My name is Alexis Simac, I was born in 1992 in France, and have always lived there (in Toulouse as of writing this, to be precise).
I’m a developper, cats dad, metalhead, Whovian, hardcore Kaamelott fan, cinema enjoyer, fascinated by maps, long-time TrackMania player and Rubik’s Cube collector. So basically a nerd. But with travelling desires and ambitions!
I’m a self-described lazy person, but when I impose myself a challenge or a goal, I can be quite stubborn to reach it. Recent example include watching a list of 1,000 movies over a period of five and a half years. I hope this will will ensure me to complete the trip as planned.
Previous travels
I was lucky enough to be born to amazing parents that went all over the place in their youth, in a much more adventurous and unprepared way that I’m going to attempt. We’re talking accompanying my uncle at a Sweden Rally, crossing the Sahara desert (separately, a few years apart from each other), hitchhiking from France to Nepal, living on the edge of Mayotte’s lagoon, enjoying a jungle-covered tourist-free Tikal at the end of the Guatemalan civil war here.
So as a kid, I’ve been transported in a good chunk of Western Europe, including Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg (all somewhere in the 1990s or early 2000s). Not including seeing most of France over the years, other notable trips include Slovenia and Austria (1995), Italy (1995, 1996), United Kingdom (1996, 1997), and Spain and Portugal for the 1998 World Fair in Lisboa (Lisbon). Of course, I have very few memories from these trips sadly. But I’ve revisited most of them at least once later in my childhood and teenage years.
The 2000s are a bit of a blur to be honest… Growing up in the Loire valley, where there’s not much else to do than visiting Chambord and other castles.
I’ve been to Switzerland again for sure, and at least once in Luxembourg in 2006 and once or twice in Belgium. Might have been to Germany too… There were a few occasional borders crossing into Spain and Italy while on holidays in the Pyrenees and Alps, respectively.
Not much happened in terms of travel in the early 2010s. In 2010, I went twice in both Germany and Switzerland, including once for the Zürich Sonisphere festival. Full day spent in the mud, but well worth it, seeing some legendary bands.
But this was merely the calm before the storm…
In 2015, I was lucky enough to get an internship in the United States, at the Utah State University in Logan, Utah. That was my first time taking a plane, first time going outside of Europe, and an amazing experience overall. I still miss the people and the landscapes to this day. I even went to an American football stadium and a Basketball stadium, unbelievably enough. Thanks to my friend and classmate Julien, who had his driving licence, we got to visit four of the five National Parks in Utah: Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP, and even did a detour to the mighty Grand Canyon NP. I cannot recommend enough these places. No words can truly describe their majesty and sheer sizes. I also got a week on my own in California, where I went to Yosemite NP and the San Francisco Bay. Missed my plane. Met a young bear. Fun stuff!
In 2016, things got serious. In February I went with my then-girlfriend Céline and our roommate Pierre to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, through Belgium, where we visited places such as Gouda (Gouda, South Holland), De Hoge Veluwe NP, Utrecht (which was a key moment) and Amsterdam. In July, I went to Norway for an epic four-day roadtrip from Stavanger to Bergen, with my buddies Paul, Bobby and Alex (of Norwegian glacier-fame). Don’t get me started on what happened on that glacier in Folgefonna NP. Or at the Oslo Airport. Or with the yogurts. Or in København (Copenhagen). In August I then hiked three days in Mercantour NP, (and Calanques NP!) with Pierre and our friend Kamel. On the way back we ate in Italy and spent the afternoon in Monaco. In November Céline and I went to Luxembourg, where I saw for the first time Fractal Universe in concert, the band from my good childhood friend Hugo. Check them out! Finally, again with Céline, Pierre and our friend Kévin, we made a short excursion in Germany while on a snow-less Christmas holiday in Alsace.
In 2017, Alex and I went to a memorable Iron Maiden show in Frankfurt am Maine (Frankfurt), Germany.
In 2018, Céline and I did a small roadtrip to Spain, along the coast, down to Barcelona, with a very short hop in Andorra. Later that year we enjoyed a week-end in Venezia (Venice), Italy.
In 2019, we went for a much larger road trip to Šibenik, Croatia, crossing Italy and Slovenia on the way, (re)visiting places such as Venezia, Triglav NP, Postojna, Plitvice Lakes NP, Krka NP and Trogir.
In 2020, we mostly visited our living room. Farthest we got to was my birthhplace, Avignon. Thanks covid.
In 2021, I only did a two-week road trip across France, sleeping at a different friend’s place every night. The farthest from Toulouse was Valenciennes. I drove a total of 2,600 km in my La Poste-yellow C3.
In 2022, I invited myself on a week-end in London, United Kingdom with Pierre. It was a busy but very fun-filled week-end on the British island. A month later, I was embarking on my Interrail warm up trip to İstanbul (Istanbul). A three-week journey from France to Turkey, through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria, and back the same way. This site has an entire dedicated blog about this trip, that you can find following this link.
In 2023, I technically step foot in Spain, at Roland’s breach in the Pyrénées NP/Ordesa y Monte Perdido NP, at the peak of a 10 h hike with Pierre and Kamel.
The rest, as they say, is history… in the making.
Train experience
Funfact, I’ve already taken a train in France, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Germany, Danish Realm (metro only), Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain (metro only), Portugal, Turkey and United States.
And here are all the metro systems I’ve already tried: София (Sofia), København (Copenhagen), Lyon, Paris, Toulouse, Roma (Rome), Amsterdam, Barcelona, İstanbul, London (both) and San Francisco. As for trams, I tried İstanbul, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Orléans, Reims, Toulouse, Frankfurt am Maine (light metro), Venezia, San Francisco (heritage streetcar).