If you have been following my Ideas & Thoughts Blog (which is steadily rising from total obscurity these last couple of days), you must have already gotten the news: this proud Argentinian has a new goal.

The objective, thought no as ambituous as climbing Mt. Everest and hunting the Argentine presidency, is still pretty epic: I’ll visit 1000 different cities by December 31^st, 2014.

Right now I’m a few cities shy of totallying 200, so that will leave me half of this year, and all of 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 to see the last 800+ cities. It will be pretty hard, but it will be exciting.

The reason behind this number is simple: it will be a fantastic goal to work for. It’s a challenging objective, and the kind that makes me excited and willing to give all my might and energy for. After all, what’s life without big objectives?

And anyway, I expected my city count to reach the four digits by 2015 at the latest – even before setting this up. I just rushed things a little bit.

Why Cities And Not Countries?

After all, my highly admired guru Chris Guillebeau visits every country, and it’s a reality that visiting every country in the world sounds (and is, I accept) more epic than visiting 1000 cities.

The truth is that visiting every country is not a priority for me right now. Despite I finally accepted that there’s no bad place to travel, I still believe that visiting twenty cities in Spain, Germany or Japan will be more interesting than visiting one in Chad, Suriname, Haiti and seventeen more countries that right now I still don’t find that seductive.

Also, visiting every country would also take me forever. I don’t have the money nor sleek schedule to accommodate dozens of Round the World trips as Chris and others do – and that’s not the way I would like to do it anyway. I like the more paused, sedentary way of traveling.

Once I go to Uzbekistan (as I eventually will, as part of my epic Silk Road Trip), for instance, I don’t want to stay just a couple of days in the capital Tashkent… I want to go to Samarland, visit the Fergana Valley and more. I rather see only Tashkent than nothing – but given the chance, I’ll go for more.

Not as much as visiting every country, 1000 cities will still be damn hard anyway. Traveling, especially when you move so much is exhausting – it kills me at least. After my well-documented tour through Russia, Ukraine and Romania I got to Greece more dead than alive. Thank god two sisters did everything to get me out of Zombieland and back to real life. Hence the long deadline.

As for the number 1000 – well, it’s pretty much self explanatory, isn’t it? There’s no real reason behind it beyond the coolness of the four figures themselves. It’s just more motivating to say 1000 than to say 500, 750 or something else. 1000 also is a real challenge – so far I don’t know (at least personally) not even one person who can pride him or herself of having visited 1000 different cities.

How to Do It

The trick is to visit many neighboring places. There’s always (at least in Europe and parts of Asia) cool towns and small cities around the big fish. Renting a car, hitchhiking and taking lots of trains make you do the job quite easily.

For the sake of my sanity and my enjoyment of every trip, I’ll give myself these long four and half years to do the job. I want to make this be natural – as if I could do it while continuing with my present travel rhythm. Right now, still far from the deadline, I think I’ll be able to achieve it without any freight.

The first destination, however, is quite clear. Soon after I settle in Copenhagen I plan to find a few buddies, rent a car and visit the whole country in one or two weeks. It’s really small and I bet I can get 20+ cities out of it at least. If you are around Denmark, let me know!

Photo credit: maryatexitzero

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I want to go everywhere. But, despite my obsession with travel and discovering, there are a few places that never really caught my attention nor made me increasingly want to go. But it all starts to change when I really carve into the history and magic of every place.

For example, in 2009 I went to Bolivia. Bolivia, now increasingly fashionable, is for Argentineans the closest thing to a dirty, poor and unromantic ‘wild west’. After all, there are millions of Bolivians living in Buenos Aires crying about how bad Bolivia is.

I never thought I would go there, but on my way to Peru in 2009 I decided to pay a visit. And I was surprised – what I thought (and what many still think) of as the worst place to visit in South America was exactly the opposite. I was amazed by the Uyuni Salt Flats, the Potosi mines and the part of the Amazon rainforest that lies in Bolivia.

Really. Back then it made me think – is there any place in the world that is really not worth visiting? The obvious, cultured answer would be ‘no, every place has something special’. But if you think about it, there are 200+ countries and half-countries to go.

Though I’m dying to go to some dodgy and off-the-radar places as Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, some others have been so far less attractive. Yemen, for instance, a country south of Saudi Arabia, poor and often refered as a terrorist haven, had never been in my list of priorities. But as a Wikipedia-freak I am, just for the sake of it I started to read more and more about Yemen yesterday night.

And Yemen surprised me. Now I’m desperate to go there in the next few years, and here’s why:

[View with PicLens]

These are just a few photos of what you would find in the Socotra Island, off the coast of this Arab country. I’m not a biologist or botanic superhero, but I’m still very excited by seeing these extraordinary plants and animals.

They are endemic to this small island, and nowhere else in the world to be seen. It’s magical – just that island. I accept that I might be a bit more geek that the norm, but this really excites me. To see these things makes me think and realize how amazing our world is, and how much I want to see it all.

Thankfully, there are many Socotras in the world. A mysterious language, a hidden culture or a whole new ecosystem wait for us in far away corners of the world. It’s my passion to know them all, as I love experiences and that’s what I live for.

