Hello Eric, I’m interested to know how did you come with the idea of this journey?

In my first year of first grade I spent about 700€ in transport traveling by train from Irun to San Sebastian (separated by 45min and 15km) every day. So, one day I promised to my classmates that I would make the longest trip possible by train using this 700€.

 

An then?

After that, I discovered the Transiberian railway, the one that cross Russia and ends in China and I was interested about doing that route even once in my life and started to save some money and I worked on this. My day to day at home was unbearable.  My parents divorced when I was 16 but they both bought the adjacent appartments on the same building, on the same floor. This didn’t help to fix things and I was in the middle. This things make me want to go away as far as possible, taking ¨everyplace is better than home¨ as my main motto.

 

You are only 24 years old. Was this your first long trip? Yes, definetely.  I was in Paris and some other places in France and also in Amsterdam but nothing compared to this long trip.

 

And when did this adventure started?

I left home 29th may 2012. I wanted to save some money so I decided to hitch hike.  My first days, on the truck, I was only thinking about going back. I was kind of scared of what I would find or what would happen but I was brave enough to look forward. A truck brought me from the Spanish/french border,in Irun,  until the French/german border. Then, in Germany, after  6 hours waiting, an Armenian guy picked me up.

 

So you hitch hiked… Do you have any anecdote?

Yes, I started and finished my journey hitch hiking. First I did it for adventure and I didn’t enjoy it for the anxiety of the moment and at the end I did it for the money.

In Germany, an Armenian guy that picked me up really freaked me out. He was very weird and didn’t talk much English. I was scared. He finally left me in the middle of Aleksander Platz, in Berlin. There was a storm and I was looking for a place to sleep. I was lucky to meet a Mexican couple that told me about a cheap place to sleep: the ONE80º. It was only 8€ at that time.

When I finished my trip and I was coming back home I just was stucked for 3 days on a petrol/gas station in north east France. I finally found a car with spanish number plate and this person brought me to Luxembourg so I could have more chances to find a drive to Spain. There I met a truck driven by a Bulgarian former funerary make-up artist, I.Pavlov. At the beginning, he was wary because he was robbed before for some people but I was so desperate to get back to Spain that I through my wallet to his cabin and yelled: I’m a bloody baskian and I keep my word. I just want to go back home! I guess that worked because he replied: Baskian? Bulgarian and baskian are distant cousins. Get in the truck, kid, if you have guts!

 

 

What was your initial budget?

My initial idea was taking 6000€ for the trip but I finally left home with 5000€. In 7 months and a half I spent 4500€, including my flight back from Indonesia.

 

Did you have a daily budget?

I planned to spend about 12€ per day but depending on the country or the city, it’s impossible. My personal records are: Max.: Hong kong 53€ Min.:  Indonesia 2,5€.

 

Did you plan your trip in advance meticulously or it was improvised? Did you take any travel guide or spent many time collecting information about the countries?

Reaching Shanghai by train was a dream I had for long.

I planned it consciously for almost 3 years, but I finally quit my plan because I lost my job. I worked for 2 years in a row, 10 hours every day to save some money for the trip and to buy a car, Ford Escort xr3i cabrio to drive it around Europe, which was my previous idea. I sold alcohol near one of the most important truck parking in Spain. There, I made some contacts for my future trip.

I collected a lot of information about the places I wanted to visit, but once you are there, reality is different. Even if you plan everything very carefully, everyone lives its own story.

 

Which country did you enjoy the most and why?

Poland and China, definitely. Even if was hard at the beginning, it was exciting to live the EuroCup 2012 and so many interesting people. Traveling to China it has been a dream since I was a kid, and going there was amazing. Berlin is also a charming city.

 

What did you do in Berlin? I enjoyed the alternative culture in that city, kebab food and I managed to get a free ticket for a Linkin Park concert. I spent 7 intense days in that amazing city.

 

And what was your next destination? I took a train from Germany to Poland, to join the Football Eurocup 2012. I followed the Spanish national football team during 26 days and I saw the Spain-Croatia’s match. I spend 12 days on Gdansk’s docks, in Poland. Having baths on the Baltic Sea and doing acrobatics with a football ball on the street to get some money for the trip.

I spent 12 days in Warsaw, where I met my current girlfriend, Urszula, who showed me the real and amazing polish culture. I also loved the night life of Krakov.

Then I crossed to Belarus by train but I was intercepted by the authorities and forced to go back, because I needed a transit visa and I didn’t know. I had to stop on a ghost city in Poland, where I had to pay 40€ for the visa and I spend one day there to get the next train. On that city I met a couple of Argentinians that had the same problem than me, Silvia and Alejandro. They used to be a couple, 20 years ago, and now they decided to take the Transiberian together.

 

Did you have to work or beg for money to keep on traveling? How did you manage?

No, I planned my trip as a long holidays journey but I played on the Street with a balloon and people gave me some tips.

In Dansk, Poland, thanks to my add saying:¨2000km hijacking, my mum doesn´t know where I am¨, I got 20€ in 2 hours. With the money I collected, I was able to pay my hostel for 1 week.

In Red Square in Moscow I met a group of old ladies from the same region than me  and they gave me 20€ to call my mum. Actually, my mum’s call only lasted 10 minutes.

 

Would you do the same route again?

Definetely, not! Because I had a really bad experience in Russia and because it would not be that exciting the second time.

