In Montenegro, I met a Swiss guy and cycled with him until Tirana. But I fell in love with Montenegro during autumn so much that I’ve returned to explore also the east part of the countryside. At this time, I didn’t care about kilometers anymore. If I wanted to go somewhere, I just went. With time the weather became really bad. So I decided to go directly to Greece – Athens. There I took a flight back home to spend Christmas with my family and prepare myself for central Asia. After Christmas, I flew back to Athens and continued my journey. It was amazing to enter another continent via Istanbul bridge connecting Europe and Asia.
My first plan was to quickly cross Turkey along the Black sea and reach Iran as fast as possible. But I didn’t know that there are so many beautiful things to see in this country! It completely changed my mindset and I travelled around Turkey in zigzag: Ismir, Pamukkale, Antalya, Cappadocia … I spent more than 2 months in Turkey! I enjoyed the people, landscapes, I even try skiing for the first time! On the other hand, it was also the most difficult part of my travel. The weather was bad: cold, rainy and snowy. In those moments you feel more lonely as usually, because of all the suffering you are experiencing. Well, I took some long breaks in different hostels and met many new friends.
After Turkey, I decided to go to Georgia, Azerbaijan, and then Iran. I travelled with a group of friends for the first time and had an awesome time. But I entered Iran alone. The culture there is incredible, the hospitality is like something holy. On the other hand, I was somehow getting tired to continue this kind of travelling in countries more difficult than Iran. Therefore I decided to fly to Malaysia and do training for my race later, in Mongolia. I reached south-east Asia, joined friends there and met new ones. I trained really hard for three months and reached the steppes around Oulan-Bator. And in the end, I finished the race in Mongolia. 🙂
Many people on the way have inspired and supported me. In the end, I feel like must give some kind of meaning to this experience. Comin back to France wasn’t really a choice, to be honest. But still, I feel to share my experience with more people, to give them ideas, inspiration and courage to do something “crazy”.
Well, when I left my job and all the stuff around, some of my biggest concern was kind of: “Will I re-find a job? Will, I re-find my friends and family?“ By the way, I found a job after a week. In a year when I was missing, almost nobody did change drastically. Somehow I noticed that I have evolved a lot, learned more than expected and I’ve seen what I wanted.
The thing is; if you really want to do something, you definitely have to try. And it’s definitely what can change your mind. Right now, I will try all the shit I want and make my life a big field of experiments and challenges.
And you? What would you like to try?
Renaud Oberti
