Mr. Van has just completed a 31-day cross-Vietnam trip by motorbike, traveling more than 6,000km through many provinces and cities.
After many years, he has summarized his own secrets to make long-distance backpacking trips easier.
Mr. Van believes that a smooth trip also depends a lot on the vehicle's condition and how to prepare luggage. According to him, the vehicle must be durable, have a stable engine, and good tires. Especially, tubeless tires should be used to limit incidents along the road.
Before each journey, he makes a fairly detailed itinerary, finds hotels or homestays on the map himself, reads reviews and then books rooms.
When he came to a new land, he often researched in advance to see if there was anything interesting or strange there to try and know.
He also did not bring too much luggage like many other backpackers.
Instead of bringing tents or cooking utensils, he prioritizes moving things lightly.
Luggage mainly consists of just enough clothes and a little dry rations always available on the car.
Backpackers always have food and drinks to bring with them. In the morning, if I can buy sticky rice or bread, I leave it to eat until noon. Many times when traveling on mountain passes or deserted sections, there are no shops. I stop to eat quickly, drink water and then continue to go to the destination early to rest for health," he shared.
According to Mr. Van, limiting sitting for long periods in the scorching sun at noon also helps the body feel less tired and avoid feeling sluggish when having to continue driving hundreds of kilometers.
What surprised many people even more was Mr. Van's fitness. Few people thought that an U80 person could still travel long distances without losing strength.
Sharing about this, he said that in his youth he studied judo, taekwondo, swimming, dancing, and soccer. Currently, he maintains yoga and meditation regularly.
Thanks to maintaining the habit of exercising for many years, some days he runs 300-400km, and on beautiful roads he travels more than 500km.
“Every day I do some yoga movements and meditate for about 15 minutes. Many people keep admiring and asking, why am I so old that I drive my motorbike for hundreds of kilometers every day. I laughed and said, what are hundreds of kilometers of flat roads, the problem is that when I get there, I still have enough strength to... climb mountains!”, Mr. Van humorously shared.
For the U80 old backpacker, each long trip to be complete cannot only rely on passion, but also needs health, preparation and accumulated experience after many years of roaming. These things have helped him be able to complete a journey of more than 6,000km across Vietnam at an age of "rare history".