 

Where did you usually eat? (restaurants, supermarkets, street stalls,…)

I mostly drank, but eating…? (laughs)

I also have eaten hundreds of boiled noodles on the train. I cooked boiled rice in Khovsgol lake. I also spent 6 days without eating because of dengue fever, in Bali…

 

So where did you try the best food? Probably in China. I ate zurek (polish soup) in the best restaurants I found in Poland. I love it. Anyway, I ate the best dishes in Bali, Shanghai and Beijing restaurants.

And the worst was in Russia. Mongolia should have a special mention: beef, beef and beef and fermented milk.

 

What country you would avoid and why?

No doubts, Russia. Most of the people I met was very unfriendly with me. People in Siberia are unkind, cold and very violent, especially with a couple of vodkas.

My first day in Moscow I saw how a man was stabbed, at daylight time. And that was not the first time that I saw blood on Russian streets. The same night I was beaten very badly by a guy because I was talking with his girlfriend. I guess these experiences conditioned my stay in the country.

 

So your worst experiences were in Russia…

Yes, once, I was with my travel mate, and a man invited us to drink in a local bar. The owner had never seen a Spanish or French people. After 2 hours of drinking and laughing, they forced us to pay all the shots and drinks we all had, threatening us with some knifes. I spent 25days there. However, I enjoyed the wonderful buildings in San Petersburg and Petershoff and the impressive Moscow, where was born my travel mate Pierr, who traveled with me for 2 months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would you live in any of the places you visited?

I was very comfortable in Berlin, Hong Kong and Shanghai. This last city really caught me. I really didn’t want to leave.

                                                                                                                                                

So you found the nicest people in China, then?

In China I felt really loved. My 3 months beard was kind of attraction among the locals. People is extremely warm with foreigners (except with Japanese and Mongolians). But the happiest people I have ever met are in Indonesia. Their smiles are contagious. I spent about a month there and I stayed with my friend Arya, an indonesian doctor that I met in Poland, and whom I spent great times.

 

Is there any gadget or practical tool that you missed on your trip?

Maybe a camera or mp3. I didn’t bring any cell phone with me and I didn’t miss it at all. I enjoyed being disconnected from the world.

 

Do you remember what did you bring on your backpack when you left home and what was left when you came back?

I left home with a huge backpack full of things, about 25 kg.,  and I came back home with an almost empty bag but with much more weight on my words. I was 7 kilos thinner and stronger than ever.

 

Did you book accommodation in advance during your trip?

It depends. If I could, I booked in advance. I decided that in Kazan (Russia), after walking for 3 hours looking for a place to sleep and 48 hours, without sleeping, on a train.

 

Tell me a little bit about your future projects…

I’m currently writing a monologue that I  hope I can make happened in 2014. It combines poetry, aggressive humor and social critizise. I wanna make a presentation of my trip in a funny way.

I also hope I can make soon the route Alaska-Usuaya, crossing from north to South America in 2014. But, now it’s just a dream because I even don’t have enough money to visit my girlfriend, who lives 400 km. away.

 

In an Indonesian temple I found a sticker on a guard’s helmet and someone told me that the sticker, on a cat’s shape, belonged to you…what is it exactly Gateando Katooak?

 

¨Katooak¨ is the english writing of Katuak, that means cat in euskera language and is the name of my brand’s designs.  It’s a street cat that I designed and I stick on different places where I traveled. That cat enjoys of its freedom. It’s a viral marketing project that conquered 2 continents, 4 seas, the biggest lake in the world, the least unhabited,…

 

Some funny experience….

Fortunately, so many! I remember chinese people always wanted to take pictures of us and I met people that took pictures of me in different points in Asia.

 

Some risky experience?

Four french friends and me, camping in Mongolia in august. At night, we almost die from hypothermia.  I’m the typical  tough baskian guy, but even with all my warm clothes and my sleeping bag for winter, I couldn’t stop trembling and I started to feel unconscious for the low temperatures.

 

Something shocking…

Vagabonds and beggars in China.  Many kids mutilated, even without eyes, nose, ears. Also it was very shocking to visit Auschwitz Bikernau.

 

A good memory of your trip?

My current girlfriend, Urszula, is my best memory. I met her in Warsaw, during the Eurocup 2012. Even if I left her to continue my trip, I came back for her 4 months later to meet her in Madrid, where she’s currently living and working. Also Mongolia’s skies: I have never seen the stars so bright and nicely. Also the arrival to Shanghai’s docks. A dream that came true.  I found the asian beauty sailing The river Li, near Guillin. I saw myself at the top of my trip

when I reached the Pearl Tower in Shanghai.

 

A landscape…

So many! Baikal lake, half frozen, Mongolia at night where you can see the stars so clearly or the views from the mountains that are mixed with Gobis’s desert.

Sunsets in Indonesia’s beaches and definitely south China: Guillin o Zhangjiejie.

 

What did you think you learned on this trip?

Besides learning English? (laughs) Seriously, I learned to enjoy of my loneliness. To find soultions to daily problems by myself, without anyone’s help. And the most important, I learned how to get on well with life.

 

So, finally,  how many countries did you visit and how long did your trip last?

I started my trip in Spain and then I went to France, Germany, Poland, Bielorussia, Russia, Mongolia, China, Malasya, Indonesia, Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg .  But the most important is not how many countries you visit but what do you learn once there: from their people, culture,…