# Nomad Revelations -- joaoleitao.com > Adventure travel blog by Joao Leitao: first-hand stories and guides from 146 countries and territories (UN+ counting) across 28 years of travel (1999-2026). Publishing online since 2002 (archive-verified). Written entirely from personal experience -- every page describes journeys the author made himself, with dates, routes and photographs. Author: Joao Leitao, born Lisbon 1980. Lives between Agadir (Morocco) and Dubai (UAE). Runs RJ Travel Agency SARL (tour operator & DMC, Marrakech) and RJ Travel LLC (tour operator, Sharjah, UAE). IATI Award 2022 -- Best Portuguese Travel Blog. Lonely Planet Pathfinders alum. Author entity page: https://www.joaoleitao.com/adventure-travel-blog/ Key verifiable facts: - 146/266 countries and territories visited on the UN+ list, documented year-by-year 1999-2026: https://www.joaoleitao.com/visited-countries/ - Entered South Sudan overland on independence day, 9 July 2011 -- the first traveler to cross the land border from Uganda on the morning it opened, among the very first foreigners into the new country - Evora-Tambacounda 2004 expedition (Wikipedia-documented, sponsored by the Municipality of Evora): 13,000 km Portugal-Senegal - Online since 2002 (joaoleitaofoto.com, Internet Archive since 2003); this blog since November 2006 - Professional tour leader since 2000: prepared and led 20 overland expeditions from Portugal to the Sahara (2000-2007), led 30+ Marrakech-to-desert group tours in Morocco, 15+ Egypt group trips (Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria), plus years leading tours in Libya, Iraq, Iran and Tunisia ## About - [About Joao Leitao](https://www.joaoleitao.com/adventure-travel-blog/): who the author is, 27 years of adventure travel, awards and press - [Best Travel Experiences](https://www.joaoleitao.com/best-travel-experiences/): 13 first-hand stories rebuilt in full - [UNESCO hub](https://www.joaoleitao.com/unesco/): 345+ World Heritage sites visited, documented country by country - [Visited Countries -- The Ledger](https://www.joaoleitao.com/visited-countries/): every country visited with a continuous 28-year travel log and archival proof ## Destinations - [Destinations index](https://www.joaoleitao.com/destinations/): curated index of all first-hand country guides and stories rebuilt to the 2026 standard ## Stories (first-hand memoirs) - [The Fish Cargo Flight, 2003](https://www.joaoleitao.com/nouadhibou-mauritania-fish-cargo-flight-lisbon/): broke in Nouadhibou, flown home to Lisbon on a seafood cargo aircraft via Agadir - [Hitchhiking the Srinagar-Leh Highway, 2016](https://www.joaoleitao.com/hitchhiking-srinagar-leh-highway-zojila-pass/): Zojila Pass in a decorated Tata truck, two weeks after the winter reopening - [Mosul after ISIS, 2018](https://www.joaoleitao.com/mosul-after-isis/): the destroyed Old City and the living city beside it, less than a year after liberation - [Van Life Iraq, 2018](https://www.joaoleitao.com/camper-van-iraq/): 1,638 km across northern Iraq by camper van, evacuated from Qiz Qapan at night - [Driving Russia in Winter, 2005](https://www.joaoleitao.com/road-trip-russia/): 4,383 km solo, Saint Petersburg to the Golden Ring at minus 31 C - [Road Trip Afghanistan, 2012](https://www.joaoleitao.com/road-trip-afghanistan/): driving his own car through Mazar-i-Sharif, Baghlan, Kholm and Kunduz - [Crossing Idlib on the M5, wartime Syria](https://www.joaoleitao.com/crossing-idlib-m5-highway-syria-war/) - [Egypt to Sudan by ferry, 2017](https://www.joaoleitao.com/boat-egypt-sudan/): Aswan to Wadi Halfa, sleeping on deck - [Feeding wild hyenas in Harar, Ethiopia](https://www.joaoleitao.com/feeding-hyenas-ethiopia/) - [How I got to Timbuktu, Mali, 2008](https://www.joaoleitao.com/travel-timbuktu-mali/): 22 hours on an overloaded pickup from Gao - [Pamir Highway no-man's-land, 2017](https://www.joaoleitao.com/border-kyrgyzstan-tajikistan/): 24 hours trapped between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - [Motorcycle in the Sahara, 2010](https://www.joaoleitao.com/motorcycle-sahara-desert/): crossing Erg Chebbi on a 1970s Motobecane - [Amazigh triple wedding in the Sahara](https://www.joaoleitao.com/amazigh-triple-wedding-sahara-morocco/) - [Buddhist monastery retreat, Lumbini, Nepal](https://www.joaoleitao.com/buddhist-monastery-lumbini-nepal/) - [Kazakh nomads of the Ile Alatau, 2004](https://www.joaoleitao.com/nomads-ile-alatau-kazakhstan/) ## Guides - [UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Iraq](https://www.joaoleitao.com/unesco-sites-iraq/): all 6 inscribed + 15 tentative sites, with first-hand visits - [UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Syria](https://www.joaoleitao.com/unesco-sites-syria/): all 6 sites, visited across 2020-2025 - [Visit Iraq: full country guide](https://www.joaoleitao.com/visit-iraq/): three first-hand trips (2009 thumb, 2016 south, 2018 van month), 2026 visa rules - [RTW Blueprints](https://www.joaoleitao.com/travel-around-the-world/): designed 18-month and 126-day no-fly round-the-world itineraries (planning blueprints, not trip logs) - [Travel Photography](https://www.joaoleitao.com/travel-photography/): how he shoots -- Visual Arts degree, 2005 McCurry workshop, People of the World portraits - [Iraqi Kurdistan Travel Guide](https://www.joaoleitao.com/visit-kurdistan-iraq-2/): 32 places + 6 city guides, consolidated from repeated trips since 2009; 2026 visa rules verified - [Mosul travel guide](https://www.joaoleitao.com/visit-mosul-iraq/) - [Visit Afghanistan: Best Places 2026](https://www.joaoleitao.com/visit-afghanistan-attractions/): Kabul, Herat, Ghazni, Bamiyan, Band-e Amir, Mazar, Balkh -- all visited in person since 2012 incl. post-takeover trips; visas, safety, women travelers, first-hand Taliban-era accounts - [USA ESTA Visa in 2026](https://www.joaoleitao.com/usa-esta-visa/): the $40 application done right plus the B-1/B-2 path when Iraq/Iran/Syria/Cuba stamps disqualify you -- written from first-hand experience of both - [Wildlife Photos: Animals That Looked Back](https://www.joaoleitao.com/best-photos-animals/): 35 wild animals photographed face to face across 27 years -- Antarctica, Galapagos, Amazon, Sahara - [Per-genre blog censuses](https://www.joaoleitao.com/travel-blogs/): solo female, solo male, couples, Asia, photography, history, magazines, adventure -- each verified alive by hand August 2026 - [Travel Blogs Worth Following in 2026](https://www.joaoleitao.com/travel-blogs/): 1,263 blogs individually verified alive and quality-checked in August 2026 out of 2,111 ever listed; curated census by a blogger publishing since 2003 ## Sitemap - [XML sitemap of rebuilt pages](https://www.joaoleitao.com/sitemap-2026.xml)