4 years, 22,000 km, 22 countries
This seemingly “crazy” journey lasted for 3 months and 17 days. However, the walk from Hanoi to Saigon was only a small part of his actual walking journey. By the end of 2018, Meigo had walked a total of 20,000 km in 22 countries in 4 years and 3 months. And Vietnam was the 19th country he set foot in on this huge journey! The trumpet player from Estonia shared that Vietnam is the country he has stayed in the second longest after India and is one of the places where he has received the warmest welcome from the people.
The 29-year-old man said he was inspired by people who had traveled like that around the world, and was urged to go, because “if you have a passion, you have to do it”. With a passion for travel since childhood, Meigo Märk started his unbelievable trip in May 2014 in the capital Tallinn of Estonia. His homeland is a country in northern Europe, 7 times smaller than Vietnam and has only 1.3 million people.
Meigo planned to walk around the world six months in advance. He packed a small backpack with two raincoats, a waterproof sleeping tent, a small pocket camera, a voice recorder, and a few sets of clothes and set off to explore the world. He started the trip with only 15 euros (about 300,000 VND), two bottles of water and some prepared vegetables.
Meigo's journey of walking over 20,000 km through 22 countries.
As a vegetarian and a tent sleeper, Meigo's expenses for food and living are not too expensive. A year after the journey, Meigo sold his small house to have enough money to continue the trip. He also has additional income from selling music, selling photos and organizing online donations to have more money to make his dream come true.
memorable Vietnam journey
In December 2016, Meigo arrived in Vietnam after a 15,240 km journey. From Lao Bao border gate, he followed National Highway 9 to visit Cua Viet beach in Quang Tri. Here, Meigo bought his first paper map and followed the Ho Chi Minh trail to Vinh, then to Hanoi. In Hanoi, he volunteered to teach English and was given empty rooms in many people's houses to stay in. Initially, Meigo planned to go north from Hanoi to China, but he could not get a visa, so he stayed in Hanoi for a month and then changed his plan to go south.
Leaving Hanoi, Meigo went to Hoi An, Da Nang, Quang Ngai, then to Kon Tum, Pleiku, Buon Ma Thuot, and then continued to Da Lat before going down to Ho Chi Minh City. Like that, every day he usually walked 25-50 km in 5-11 hours, the total distance Meigo walked in Vietnam was more than 3,000 km.
In February 2017, Meigo's mother flew to Da Nang on his birthday. Meigo and his mother had a very special two weeks here. "Because I was only going on foot, my mother and I bought a bicycle, then loaded our things on the bicycle. My mother rode the bicycle and I ran. Just like that, we traveled nearly 200 kilometers from Da Nang to Quang Ngai" - Meigo shared. He and his mother passed through many small villages, visited Ly Son Island, then she returned to Vietnam, Meigo sold his bicycle and continued his journey on foot.
Meigo and his mother in Vietnam.
Due to health issues, he paused his journey in August 2018 after continuing his journey to Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Soon after, the Estonian man returned to Vietnam and proposed to the Vietnamese girl named Nguyen Thi Sam, whom he had loved for two years since living in Hanoi.
The wedding was held in October 2018 at the bride's hometown in Thai Binh and 7 members of the groom's family attended. In March this year, Meigo and his wife welcomed their first baby girl, Maria Mai, who is extremely cute. Currently, Sam continues to work as a software engineer, while Meigo writes, sells photos, and shares videos of his journey. They are planning to continue the journey as a trio and will depart when their baby is strong enough.
Meigo and Sam's small family in Sa Pa.
"We will go at least 20,000 km more to fulfill my dream of 40,075 km - the length of the Earth's equator," Meigo said, holding his wife's hand.
