Some people have dreams and will do anything to make them come true. Others will simply write down their ideas on a piece of paper. Paul Nestour appears in the first category. The 23-year-old young man is preparing to make a 13,000 km journey to Beijing, with a simple bicycle, out of ecological conviction. He will meet his best friend who is studying there, to learn Chinese.
A long journey
About ten days before his departure from Lorient, scheduled for Monday January 20, 2025, the one who resides in the city of six ports is confident about his trip. The latter should last four months, not counting possible unforeseen events. Paul Nestour will sleep in a tent, or with a local. No matter how long it takes to get to his destination, the former master’s student in Nantes admits to wanting to “take the time” to do things. Although he is used to nomadic excursions in France and abroad, he has been training for several weeks. His physical preparation program includes going out for a run and cycling. The frame of his two-wheeler, which he will take with him, was designed by a Lorient craftsman, Quidam cycles.
Work and family support
Paul Nestour has traveled miles across the globe. In the third year of his degree in eco-management at the University of Bretagne-Sud in Vannes, he went abroad. As part of the European Erasmus program, the Lorient resident sets foot in Germany. It was this six-month experience that gave him “a taste for travel,” in his words. On this occasion, Paul Nestour visits five other countries on the continent: Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Croatia and Austria. This time, he will stay in Beijing “at least three weeks. I will perhaps go to the United States or elsewhere in the world afterwards,” he plans.
To finance his trip, Paul Nestour uses his savings. “I have been working since I was 15. I spent eight seasons in the restaurant business, as a waiter and kitchen assistant,” he confides. To this sum of money is added “financial support” from his family. The twenty-year-old will try to share his adventures on social networks, if technical conditions permit.
Practical
Paul Nestour will try to publish once a week, on his Instagram account (paulnestour).
