Saturday, April 23, 2022

After the trip

Before I leave this blog on its own, there is one more entry I’d like to write. A sort of conclusion. I’ve been thinking about it for a while but I haven’t come up with anything smart to say. So, let’s just make it a set of answers to a set of questions about the trip people often ask me (or I ask myself).

 


Q: Was the trip worth it?
A: Absolutely.

Q: Wasn’t a year too long? Weren’t you sick of traveling by the end?
A: No. At the beginning I was wondering if a year wouldn’t be too long, but I must admit I still didn’t reach my limit of too long when it comes to traveling. On the contrary, it was strange to come back home even though I was so happy to see my boyfriend, Czech friends and family again. Vojta even kept traveling on his own for some time after our trip.

Q: How much did it cost?
A: We spent more money before the trip than during our life on the road. These are the most expensive things we paid for before the trip:

- Vaccination (CZK 10 500, that’s about 430 EUR). In addition to the “basic” vaccines against things such as tetanus, I was vaccinated against meningitis, hepatitis, rabies, typhoid fever, and the tick-borne encephalitis.

- Health insurance (CZK 9300 / EUR 400). We bought it from a company called True Traveller. We also suspended the compulsory government insurance that every person must pay in Czechia, so we had no additional insurance costs. We have never used the insurance though.

- My sleeping bag (CZK 9200 / EUR 400). The brand is Sir Joseph and I can (still) easily sleep in it in negative 15°C.

- My tablet (CZK 9000 – 370 EUR).

The additional stuff such as medicines, GPS messenger, additional passports (in Czechia you’re allowed to have more than one Czech passport in case you lose one), clothes and camping gear we didn’t have already cost me additional CZK 20 500 (EUR 840).

So, in total, we spent some CZK 60 000 (EUR 2500) per person before the trip (in 2016).

During the trip, each of us spent some CZK 50 000 (EUR 2000) throughout the year. Out of it, visa and the ferry across the Caspian See were the most expensive (about 1/5 of the budget). The rest was mostly food and public transport in cities. We didn’t use any paid transport between cities (except the one ferry) and any paid accommodation (except one hotel in Azerbaijan we were forced to stay in for 3 days to get a compulsory registration in the country). So in total, the trip cost each of us about CZK 110 000 (EUR 4500) in 2016-2017. And yes, it’s way less than what we spend in our ordinary life in Prague. When we came back home in 2017, it took me just 3 months of an ordinary modest life to spend the same amount as during the travels (CZK 50 000).

Q: How long did it take to get used to everyday life after coming back home?
A: I don’t know. It’s been four years since we’ve come back (including almost 2 years of Covid lockdowns) and I still don’t feel readapted completely. Finding a sort of a job and settling down again wasn’t hard, though, technically.

Q: Did it harm your career?
A: It did, but it was worth it. I had to restart the career, I was doing a lousy part-time job for 3 years after the trip while I was trying to restore my network of contacts and get more experience in my field (there was also the pandemic at the time). 4 years after the trip, I am finally doing what I want to do (I work as a freelance translator and interpreter).

Q: What do you miss most about traveling?
A: My new friends from the countries we’ve been to. It’s actually hard to stay in touch with people if you can’t see them in person. But I’m still trying.

Q: Are you going to write a book about your trip?
A: No. I don’t know how to write stuff so that people want to read it, there are too many travellers who write stuff already, and nobody cares about travel books anymore anyway.

Q: What was the trip good for?
A: The most important thing was that we had time to talk with people and to really listen to them. We were through more engaging conversations than ever. We were made think about things we usually don’t have to think about and had to verbalize our fundamental views and values. Also, we came across many things that we were not familiar with. So I learned many things about the world we live in that I wouldn’t learn otherwise. Here are some of them (they are not so deep, sorry):

 -      Some people believe traveling is a totally useless and meaningless activity and just don’t get why anybody would do such a thing without being paid for it.

-      In general, people are good when you meet them. At least on a basic human level. When we were traveling, it was easy to be on good terms with everybody we met even though we didn’t know anything about each other and our values may have been completely different.

-      Respecting law is not always a virtue. In some places, some laws are so unjust and harmful that breaking them is a virtue.

-      Swimming is not a basic skill every adult can do.

-      Nor is reading maps.

-      Hiking is not a usual hobby. Actually, many people don’t do hobbies at all. They’re just too busy with ordinary life to do hobbies.

-      Being a woman in most parts of Eurasia sucks. I knew that before but I found some whole new dimensions to it. Most of these things didn’t concern me personally, though, because I was a foreigner. Being a foreigner (from the West) overrides being a woman, so being a foreign woman doesn’t suck.

-      Being gay also sucks. Everywhere. In some places, people even have hard time saying the word “gay”.

