Kazakhstan, Almaty area specifically, is country 100!

After doing an around the world trip in 2019 I set a goal to reach 100 countries in the next 5 years. I am happy to say I achieved it in just over 5 years by visiting 23 new countries during that time. Do I want to visit all 195/7+ countries? Nope, but there are at least 40 more I would like to check out in my lifetime.

During the past year or so I started thinking about where I wanted to go for country 100…I wanted it to be an interesting place for me. I put a lot of emphasis on where, revised the idea of which country to visit a couple of times and thought it would be Azerbaijan but when time came to make the trip everything shifted and therefore so did country 100. Azerbaijan is country number 99. Having to juggle destinations I thought maybe Uzbekistan would be good to do as 100 as it is gaining popularity for travelers now. About a month and a half out I realized flights from Azerbaijan to Uzbekistan all seemed to fly to Almaty, which is even farther away…odd…you have to go farther and then go back in time? I researched some and also realized I have a friend over there…well…close…they are in Kyrgyzstan, the neighboring country and just a few hours away so I thought if I go there I could also visit her since I’d be so close.

This all sounded great so in the end, I bought my flight from Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan instead of Uzbekistan and I couldn´t be happier with that decision! Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world so I decided to focus on the Almaty area only given I only had 6 days to explore. At 5 am coming off the plane at Almaty airport I knew this decision was correct as I was greeted with a wall of mountains before me as I stepped down the stairs onto the tarmac to load onto the bus. Even at -1C (30 degrees) the views made me excited for country 100!

Kazakhstan picked me, in the end it was destiny! All that thought put into where to go for months was useless…ha! If only I arrived at other life decisions with such flow!

What does it feel like to visit 100?

At the moment I am just happy I reached the goal and that I don´t have to keep pushing myself to travel. I still generally enjoy travel but the goal made me feel pressured…as cool as it is to achieve this, it’s a tiring goal especially once you have gone to so many places…at this point there are mostly less comfortable new country options. Tiring in the sense of planning it all, in avoiding scams, in delays, in putting out the fires (failing), in walking non-stop, in flying far away, in waiting, in pushing for your spot in line, in finding food, in staying in touch back home, in getting lost and finding your way, in packing and unpacking over and over again, in living out of a bag and carrying it everywhere, in figuring out the language, currency, transportation etc, trying to exercise, always being alone or always being social, changing climates and less than ideal infrastructure at times.

I feel like 100 is a big goal and there are not many of us who have visited this many or more countries. I only know 2 people personally. How many do you know?

What’s next for you and your travels? 
I am not going to completely stop traveling but I don´t have a specific goal now which is nice. I want to make a longer term home base somewhere again (2026) and will travel off and on as life allows. I would however like to complete a continent next, which will most likely be South America. That just sounds cool to me and I am very close! Also traveling more often with people would be a dream…come on friends!!!!

Lastly, I´ve slowly been returning to European countries I visited in my 20s to exploring more in depth since my 20s travel era was mainly lightning fast through a country (aka 1 city, maybe 24 hours) and now I prefer to see multiple locations to get a broader view, dive a bit deeper and really understand the vibe of a country/culture.

What is it like in Kazakhstan?

The people are beautiful, with soft features and smaller eyes, mainly what looks like Asian descent. I found myself very attracted to the men and thought the women were gorgeous. There is some mix though, some Russians, Germans, etc descent as well.

Kazakh language is a mix of what looks like Russian but in fact it is it´s own separate language and they don´t cross over, even the alphabet is different but neither I can read. Most Kazakh people speak Russian though since it was part of the Soviet Union at one time.

Infrastructure seemed well put together but I guess you still can´t really drink tap water in the cities (unless it´s from spring water in the mountains) so maybe it´s still got a way to go. What I did notice though were nice roads and that there are sidewalks everywhere, even in villages! In the city there are plenty of bike lanes (though scooters were the thing here), lanes for cars, a metro (with only 9 stops) and good bus system. There is a lots of space, I mean it´s the 9th largest country in the world but in terms of how the city is, they have wide avenues and space for including everything including parks everywhere! On the map places look close by but walking felt like you had to go very far even if the streets were always filled with people walking everywhere! I guess some of this infrastructure and space is from the Soviet era but also Kazakhstan is an oil rich country so it has the resources to build well.

Beauty is all around, not just in the people but also the landscape. Especially near Almaty, views of the mountains take hold of you everywhere and they are huge mountains…7K to 14K feet high! Not just mountains but canyons, rivers and lakes too! Pair that with the crazy amount of horses that seem to wildly wander the landscape (maybe related to nomadic past), it was magical. Side note about horses, they are very important to the culture and they are also a major food source.

