Taking Stock: 100 Days on the Road

Around every three days I wonder if all this is really happening. We have been on the road for 100 days. 

100 days at home would have involved about 14 weekends, 258 Skype calls for work, 8 Parvis St.Gilles market visits, 32 supermarket drop-ins, countless dinners with friends, 98 salads, on average 2 birthday parties and throw in a handful of Ryanair flights to Italy and Spain if lucky. 

100 days on the road, feels like a lot more. In a little over three months, we have skipped south down the coast of Eastern Europe, island-hopped in Greece, trekked in Turkey, experienced local hospitality in Iran, rushed through (very) bizarre Turkmenistan and find ourselves now in Uzbekistan. We have taken countless buses, a handful of trains, hitchhiked in the dark and taxied our way to the footsteps of the Silk Road. 

We have tasted the evolution of classic mediterranean flavours to the hyped-up spices of cinnamon and cumin in Persian cuisine, only to find ourselves back to the basics with lamb fat and raisin plov (Uzbek rice dish). Lavished with alcohol from Italian Spritz, Croatian Rakia, Greek Raki, Turkish Efes beer, Iranian alcohol detox month (except homemade spirits in plastic bottles) and back to Ramadan vodka downing in Central Asia.

Three months has given us time to sever our umbilical cord with our past, our addiction to work emails and responsibilities. Not having any fixed return date means we are not burdened by thoughts of our distant future. These have given new meaning to living in the present. 

My moods have been to Mars and back, happiness levels are generally high, personal energy usually reflects the heat and temperature outside. 

So what have we learnt and how have we changed since the day we left?

#1 Backpacking in your 30s vs. your 20s (or in Nico’s case, your 40s) 

Ooouf, we are more “in-teh-llec-tu-aal” now, so deal with it. 

Gone are the days where my main aim was to locate the closest party and hang out with other backpackers on the beach. Backpacking in my 30s means I worry more about behaving correctly, stress about my veil showing too much hair and don’t smoke in places where I am not supposed to. It means wanting to engage more with people, understand local politics and delve deeper into a country’s history and religion.  

Of course I want to become an expert on the country in one month, don’t you? 

#2 Flipping languages every 2 weeks or month

Every time we pat ourselves on the back for learning basic words and phrases, garnering smiles and laughter from locals, we are on to another tune. Just as we exclaim “orea!” (beautiful in Greek) it is on to “choc güzel” (very beautiful in Turkish). When people ask you how Iran is, the correct answer is “Heli Heli Houb!” (very very nice).

In the densely packed regions of Eurasia, the dialect changes every 1000 km, so you better have your notebook prepared because my 30 year old-brain has only so much space for 15 forms of beautiful and my ever expanding backpack has no more space for any phrasebooks. 

The most useful phrases to start with? “thank you”, “beautiful” and “water” will get you anywhere. 

#3 The difference of travelling by land

Travelling by land is full of surprises. Nowadays, you could feasibly do the road we are doing in 2 months if you wanted to, modern land transport has more than shortened the caravanserai route of the ancient Silk Road. 

By land, you do not expect drastic changes between cities separated by a mere border and 20km. Whether it is divided by a mountain range or religious belief, I did not expect to go from a tchador in the most religious city of Iran – Mashhad, to a bikini in the techno-disco pool of Ashgabat, Turkmenistan within a day. Close neighbours but miles apart in every other sense. 

Traversing by land also shows you continuation, we are rediscovering Turkish words in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and faces are gradually tinted with strong asian features. There is also the new “spitting is acceptable” measurement scale. In Iran and Turkey it would be rare to find someone spitting casually on the street, as we get closer to China where spitting often seems like a national hobby, let the phlegm release begin in Uzbekistan. 

#4 You need less than you think 

Less clothes, less everything.

#5 Not every day is Sunday

I no longer know what day of the week it is and if I did not write it down I would be clueless to the date. But it is necessary to keep track, because everyone else still does. Monday the bazaar is closed, Friday everything is closed and tomorrow is Ramadan so don’t start eating in the street at noon. 

#6 Don’t sweat the small stuff

Ferry not there? No problem we’ll hitchhike. Evil woman whose favourite word is “noooo!” in charge of the only hotel in town? No problem we’ll go to the next town. We’ve learnt to see the unexpected as a blessing in disguise, often it means we have more fun anyway. 

The only time it is not ok is when there is no food. Not O.K. (see point #11) 

#7 Learning to Accept…

Kindness, hospitality, free stuff. From feeling like we could not continuously accept dinners and drinks in Greece from friends, we transitioned to saying “yes” to all the invitations we received in Iran. We are not used to extreme friendliness and generosity from strangers in most of Europe anymore…in Turkey we gradually began accepting, in Iran we were happy to follow almost anyone and by the time we got to Turkmenistan we thought “What? You’re not going to bring us all the way to the bus station for free?!” 

#8…Trust and Listen

At home we are generally careful about our interactions, travelling just reminds you that the majority of people in the world are good. Following the unexpected and trusting people has brought us many more interesting encounters than if we stayed strapped to the “safety” of our hotel rooms. A friend we made in Turkey told us in broken english on our way to his home for late dinner, “Thank you for trusting me, since most foreigners don’t.” I felt a pang of sadness and guilt on behalf of “foreigners”, when really we should all be thanking him. Who brings home two relatively unknown strangers to their house for dinner in Brussels?! 

#9 Home & TV Series

When your home is officially your rucksack, it is shocking how quickly we adapt to every new place. Once we get to our room for the night, there is some sort of mini bag explosion as everything comes out and you wonder how everything fit in the bag in the first place (occasionally the room is really quite unsavoury, in which case I prefer to keep as much as possible INSIDE the bag).

Feeling at home is also aided by an external hard drive filled with movies and TV series capable of transporting you out of wherever you are in about 10 minutes. So far the sci-fi Fringe series (I know, not the sexiest, took warming up to, but loooved it) has accompanied us through Europe, Turkey and Iran, but it is now sadly over and Nico has convinced me to start The Walking Dead. What is this obsession with zombies? Please explain. Yuck. 

#10 Survival Days

Every three weeks of intense travel you need one week of mild decompression. Overloading on interactions, information, flavours, discussions, sounds and smells is a one way ticket to breaking down. A few days off is necessary for maintaining the two “S”s, Sanity and that Smile for when they ask you if you’re ok under that humongous pink bed sheet they have given you to wear at the mosque in 40 degrees sun. 

#11 Food Ideas & the Travelling Pantry 

Fooooood. With food never far from my mind, travelling is a way to pick up genius ideas for the kitchen at home. Not only complete recipes, but little touches such as making your own garlic dill butter, filling a jar with nuts and honey and finally understanding how to use saffron properly. Perhaps it is to give me a sense of security but we always have our “travelling pantry” with us. A small bag with rubber bands and ziplock bags, it is constantly refilled – well Nico keeps trying to empty it, I keep filling it. Salt and pepper mix, sugar cubes from buses and train, tea bags, coffee mix, occasionally an olive oil bottle which has been cello-taped to death and even little pouches of baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon, you never know where I may find an oven to bake in! 

#12 Freedom, freedom, freedom 

This is a tough one and full of contradictions, but throughout this trip I am reminded of the freedom we have at home. Freedom as a woman, freedom of choice, freedom of movement, freedom of having access to any website you want. More so than anywhere else I have been in the world so far, prolonged travel in this region has left my inner anthropologist wondering what is acceptable in the name of culture, politics and religion. But I’m still figuring that one out, stay tuned. 

P.S This photo is from a nudist camp in Croatia, no clothes allowed.