Thirty-seven countries in seven years on US$2 and some magic tricks

Here's a man who knows how to travel on a budget -- Keiichi Iwasaki has seen more with two bucks than most ever dream about

By Chris Anderson 14 September, 2009

Keiichi Iwasaki travelling through Iran.

The Telegraph.uk picked up on the story of Japanese Keiichi Iwasaki's seven-year bike trip through 37 countries with US$2 in pocket. On his blog, feel-the-earth.com, Iwasaki writes, "Mostly I am using bicycle, but sometimes I walk and sometimes using Handling boat. Usually I am show Magic trick on the street and Earn Money."

OK so his trip wasn't entirely by bike or on a budget of US$2, but it's still damn impressive, especially when you look at some of the maps of his routes.

The first leg of Iwasaki's journey

He left his home on April 15 2001 with just 160 yen and proceeded to ride around Japan for the next year before purchasing a one-way ticket to South Korea.

Since then he's racked up quite a list of experiences including climbing to the top of Mt. Everest and rowing from the source of the Ganges river in India to the sea. Iwasaki was quoted in the Telegraph article as saying, "'I thought to myself that 'My life will soon be over before I do what I want to do!'"

I think Keiichi Iwasaki might have gotten the life experience he was searching for, considering the list of countries he has traveled: South Korea, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech, Austria -- inhale -- Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, England, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Switzerland.

The latest update on his blog dated September 1, 2009 says he is currently in Chamonix, France.

Iwasaki's story reminds me of another recent post on CNNGo about Christoph Rehage's 4500km walk across China and the amazing timelapsed video of his journey.