5 minute read
“Nus et Culottés”, a new way of travelling
by Pauline Quentel (Volunteer at Action Art)
What if we changed our way of travelling and base our journey on human solidarity?
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When we go on a trip we always take a lot of stuff “just in case”. And in the end, you don’t wear it or use it for the whole trip. Maybe it’s time to understand what we really need on a trip and to make a clean break from what’s around us! Take a deep breath and embark on a journey with Nans and Mouts around the world, with nothing but their hands and their smiles.
What is “Nus et Culottés” and who are they?
Today, our travels take many forms: in our own country or in foreign countries, with family or friends, through volunteering, internships, or on a whim with a backpack. We can travel with or without a specific goal or time limit. But in our backpack, there is always more or less the same stuff, even minimal. Moreover, we rarely sleep in people’s homes because of the media, the films, some stories we hear, we place very little trust
— Mouts
in the people we meet on our way, we are suspicious and it’s human. What if we tried to get out of this comfort zone? What if we relearned to ask and give again? This is what Nans and Mouts, in their show “Nus et Culottés” have tried to demonstrate over almost ten years of traveling around the world. Kindness and solidarity exist everywhere in the world.
“ Nus et Culottés” is a French television program broadcast since July 26, 2012 on France 5. Nans and Mouts, whose real names are Nans Thomassey and Guillaume Mouton, have been friends for a long time and have already organized several trips together when they were younger. During their trips, they started to take less and less things with them, and to question themselves about our real needs during a trip.
So, they decided to start their journey completely naked: no backpack, no clothes, no money! A team drops them off at a place, usually in a natural setting. They are naked despite the weather and despite the place, and only have small cameras and a red and white bundle in which the chargers of their camera are located. They have three cameras: one that films the people they meet, one that films them, and another that they can put wherever they want to film the environment they are in. The first goal is to find something to wear, then a place to sleep and eat, and finally the means of transportation, usually hitchhiking. For them and for the people they meet, it’s a spiritual journey, as people learn about them-
— Laurent Gounelle
selves and others. The goal remains to show that human solidarity is everywhere, despite social differences. As your backpack becomes lighter, your comfort grows. This is the first step. Then comes the time to trust yourself and the road: hence the goal of removing “useful” objects such as clothes. According to them, acting like this has given rise to some really unexpected surprises.
The fact of going towards a total stripping gave birth to real treasures and totally changes the vision that one has of these objects. One is satisfied with little, one concentrates much more easily on the gesture of giving than on the object itself. It’s a new way to understand our real needs and consume less.
One of the biggest fears for someone who wants to travel without money is being seen as a “parasite”. We don’t dare to ask, we have the impression that we are disturbing, we are afraid that people will look at us badly and that we will be told to go to work in order to earn money by ourselves. Nans and Mouts advice in these moments, if you want to start an experience like theirs, is to have a gift box with you. You can make a necklace out of flowers that you find on your way, you can create an origami with paper that people will have at home. Or a more physical and long term help, like helping them build a cabin, mowing the lawn. Nans, on his first trip to the United States, brought with him some of his grandmother’s recipes, such as pancakes. And
https://www.senscritique.com/serie/Nus_et_culottes/16060275
since the ingredients are easy to find, he shared this meal with his hosts.
During their trip to Rodrigues Island, their desire was to ride a motorcycle. Through their need for mobility, they met the owner of the motorcycle, they met a person who provided them with gasoline, another person who helped them when they broke down. The goal is also to be clear in intent.
You need to know what you want and ask for it directly. It is your choice to make this kind of trip, so you have to be ready if the answer is no or if the person is not available.
They realized, during their first trips, that they could waste a lot of time stubbornly sticking to their goal and lose this sensitivity in their travels and encounters. The journey must be seen as an initiatory experience: an initiation to the cold, to the other, to the disagreements in the pair, to hunger, to material detachment, to the unexpected. It is the school of life. And it is a school that must be integrated into the rest of our lives, in everyday situations.
Dare to say yes! Dare to live situations you never thought you would live before. Get out of your comfort zone! Let life decide for you. If you find yourself, like them, in a gym dancing with older people at a neighbourhood party, go for it. When people open their arms, dare to go with them. That’s the beauty of being human: sharing. Learning to see the good in each of the people you meet in your life can be applied at every moment and not only when traveling. This program opens up new visions of the world and people. Do you feel ready to try the adventure?
Sources :
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9drhBSqE81M&ab_ channel=wikicampers-locationentreparticuliers
-youtube.com/watch?v=-B73rzoKnjI&ab_channel=Brut
-https://www.geo.fr/aventure/nus-et-culottes-les-confidences-de-mouts-sur-la-derniere-saison-de-lemission-196297
