Greetings!
My name is Meigo Märk and I was born in Estonia in Northern Europe.
Today I will share with you a very big dream of mine which is to travel around the world mostly by walking.
Of course to cross the oceans, some seas and rivers I need to use some other forms of transportation but my goal is to walk in different countries at least the distance of planet Earth’s Equator. That is 40,075 kilometers or 24,901 miles.
I started walking to fulfill this dream over 6 years ago in May 2014 from my home in Estonia and currently I have walked through 22 countries a total distance of 20,000 kilometres or 12,427 miles.
The 22 countries include: ▶ Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Iran, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia , Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
PLEASE LOOK THE DETAIL ROUTE ON THE MAP
I started this long walk because it felt like the only right thing to do next with my life. I felt that I have enough energy to walk thousands of miles across continents. That I really have to do it, at least I should start and try!
All my family members and friends were very supportive and everything in my life started to move in that direction very naturally and peacefully.
So an idea and a feeling grew into a very big dream.
In order to cover some of the travel costs, I decided to rent out my home in Estonia and use the rent money to support my plan.
On the day I started the long walk, the total amount of money that I had in my pocket and in the bank was 8 euros, that’s less than 10 US dollars.
To manage my expenses during the first few weeks of walking, before I started receiving rent money, I even had to depend on collecting, washing and eating edible leaves I found along the road.
So that’s how I started. I did not have much money but I could not delay my dream any longer. The dream to walk around the world was, and still is, a very real, true, strong and powerful calling.
The dream itself gives me enough energy, willpower, inspiration and motivation to do it.
I don’t do it to break any records of distance or speed.
I also do not do it to raise awareness or money for some global issue or good cause.
Currently it’s still a very selfish mission with very selfish reasons.
In the long walking journey through 22 countries I have shortly lived and slept in over 220 local homes together with the local families. PHOTOS & VIDEOS
Can you imagine over 220 different families in different countries with very different cultural, religious and financial backgrounds?
I have lived with families in a huge slum in India, in a house with no windows. Stayed in the homes of multimillionaires of Singapore, lived in a small bamboo hut in the remote mountain jungle of Nepal and stayed with the nuns and monks in a zen monastery in the hills of Vietnam.
Home is the most private place – a holy place!
And to be inside a local home together with a local family is one of the most unique, special and enriching experiences that can happen to any traveler.
I crossed vast natural landscapes and I was sleeping alone in a tent for over 650 nights. That’s a lot of nights camping along roadsides, in the forests, in rainforests, deep in the jungles, in the middle of a desert, along the sea, atop hills and mountains.
I used 5 different tents on my journey. PHOTOS
And, I have also slept at police stations, army camps, ambulance stations, churches, temples and many cheap hostels and hotels.
Along the road I met over 2,200 helpful people who saw me walking, who stopped me, who wanted to give me a lift, who asked me many questions and wanted to give me free water, tea, coffee, many other drinks, free food, different gifts and even money. PHOTOS & VIDEO
There’s a lot of kindness around the world!
I met so many supportive and helpful people!
Most people just worry about themselves and their families and they really don’t want to create any problems for others.
They only want to help if they can!
Sometimes, I would be overcome with emotion and cry uncontrollably from the intense feelings of gratitude towards all that help, kindness, caring and sharing.
The longer I travel, the more hope and faith I have in humanity.
Now the shoes.
To walk these 20,000 kilometers or 12,427 miles, I used a total of 24 pairs of very different shoes. Sport shoes, walking shoes, hiking boots and even sandals. From extreme walking, few pairs even had very large holes in them. PHOTOS & VIDEO
I walked and camped in many different terrains and in different weather conditions.
I crossed the snowy mountains of Turkey with the temperatures dipping to -17 degrees °Celsius or 1.4 °Fahrenheit.
And for weeks I was passing through the deserts of Iran and India with the daily temperatures of +42 °Celsius or 107 °Fahrenheit.
For several months, I walked and camped in the heavy tropical rains of Asia where the weather was very humid and all my stuff was wet.
It was during these few times that the flood waters rose over my knees as I walked.
