“Sibiu is the city where I was born and grew up, the place where I did my studies and where I worked. To be able to fly, I had to foster my roots here for 30 years”, Adrian Crapciu says. We didn’t talk about Sibiu, but about his meaningful journeys around the world and answers to yet unasked questions.
Adrian Crapciu is a sports and adventure photographer. He works and travels at the same time. He says he has been a tourist in several European and American states, but only mentions a few places where he’s travelled in the true sense of the term: Indonesia, Ireland, Spain, and Morocco. The trip to Indonesia changed him. It was there that he found out that time unfolds differently, that people don’t care about age, nor count how much older they’ve grown. It was there too that he met Tessa Moult-Milewska, a Polish director; together, they created the 2017 documentary Siwa and Orah on Komodo dragons, the biggest lizards in the world.
I asked Adrian how he chose his destinations and what travelling meant for him.
“I went to Indonesia in order to rediscover myself. We’re being attacked by this message from all sides. But it didn’t take me long to understand this message was stupid. There’s no way to rediscover yourself, I think you can just invent yourself. And for that, you need to be resilient and work hard. It’s up to you if you want only to imagine the future or try to make it real as well. You are the master of your own life.
The hardest thing in a journey is leaving the house. After that, things slowly start to make sense. This can also be translated into a philosophy of life: to fulfil an objective, one must make a first step in that direction. Easy to say, but often hard to do.”“For a long time, I travelled alone. I needed this to learn to overcome my fear of talking to strangers. Only by interacting with locals can you learn about their special, sacred spaces, about rituals held once in a couple of years, which you’re lucky to witness by a conspiration of the universe. That’s how I got to the middle of the jungle on Borneo Island where I took part in a shamanic ritual held once a year. When I travel, I’m 100% there and don’t think about daily troubles.
In Indonesia, I learnt the language, which allowed me to travel with no guide, for long periods of time, and so I got to places where no white people had set foot in years.
While there, I chose my destinations based on the stories that stirred my curiosity. I didn’t go looking for the most beautiful beaches or temples. Knowing a lot of people and immersing myself more and more in the local culture, I heard stories about all kind of tribes or rituals. My immediate reaction was to jot down the story and find a way to get to that place.
Since I returned to Europe, I choose my destinations differently. Now, I travel and work at the same time. I am a sports and adventure photographer. I’m always looking for long-term sports events that allow me to meet local people and see new places.
A journey changes you a lot, a true journey answers questions you never asked yourself before going on the road.”
