Giorgos Grindelas: How the infamous TikTok camper survives in nature
Where is earth is home. For two years now, he has been traveling around Greece with a motorcycle and a backpack that can hold his entire life. He camps in forests, turns caves into his temporary home, cooks in a pot on rocks, glades or sandy beaches. He has minimized all his expenses, of course, living a life which seems to most of us to be limited to the absolute necessities, but for him it is more than enough. At the same time, he gives advice for a different way of life, closer to nature and what it freely provides to man. The reason for the 34-year-old Giorgos Grindelas, originally from Patras, the most talked about camper of the Greek TikTok. Who is he really? How does it survive alone in the wild? How does it feed? And what is it that makes hundreds of thousands of users watch the videos he posts?
"The motorcycle is a vehicle I never imagined I would own. I avoided it for safety reasons. Finally, Ernesto Che Guevara's "Motorcycle Diaries" gave me a different perspective, I was inspired by the adventures and experiences he followed in Latin America, so I decided to start my own motorcycle diaries" says George to ATHENS VOICE. Although he has studied mechanical engineering, until recently he was involved in the poultry sector, until he realized that nature moved him much more than the urban lifestyle and decided to devote himself to travel. "I realized that traveling expands my consciousness. I mean the mental capacity of a person, which allows with the help of his senses, to know and understand himself, his environment, but also what is happening in and around him. But beyond that, I'm curious! I find it incredibly interesting to interact with and observe other landscapes and people than what my eye is used to. Living in nature for me works psychotherapeutically, comparing it to the cannibalism of the crowded people in the big urban centers and at the same time it is a challenge that restarts the senses – hearing, smelling... Many who talk about 5-star hotels may not have experienced the lying at night on the shore of a lake and looking at the galaxy. But in the end, what everyone wants!''
George's backpack weighs about 40 kg and in it he manages to fit everything he needs on his travels in order to spend the night in nature. Whenever he finds a suitable spot to camp, he sets up his household, builds a makeshift house, cooks his meals, while trying to leave the smallest possible footprint on the environment. But how does it travel and survive when the weather conditions are not right?
“My rucksack holds what I need – as long as you have the courage to walk around with it on your back. Many times I also have a second backpack – depending on how many days I will be staying somewhere – which I wear in front and acts as a counterweight. There I have my sleeping bag, tent, clothes, toiletries, flashlights, the Nitecore solar panel to charge my devices, two large powerbanks and a drone for interesting shots. I also always carry an axe, saw, pickaxe, rope and a small first aid kit. And that means my cooking pot, a fire pit, food, tent mat, sleeping mat, oil lamp, water bottles, my mug and a tire repair kit.
»Since it is not possible to carry a cooler, I always carry foods such as lentils, rice, fava beans, pasta and dried fruits (for example, dates, figs and raisins). Fruits and vegetables are in season I will usually find in the areas near where I am camped so I can source from there. Often and depending on the season, I also find mushrooms which I do not recommend to someone who does not know them.
»As for the weather conditions, you shouldn't play with them! The human species built houses to offer them comfort and protection. With the right equipment, you can of course cope even in difficult conditions, such as cold or rain. When you're on stage and it's raining, it's a very beautiful feeling. But if things get wild, he needs attention. The fury of nature can be fatal even when you are in cities, if we consider the heavy downpours that have recently hit our country with several casualties."
With this alternative lifestyle George has managed to reduce his living costs to the minimum possible. He has eliminated the stress of inflated bills, he chooses to stay away from the consumerism of the time, while even the house he keeps as his base in Patras is thinking of leaving it as he now rarely visits it. Even so, however, he needs some money for basic supplies, fuel for the motorcycle, and also to be there in case of need. How do you get by without working a day job?
"I manage by spending little and only on the essentials. Of course I work, but I have chosen to work less and live more. We can live with less without depriving ourselves of the essentials. Unfortunately or fortunately consumerism is part of western societies. For me, consumerism is out of my way of thinking. Many times in the places where I go I get job offers and of course I take the opportunity to cover my transportation costs. I have been employed, for example, in agricultural work and in the catering sector. There are days, when I'm out, that I make it with 1-2€ a day or even with zero euros".