-      In most parts of Eurasia, people were hospitable, generous, and friendly to strangers beyond imagination. I now feel I have a huge debt to repay to humanity. I was planning to host travellers as soon as the pandemic is over but now there is a stupid war in our backyard, so these days we at least host war refugees. In light of my experience, I’m just totally shocked by the war atrocities committed by people coming from areas I have such nice memories about. This makes me think there are no “good” or “evil” people – each of us can become both.

-      Some people spend their free time driving around their city in a car and find it fun.

-      In many countries, you can put up a tent and camp pretty much anywhere. It might not be allowed but nobody cares. After some time, it was hard to remember that in Western Europe it was forbidden and it mattered.

-      Nobody cares about environment. Also, in some places there is no waste management at all. (But as the countries are not rich, they still use up less resources than Europe does.)

-      In some societies, individuals don’t matter. It’s families what matter, and individual people are the instruments of their family’s good. The needs of individuals are secondary and striving for individual good is not seen as a virtue nor as a right.

-      In many countries, strict rules apply to foreigners. In theory. The police don’t know these rules, though, so you often don’t end up in trouble for breaking them.

-      Having a European passport is even more of a privilege than I thought.

-      Many people don’t plan their time. If you ask somebody what they do next Wednesday at 4 PM, they can’t answer and find your question confusing. They vaguely know when they go to work but the world is so unpredictable that there’s totally no point in planning what you will do next Wednesday. On the other hand, if a guest shows up uninvited at any time, chances are high people stop doing whatever they are doing and will welcome the guest instead. They never say they are busy, even though they are.

-      There are many people who are not familiar with the evolution theory or they have a very vague idea that something like that might exist.

-      Most speakers of big languages don’t speak any other languages. Speaking a foreign language in big countries is considered as useful (and as valued) as knowing how to juggle. (I found out in the US already, but it’s true elsewhere too.)

-      The idea of what things are considered nice or tasteful is very different in different places. I find most things considered beautiful anywhere in the Balkans or the Middle-East just kitschy, overdecorated, or just plain ugly, so I think there must be a very cultural background to this.

-      The ideas of equality, rule of law, human rights, separation of powers in a state, free media, and separation of church and state are awesome, I love them and I want to live in a place that adheres to them.

Q: Where are you going to go next?
A: I don’t know. I’ve actually seen most of the places I had always wanted to see. Now I just miss my friends from the trip. But it’s difficult to see them again because of the pandemic and the political situation. And it’s difficult to stay in touch with people without seeing them. So I’d just like to go back to places like Georgia, Iran, and Turkey and see the people again (if they still remember us).

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Many thanks to our "sponsors"

 
People sometimes ask us if we had sponsors to support our trip. There was nobody who would give us stuff in exchange for praising their products. There were many people, though, who gave us stuff and food in exchange for nothing. We only managed to travel from Europe to Mongolia and back thanks to the generosity of all the drivers who gave us rides, all the people who let us stay in their place, and all the friendly people we met. There were so many of them and it’s not possible to name all. But there still is a list I’d like to share, although it’s by far not exhaustive. It's very long, though.

We namely thank to:

