My name is Blaise. I am French, born in Paris, a city where I spent most of my life living in several central districts of the French capital. I have also lived in Toulouse and Cannes in France, as well as Lisbon in Portugal. About ten years ago, I built a house in Greece, a country I return to very often and have learned to explore far beyond the usual tourist destinations.
I have been traveling around the world for more than 30 years. For a long time, these trips were mainly for professional reasons and allowed me to visit around sixty countries across several continents. However, it was only after moving to Bali in 2020 that I decided to create this travel guide.
While discovering Indonesia on a daily basis, I started sharing my advice, itineraries, and personal experiences to help other travelers plan their trips. My first real guide was dedicated to Nusa Penida, an island I first discovered in 2015 and that immediately fascinated me with its spectacular landscapes and still-preserved atmosphere.
From 2022 onward, I started traveling more for pleasure, but also around a passion that became central in my life: scuba diving. Bali, Nusa Penida, Raja Ampat, the Gili Islands, as well as many other destinations across Asia and Europe, became opportunities to discover new landscapes, cultures, and underwater worlds.
Through this website, I want to share detailed travel guides, practical advice, realistic itineraries, and honest travel experiences based on my own journeys. My goal is simple: to help you make the most of your holidays, avoid common mistakes, and discover authentic places far from the overly generic content often found online.
The Countries Where I Have Lived
Even though I traveled extensively for work, I make a real distinction between visiting a country for a few days and actually living there for several months or years. Over time, I have been fortunate enough to build my life across several cities and countries, with very different experiences depending on the period.
I was born in Paris and grew up in the city’s 6th arrondissement, where I lived until the age of 18. After completing my military service in Nîmes, I continued my studies in Palaiseau for two years at École polytechnique, followed by two additional years in Toulouse at ISAE-SUPAERO.
My professional career then led me to live in several French regions, including Vernon, Cannes, and again in Toulouse at different stages of my career.
Over time, my life became increasingly international. I lived part-time for around two years in Lisbon, a city whose atmosphere, light, and relaxed lifestyle I particularly enjoy. I also built a house in Corfu, where I spent many stays over the years long before moving to Indonesia.
I first discovered Nusa Penida in 2015, at a time when the island was still relatively unknown to international tourism. I started investing there in 2017 before permanently moving to Bali in August 2020, at the beginning of the Covid crisis, in order to stay close to my projects during the opening of my hotel a few weeks later.
I still live in Bali today while returning to Paris around three times a year. These regular visits allow me to continue discovering — or rediscovering — different French regions as well as several European destinations that I now experience differently with time and perspective.
The Countries I Have Visited
I have traveled to more than 60 countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania, with particularly extensive experience in Asia and Indonesia, where I have been living since 2020.
These journeys have taken many different forms throughout my life: business trips, international negotiations, aerospace trade shows, partial expatriation, long-term stays, road trips, and simple personal getaways. Some countries were discovered only once, while others became an important part of my life for several decades.
I also make a real distinction between simply “visiting” a country for a few days and truly getting to know it over time through repeated stays, local encounters, and gradual immersion.
My First Trip Abroad
My very first trip abroad happened when I was 9 years old. I traveled alone by plane to stay with a Greek family I had never met before, in Corinth.
It was also my first time flying. During the meal service, the aircraft suddenly hit severe turbulence and all the trays flew across the cabin. Since I had never been on a plane before, I did not immediately realize that this was somewhat unusual.
Looking back, I sometimes wonder whether this experience may explain both my lifelong passion for Greece… and perhaps even my future career in aerospace.
The Destinations I Visited Most Often
During my international career, some cities became almost familiar simply because I kept returning to them over and over again. The destinations I probably visited the most were Beijing, New Delhi, and Rio de Janeiro, with more than twenty trips to each city, mainly for commercial negotiations and major international projects.
Of course, Greece and Bali should also be included in that list, with dozens of stays over the years before I eventually settled permanently in Indonesia.
My Shortest Trip
The shortest — and probably most absurd — trip of my life was a Paris–Hong Kong round trip on December 23rd for a simple dinner with a client at the legendary Hong Kong Club.
Two consecutive nights spent on airplanes, no hotel room needed, and an immediate return to France after the meeting.
Some international negotiations could occasionally become quite surreal (and I did not even sign the contract in the end…).
My Longest Journey
My longest journey remains a nearly two-month round-the-world trip following this itinerary:
Paris → Los Angeles → Tahiti → New Zealand → Australia → Bali → Paris.
It was during this trip that I crossed the International Date Line and “lost” an entire day. Ever since, I have often thought that one day I should make the journey in the opposite direction… just to recover that missing day.
A Few Regions of the World I Know Particularly Well
Asia and the Middle East
Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, China, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Today, Asia is probably the region of the world I know best, both through my former international career and my current life in Indonesia.
Europe
Germany, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Switzerland.
Europe remains a very important part of my life thanks to my regular returns to Paris and my many stays in Greece and Portugal.
The Americas
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the United States, Guatemala, Mexico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Africa
South Africa, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Oceania
Australia and New Zealand.
A Different Way of Traveling Over Time
For many years, my travels were mostly driven by professional constraints: meetings, negotiations, international trade shows, and endless flights across multiple time zones.
Since moving to Bali, my way of traveling has changed profoundly. Today, I prefer longer stays, local discoveries, meaningful encounters, and a much slower and more immersive approach to travel.
This interactive map provides an overview of the main countries I have visited throughout my professional career and personal travels.
