Fast To Slow-Mo Travel a la Arimo

I hope you don’t start getting sick of reading my Wander Lover series. Because in the contrary, the more I have to write on the series, the more excited I am for a chance to travel more into other blogs and bloggers. 😉

And it’s 2018 already, so this post is gonna be the first series in 2018. Aren’t you excited?! *no with flat-faced*

Anyway, from all bloggers that I have featured, you know what kind of travel blogger that I haven’t featured on the series? Yup, a long-term solo traveler!

So, I am glad to get connected with Arimo, a full-time traveler who started his journey since May 2016. He is currently managing Arimo Travels with travel slightly combined with psychology niche. Sounds interesting, right? 

Arimo Travels: The Sequel of ‘Arimo Writes A Blog’

Just like the headline of his blog: a 26-year-old Finnish man on a 2-year trip around the world.

The first thing that crossed my mind when I found out that he’s Finnish was this lame joke thrown by one of commanders that I flew with when I was working as a flight attendant.

There was this Icelandic captain with a Finnish co-pilot, so when we landed in Riyadh and we got off the plane, I casually asked “Finished?” referring to the flight.

And he was like, “No, I’m Icelandic. He’s Finnish” while pointing out his co-pilot. And you know what you should do when your boss told you a lame joke? You forced yourself to at least smile. 🙂

Okay, back to Arimo…

Arimo Travels blog isn’t his first blog, as before then he used to have a blog called “Arimo bloggaa”, the Finnish term for “Arimo writes a blog”. So when he finally started Arimo travels, he just decided to continue the same simple naming logic for the blog.

He has worked as a journalist before, and he also put his studies on an indefinite hiatus to travel the world. Even before he started his journey in 2016, he has always had different platforms to share his writing and projects. Therefore, there’s no question why he decided to write a travel blog from the road while traveling. 🙂

Despite the name of the blog using his own name, the blog itself is not just about him. No, no worries. He’s not narcissistic like me. And for that, the blog itself focus a lot on travel tips and destination guides that let him help others on their travels.

And believe me, when I checked out his blog, you guys could totally learn a thing or two because that’s what happened when I traveled around his blog! 😉

Mind you, traveling is not all sprinkles and glitters!

As someone who simply can’t afford to be a full-time traveler, of course I would think that those who are full-time travelers are so lucky!

But then again, it’s not entirely true. I mean, if some sucky thing could happen during my 2-week travel, imagine what could have happened if I had to get on the road every single day? And that’s what has happened with Arimo.

But thanks to his psychology background, he has actually combined the knowledge of psychology that he’s got with his traveling style to be presented as more and more stories on his blog. 🙂

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One word that sums up what travel means to Arimo: PERSPECTIVE

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As for this, he likes to give a full and honest picture of travel life. He tells it as it is, even on the shitty days.

And the challenges he’s had, more often than not, are something to do with bureaucracy rather than people or destinations. It gets me wonder, if he, the Finnish passport holder faced this kind of challenge, imagine me being the green Indonesian passport holder? Hmm.

And one of them happened when he wasn’t allowed to board his first flight from Tonga to New Zealand as he was aiming to leave New Zealand to California afterwards in a cargo ship. The problem had raised when one of the immigration officers was so initiative, she assumed the name of cabin, Eigner 801, stands for Engineer 801.

Honestly, woman… It’s not like he’s a stormtrooper that needs number just because of his profession. 😛

But despite the challenge though, I was so wowed with the fact that he actually took the cargo ship to across the ocean. I mean, it’s so cool… It’s like Life of Pi, except thank God without the challenge of staying alive!

Carpe diem attitude, anyone?!

When asked about his most memorable traveling experience, Arimo mentioned that he’s not so sure whether he wants to collect memories as he mainly wants to focus on the present moment. That would do, I suppose.

Although he later told me that the memorable experience happened on his first solo backpacking trip in Europe over five years ago. He arrived in Zurich main station in Switzerland quite late in the evening without a place to stay. He was planning to sleep at the station as he didn’t know it would close for the night until there was this local woman who found him wandering at the station and offered to host him at her home.

According to him, this event has had a big impact on life. He didn’t tell me what happened though, but I suppose I’d place one bet of $50 that they later hooked up and they were probably together for quite some time. So now that you’re reading what I’m thinking, please keep me (and my readers) updated Arimo and give me the $50 if I was right! 😛

And there’s one thing that we’re both on the same page: the way to travel. He would recommend flightless travel as a way to move around. As in, he recommends taking buses and trains for a few hours at a time and stopping at smaller towns on the way.

I mean, I love road trip more than anything! And I agree with this, as even when you didn’t stop anywhere, you could actually some scenery rather than just the cloud outside the window of the airplane. 😀

What’s Next For Arimo Travels?

Recently, Arimo just made a vote for his followers to decide his next destination. The two options are Africa or Central America, and the winner is… traveling from South Africa to Kenya!

This month is gonna be month he starts his journey after he’s volunteered somewhere in Mexico City. For the journey in Africa, it will probably take him around 3 months to cross the distance overland. So, check his blog further for the update! 😀

The BeauTraveler on Arimo Travels

Even at the first glance on his blog, I think I love the part where Arimo put ‘The Psychology of Travel’ as one of the main menu. This part stands out that make his blog different if compared to other bloggers. Plus, he’s got psychology background so it’s like he just put two and two together! 😀

I was specially intrigued when I read the post ‘An Atheist’s Review of Vipassana Meditation Retreat‘. First of all, I’m not so sure whether I could make it to finish 10-days to just meditate. But when I see the tag was ‘Bogor‘, I was like… Wow, I’m kind of interested to try. Should I try it?

I am now actually considering it.

For the recent post, I love how he has written the dynamic of his traveling style and how he has changed the way he travels after 18 months on the road. I mean, from my perspective, this post is so humane that it shows you how traveling could change you and the way you live.

One of the change happened throughout the months he has traveled is that he used to travel in a fast pace in earlier days, currently he travels slower and he stays longer in one place rather just to keep himself on the move.

You can’t be the same person as you were one year ago. Even you don’t want that. Because life itself is about change. Whether the change is good or bad, it’s just a matter of perspective.

Arimo has covered almost all around the world, so I’m sure he’s seen a long that changed the way he is right now. 🙂

For more traveling tips, as well as other things that you could learn from Arimo, please check out his blog here for more stories. Cheerio! 😀

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