Hello, bonjour и привет!

I'm Ganesha - some of my friends call me Marcel - and I'm a 23 year-old travel blogger, aviation enthusiast, francophile, Russophile and avid traveler from Singapore.

I’m currently training to be a commercial airline pilot in Montreal, Canada. I’m also a part-time nomad: working as a language-teacher for students in Singapore.

Recently, I completed one of my life's greatest projects - travelling from home in Singapore to school in Montreal, Canada without taking a single flight. During this 9-month journey, I hitchhiked, took buses and trains, and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on a cargo ship, amongst many other things, to make this multi-continent trip. It was certainly an enriching and life-changing odyssey. (You can see two maps of the route I took in my photos) I’ve written a book about this trip and it’s currently on amazon. Also, the media has extensively covered this trip.

Link for both the book and my media coverage: https://taplink.cc/thelongdirection

Cultures, nature, history and languages interest me a lot! Trekking, photography, writing and teaching English are some of the many activities i love to do when travelling. I also love to cook. So do teach me a favourite recipe of yours when we meet.

I’m also an avid hitchhiker. I feel most alive on the road (or rather roadside), waiting for a kind stranger to stop for me.

I also do lots of cycling, especially long distance ones. I would really like to connect with other cyclists too!

Don't forget to visit my Facebook travel page, The Long Direction, and Instagram account (@thelongdirection) where I publish photos and articles from my trip!

Bonjour!

Je m'appelle Ganesha (certains de mes amis m'appellent Marcel) et je suis jeune bloguer de voyage qui vient de Singapour.

Je suis en train de faire ma formation pour devenir pilote de ligne. Je travaille temps-partiels en ligne en tant que professeur des langues.

Récemment, j’ai terminé un des projets les plus grands de ma vie – un voyage de 9 mois de ma ville natale, Singapour, à Montréal, Canada où j’étudies maintenant. Lors de ce périple, j’ai fait de l’autostop, pris des bus et des trains, et traversé l’Atlantique sans prendre aucun avion ! C’était vraiment un voyage enrichissant et intéressant.

J’aime bien les cultures, l’histoire, la nature et la langue. J’adore aussi cuisiner. Enseignez-moi donc comment à préparer votre recette la plus préférée.

N’oubliez pas de visiter Ma page de voyage sur Facebook, The Long Direction, ou mon compte Instagram (@thelongdirection).

À très bientôt :)

Здравствуйте!

Меня зовут Ганеша. Я из Сингапура и я Сингапурец. Я говорю по-английски, по-французский и по-тамильский. Я ещё говорить по-русский. Но мой по-русский очень плохой. Я хочу тебе практиковать по-русский. Я люблю путешествовать , писать , фотографию , историю и культуры.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

As a culture enthusiast and history-buff, I believe that the history and culture of a place can only be best learnt through close interaction with locals.

The amount of amazing, interesting and kind people I've met courtesy of Couchsurfing is just mind boggling! And I’m happy to know that my list of contacts will only grow bigger the more I travel.

As I also do love acquiring new languages, Couchsurfing, I believe, is the best way for me to grasp basic language skills as I'm in the company of a native speaker. My goal in life is to speak 7 languages! (I currently speak 3 and I'm learning 1!) I can teach you English, Tamil and basic French! Perhaps you can teach me a bit of your language?

Moreover, as a young traveler, I do find interest in forging friendships with my overseas counterparts. I'm willing to give free-tours of Montreal, provided I'm free, to solo and small groups of Couchsurfers.

Je suis sûr Couchsurfing parce-que je voudrais rencontrer des nouveaux amis du monde entier. J'adore enseigner les langues! Alors, je peux vous enseigner Anglais ou Tamoul - c'est une langue Indienne. Je voudrais pratiquer mon Français avec vous, aussi! Je voudrais apprendre la langue, la culture et l'histoire des gens du pays!

Interests

• culture
• aviation
• politics
• traveling
• blogging
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• history
• languages
• hitchhiking
• exploring
• french
• traditions
• russian
• current affairs
• autostop

Music, Movies, and Books

Musics / Musiques: Lorde, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Imagine Dragons, Chainsmokers, Avril Lavigne, Kendji Girac, Maitre Gims, MHD, Indila. Пицца, Camille

TV shows / Emissions: The Big Bang Theory, The Amazing Race, Hell's Kitchen, MasterChef, Departures (travel show) You guys should watch Departures, a travel show by Justin Lukach, Scott Wilson and Andre Dupuis. The hosts were really skilful at making the show feel personal and Andre Dupuis' cinematography skills were just orgasmic!

Books / Livres: Prisoners of Geography, Nothing to Envy, Captive in Iran, Sapiens: A brief history of humankind and Homo Deus: A brief history of tomorrow. I read lots of travel guides, too.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

As I travel often, it's extremely hard for me to select "One Amazing Thing I've Done." So I'll be stating my top experiences here:
- I travelled from Singapore to Montreal, Canada without taking any flights.
- I took a cargo ship across the Atlantic from Bremerhaven, Germany to Charleston, USA
- I camped (illegally) alone at a wild section of the Great Wall of China, where the temperature was about -25 degrees
- I have been to North Korea. What an amazing and interesting place it was!

Je voyage beaucoup. Alors, c'est très difficile pour choisir une expérience. Voici mes trois meilleur expériences:

- J'ai fait un voyage de Singapour à Montréal, Canada sans prendre aucun avion.
- J’ai traversé l’océan Atlantique (de Bremerhaven, en Allemagne à Charleston, aux États Unis) par cargo ship.
- Je faisais du camping en solitaire dans une partie ‘sauvage’ (et interdite) de la grande muraille de la chine Ou la température était -25 degrees.
- J’ai visité la Corée du Nord, un pays que je trouvais très intéressant et formidable

Teach, Learn, Share

As a language teacher, I naturally love to teach languages and, some say that I'm really good at it! I can teach you English, French and Tamil! I can also teach you basic photography and photo-editing skills.

I also love learning languages. Currently, I'm learning Russian and I would like to be fluent at it one day! It will be great if you could help me brush up on my Russian :)

I have lots of stories from my travels to share with you. From me falling victim to an elaborate scam in India to almost being kidnapped while hitchhiking in Belgium and getting free taxi rides in Muscat, Oman on exchange for being sexually harassed. I'm sure my stories will keep you awake for hours!

J'adore enseigner les langues. Je peux vous enseigner Anglais et Tamoul - une langue indienne!

J'ai beaucoup d'histoires par rapport à mes voyages pour partager avec vous! J'ai été presque enlevé en Belgique en faisant de l’auto-stop et quand j'étais en Oman, je me suis déplacé gratuitement en taxi !

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share amazing stories, tips and recommendations from my travels with my hosts. I can also cook, I think.

Je peux partager avec vous ma culture Asiatique et des histoires de mes voyages! Je pense que je peut faire de la cuisine, aussi!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Korea, Oman, Palestine, Philippines, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Singapore