An excerpt from The Moments Between

* * *

When first invited on the journey, I questioned whether it was worth taking such a leisurely (or perhaps sluggish) means of transport.  I wanted to race between Italian cities and lose as little time as possible given that there were also mountains to climb and stretches of coast to explore.  I was further perturbed by Thomas’s insistence that, wherever possible, we avoided all toll roads and motorways.  I was to learn that whilst our various destinations were important, the journey held equal if not greater significance, echoing many a traceur’s thoughts on parkour itself, a philosophy often drawn from Eastern mythologies.

Thomas’s choice of transport was deliberately indulgent in the slow process of going from one place to another.  We were here to see Italy in its entirety.  Along with cities and mountains, we would also experience the road, its sights, its weather, and the random twists and turns.  For me, this distinguished us from conventional tourists who merely race from one major location to the next.  It led me to a better understanding of what it is to travel. It is these often forgotten, connecting spaces that give a truer understanding of a country and, more importantly, greater value to any journey: what the traceur might call the ‘moves between moves’, or perhaps the ‘moments between’.

* * *

The Moments Between features over 200 photographs from our parkour road trip around Italy in Thomas Couetdic’s Citroen 2CV. Click here to see more photographs and order your copy.