In many of the videos he posts, he shows how he survives with the bare minimum and with the help of the gifts of Greek nature. Small hacks, so to speak, that gather up to a million views, alongside hundreds of different comments from users who sometimes approve of him and sometimes seem suspicious of him, but in any case show great curiosity about the specific lifestyle and imaginative ideas of George to save money. Sometimes, for example, it shows how one can charge a device using the sun instead of electricity, or how one can feed on food that is seemingly unsuitable – like bananas that are blackened on the outside and end up in the trash, while still being edible. The important thing for him, however, is through his social media platforms to promote respect for fellow human beings.
"I'm not a guru or an expert in what I do, I just have experience and I'm learning as long as I live. If there's one thing I'm trying to pass on to the world that's watching me, it's the message of humanity, respect, love and solidarity. Let's not stop being people for people. To show undivided attention to children, the future of societies.
»Δεν περίμενα αυτό το μέγεθος της απήχησης στο ΤikTok. Λαμβάνω αρκετά μηνύματα πέρα για πέρα ενθαρρυντικά και διαπιστώνω πως παροτρύνω ανθρώπους να βγουν "από το κλουβί" και να ζήσουν. Ο κόσμος έχει αγκαλιάσει αυτό που κάνω και ταξιδεύει, έστω και νοητά, μαζί μου – εξού και το moto μου: trip with me. Με συναντά στον δρόμο και θέλει να πούμε δυο κουβέντες ή να βγάλουμε μαζί μια φωτογραφία. Θέλω να σταθώ όμως και σ' αυτά που λένε κάποιοι, όχι τόσο όσον αφορά μια πολύ μικρή μερίδα ανθρώπων οποίοι γράφουν ανώνυμα σχόλια μίσους και βγάζουν συμπεράσματα χωρίς καν να με γνωρίζουν, αλλά στα σχόλια εκείνων που θα ήθελαν να συμπεριφέρομαι όπως αυτοί προσδοκούν. Λόγο του τρόπου ζωής μου, του παρουσιαστικού και των ιδεών μου, θέλουν να ταιριάζω στα δικά τους πιστεύω. Αριστερό ή δεξιό, vegan ή vegetarian, να έχω συγκεκριμένα θρησκευτικά πιστεύω και πολιτικές πεποιθήσεις που να ταιριάζουν με τις δικές τους. Όταν αντιληφθούν πως δεν είμαι αυτό που είχαν πλάσει με τη φαντασία τους, δυσανασχετούν. Στη μέχρι τώρα ζωή μου έχω κάνει όλα όσα ήθελα εγώ να κάνω, όχι όσα ήθελαν οι άλλοι».
George travels without a map and a specific destination, depending on his mood, sometimes to mountainous destinations and sometimes to coastal ones, from dense fir and pine forests to beaches and canyons. He has a particular weakness for Kythira, Samothraki and Gavdos, while he has also visited many Balkan destinations. Don't you feel lonely when you travel solo? And what do your people say about your uncompromising lifestyle? we ask him.
"I have found myself and I am very good company. I may have chosen a solitary and reclusive lifestyle, but at the same time I am very social. It is important for man to be able to be alone and develop a constructive dialogue with himself about who he is, where he is going, what he really wants, what torments him and worries him. My people are on my side and they don't find it strange the different way I live because they know I love nature and have been in it since I was a child. They are proud not because people recognize me on the street, but because I have built my life from scratch without any financial help from them, as I am a child of the working class and not a scion of a rich family with income and property. They know that when I set goals, I reach them all the way through my stubbornness. Now, to the question of whether I would like to do all this with company, I answer that it would have to be a very suitable company for me, otherwise not. Companionship is beautiful, but the wrong companionship is a disaster."
More about Giorgos Grintelas' travels, his adventures in nature, as well as tips for free camping can be seen on the website of GRINTELAS motorcycle diaries. "It is a personal legacy that I want to leave to me, to read when and if I can no longer do things, but also to those who feel me. I don't just want to describe places, I want, as much as I can, for others to see through my own eyes how I see the world. To understand that life is a short journey and that we should feel lucky to have been born".
*Photos courtesy of Giorgos Grintelas' personal archive.
Read the whole interview here.
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