Our story
We are Sophie, Julien and Pixie
We love to travel, discover, and take our time. Life has thrown a few curveballs along the way, and above all it taught us never to put things off. Here’s our story, no detours, told just the way we want to share it with you.
Who we are
Two people in love, one little dog, and one shared longing: to live fully, share beauty, and tell it with honest words. Here’s who’s behind DefIntotheWild.
Sophie
45 years oldTraveler, geek, foodie
As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to move, to discover the world. Even as a kid, I dreamed of faraway places. And if there’s one place where I truly feel at home, it’s the mountains, skis on my feet, nose in the cold, surrounded by white. My idea of happiness. Not quite Julien’s, but I’ll come back to that.
I grew up in the suburbs of Lyon, a city I cherish for its soul, its architecture, its food. Cooking was passed down to me by my grandmother and mother like a tender heritage: treating the people you love well. And writing, because I believe we don’t put feelings into words enough anymore. That’s why this page exists. As for my career, I’ve been a web development engineer for over twenty years, but that’s another story.
My studio · sbto.studio
Julien
35 years oldHandyman at heart, devoted to his own
Julien is someone who never gives up and can fix just about anything with his hands. Born in Nice, he kept that easy southern way of life, deeply attached to his region and its culture. Passionate about spearfishing, boats, motorbikes, and cars with a story to tell, like the Defender.
His love of 4x4s was passed down by his family. Their first one, a Mitsubishi L200, took them along the tracks of the Alpes-Maritimes and Italy. As for work, he’s a boat mechanic. And he worships Niçois cuisine: the best in the world, and it’s hard to argue otherwise.
A small detail that gets a lot of laughs at home: this sun-loving Niçois is famously sensitive to the cold. While I’m flying down the slopes grinning from ear to ear, he’s piling on the fleeces and already counting down to a warm return. Proof that opposites attract, and that with a good puffer jacket, everything works out.
Pixie
6 and a half years oldOur four-legged compass
A 600-gram ball of fur the day we met her. Truth is, we didn’t choose her: she’s the one who came to take shelter in my arms, and she never left us again.
Six and a half years later, she has us wrapped around her paw… We love her so much that we have just one obsession: giving her the best life a dog could have. She’s part of the pack, and we never leave without her. Everywhere, all the time, together.
How it all began
We met in 2012, at my cousin’s wedding. Love at first sight, plain and simple. A few months later, we were already living together, and we moved to the French Riviera.
We quickly realized we shared the same longing: to discover. Backpacks on, we crossed Asia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Europe, all the way until 2019. Twenty-two countries in all. Back then, we worked a lot, from 8am to 10pm or later, both of us, to afford five weeks of travel a year and, one day, a place of our own. We got there, not without effort. But every time we came home, we were already thinking about the next departure.
The day we said yes
In 2016, we got married. A moment of pure joy, surrounded by the people we love. The kind of day that stays etched in memory, still bringing a smile years later.
And this year, on July 16, we celebrate ten years of marriage. Ten years already, with everything life has thrown at us along the way, the happy moments as well as the hardships. We’ve gone through them hand in hand, and we’re closer than ever.
When life brought us to a standstill
Then came the blow. Julien was diagnosed with severe kidney failure: both his kidneys had stopped working. Overnight, our world shrank down to a waiting room.
What followed were years held in suspension, full of hope and vertigo. Dialysis loomed like a constant threat: we never reached that point, but it was our greatest fear. Because to us, dialysis meant far more than a treatment, it meant the end of setting off. And setting off, traveling, leaving again, is exactly what keeps us standing.
So we did everything we could to protect Julien’s health and keep traveling anyway. We always left with a lifeline back home, ready to return quickly, with the possibility of an emergency repatriation if needed. We held on like that for six years. Six years of moving forward carefully, never giving up what we love. Then came the transplant.
A bubble for two, then three
Then came Covid. For Julien, a high-risk patient, the consequence was immediate: more than a year shut away at home. As for me, I started my own company and went fully remote, which worked out well since my job is perfectly suited for it. There we were, like two retirees, together twenty-four hours a day. And against all odds, it was wonderful. We were genuinely happy, in our little bubble.
