THE DREAM
Project Mongolia is my next big project, coming from a dream that has been there for long time. The dream of a long expedition, the dream of meeting the last land of nomads and the dream of traveling on horseback.
The idea is to walk and ride across a land without fences, to plan a rough route, but finding my way through nature with the help of locals and paper maps, following the trails that mother nature lays for us. With everything essential to my survival packed in a backpack, I’ll be free to move at my own rhythm and constrained to create a relation with the wild and nomadic world that will be surrounding me.
THE ROUTE
I will be entering the country from China in Zamyn-uud, the departure date is planned for the first days of February 2026. During the first month the very low Mongolian temperatures would make traveling on horse very hard, so the idea is to walk to Ulanbataar, there a local contact will assist me in purchasing horse and tack, allowing me to continue towards the Altai mountains and the western border. I expect the whole trip to take three to four months.
THE CHALLENGES
- EXTREME COLD: Temperatures in February can drop as low as – 20 degrees, making the weather one of the greatest challenges.
- PHYSICAL EFFORT: the combination of walking and horseback riding in such cold conditions will require significant endurance.
- NAVIGATION: traveling without a phone will make orientation difficult, as finding and following trails will demand constant attention and mistakes.
- SOLITUDE: Spending an extended period of time alone will test my focus and motivation, especially during the more difficult moments.
- RIDING: Acquiring the skills to handle Mongolia’s strong and spirited horses will undoubtedly present an engaging challenge.
THE IDEA
The idea is to have an extremely immersive experience, to be in contact with nature and the reality of traveling whilst meeting as many locals as possible. I have been taking Mongolian courses for the last months and will keep doing so until my departure, thus allowing myself a language to communicate and improving the possibilities of exchange with local nomads. To be in contact with the reality of travel, and more importantly to not be in contact with technology, all of this expedition will be done with a complete absence of phone. A sat phone will allow for emergency communication and weather forecasts, but the idea is to be completely isolated. To take this a step further I will also kill time:
“A precise notion of time is essential in order to live in our big cities, I will take the opportunity of this expedition to completely loose any mechanical help to interpret the flowing of time, I will carry no watch, thus not living minute by minute any more, but day by day”.
CREATIVITY
I will be carrying all of my camera gear, with a plan to film as much as possible and to take portraits of the many encounters I will make.
After my first book counting the tales of our Maroccan adventures I am now ready to write about my Mongolian experience.
“I would like to do something different this time, talking more about the condition, the environment, the encounters, the culture and the different psychological aspects of an expedition of this kind”.
- Coming from a generation so tightly bound to our phones, how will my mind react when forced to reconnect with nature? Will my instinct and senses improve after some time?
- In such an environment, with most of the inputs coming from nature, will my dreams start communicating more meaningful information?
- Without a watch, how will my perception of time change? Is my mind going to get better at naturally interpreting the flowing of time?
- How will my intention to take as many portraits as possible interfere with my interactions with locals? Will they welcome being portrayed?
- It will be my first time not communicating with family and friends for so long, yet, only a century ago it was very common, how will I respond?