It is always said that how quickly time flies! just like that. 1 of my trip. I was celebrating 10th anniversary with my friends on Lombok Island in Indonesia and it seems like it was yesterday.. On the other hand, on and before August 3, 2010, when I left my country and went on a trip, it seems as if it was far away, as if it had never happened, far away…
I was a person who went to work with a suit every day, I had a good job and career my plans, I even did an MBA for it. I have a house and a cat in which I feel so comfortable being in.
In this moment, where I am now, in a completely different geography, I realize even better that ‘that life’ means so much to me. That’s far away right now.
Who knew that setting out to make my dreams come true would lead me this far, rather than being unemployed for a day and then following the classic expected behavior and chasing a new job!
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Exactly 500 days ago, I flew from Istanbul to Bangkok and that’s how started my adventure. After 1 month in Thailand, that is exactly 468 days ago, I flew to New Zealand, the fairy tale land of Oceania.
I was on a continent where I stepped for the first time, in Oceania.. That same night, just hours before I arrived in New Zealand, the country’s city of Christchurch would be woken by an earthquake.. Not so much, a few months after the earthquake, I was going to fall on my way to the city of Christchurch and after seeing the traces of the earthquake and leaving the city, a second earthquake would hit the city soon after and a lot of people would die, I was lucky.. Christchurch was one of the cities I thought to settle for language school.. I gave up because it was cold.
While I was walking on a glacier for the first time in my life in Franz Jozef, a few days later, under the exploding fireworks in Queenstown, known as the capital of adrenaline in the world, for the first time in my life in 2011, in the Southern Hemisphere. I was saying hello to
In New Zealand’s South Island, in Milford Sound, which is considered one of the most beautiful places in the world, among the fjords, dozens of waterfalls flowing from the mountains and sleeping on the rocks Watching the seals would be one of my unforgettable moments.
In another adrenaline city in the North Island, Taupo, I jumped from 47 meters in bungee jumping and skydiving from 15,000 feet into space, was both the firsts of my life. and there were moments when I felt the adrenaline at its peak.
I felt the same adrenaline at Lake Tekapo, at Mount Cook, meaninglessly hitting the rocks on the old lake bed. I felt it when I found myself climbing. It was not possible to cross the rock in front of me without equipment, and it was impossible to go back from this point with my simple sneakers.
While I was taking a picture of the magnificent view, I was thinking that if I called the rescue teams on the phone, they would come and pick me up.. After thinking about it, I found a new alternative.. On that steep slope, I reached the main path for 100 meters by clinging to the roots of plants in the style of maquis with 4 hands.. This was my first adventure in my trip, it wouldn’t be the last.
I was reading my book in a hammock on the white sands, under the shade of coconut trees, on one of the Fiji Islands, which has a magnificent sea where thousands of fish and sharks swim.. Yes, it was just like a dream, crossing the world by canoe from one island to another, being able to watch the fish and starfish in the crystal clear seas even just walking on the shore…
I will learn to call those who say New Zealand or Australia without hesitation, Australia When I arrived at the continent, 245 days passed.. I found Australia, one of the countries of the new world, as the country of cool people living in another dimension.
Sydney fascinated me as soon as I arrived.. After saying Darling Harbor, Circular Quay, Opera House, Manly and Bondi Beach, I found myself in a brand new experience, I met Help Exchange there.. Australia days were perhaps the best days of my life and brand new experiences.. I washed the dishes, cleaned the house with a vacuum cleaner, fixed the fences, painted and sanded, did gardening… Among them, keeping an eye on Mathew with Down Syndrome for 10 days and being friends with him for 10 days was a completely different experience.
I was once happier than Kemal, who wore a suit, shaved, put on expensive perfumes, got into the luxury car and went to work.
When I wanted to renew my expiring passport in Sydney I tried my luck in Melbourne when it failed and dreams were falling victim to the Turkish bureaucracy.. Is it because I could get my new passport there? I loved Melbourne more than Sydney.
I left my backpack in Melbourne 213 days ago. I threw myself into the land of the Tasmanian devil, I said I would stay for a week, I stayed for almost a month.. I was driving from one national park to another with the car I rented in Tasmania, which has the cleanest air in the world, two-thirds of which are national parks.
For the first time in my life, I was driving a right-hand drive car on the left-hand road.. Tasman Peninsula, Freycinet National Park, Cradle Mountain, I finished my tour of Tasmania in 5 days.. I returned to Hobart and stayed at Bruce and Lalita’s scenic home for 10 days. This time I was painting, sanding at the help exchange job.. I learned how to make natural fertilizer from garden leftover plants and trees.
For the first time in my life, I rented a caravan there.. I started my journey of 1,300 km with the motorhome I rented from Hobart, the capital of Tasmania.. I took the ferry to Melbourne and put my brand new passport in my pocket and reached Adelaide on one of the most beautiful roads in the world, the Great Ocean Raod.. First time I slept in a trailer in Melbourne. Along the way, I saw more rainbows than I have ever seen in my life, sometimes I could see 2 at the same time.. It was the first, it was fascinating.
