It seems a common trait that the characters you tend to meet travelling have interesting tales to share, a quirky attitude, or just a different perspective on how they choose to live their life – Remi is no exception to this rule.

Camping at Villa Bintang in Munduk, Bali

I have no idea how old he is, but I’m assuming it’s somewhere in his mid-late thirties and he has wacky travel experiences and plans for all over the world. Anywhere from hitchhiking boats in Cuba to South America, to living in Dubai for a random stint, to travelling all over Bali before heading on to his next adventure. I have no idea what he does for a living, I know at one point he was a photographer, but seems to have been travelling steady for the last 3 years. Trekking through a few waterfalls in Munduk we had bumped into this funny French fellow and convinced him to come camp at our guesthouse next to us.

Beautiful waterfalls with a name I’ve long forgotten

The next day he invited us on a cool little tour through the mountains that brought us to the base of two beautiful waterfalls for a refreshing swim. We got to spend the day and night just talking about places we’ve seen and places we’d like to see and he made a lasting impression of someone who’s content with his nomadic lifestyle and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

When I asked Remi (who carried with him an incredibly small pack) what he thought his most important item was, he quickly responded with, “My sarong of course”. A sarong, for anyone who isn’t sure, is a traditional Hindu religious garment worn around the waist and in a skirt-style fashion. Remi then made a few quick points: you cannot enter any religious temple without wearing one, they’re light, quick-drying, easy to pack, fashionable, can act as a towel, can cover you up from the sun, and can act as a blanket when the temperature drops a little bit. Since his travels to India he has never travelled anywhere without at least one sarong in his rucksack – what he considers the most versatile piece of fabric every backpacker shouldn’t leave home without. What’s ‘sarong’ about that?