Oil, gas, minerals (bronze, gold, etc) are key exports and Kazakhstan has kept close ties with Russia and China. Gas was like 30 cents while I was there, which is pretty darn cheap! There is space to invest in agriculture and foreign investment for sure and it is slowly happening. The large amount of oil in Kazakhstan probably influences some of the bad traffic, since gas is so cheap…even with wide avenues and highways the sheer number of cars moving is quite high and it got bad by 6pm daily…which affected air quality…especially with the colder temperatures which make it stick around longer…yuck. Azerbaijan, another oil rich country also had this problem with cars and air quality…though it was worse there…cars wouldn´t move much for hours to get into the city center…just awful! (Azerbaijan did have campaigns to encourage commuting though)

The rooted history of Kazakhstan is of nomadic people. The Mongols and Genghis Khan took over in the 13th century but in the 15th century Kazakh Khanate let the nomadic people thrive and the Kazakh culture and language truely developed. The culture was somewhat squashed in the 18th and 19th century under Russian and Soviet rule. Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991 like many seem to have done in the region after the Soviet fall.

The origin of the Apple is from this area, the locals say apples used to be massive like half the size of your head but now are much smaller, aka normal. Alma is the word for apple in Kazakh which if you notice, Almaty has directly tied into it.

Local Tips for Almaty, Kazakhstan:

• Get a local sim so you can use Uber KZ (local version; it is different) or YandexGo for ride share
• You can get a free local sim valid for a day at airport; without local sim some local apps won´t work
• Bus from/to the airport is 92 or 72 into city, cost: 200T
• Download map 2GIS for local navigation, bus, coffee, etc
• Visit Kok Tobe on a clear day, sunset time, take bus 99 or 95 to base of hill, walk up, best view is walking up
• Do a group tour of the region, the groups are awesome, it´s cheap, very fun and culturally mixed!
• Hike around Almaty, either Big Almaty Lake or Medeu area
• Run or Walk Sayran Lake Park, views are wonderful (another run spot is around Central Stadium or Dynamo Stadium)
• If time, check out the Almaty Cental Museum, I missed it but know it is very worth it

A bit about getting to 100:
It was never my goal to get to 100, it just kind of happened. After reaching 77 countries on my around the world trip…I felt so close, I thought of course, I can do that! By the way, I have been traveling since forever but on my own since about 2004…

I have traveled since I was a kid, my parents took me to Canada and Mexico and some places in the USA too. In school I was always friends with the exchange students…In elementary I remember we had a Polish girl join our class and I was right there getting to know her…the same in high school, immediately drawn to the exchange students from Mexico, Germany, Romania, etc. Different cultures have always been a draw for me and one reason why I studied Spanish, then other languages and what keeps me wanting to explore more.

For me, it is all because I seek a deep immersion into culture, the closer I can get the happier I am…and that is any culture and I have dived deep in many different ways over the years but the best is always going to a place and being with the locals. When I lived abroad, of course I had American friends but I always had many more local friends…I was just always easily drawn to them more. I even picked my master´s degree program that had mostly international students…I had met my cultural match!

I´d say some of this fire for culture comes from my family or the city I grew up in…1) I´m half Italian and I´ve always just felt more Italian then American…ha but don´t worry, I know I am still very American…2) Seattle where I grew up is diverse, there are lots of Asians, Africans, Pacific Islanders, Scandinavians, Native Americans and other cultures mixed in there and I think that also influenced me growing up.

Since university the cultural deepness I sought out the most was from Spanish and Latin America and it lead me to achieving some major life dreams and spending quite a few years down in Latin American countries living, studying, working, volunteering, exploring, etc. While there I learned Portuguese, hit country 50 and got even more into sports! Now all my travels tend to have something related to sports..ha ha like a race, a bike packing route or a hiking agenda. My backpack for the last 6 years always has stuff for a run, bike and swim!

I am forever with a cultural curiosity…seeking out unique experiences and places…thinking about the next adventure and living life to the fullest most days.

Favorites
Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Peru, Guatemala and Nepal top out my current list.

For me, I am drawn to a colorful place, warm people, amazing nature, diverse landscapes and a bit of organized chaos. All of these give me that and some even give me great food too! The above 5 are in no particular order. I think the last thing that ties it all in is the awe I felt when I visited…something tugged at my soul in each of these countries.

I´ve enjoyed most parts of the countries I have visited, I´d say the only spot I disliked traveling to was San Pedro Sula (nothing against Honduras though, as I loved Copan).

Firsts and Most Recent New Country
North America besides USA, CAN, MEX was Costa Rica; most recent was Dominica
Europe was Romania and most recent was Andorra
South America was Peru and most recent was Guyana
Asia was Thailand and most recent was Kazakhstan
Oceania was Australia and most recent was New Zealand
Africa was Kenya and most recent was eSwatini
Antarctica is to be visited still!

In case you are wondering, I love revisiting places and often do revisit but I will usually find something new to see or change the experience there in some way. I also enjoy going with different people to places I have already explored alone because they often want to do different things or see things differently when they experience them. Playing the role of guide is also fun for me as I generally explored well and recall a lot about a place´s gems and sites and love to share it!