Mind – the aim of this post is not convince you to go Yemen. What I want to achieve goes a bit deeper – it’s to make you realize the whole bunch of places you never heard about and might be really exciting for you.

(More love: as I write this, my roommate is telling me that the world’s most exclusive and expensive honey comes from Yemen. Wow.)

I hope you can think together with me on this one. I still feel completely unseduced by East Timor, Somalia or Suriname. But maybe you can help me change my mind.

Going everywhere, then, might not be a bad idea. While not among my top priorities, I hope that I’ll have the chance to visit all these beautiful islands and countries.

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Packing is tricky, especially if it’s your first time on the road. It takes a while to find the right balance.

Some pack too much, some pack too little. Personally, I’m in between. I don’t take that much but I do have a bag that would get minimalists crazy. But, with more than 175 cities traveled, I believe I can have a respected opinion on this one.

I usually take two backpacks: one big 60-liters one which I carry in my back and one smaller pack which I take in the front. It’s quite the standard for most backpackers these days, and probably the most flexible and comfortable way to travel.

But what exactly? Here it is:

Clothing

• 5 T-shirts (may take more in summer.)
• 2 Shirts to go out.
• 1 linen Shirt (if summer.)
• 1 Sweater (light) and another one (heavier) if in winter. May take an additional one if it’s really cold.
• 2/3 Pants. 1 Jeans, 1 colored/stripped/themed, 1 seasonal (linen in summer, thicker thing in winter.)
• 2 Shorts + Swimwear (summer), just one if in winter.
• 1 Light Jacket (classy – leather, linen, etc. depending on the season.)
• 1 Heavy Jacket (in winter)
• 1 Rain Poncho.
• Plenty of Underwear and Socks.
• 2 Belts (one zipper-belt to hide money, one to go out.)
• 2 Scarves or 2 Handkerchiefs depending on the season.
• Gloves (if going to cold places.)
• 2 Shoes, the most comfortable I can get. Used to take hiking boots but they take a lot of space. Usually one of these is sandals.
• 1 Pair of flip flops.
• Cap, wool hat and sunglasses.

And nothing else. It’s not really as much as you might imagine and it all fits in the big pack. Plenty to dress up and I can survive around week without washing anything.

Tech Stuff

• 1 Digital Camera (it’s small, just to take the usual tourist photos) and I usually take one pen drive to store the photos and keep the memory free.
• 1 Ipod (I got the 80gb normal one loaded up with music, movies, audio books and photos.)
• 1 Cell phone (unlocked.) Gives me the chance to buy cheap SIM cards everywhere I go to. Would love to change it for an unlocked Iphone soon (to surf the web, games, etc.)
• 4/5 Movies in DVD.
• Electrical Adapters (if applicable.)
• Sometimes, just sometimes, I also take my Laptop (with mouse.) – I would take a netbook if I had one.

Other Stuff

• 2 Notebooks (one diary, one to write down important stuff) plus a couple of pens.
• All my documents (ID, Driver’s license, etc.) and at least 2 color photocopies. Travel insurance and address and phone for hostels and the Italian and Argentinean embassies everywhere I’ll go (may seem too much – but it really takes only 20′ and can save A LOT of trouble.)
• Credit and debit cards, plus a lot of money in cash (U.S. dollars or Euros, in 20s, 50s, and 100s – and always new bills with no writing on them.)
• One book (which I can change for another one in most hostels.)
• 2 Locks.
• Spices Kit for cooking.
• 5+ Energy/Protein bars (the more time I travel, the more I take with me.)
• 1 Towel.
• Small Pillow (usually one I take from the airplanes. Vital for long bus/train rides!)
• Toiletry + Cologne.
• Aspirins, band aids and other small first-aid stuff.

As much as it looks, it’s only 10 to 12 kilos on the big one and 5 or less on the smaller one. This leaves me plenty of extra space for souvenirs or for new clothes I buy on the way.

What do you take with you? Do you have any suggestions? Have your say and leave a comment below.

Photo credit: simax

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Cash is King

When traveling, you got to find the right balance between cash, checks and cards. But the most important thing to take with you is plenty of cash. It could happen that your checks can’t be changed and that your cards won’t work. What could you do then if it’s an emergency or you don’t have any other choice? You’ll have to use cash. So keep a few hundred dollars saved and don’t use them unless you don’t have any other choice.

Never travel without cash on you. Take U.S. Dollars or Euros, as they are the most widely accepted and make sure they are new bills with no writing on them. Avoid possible problems and also make sure to write down the number and series of your big-number bills. It may come in handy!

Pay hostels, train tickets and most things you can with credit card, so as to save your cash or keep it for when you have an emergency or no other choice. Have photocopies of your credit cards, write down their numbers and make sure you know what to do if they get lost or robbed. You could also take a few traveler checks with you as they provide one of the safest (though a bit uncomfortable) forms of money.

Keeping Your Cash Safe

If you take cash with you make sure you take good care of it! Two things are important:

• Don’t have all the cash in the same place.
• Make sure you have a very safe place to hide it.

