The lively eyes and chiseled face of Boyan Nikolov are the things that first impress – those are a sign of openness and strong spirit. A year ago, inspired by Odysseus’ trip, he headed a kayak on his trails across the Aegean Sea. After one month and 1,000 km behind his back kayaker Boyan Nikolov is now the first Bulgarian ever, who followed the entire route of the legendary Greek king. The success of the project brings the idea on a new one and twice as big this time. The next challenge was named Three Seas, its route was 2,200 km long and those had to be covered in 2 months. The idea of the charismatic adventurer was supported by Sofia Municipality and implemented within Sofia’s candidacy for European Capital of Culture 2019.

The Three Seas adventure: across the Black, Aegean and Ionian ones started on May 1 and finished successfully on July 4.

“The initial idea was to start from the town of Silistra along the Danube, then the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara and down to Marmaris in the Aegean Sea,” Boyan says. “However, I had to change the route due to the permission regime through the Bosphorus. Thus I went from Silistra to Rezovo /in the Bulgarian aquatory of the Black Sea/, then by car to Alexadroupoli, Greece, and from there I rowed to Igoumenitsa, which is practically the whole continental part of Greece.”

The first half of the trip appeared to be toughest due to bad weather and the fact that Boyan was behind schedule and had to catch up. He was tired by the cold, wind and rains along the Danube, but he recovered while rowing. However, the quite hostile Black Sea proved itself as the greater challenge. There were heavy moments across all the three seas, though. What was Boyan’s luggage?

“Leaving the food aside, there was barely any luggage. I had only two pairs of clothes: one for the sea and one for the land. I carried a lot of food and water, because I didn’t want to stop for shopping, wasting time this way. Then I ate it all and my luggage got lighter. One way or another, on even dates I ate spaghetti, on uneven – rice, some tuna cans, tomatoes, salads and supplements.”

The adventurer used to sleep in a tent on beaches and at camping sites from time to time. He would get up at around 8:30 am, have breakfast, drink a cup of warm coffee and he get ready for another day at sea.

“My usual working hours were 10 to 12, 1/3 of those being rests. I rowed for about an hour, an hour and a half and then I stepped out of the sea for a rest. I was covering a bit over 30 km per day on the average. However, there were days with even 60 km, because in strong winds I got behind my schedule and had to catch up in better days.”

Boyan says that nowadays, thanks to cell phones and Internet one can’t feel loneliness even at sea. His destiny was to meet other adventurers on his way. One of them was a 72-year-old Swiss guy on a two-month-long motorcycle trip. “When I needed communication, I stepped out into some settlement and people would come to talk and ask about my journey,” the adventurer says. One proves himself during such trips, because it’s all up to nature and him.

“At certain points one feels very tiny. In the periods of exhaustion I felt that I had no strength to cope even with the slightest possible problem. It wasn’t something physical, healed by food and a good night sleep. I am talking about fatigue that prevents your real judgment of the situation.”

What can we expect from Boyan over the next year?

“I don’t know, I haven’t had enough rest yet. I am not sure whether a change in the format won’t be a good idea. For instance, something shorter and pretty extreme, such as traveling around islands – the Cyclades, the Dodecanese…”

In the end of our meeting I asked Boyan what was necessary for a travel like his. “Will, mostly will,” he answered.

English: Zhivko Stanchev