Traveler from Kazakhstan tells about his trip around the world

Just six months ago, Kazakhstani Arman Aubakirov was an ordinary manager in a large company in Kazakhstan, but one day he decided to quit his job and start an exciting and unpredictable journey around the world.

He has been to 25 countries over these last six months. Arman told Tengrinews about his adventures and impression from the trip as well as gave advices on how to plan the journey.

He first thought of traveling around the world two years ago. It was then when he started studying countries and getting in touch with his friends from all over the world.

After a thorough planning, he told about his route on Facebook and asked for help.  

This is how his route looked liked. Photo courtesy of Arman's post at Yvision.kz.

The video from his YouTube channel called Run for Your Dream.

His journey started in Kazakhstan. He first traveled to post-Soviet countries and then to Europe. After that he flew to the United States from Portugal, whereupon he went to Latin America, Australia and Asia.

“Most of the time I traveled by bus and train. I rarely stayed in hotels, I mostly lived at my friends’ places or at my friends' friends. I also used Couchsurfing. I was surprised that I had found friends in all cities. For example, in France I stayed with a family that works at our embassy. They saw a repost and responded to it,” Aubakirov said.

“When I was in Australia, I stayed with the relatives of a famous speaker Nick Vujicic, who was born without arms and legs. He is famous around the world for being able not only to fulfill in his life despite his condition, but also inspire thousands of people by his example,” Arman said. He spoke of Nick with special respect.

“Surprisingly enough, Columbia impressed me most. The cities (there) have a developed infrastructure, a favorable climate and it is very clean there. I was particularly impressed by Medellín city. It is the capital after all, but other cities are still great. (…) Indeed, when you stay with local people, you understand very quickly, what is so special in this country, its distinct features and people’s concerns. By the way, I noticed that one thing was the same everywhere – in all countries without exception people were complaining about their life and government be it in the United States, Columbia or Honduras. I understood that all people tend to complain,” he told Tengrinews.

According to Arman Aubakirov, one does not need to have much money to travel. For example, Arman has spent a little more than $5,000 including visa expenses, tickets, accommodation and food. He took only one backpack with him with only the most necessary things in it. “Don’t take a lot of things with you. For example, I regretted later not taking a smaller backpack. When you fly budget airlines, of course, you better take your luggage with you. For example, a ticket would cost me 40 dollars, but I had to pay 30 dollars for my luggage. If I had planned it in advance, I would have saved more. Therefore, take a small backpack with you,” he warned.

Arman intends to continue his journey. Having been to almost all continents, he recommended avoiding popular tourist sites. He believes that it is much more interesting to visit places that are rarely included in guidebooks. A person can only learn about such sites when speaking to locals.  

During his trip, he regularly posted notes and videos on his YouTube channel, Facebook page and Instagram. 

Reporting by Aizhan Tugelbayeva, writing by Assel Satubaldina