  • Mark from Serbia for tea;
  • A driver from Makedonia for burek and bread sticks;
  • Georg and Georg for Bake Rolls;
  • Mehmet and Bulent for coffee, chocolate, wifi, invitation to restaurant, and tram tickets;
  • Oskar from Karabuyuk for lokum and cookies;
  • The guy who was going to Samsun for cookies;
  • Kolya the truck driver for a dinner and a place to stay;
  • The guys who were going to the mountains for candies;
  • The guy who was going from Kars to Ani for bread;
  • The family from Esenkent for tea;
  • Ayhan and Emine from Kars for dinner, breakfast and a place to stay;
  • The truck driver who gave us a ride through the mountains to Hopa for dinner and a mountain of tangerines;
  • Erasmus students from Trabzon for tangerines and a plenty of other things and Erem and Neslihan for arranging all this;
  • Ozaner and his family for a lot of food and a place to stay;
  • The guy with an orange tree who brought us to Macka for water and cookies;
  • The elderly guys from the market in Samsun who spoke German for an unplanned ride across the city;
  • The sicko for a lunch;
  • Yakub who played us Czech songs for beer and cookies;
  • Ferhat from Hattusa and his mom for a place to stay;
  • The truck driver on his way to Kirshehir for Coke and cookies;
  • Vural for kebab, plenty of veggies and a place to stay in an empty hostel;
  • Emircan for a place to stay and a plenty of other things;
  • The junky going through Konya to Izmir for crisps and juice;
  • The guy at the gas station in the ghost town near Antalya for soup;
  • The Captain in Fethiye for a place to stay, fish, etc.;
  • The guy in Alinca for tangerines;
  • The true Muslim for bread;
  • The group of people near Xanthos for coffee and a plenty of tomatoes and oranges;
  • The Lady in Letoon for spinach bread;
  • The Arabic family on the way to Antalya for bread and tomatoes;
  • Pooria and his uncle for a place to stay, macaroni, etc.;
  • Shukran who had a macaque for tea and bread;
  • Kenan from Saribelen for inviting us home for tea when it was freezing;
  • The goat herders in the mountains for a place to stay when the path disappeared under snow;
  • Salim from Andriake for a place to stay in his hut, fish, shower, and a plenty of food;
  • Pooria from Antalya for a place to stay and alcohol;
  • Students from Afyon for unexpected hospitality;
  • Dogan from Ankara for a place to stay etc.;
  • Aydin from Istanbul for a place to stay, food, sweets, and praying beads;
  • Kübra and Nazlı for a place to stay and breakfast;
  • Yasemin the flight attendant and Ali for their hospitality;
  • Atakan the truck driver who drove us to Ankara for a meal;
  • Ramazan thy cyclist and his family for a place to stay, big dinner, a lot of food, and a shisha;
  • The guy in Ovacik for a borek and rice in a leaf;
  • Hulya from Corum for a place to stay and food;
  • Ecem from Samsun for a place to stay and a meal;
  • Mehmet from Trabzon for a place to stay (even though he was in Lithuania at the time), and Neslihan for arranging this;
  • Neslihan and Zeyneb for a breakfast and coffee;
  • Mustafa who was driving us from Trabzon for a soup;
  • The truck driver who drove us to the border for sweets;
  • The Nomads for a place to stay in Batumi;
  • David and Natya from Kutaisi for a place to stay, a meal, and a lot of alcohol;
  • Zaza the colonel of the General Staff for khatchapuri and apples;
  • Dalibor from Czechia and his roommates from Bahrein for a place to stay in Tbilisi (and for giving Vojta a new towel to replace his lost one, so he can be a true hitchhiker again);
  • Anika and Katalina for a place to stay in Rustavi;
  • Zura, Pekha and the abbot for tea, eggs, and a camping spot in a caravan at the Davit Gareji monastery;
  • People in a monastery including the priest for popcorn, food, and a lot of alcohol
  • Random drivers for home-made wine;
  • John for bread;
  • The driver who brought us to Gurjaani for cookies;
  • Orkhan for a place to stay in Gori;
  • Nina from Gori for a place to stay, a lot of food, and a lot of friendship;
  • A man from Borjomi for coffee and taking an 80 km detour to drive us home;
  • The bus driver on the Turkish border for the sign saying “Hopa”;
  • Deniz from Igdir for a place to stay, food, etc.;
  • Some guys in a hut in Tabriz for a lot of tea;
  • Ali from Tabriz for helping us with a lot of things;
  • M. for a place to stay in Hamedan and a lot of food;
  • Ali the teacher and his wife in Hamedan for food;
  • People in Robat-e-Karim for inviting us for picnic and giving us a meal called ash;
  • H. and his family from Tehran for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality;
  • Yami for a scarf and a T-shirt;
  • N. from Babol and her family for a place to stay, a lot of hospitality and a lot of friendship;
  • The truck driver who drove us across the desert for a meal;
  • R. and E. from Lar for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality;
  • Arazu and her husband for a place to stay in Shiraz;
  • A.’s family in Shiraz for a place to stay and food;
  • The passport cop for a lunch;
  • Another part of A.’s family in Bandar Abbas for a meal and a place to stay;
  • The Polish travellers for a place to stay, non-alcoholic beer, and a lot of food;
  • The driver who drove us to Sirjan for fruit and nuts;
  • The family who drove us to Rafsanjan for a lunch;
  • S. from Rafsanjan for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality;
  • H. from Rafsanjan for a place to stay and all the conversations;
  • M. and his family near Rafsanjan for hospitality;
