The INSIDER Summary:
• Travel writer and photographer Stephen Gollan spent a month and a half traveling around Afghanistan.
• He says the local hospitality is unrivaled, and that the scenery is beautiful.
• He thinks that it will become a tourist hub again, the way it was on the "hippie trail" through South Asia in the 60s and 70s.
Stephen Gollan can't wait to go back to Afghanistan.
The 28-year-old adventure seeker works as a lifeguard and manager at a swimming pool in Canada when he's not traveling. These days, that's less often, as he spends six to eight months out of the year visiting countries many travelers avoid, and writes how-to guides on his website, Uncharted Backpacker.
The US State Department warns against travel to Afghanistan due to the ongoing threat of militant attacks, but Gollan always dreamed of visiting. Finally, towards the end of 2015, he spent a month and a half drinking tea with local shopkeepers, riding buses through stunning mountain ranges, and exploring parts of the country that haven't been open to tourists in decades.
Stephen Gollan has traveled to over 80 countries, but Afghanistan holds a special place in his passport.
He was inspired to visit by people who followed the "hippie trail" through Kabul in the sixties and seventies.
Traveling on the "hippie trail" involved minimal planning and funds. Backpackers hitchhiked their way through European destinations, worked their way down through the Middle East, and ended up in Southeast Asia.
"I kept hearing from older people who had been traveling that Afghanistan was just phenomenal," he said.
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