By the numbers:
Counties I´ve travelled to solo first: 78
Countries I´ve travelled with others first: 22 (not including many friends who I´ve visited abroad unless they traveled around also)
Countries I´ve ran: 81
Countries I´ve biked: 46
Countries I´ve swam: 39

In choosing where to go next I usually try to look for a destination that inspires me or places that peak my interest for whatever reason. I also enjoy finding places less people might visit or have on the radar…or at least go before it gets too popular. For instance, I have yet to go to Morocco…I do want to go but I feel like everyone has been there so I just need to shape my own adventure there and then I will go lol. Sometimes I pick based on friends there or a sports endeavor and sometimes all reasons collide!

My next destination is China and Taiwan and it will be a collision of all reasons :).

Other:

• What is the most transformative travel experience you’ve had? 
  • I think my trip to India, Bangladesh and Nepal really put into perspective how most of the people in this world actually live and what they must deal with to survive. I also had such an in depth cultural immersion that I didn´t miss much and learned more than needed sometimes.
  • Also Africa in general (less so in the North), showed me how simple and happy life can be for oneself even if conditions are less then ideal on the outside. How big the continent is, how scared people can be of it and how little they know about the amazing countries there!
  • Denmark, Sweden, Finland showed me how well put together a society can be. Not saying it is perfect there, just that they seem to care about their people and their needs the most and set up systems and infrastructure based on this.

• What is the most surprising destination you’ve visited, and what made it so? 
  • Egypt…it is mind blowing seeing what that civilization did! I mean the details and the magnitude is incredible!
  • Benin…A country I knew nothing about yet it offers so many interesting, historical and cool things…voodoo, african kingdoms, etc. I was very impressed!
  • Ethiopia…fascinating culture, just so different in every way and also such a crazy place.
  • Japan…what a culture, so clean, so respectful, so wow…unique in all senses!
  • Belarus…so hidden and so Soviet era preserved…it was a last minute trip to Minsk, my first dip into Russian language and to me seemed so wildly unique in Europe

• How has visiting so many countries changed your perspective on life and the world? 
  • Overall I am more open to the world and it´s people.
  • Having experienced many cultures I can generally understand where most people are coming from as I have examples or experiences within a culture or a similar one.
  • Most people are just like us trying to make life work with whatever they were dealt.
  • Most people are kind and caring…but the bigger the population the higher amount of rotten egg people you are likely to encounter. It is the same here as is there.
  • What is important to one nation is not as important to another and the same goes for how things are run, what works in one place probably has a reason for why it doesn´t in another place.
  • How history can really shape a population and create a reason for a population´s actions…for generations. Humans are so resilient!
  • Our lives as most know them are far from normal. Most of the world, like 80% or so, does not have access to many of the things we think are normal, like a book or enough food! To see the world this way is sad but absolutely amazing because your eyes open. You can see how hard people truly work to live, how happy they really are with what we call nothing, and how down to earth they are in the way they can make things work with the most surprising things, and how interested they are in you.
  • Be happy so so many things…for your education because without it you couldn’t read this, others would easily take advantage of you, and you would have more kids without planning or saving money. Be happy for your health because you don’t just eat rice, there are enough doctors in your town, you have vaccines and access to vitamins & nutrition needed to grow strong. Be happy you have seen a foreigner in your life or heard another language. Be happy for lights and heat and your electricity, that you have them and that they don´t stop working randomly or are scheduled.

Countries that might have you asking, You went where? Brunei, Togo, San Marino

My favorite “touristy” destinations worth visiting every time:
Athens, Italy, Japan, NYC, San Francisco, Cape Town

Recommended travel destination gems you should visit before the masses go and travel guides suggest it: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Senegal, Tasmania (part of Australia) and Slovenia (becoming more popular now)

Most diverse beauty in countries I´ve visited: USA, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, Italy and Ecuador (for compact and has it all)

Because it´s me –
Favorite Marathon course: NYC Marathon and Cape Town Marathon
Favorite places I´ve run: Copenhagen, Meteora, Zanzibar, Seattle, Bozeman, Cartagena, Buenos Aires, Panama City (Panamá), Valle de Viñales
Some memorable great rides: Cape Town (South of Cape Town to Chapman´s Peak and Boulders Beach), Chile (Puerto Varas to Ensenada), Albania (Down Llogara Mountain Pass), Colombia (Cycling out to Subachoque), Japan (Shimanami Kaido), Spain (Route to Tossa del Mar from Girona), Italy (cycling Bergamo to Lago d´Iseo), Sweden (Island of Visby)

Going to 100 countries means…you have had a lot of experiences, some are the same but there are always more.

Going to 100 countries means…you have a lot of travel memories to preserve and I do this in the least materialistic way I can…so I take a ton of photos, write blogs and journal! I collect postcards, flag pins, some currency and the occasional painting, book or other things.

Going to 100 countries means…I´ve eaten a ton of different foods but I think the best experience was when I was younger and traveling Europe, saving money by only getting street food…lol…then one evening I walked by a table in Rome and someone recognized me and invited me to join, so I ordered pasta from the menu…best pasta ever! I stopped eating only street food after that…food is worth trying and splurging on when you travel…favorite cuisines are Thai, Mexican, Indian, Peruvian, Vietnamese and Sri Lankan!