Ludovic Hubler, the hitchhiker who open his self to the world, to realize the diversity & become a better person

Our profile this month is Ludovic Hubler, a French man who dare to explore world by hitchhiking. For him, traveling mainly is not about physical stuff, but more spiritual and make him excited for a new experience he gets from it.

Please enjoy this interview 

1. What is the 1st trigger / motivation you try hitchhike?

When I was 16, my mother always wanted to take me everywhere and one day, my father said "stop overprotecting him, he must be resourceful and independent. Let him hitchhike". I started to hitch around my region, then France, then Europe. It was then logical to do the world. I have learned a lot through hitchhiking, it's a fantastic school of life : of tolerance, resourcefulness, capacity to adapt, patience, persistance, etc. I like to call my world journey my "life Phd" 

  

2. Back to the first time you hitchhike, tell us your 1st feeling/ experience doing that, where and when

I felt miserable, I couldn't understand why my father pushed me to do so. I understood afterwards and thank him today. The first time, it was cold, nobody stopped, I really was mad at my dad. It was in Alsace, East of France at the German border.

3. What is the most interesting experience in your life? why

This tour of the world has definitely been the most interesting and rewarding experience in my life so far. I learned new things everyday, had this impression to grow, to open my mind to new things, to become more tolerant while I was getting to know other cultures. I also learned not to be afraid of the unknown and the quality of your life becomes better when you're not afraid of the unknown. Also, I'd like to stress on the point that I did learn a lot about myself too. The more people you meet, the more you learn about yourself.

4. What you get from hitchhiking? any spiritual moment or philosophy you get from it?

My tour of the world has brought some spiritual moments but not hitchhiking. While I'm hitchhiking, I feel good because I feel I'm opening myself to the world trying to understand them. I also feel good when I have a discussion for like 3 hours with someone I didn't know before and at the end of the ride, we have the impression to be best friends, it's a fun sensation. Usually both people are happy at the end of the ride and that's something important.

Now that I am back, I don't hitchhike much but do take hitchhikers, the wheel is turning.

5. Any suggestion for newbie? (hitchhiker)

Be respectful, persistant, always smile, be polite, open your mind to the difference to realize that other people's perspective may not necessarily be right or wrong, but just different. There are many ways to see things.

I would also encourage them to go from gas station to gas station, it makes things easier since you can speak with the people and explain what trip you are doing. I would also encourage having a plastic map explaining the journey and a document explaining what you are doing in the languages you don't speak (chinese for example).

6. What is your activity now? tell us about the organization you build

I work for the organization "Peace and Sport", International Organization in Monaco, which objective is to promote the use of sport as a tool for peace education and social integration of the most vulnerable.

I also build a web site called "Travel With a Mission", which objective is to help travelers to travel with a mission, especially to give lectures or to share knowledge/experiences, etc. in schools or any organization around the world. 

7. Tell us the definition of traveling in your words

Opening yourself to the world, its diversity, wealth, challenges. Becoming in the end a better person. More knowledgable, more aware, more humanistic.

Interested to know deeply about Ludovic? Find out at http://www.ludovichubler.com