Before moving from that cold climate of the south to the tropical climate of the north, I did the 20km hike in one day around Uluru and Kata Tjuta, the Aboriginal holy places in the heart of Australia.. I climbed this majestic Uluru, the world’s largest rock. I camped in the desert for the first time in my life.
With a 6-person caravan I bought from Alice Springs, I went north from this desert town in the heart of Australia to Kakadu, a 40,000-year-old aboriginal land.. I witnessed thousands of years old murals. This time, there were 2 Germans, 1 Australian and 1 New Zealander in my caravan.
It has been 156 days since I traveled to Australia for 3 months and set foot in Indonesia, the land of beautiful smiling people.. I learned why Bali is so famous for its culture, beliefs, lifestyles, wonderful nature and rice fields.
I got my PADI diving license here for the first time, I had my first motorcycle accident here.. Saw a shark on my first dive. While watching the sunrise at 3729 meters, I was at the active volcano of M.Rinjani on Lombok Island, the highest peak I have ever climbed in my life.
I was also seeing an active volcano for the first time in my life.. I was camping in the rainforest for the first time in my life. It was the first time in my life that I had swam in the cold waters of the crater lake and for the first time I was enjoying the volcanic hot waters in the immediate vicinity of the crater lake.. Two days later, I would be celebrating the first anniversary of my formation on the roads with friends in Senggigi.
Soon I would find myself at the police station on Madura Island in Jawa.. That same night, I went to a village we didn’t know and slept at the village chief’s house.
Since I didn’t take my passport with me, I had to give a statement and narrowly avoided being admitted.. A week later, I was at the mouth of Mount Bromo, an active volcano that made you feel like you were on another planet, and I lit a cigarette while watching the fumes.. Two days later, in a mountain village where there is neither toilet nor bathroom, I was taking a shower with the cold water coming from the mountain with the villagers coming to their homes from their jobs in the coffee gardens. I was on the island of Samosir. While I was experiencing a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in Sumatra in the middle of the night, I saw orang-utans in their natural habitat for the first time the next day.
While I was under my makeshift tent in the rainforest in Bukit Lawang, I saw a monitor lizar for the first time in my life.
I was visiting Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur 98 days ago. I was in the city of Melaka, which makes you feel like you are in Europe when you see Batu Caves, the world’s largest cave temple, and then wander around its streets.
I came to where I am now, the modern country of Asia, Singapore, 90 days ago, again, over 3 months ago.
I was near the equator line in Borneo 86 days ago. 3 of the world’s documentaries where nature documentaries are shot. When the largest island of Borneo was mentioned, a different world would take shape in my eyes.. Forests, wildlife, jungle, swamps, pythons. I discovered that Borneo is much more than that.
Local tribes, traditional life, excellent English, tropical islands right next to it, orang-utans, having some of the most beautiful diving centers in the world…
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Spent 40 days in fantastic Borneo. I walked 2 km from one end of the world’s largest cave Deer Cave to the other.. I camped in a tent on a tropical island for 2 nights in a row At Tunku Abdul Rahman Park, when wild pigs swarmed around me at night, I was the only foreigner on the island.
I dived on Mabul Island 6 times, Kinabatangan I explored the wildlife on the river, by boat in the early morning, I was close enough to touch the colorful birds that were sleeping helplessly in the branches in the forest at night.. That same night I was struggling to get the huge mouse out of my bed through the mosquito net that surrounded me, what a fun.. The mouse would have gnawed at my new backpack, which I bought just a few days ago, while I was hiking in the forest, it must have been revenge.
When I set foot in the glorious Philippines, which was overshadowed by Thailand in Asia, not yet popular, but I thought it was defeated. the date showed 47 days before that. It was a brand new experience to wander through the 2000 year old rice fields.. How many ancient tribes there were in the Philippines!
Like those in Borneo, they were once skull hunters.. In Sagada, I saw hanging coffins called “Hanging coffins”, which you can see only in China, Sulaveshi Island and the Philippines in the world.. With a simple head lamp and sandals on my feet, I crossed the 2 km rocky and deadly whirlpool road from one cave to the other in 4 hours alone, facing death every moment, sometimes every second, on the rocks. I was going to find out after the guides that I was the first person to do this with the stupid courage of the peace and adrenaline.. I was more frightened than when I met the bats in that dark inside, I went outside and said to myself in the daylight, “What have I done!”
I went to El Nido on Palawan Island, one of the most beautiful places in the world, from the mountainous region with a cool climate, and went on a boat tour for 3 days in a row, it is beautiful and fascinating.. I climbed the coconut tree for the first time in my life: I plucked my coconut from the tree that stretches 20 meters into the sky on white sands.
The world’s tallest 2. I would be sailing on the underground river a few days later. And now I’m in Singapore 500. in my day. I’m only going out to eat from my hostel. I spend so much time waiting for my new passport.
You want to take a look at my adventures in my article Being on the Road for 365 Days, which is the summary of the first year of my travel.
It’s nice to be on the road, It’s nice to go from one place to another.. I can’t go back until I see these numbers double. It is not known whether I will return or not.
Loves of love to everyone from far away lands.. Let’s meet somewhere…
Day 500: SIN:9 Little India, Singapore, Friday, December 16, 2011