But we were missing a small someone to love fiercely. So Pixie came into our lives. We waited until she was two and a half months old, until she hit her one-kilo mark, with wild impatience: we’d already bought the basket, the toys, even a ski suit, because barely two weeks at home and off we went, straight to the mountains. We learned everything together with her. House training, asking to go out, and Julien turned her into a real little circus dog: sit, lie down, “bang, you’re dead”, roll over. Pure joy.
What if we built our own home on wheels?
Pixie is tiny, but traveling with her is a real art. And for us, it’s non-negotiable: leaving without her is unthinkable. We’d bought the Defender back in 2019, just before illness struck and put the project on hold. But in the midst of the waiting and uncertainty, we kept an old dream of Julien’s alive: building him a camper box, a real home on wheels. A way to keep dreaming of new horizons, no matter what.
We went to every overland show we could to gather as much information as possible. From camper box manufacturers, the verdict was harsh: out of our price range. No matter, we’d just get the empty shell built and fit it out ourselves. Another disappointment: at the time, in France, it was hard to find anyone willing to build us an empty shell. We found Modulidea on Facebook, in Italy, right near us. We got in touch with Stefano, who speaks flawless French, and together we designed the camper box of our dreams: a pop-up roof, plenty of space, because this wasn’t for two weeks a year. It was meant for living, eight months out of twelve, and maybe even more. But we’ll tell you more about that very soon.
By his own hands, all the way to Morocco
Julien rebuilt the Defender from top to bottom: redid all the mechanics, even down to a cylinder head. Then, in 2021, the camper box finally came to life. He’d planned everything in advance: the layout, the wood, the electrics, the heating. All that was left was to assemble it. Mostly him, really, because I help out a bit, but I’m far more comfortable behind a screen than with a hammer in hand. Within a month, he’d pretty much finished it all. And it’s behind the wheel of this rolling home that we set off on our very first big trip: Morocco.
It’s only now, after years of truly living in it, that we know what really matters: what to keep, what to change, what to scrap. Most recently, we even redid the entire interior in leather. An incredible transformation we’re preparing a whole article about. And for every destination, we put together a roadbook, so you too can marvel at it, or share the wonder with the kids you’ll bring along.
The most beautiful birthday gift
On June 17, 2025, Julien’s birthday, at one in the morning, the phone rang. That phone call, everyone waiting for a transplant watches for, year after year, heart in their throat: “It’s a go, hurry, a kidney is waiting for you.” We trembled, we hoped. We went.
Then came the endless wait outside the operating room, followed by a closely monitored recovery, holding our breath the whole time. And today, we can finally write it, almost not quite believing it ourselves: the transplant has held, and Julien is doing well.
We will never be able to thank the donor’s family enough. In the depths of their grief, these strangers authorized a donation of staggering generosity. That gesture changed everything: it gave us our life back, and with it, everything that has always made our hearts beat faster. The longing to set off again, to discover, to live fully. Every road since has carried a particular flavor. That of a second chance.
Photo, video & sharing
Beautiful encounters, above all
We’re passionate about photo and video, and I sincerely hope you enjoy all our reports shared on social media. The funny thing is, it wasn’t our thing at all in the beginning. For a geek, I’m pretty sure I was one of the last people to open a Facebook account when it launched, and the same goes for Instagram.
And then we got thinking, and we started meeting people. People from every corner of the world, with the same passions, the same kindred spirit, people we’d never have crossed paths with without that little nudge. To us, these platforms are first and foremost an exchange. If you follow us, you already know: we love chatting about everything and nothing, about travel, about vehicles, and lending a hand whenever someone asks for advice. Life is so much more beautiful when you exchange and meet wonderful people.
Stay with us
The next chapter, we’ll write it together
If our story touched you, leave us a note, or find us on social media. Nothing makes us happier than a conversation, a question, or a piece of your own journey.