This is an authorized translation in English of a post in French by @terresco: A la poursuite de l’aventure

^{As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in my translation.}

Remember that the person who speaks here is NOT me, Vincent Celier (@vcelier), but @terresco, a French guy.

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In Pursuit of Adventure

At the end of the 80's, perhaps the early 90's gradually disappeared a particularly interesting activity for the penniless adventurers we were. Neither secret nor outlaw, it was only a matter of buying a car in Europe to sell it in Africa. The gain allowed more or less to pay the expenses of the trip and the return.

* * * * *

The genesis of a project

It is during a student night, important occupation for a student, conscious that the important thing for his future is his address book, someone has mentioned this principle. Had he seen a report, known someone who did it? I do not remember anymore. What I remember is that it did not fall on deaf ears.

Pascal, like me, was looking for something. He was a brilliant student and a university swimming champion, and he was not vainglorious about it. He liked doing things without boasting. He never refused a new activity when it presented itself to him and could sacrifice his time and pleasure to live it. Immediately mentioned, this unique opportunity for a free trip was part of our future. Two others were with us on the starting blocks, but they did not pass the test of time, they quickly lost breath.

That evening in October, when autumn was coming to the south of France, as the days were getting shorter, the project was on its way. Spoken at the aperitif, voted during the meal, planned late in the night, the project had already begun. This year we would find the money, next summer the car, the next spring we would leave. I was not yet 18 years old and therefore had no driving license, I needed to wait until December to prepare for it, there was no accompanied driving at that time in France.

I could swear that during this year and a half of preparation there was not a single day when we did not think, talk or work on this trip. The African students we met on the university benches, and even more so at the university campus of "Les Arceaux" where we were living brought water to the mill of our idea. They told us about the life they had left there, their childhood, their friends. They made us taste specialties that seemed so exotic to me, as I had never traveled. Everything is so beautiful when you are far away.

Funding

As with any project, as small as it is, it took a minimum amount of money to start. We were in France where we started, with great peace of mind, studies whose purpose did not make us dream in the least. Failing to choose the studies we chose the city, Montpellier, for its climate, its nightlife and proximity to the sea. It was necessary to raise enough money to buy a used car. I do not remember the amounts, enough to have to jostle a little.

The first job we did was to advertise for a nightclub, the Blue Moon if I remember correctly. We went around the faculties, university restaurants, distributing pamphlets, pasting posters here and there on trees, billboards, walls sometimes. The competition was tough, the posters did not stay long without being covered. We competed in imagination with parties that wanted to be original.

This middle of the night was a little addictive. Drunk with a false popularity, we thought we were important to have a lot of knowledge, but we ended up forgetting our goal. Fortunately, the summer work was over, the discotheques filled up without us. The middle did not swallow us, the adventure would come out of the night. We ended with a small fortune, a good experience and many memories. Our dreams were stronger than the nocturnal chimeras.

Our expenses were reduced to a minimum, we cooked pasta in the room, lived at 4 in 20m² and let the heating off to save electricity. It did not bother us, each saved Franc (the Euro was not born yet) was one step closer to the Africa of our dreams.

The summer has found us cleaning dishes in a holiday village. Less glorious than advertising but we had fun. Sometimes it was necessary to help unload refrigerated trucks to the kitchen freezers. Passing from -18º to 35º outside during the summer of southern France, we exchanged colds for salary supplements.

Autumn surprised us idle and unhappy to be. The plan was for this school year to find the car, restore it and leave in May. It was this year or never because we had almost no exams planned, the following years we would be stuck in June. We had seen some opportunities but we were short of money.

It was a strange time or under a socialist president the stock market was working full, boosted, among other things, by privatization of companies. As a student in economics, we were touching this reality. It was time to practice and take risks. The little wolves of the stock market have started to grow their money. Shabby replica of Golden Boys who waved Wall Street yet, we managed with energy an amount that was to represent 2 or 3,000 of our current Euros.

Chance smiles to the audacious and daring we did not miss. Speculating in the very short term, we started to gain a little and then gained more confidence. If you think that we have lost everything like the inveterate players of a casino, I have the pleasure to tell you that you are wrong! We had made our dream bigger, just enough to take the next step. The lure of gain has not been our Achilles' heel. Deadlines could be met.

* * * * *

It was now necessary to find the car, the choice had been on an old Mercedes for several reasons. The brand had good press in Africa and we thought we could sell it easily at a good price. Pascal had some mechanical skills and parts of Mercedes recovered from I do not know where while I made money with wind. We had to miss a few classes to focus on finding the rare pearl.

(to be continued)

-- @terresco