Earth.

My name is Nathanaël, Natha, Nath’, but I easily accept variants from my interlocutors. In England, I was named Nathaniel, in Spain Nathán (Natha, was not allowed because nata, is the word for cream) or Zlatan (This one I never quite understood, something to do with a Soccer player, I believe). There are also the diminutives and nicknames from my childhood, Thanel, Tatousolaire (God only knows), Thatoo (I choose this one), juveniledelinquant (Thanks to my brother).
For this adventure / journey, and on this website, I'll be known as Yogo. I don’t know how this nickname came to the mind of one of my University friends, but I like it. It is easy to remember, there is little chance of confusion in a foreign language (well that is a personal belief). And finally for those who have studied a bit of English or Spanish, there is a pun :-)