14 DAY TRIAL // Adventurous students, Nathan Wilkins and his friend James Warner-Smith, travel through ten countries for 21 weeks in a two-man boat. Starting from Nantes, France the couple went all the way to Istanbul, Turkey in what they believe to be the first travel across Europe, entirely by water.
Despite the fact that neither of them had any experience with canoes before, they managed to travel 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers) through France, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.
“We didn't do much training. I had never been in a canoe until two weeks before the trip and had never camped until our first night. It was such a long trip but a great experience. I really enjoyed it and I missed it straight away when we got back,” Nathan Wilkins says, according to Daily Mail.
In the 146-days journey, the two had their share of adventures after running into the Bulgarian police and traveling across a military firing range. Even if at times the trip got tougher than they expected, they kept going until they reached their final destination, the amazing city of Istanbul.
The best part of their trip was the challenge and the fact that they met new people, and experienced new things each day. When asked about the experience the two graduates admitted that France was the whole experience, both beautiful scenery and incredible food.
Even if they loved the Danube river and its amazing scenery, Wilkins said he left Romania with a bad taste, because the experience wasn't as he expected it to be.
In Bulgaria, the couple ended up walking across a military firing range that took them straight to the police department and had to be bailed out by a local in order to continue their trip. Because of the bad weather, they decided to pull over and take a break while the waters settled down but didn't find the best place to stop, as they got out the boat in the middle of a military facility.
The trip was sponsored by the Lord Rootes Memorial Fund from Warwick University and ended up costing more than $10,000 (€7,200). Even if it was quite difficult, the two enjoyed it and would be willing to repeat the adventure any time.