ZeRoadTripper is the name that Amine Laqsiouar, also known as Lax, on his world tour. Starting from last year, the 28-year-old adventurer has already travelled thousands of miles visiting wonderful places all over the world. Interview. Amine has always been fascinated by travelling. Last year, he decided to hit the road, leave Morocco and go for a lifestyle that involves adventures visiting countries the world over for a educational purposes. What characterizes Lax's voyages is that he likes sharing photos with his followers on social media while holding a Moroccan teapot and pouring tea in a artisanal cup. Tell us first about yourself ? I am a Moroccan who belongs to a family that loves travelling, my father is a high school teacher and my mother is an engineer. I was born and raised in Rabat but don't worry I won't try to give you wrong instructions when showing you the way (giggles). What did you study and what do you do for living ? I have studied in Rabat and graduated from ISCAE, the Higher Institute of Commerce and Business Administration. Afterwards I moved to Casablanca and later to France where I settled down to do a Master's degree. Regarding my first job, first I worked in Lyon, France and then Paris where I was a project manager for Bosch Siemens until 2015. Starting from 2016, I became a blogger and a road traveler. My recent project consists of co-founding a group of «Moroccan traveler bloggers», with 5 other bloggers. What made you consider travelling as a way of living ? Were you trying to avoid routine ? At the beginning, my idea was to take a leave without pay and to travel only for 3 months to the United States, Mexico and Colombia, because I was thinking of opening a restaurant in Paris. Facing obstacles and difficulties with my project, travelling became a must for me. The 3 months turned into 18 and instead of visiting the three abovementioned countries I ended up going to 30. At what point you realized that you wanted to change your life ? What was the trigger ? Frankly, I had no problem with my old life. To be entirely honest with you, I have never felt like I hated my job. The idea was about living it to the fullest and looking for an activity that would guarantee that. I wanted to put into action that saying «pursue your dreams and desires». I also believe that this project has helped consider living for myself and not for others, not in an selfish way but in life-loving endeavor. I had to give up on the socially-constructed thoughts and preconceived ideas in order to live the life I wanted for myself. Many people have travelled the world. What makes you unique ? I don't think that people travel the same way because everyone gets to experience a different version of it. My project at the beginning was to film reportages on the educational system in remote regions. But taken by traveling I switched towards a different experience. I went with the flow and surrendered to the adventures that presented themselves instead of having organized and scheduled trips. You are a photographer and your photos went viral on the Internet because of the teapot and cup you were showing every time when visiting a country. Was it your idea ? Are you a tea lover ? I stopped drinking coffee 4 years ago and since then I became addicted to tea (giggles). Seriously, it was all random and spontaneous. I was booked for a flight to Paris and the trip was delayed so I had to stop in Marrakech where I bought in a teapot and had the idea of bringing it with me and photograph it in different backgrounds. How do you feel being able to see all the landscape and landmarks ? I feel free, but it always reminds me of the power and beauty of nature. Traveling pushes you to rest, think, ask existential questions and take your time thinking about the future and what we can do to be a better version of ourselves. Do you consider retiring ? To be honest, sometimes I end up having 2,000 Go of videos and photos and plenty of articles to write and edit. For that sake, I really consider settling down somewhere (Morocco, Honk Kong or Canada) for a few years and work on my blog. What are your plans once your trip is over ? The only reason why I can decide not to travel anymore would be a financial bankruptcy. I think that once we are on the road and we have lived through such beautiful things, we cannot quit travelling ... just the time to prepare for the next trip. Where are you now ? I came back home for a few weeks to enjoy the summer with my family and friends, but I plan to visit some places here in Morocco, such as Nador, Saidia, Al Hoceima, then later Taghazout and Mirleft. I also want to take a trip to the mountainous region of Ifrane. What is your message to young people your age ? I would answer in a question a sentence that I often hear from people : «Wow, I want to do like you !» Just saying «No, do what YOU want to do.» For my part, if I had not thought that this trip was the most important thing I wanted to do before reaching 30 years old, I would not have sacrificed my savings and two years of shortfall. I think everyone will know what he / she wants to do to live his / her own dreams and be ready for all sacrifices to make it happen.
