Meet the Nomads: Keiichi Iwasaki

I was browsing Twitter when I came across a Tweet that captured my attention. It’s about Keiichi “Kei” Iwasaki, a Japanese guy who left his home with only $2 in his pocket and biked his way around the world. I immediately clicked on the link that lead me to National Geographic webpage and read the story.

I was dumbfounded and amazed on how Kei managed to survive travelling for almost ten years. He left his home last 2002 and have been travelling ever since. He’s been to more than 37 countries and still living the life of adventure up until now. What’s even more amazing is that Kei earns his bucks by performing magic on the streets.

I love listening (or reading) great adventures of different people which is also my main motivation for “Meet the Nomads” section of my blog. I’m constantly inspired by them and I want to share the inspiration to you. I took my chance and sent Kei an email not really hoping for a response.

But after a few days, I received a response from Kei and without further introduction, here’s my short interview with one of the Greatest Travellers of our time… Keiichi Iwasaki.

How did you discover your passion for travelling?

“I was 21yeas old when I first flew out of Japan to Australia and I was so interested in other culture and countries. After that, I like travelling and I had a dream that one day I would like to see the world.

What’s the most horrible experience that you’ve had on the road?

“2003. When I was in Tibet, I was bitten by dog and I was really afraid of rabies because I thought that once you get infected with rabies you would die 100%. In that place where I was bitten, there were no doctors and no hospitals. It was completely on the countryside, there’s not even a train nor bus. Luckily, I wasn’t infected of rabies and I am still alive.

What’s the best travel experience that you’ve ever had?

“I climbed Mt.Everest. It was hard for me but it’s one of the most impressive and unforgettable experience.

What’s the biggest realization that you’ve got out of travelling?

“It is so difficult to live alone and people need to help each other. In some places, it is even difficult to get drinking water completely by oneself.

What keeps you going? What keeps you motivated?

“Curiousity to the place that I have never seen,and meeting new people and culture is alway interesting to me. If you are in a hurry to travel, I think I would be tired. But if you have no limit of time, you can move on your own pace. If you get tired you can rest. For me it is so difficult to live in one place.”

This is a silly and hypothetical one. If you would be given a chance to travel with a popular person or a celebrity, who would it be and why?

“It is difficult to answer this because I’ve travelled with more than 40 people and it is really difficult to do well with someone and I don’t know popular persons as well. But if given a chance to travel with someone, I would like to travel with a magician because I could learn magic from him.”

Where’s your favourite place in this planet and why?

“Nepal, because the landscape is fantastic and the food is nice and the people are kind. Italy, because there’s a lot of things to see and the food is nice as well.”

What’s your best tip for newbie traveller?

“If you have some (theme)goals in your travel, it makes your travel more fine.”

What’s the funniest and silliest thing you’ve ever done while travelling?

When I showed some magic tricks in India, I did a trick on changing a piece of paper into money. After the show, a lot of people brought a lot of paper and there’s this one guy who said to them “It is not magic. He can’t change paper to money.” After he said that, everyone left. That same guy called me to hidden place, and he was carrying some pieces of paper and said “Please change these for me.”

What do you think about yourself?

“I am just doing what I like. It is not that complicated.

“Since 2002 ,I have been traveling. When I left home, I only have 2$ in my pocket. I have never been back to Japan since 2002.” – Keiichi Iwasaki

Photo Credits: All Pics by Keiichi Iwasaki

Keiichi Iwasaki: One of the Greatest Travellers of our Time Check his blog at Feel the Earth

Next: Jason Webb of Digidrift. Previously: Lois Yasay of We Are Sole Sisters. For more interviews with travel bloggers, check out the archives of Meet the Nomads.