"Most travel is best of all in the anticipation or the remembering; the reality has more to do with losing your luggage" 

REGINA NADELSON  

Stage 1: Preparation & Planning 

Planning this trip started almost a year ago when the idea of going solo, across what was formerly the greatest trade route in the world, came to me while reading a newspaper article on Marco Polo's travels along the Silk Roads. I knew I was finishing university soon and that I didn’t want to go straight into a job but would rather spend the time doing something completely different but equally challenging. But the problem was what to do and where to do it? Where in the world would give me the rich experiences and challenges that travelling brings such as discovering new cultures, traditions, cuisines and people, but without the English next door neighbours popping up every five minutes?

Yes I admit, I like to do things differently– no longer are the once mystical cities of Prague, Bangkok or Delhi of interest – with at least the former two having been taken over by hen nights or 18 year old gap year travellers. I am looking to enter the the troubled lands the Balkans, the countries of the former Soviet Union, the world of excessive bureaucracy, the mystical East and enjoy the challenges of a trip of a lifetime. These are the very same places that ancient traders once travelled through in search of a good deal for their wares.

I suppose to compare my travels as significant with those made by people over a thousand years ago is somewhat exaggerating the point. With modern transport (be what it may in some countries) one has unending options for comfortable and affordable travel all over the world. Nevertheless it is still a journey that few people have done in its entirety. To travel from the Western–most point of the silk roads to the Eastern-most point, from Venice to Xi’an has been done by so few travellers that it merits another attempt even in modern days. Most ancient traders would take years to complete such a journey, an unfeasibly long time that confined the majority, in reality, to trade rather more locally. Marco Polo, possibly the most famous of Silk Road travellers, took some 27 years to complete his journey. I propose to do it in just 5 months. 

Of course one could just sit on a train from Venice to China and be done with the Silk Road in a month. But to do so would be to miss the point entirely of “travelling” along it. Indeed one could just fly from Venice to China in a matter of hours and for many that is a satisfactory option for getting from A to B. But I feel that the Silk Road merits closer attention. I consider it to have a place and a role in the formation of civilisation and that this needs urgent exploration and resurgence. So I sit here having just obtained my first visa and having booked my flight out and return flight home wondering what I will discover, who I will meet, where I will travel, how I will rise to the challenge and when I will arrive at my final destination. But one question is, in my mind, already answered and that is why. I relish the prospect of venturing into relatively unknown but fascinating lands to return with the answers to these questions.