If you have read the last posts, you know that we are no longer on holidays. The first weeks of our journey, however, often felt like holidays. I think somewhere in Iran this feeling ended and traveling has become our life.

I notice a lot of changes around us, but also inside of me. You know you have spend too much time in Iran, when

• You check the best-before date when buying canned tuna
• You start knocking on watermelons because it makes you look like you know what you are doing
• You eat a watermelon a day
• You no longer accept any price. Instead you always ignore the first offer and you safe up to 50%.
• You take pictures of people taking pictures of you
• You start to like the water hose
• You have no idea if there are actually hotels in Iran
• You search for the next Red Crescent station on booking.com….and write a review afterwards
• You visit famous mosques, because they have the best air conditioning
• You consider pitching the tent on the road as soon as there is not much traffic
• You answer „I already bought one yesterday“ when you get offered a Persian carpet

You know you have spend too much time in Turkmenistan when

• YOU YELL AT EVERYBODY!
• You run towards people to stop them from doing things
• You throw things at people and animals to control their movement
• You buy a whistle, because it is better for your voice.
• You refer to the Karakum desert as „The widest beach in Central Asia“
• You marry, just because there is an amazing building for that
• You do not talk about the Turkmenbashi
• You put on a jacket below 40°C
• You wear a dress….and a head scarf for non religious reasons
• You know how to get money
• You had a great week in Ashgabat

You have spend too much time in Uzbekistan, when

• The police knows the content of your bags better than you
• You walk around on the black market like some war lord with a way too arrogant attitude just so you don’t get fooled
• You carry at least half a kilo of money in your hand
• You always order shashlik, because no matter how many dishes they offer, they only have shashlik anyway.
• You always count money, even when you got it from an ATM
• You bring your own toilet paper, but you „do not throw it in the toilet bowl!“

….and you have spend too much time in Uzbekistan, BECAUSE

• You have been registered by the highway patrol at least 10 times
• You can answer emails of the last three weeks while you upload a 1.5 MB image
• You were running around a whole day to find an ATM with actually money in it

You have spend too much time in Tadjikistan, when

• You found bottled water that doesn’t taste like sewage
• You roll down to 4500m
• You consider crossing the Sahara by bicycle challenging rather than impossible.