While walking through one hilly jungle in Laos, I had finished all my food by the 3rd day. I found some fresh bamboo leaves to eat and later discovered that it had many health benefits.
PHOTOS & VIDEO
Depending on the climate I was walking through and the equipment I had, the weight of my bag varied from 8-23 kilograms, that’s 17-50 pounds.
To balance my health I would take many resting days but on my normal walking day I have walked an average of 25-35 kilometers or 15-21 miles. My highest daily record is 64 kilometers, that’s 39 miles.
I had many adventures along the way. In 2 countries, the local government provided a heavily armed police escort to walk with me. And on another two occasions, I was attacked by dogs.
But I found 3 dogs and 4 cats in remote parts of some countries that were very hungry. I took them with me and found them new homes.
The longest time one dog walked with me was exactly 10 days.
PHOTOS & VIDEOS
I have been invited to over 45 schools and universities to share my travel experiences and positive messages with thousands of students and to answer their questions. It is always a lot of fun.
PHOTOS & VIDEOS
In different countries many people have joined my walk for a few kilometers, for a full day and even for many days. The biggest group I had was in Vietnam where 13 locals joined me in the long walk for 5 days. It was truly an amazing experience.
PHOTOS & VIDEO
Together with my sister Kadi, I climbed the highest mountain in Greece - Mount Olympus. That was a very big physical and emotional challenge for us, but conquering many different types of challenges together made us much closer.
My dear mother came to meet me and to travel with me across Greece, Turkey, Nepal and in Vietnam. In Vietnam, we had an epic trip where we bought one bicycle - my mother was riding the bicycle with our bags and I was not walking but running along her for over 220 kilometers in 2 weeks. I really love to travel with my mother. It was she, who in my childhood read me fairy tales about incredible adventures happening in far away lands and taught me to travel in the powerful worlds of imagination and emotions.
I hope to have many more trips with my dear mother!
PHOTOS & VIDEOS
After I had walked 13,000 kilometers or 8,077 miles, I had arrived in Vietnam. This is where I met a girl named Sâm.
She is a marathon runner who was very inspired by my dream and wished to join the walk for a few days. I tried to discourage her and warned her many times about how difficult it is both physically and emotionally to continuously walk over long distances.
Over the next year, Sâm came to meet me exactly 10 times. She took the bus twice, took a flight 8 times across 5 countries: Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia.
Together we walked over 750 kilometers and we fell in love.
In August 2018 I completed walking 20,000 kilometers or 12,427 miles across 22 countries but carrying a heavy backpack for over 4 years had hurt my shoulders and my back. My heart had been affected as well and I needed to pause the walk around the world!
I returned to Sâm in Vietnam to be with the girl I had come to love the most.
In October 2018 we got married and in 2019 we became proud parents of a baby girl named Maria Mai Märk.
Our daughter has totally transformed our lives and taught us unconditional joy, caring, service, patience and love.
We are dreaming and making plans to continue traveling around the world, this time all 3 of us. Hopefully next year if the global pandemic situation is over, we will begin the next chapter of this journey.
I would like to continue to walk while my wife and daughter would move on the same route on a motorbike or with a small camping car.
From all my travels in many countries I have been fascinated to see all the differences around the world but also all the similarities that humans have.
We are all born in a different country with a different history, culture and language.
With different traditions, religions, rituals and beliefs.
With different art, music, literature, architecture and dances.
Different body language, foods, drinks and even traffic culture.
But we all are also born from our parents on the same planet.
We all see the same Sun and the same moon.
And we have the very same or similar biological and emotional needs and issues.
There are a lot of differences but there are even more similarities and things that unite us!
It’s very interesting to see and to experience all the diversity and all the differences and at the very same time focus on all the similarities, unity and oneness of all.
I have learned that every single heartbeat and every breath is an unrepeatable gift and a true miracle!
And even though it is very easy to complain about everything, we should still try to be appreciative and grateful.
Grateful even for all the difficulties and challenges of life because they can really help us to become wiser, better and stronger.
Thank you very much!
Please stay healthy and positive!
Meigo Märk
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