  • A random guy in a random village for 5 raw eggs;
  • The passport cop for a place to stay in Qaderabad;
  • Ali from Esfahan for an ice-cream;
  • A. and N. from Jahrom for a place to stay and a plenty of hospitality;
  • A guy in Yazd for a box of chocolates that might have been a tarof but we’re not sure;
  • Azin for an ice-cream;
  • The truck driver who went north across the desert for a meal;
  • A. and his family for a place to stay in Gorgan and hospitality;
  • N. and her family for hospitality (again);
  • Azar and her husband for sweets and nuts;
  • M. from Hamedan once more for a place to stay;
  • A. for a place to stay, a lot of conversations, and a lot of happy moments;
  • A guy in Tabriz for two boxes of candies and a ride to an exchange office and back;
  • Akbar and Ashgar for a place to stay in Hashtrud;
  • Rafael for a place to stay in Qobustan, a meal, and beer;
  • The guys in a Baku park for fruits and tea;
  • The truck drivers who went north of Baku for a lunch;
  • Rahib and his family for a meal near the waterfall;
  • Ayaz the Chernobyl construction safety manager and his family for a place to stay and hospitality;
  • The Iranian hitchhikers to whom I wanted to give food and who gave us food instead for the food;
  • The mafia guys for a meal and a place to stay in Baku;
  • Jimmy and Roger for a really long ride through Kazakhstan;
  • The family near Aktau for a shashlik;
  • Johannes the biker for a breakfast;
  • The Turkish hotel owners in Shymkent for a place to stay, a dinner, a shower, and a washing machine;
  • The Uzbek-Kazakh family for a meal in Taras;
  • The Turkish truck driver on his way to Almaty for a meal;
  • R. from Almaty for a place to stay, a lot of food, a lot of hospitality etc.;
  • Karlirash from Almaty for a picnic and a trip to the mountains;
  • The guys from the Children fund in Bishkek for a place to stay and a meal;
  • Valentina and Matteo from the ferry for a shower, coffee, beer, etc.;
  • The Turkish truck driver, Demira the interpreter, and the people from the camping site for a dead sheep, a place to stay, and breakfast;
  • Janela’s family in Tegyzchil for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality and gifts;
  • Memo in Karakol for a shower;
  • The young girls in Djeti Oguz for a round cheese;
  • C. for a place to stay and a lot of food;
  • The Swiss girls for a bracelet etc.;
  • Amanat from Korday for a place to stay, a meal, and a wheat drink;
  • A lady and a guy in Kazakhstan for pirogi and water with ice when it was 45°C;
  • The guard in Kazakhstan for letting us into the lake without paying;
  • Yerlan for a lot of food, a museum, and a place to stay in the mountains near the Chinese border;
  • The shopkeeper on the border for a watermelon;
  • M. for a place to stay and a lot of hospitality;
  • The guy and the young guy who drove us to Urumqi for a meal;
  • People in an Urumqi restaurant for a meal, bread, and eggs;
  • The Uyghurs from Qitai for the biggest feast ever;
  • The Kazakhs from Barkol for cheese and drinks;
  • The two young guys who drove us across the mountains for dried meat, crisps, and a ticket to a shrine;
  • A guy in Hami for a watermelon;
  • The truck drivers who drove us across a half of China for feeding us two days;
  • A Buddhist monk for peaches;
  • A lady in a shop for peaches;
  • A lady and a guy in a restaurant in Guyuan for soup;
  • Dan and her family for mindblowing hospitality;
  • Buddhist monks for a watermelon;
  • A guy in the ruins of an ancient city for an instant soup;
  • The truck drivers who were going west for a dinner and snacks;
  • The truck drivers in Datong for a meal and the people from the restaurant in front of which we were camping for breakfast;
  • The guy who gave us a ride to Heng Shan for water melons;
  • The family at the lake under Heng Shan for beer and a lot of fruits;
  • A shopkeeper in the wrong Sheng Du for apples;
  • The guy in Inner Mongolia who could communicate really good with gestures for a Mongolian meal;
  • Pujee for a place to stay in Ulaanbaatar and food, and Erdene and Dima for arranging it;
  • Dima and his family for places to camp and stay, food, and hospitality;
  • Budee for meals, shower, beer, and letting us stay at his cottage;
  • Budee’s wife and her family for litres of kumys and a lot of hospitality;
  • The party lady in Darkhan and her husband for a place to stay and meals;
  • The people who drove us to the Russian border for a watermelon;
  • Arlat for buze and beer in Kyakhta;
  • The truck driver in Irkutsk for a fish;
  • The Armenian truck driver in Siberia for pirogi;
  • The babushka from Krasnoyarsk for tea and cookies;
  • The lady in the Forestry museum for tea and cookies;
  • The tour guide in the Tomsk museum of oppression for tea and candies;
  • Ruslan the truck driver for a meal in Chelyabinsk;
  • The guy who drove us to the Museum of gulag for coffee;
  • Pavel for a place to stay in Dubna and for food;
  • Konstantin for a place to stay in St Petersburg;
  • The guy who drove us to Tallinn for coffee;
  • Oliver for a place to stay in Tallinn;
  • Paulius for a place to stay in Vilnius;
  • Julius and the Miegantys drambliai crew for a place to stay at a climbing wall in Kaunas, tea, and a meal;
  • Gosia and Gosia for a place to stay in Warsaw and a lot of food and beer and Konrad for beer;
  • Mikhail and and Karolina for a place to stay in Czestochowa, meals, and tea;

…and so many others.
Thanks, everybody. Teşekkürler. Kheili mamnoon. Madloba. Rakhmat. Bayarlalaa. Xiexie. Spasiba. Aitäh. Ačiū. Paldies. Dziękuję bardzo. Hvala. Mersi. Vielen Dank. ...