Those kinds of “body pocket” things are quite cool, but if you are getting into dodgy places, bad guys might know that you are probably using one (as all tourists do.) Take some of your cash in one of these as well as your passport (with copies somewhere else) but leave the biggest chunk in a safer place.

For that I recommend you to check out this belt here. It has a zipper, absolutely hidden and almost unnoticeable where you can fold and store a lot of money. It’s the safest way to move around with money and the one every traveler should use.

It’s up to you

If you take all the precautions it will be hard for you go have big problems on the road. Avoid complications and take your time to take those photocopies, buy those belts, write down those numbers and plan the financial side of your trip. It won’t take you that long and it’s really worth it!

Photo Credit: rpongsaj

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I’m a traveling fanatic, in love with the world and with a lot of plans and trips that I dream about. But there’s one travel that I think about every day and which excites me more than any other: The epic Silk Road trip. On this article I’ll tell you what it is about.

What is the Silk Road?

Roughly speaking, the Silk Roads were a series of trade paths that in ancient times connected Europe with Central Asia and China. They were very important routes for cultural and technological transmission that linked traders, merchants, pilgrims and missionaries from many different civilizations. They were a conduit for the spread of knowledge, ideas, cultures as well as diseases between the different parts of the world.

The Silk Roads, extending over 6000 kilometers, were a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, India, Persia, Arabia, Egypt as well as Rome and in several ways helped to lay the foundations for the modern world. The routes enabled the trade of good as silk, satins, musk, perfumes, fabrics, spices, medicines, slaves, jewels, glassware and more.

The Silk Road Today

The Ancient Silk Routes are now hardly used. They were first replaced by maritime travel and later with other means of transportation. Nevertheless, the charm and magic of the old routes live on. Lost cities, virgin temples and a lot of history await the adventurous travelers who want to experience one of the most impressive itineraries one can imagine.

Who travels the Silk Road will experience the slow but progressive differences between the Eastern and Western World, plus all the secrets and mysteries that lay in the middle. The route combines modern metropolis as Istanbul in Turkey and Damascus in Syria with, for example, Samarkand (pictured) in Uzbekistan, an ancient city now acknowledged by the UNESCO as a Crossroad of Cultures.

The sheer amount of culture, history, archaeological ruins and different civilizations is nowhere else to be matched. These, all together, make the Silk Road a must-do route for all travelers striving for something unique and an unmatchable experience.

The Itinerary

In the ancient times there were many different silk routes. One road connected Europe and China through Northern India and Tibet, while one other went deep into Central Asia before turning into the Eastern Chinese territories. As the trade boomed in the second millennium new trade routes flourished, including even one naval silk route that went from Egypt to Arabia, India, Java and ended up near present-day Hong Kong.

Of all these the one I personally want to follow is the Central Asian one. I’ll give it a twist and mix it with the route of Alexander the Great. In his campaign deep into Persia Alexander ended up as far Bactria, in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. That’s where I want to go. I want to go deep and explore places that so far are outside every traveler’s list.

Roughly speaking the itinerary would cover the following countries: Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and China. Depending on the situation spin offs to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan may also happen.

The highlights of the trip include Samarkand, Isfahan and Bukhara, among others.

Preparing The Trip – Staying Safe

Even if I always prefer traveling alone, this certainly looks like the trip I would like to do with someone else. I rather be with someone when going to countries sometimes so backward, so hard to get into and where potential problems may occur.

Traveling as a woman or with a woman here would be tricky too. The Silk Roads include many hard-line Muslim countries and there are risks concerning women. Bride kidnapping happens from time to time in places like Kyrgyzstan so you got to be careful.

I suggest all men traveling alone or with a girl to these kinds of places to be well trained and prepared to fight if you have to. I might travel with a hard-wooden staff (which I’m quite proficient fighting with) so as to have an undercover weapon if I have to use one. The roads are most of the times safe, the people friendly and problems may well not happen. You just need to be as prepared if possible just in case.

Other Trip Preparations

Before I embark on this trip I plan to learn (putting into practice my technique here) at least some Persian, Russian and Chinese. Just the basics and all it takes to have emergency communications. People in Central Asia, despite they hate Russians, still speak the language today, so it’s a good skill to have. Of course, learn the greetings and the most basic words in every country you go to, be it Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan – It’s not hard and might give you a lot of advantages.

Other than languages I’ll make sure to keep my money safe, to have the paper and documents survival kit and to thoroughly investigate about each country I’ll be going to. I’ll learn the customs, the way people dress, what not to do/to do and more so as to avoid problems and make the most of my stay.

Timing

There’s no fixed timing on how long will the trip last. I’m thinking about a three to four months route just because I want to personalize the experience as much as I can. But I believe it can be done in much faster (or slower) if you feel like it. The trip is cheap and money shouldn’t be a problem.

I’ll take more time because it’s my dream to look for archaeological mysteries such as the lost cities of Nicaea and Bucephalia in the Hydaspes basin. If you don’t have any crazy adventures as these in your mind you can certainly make the trip faster than me.

As for the season, I suggest that mid-to-late spring is the best. I rather avoid winter and the worst of summer. This won’t only make the trip nicer but will also save me a lot of space in the backpack.

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