Exotic itineraries and raw narratives to inspire independent travelers and audacious backpackers — Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, North Korea and beyond.
I don't write about the places everyone goes. I write about the ones they tell you to avoid — the ones that change you. Hitchhiking to Timbuktu, wintering across Russia at −31°C, sailing past the Antarctic Circle, driving solo through northern Afghanistan.
João Leitão — author, explorer, tour operator
No money, no ticket — hidden behind a fish-truck seat at dawn, flown home with the lobster.
A painted Tata truck, walls of snow, convoys — and chai from a battered pot at altitude.
The biggest genre travel blogging ever produced — every blog checked by hand. One in three is gone.
I re-checked all 2,111 blogs this site ever listed — one in three is dead. The 1,375 still alive, verified one by one.
Babylon, Erbil, Hatra, Samarra, Ashur and the Marshes — through my own visits since 2009.
A month across northern Iraq by camper van — evacuated from Qiz Qapan in the middle of the night.
4,383 km solo — Saint Petersburg, Moscow and the Golden Ring in the dead of February.
The flattened Old City and the living city beside it — less than a year after liberation.
Hitchhiking Central & Eastern Europe — Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland.
The beginningMacedonia, Serbia & Montenegro, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and Poland — solo through the Balkans.
BackpackingSolo hitchhiking to West Africa. Flew home on a fish cargo plane out of Mauritania.
HitchhikingPortugal → Senegal & Gambia via Morocco and Mauritania. Held two days at the berm near Gueltat Zemmur.
OverlandKazakhstan and Uzbekistan — evacuated from Tashkent after suicide bombings; Kung-Fu To'a in Iran; overland to Turkey.
Central AsiaOne month, 5,000 km, −33°C. A road trip most people call a very bad idea.
Road tripTwo weeks and 2,900 km through the island's countryside and less famous corners.
Road tripBackpacking across the Middle East.
Backpacking4,000 km in a 1986 Moskvitch from Hungary — right after the Russian-Georgian war.
Rally4,000 km in a 1986 Moskvitch from Hungary to Armenia — weeks after the Russian-Georgian war.
RallyOverland along the mined railway corridor between Nouadhibou and Choum.
ExpeditionRomania, Moldova, Ukraine — and Transnistria.
UnrecognizedSolo hitchhiking and driving through Iraqi Kurdistan.
OverlandCrossed from Uganda at dawn on independence day — among the first travelers into the world’s newest country.
FirstSouth Sudan → Uganda via the DRC. Surrounded by a mob, rescued by Moroccan UN peacekeepers — then malaria.
Survival3,000 km through the Sultanate.
Road trip6,500 km banger rally from Hungary to Kyrgyzstan.
RallyDriving my own car through Mazar-i-Sharif, Baghlan, Kholm and Kunduz.
OverlandBackpacking the country end to end.
BackpackingThe big one — RTW from 2013 into 2014.
RTWGuyana, Suriname and French Guiana — South America's forgotten corner.
BackpackingBy boat through Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, sleeping in a hammock.
By waterFour months and 13,350 km driving South America top to bottom.
Road tripTwo-week expedition crossing the Antarctic Circle at 66° south.
7 continentsPanama to Mexico by backpack.
BackpackingJoining a political thematic tour into the D.P.R.K.
RareSolo around the country.
BackpackingOne month, 9,000 km — Zimbabwe, South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia.
Road tripClimbing Fogo in the Cape Verde archipelago.
ClimbBaghdad, Najaf, Karbala and Basra.
Deep travel19 hours from Aswan to Wadi Halfa, sleeping on deck under the stars.
By water38,000 km across Central Asia and the Middle East — the Pamir Highway crossed in winter, with a toddler.
Van lifeWalking the old city six months after the war for it ended.
FrontlineExploring the valley of mud-brick skyscrapers.
RemoteTwo weeks and 3,000 km behind the wheel across the Kingdom.
Road tripDriving the reopened highway during the war — airstrikes and tank fire within earshot.
FrontlineBack under new rule, eleven years after driving it alone.
ReturnA different country — reaching the Ancient Villages after fourteen years out of reach.
ReturnLeading group expeditions to Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt and the Sahara.
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Author of this adventure travel blog, sharing stories from 146 countries across all seven continents .
I'm also the CEO of an adventure tour operator specializing in unique, off-the-beaten-path destinations. When I'm not writing, you'll find me leading desert trips from Marrakech or guiding groups through Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq.
Asia · Guide
Hidden attractions, lakes of Band-e-Amir and the roads few will ever drive.
Asia · Rare
Inside the D.P.R.K. — the world's most closed country.
Continent 7/7
Crossing 66° south — expedition beyond the Antarctic Circle.
Iraq · Rebuilding
Walking the old city six months after liberation.
Road trip · 3000 km
Two weeks solo behind the wheel across the Kingdom.
Arabia · Remote
Yemen's valley of mud-brick skyscrapers.
Europe · Unrecognized
Tiraspol — capital of a country that doesn't exist.
Winter · −33°C
5,000 km alone through the Russian winter.
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