This is one of the few things that you would definitely want to add to your bucket list: hitch-hike to a faraway place, with nothing but a paper map to guide you through. An expedition of this kind is the perfect breather from the cold and distant virtual world in which all of us live in.

Boris Kanev and Marta Samalea, turned this into reality, when the duo decided to hitch-hike all the way from Bulgaria to India without boarding on a plane or using of a smart phone. All they had was a DSLR, netbook and an ebook to document their journey. The couple travelled across Asia in 511 days and entered India via Myanmar .

They however, made an effort to stay connected with the world by regularly updating their blogs and with the 'ancient' Nokia phone informed their parents about their location now and then. To get around places all they used was a map.

Moving westwards. Now mount Kanchenjunga materializes as a window view from our home in #Sikkim #India. pic.twitter.com/69zJNgoMlI

Roving Snails (@RovingSnails) May 1, 2015

Along their way they also adopted a kitten named, Burma for company.

#Travelling #Cat. The best companion ever. pic.twitter.com/5q23aFQtbJ

Roving Snails (@RovingSnails) April 11, 2015

According to the couple owning a phone nowadays is more inclined to comfort and aesthetics which overshadows necessity.

"Naturally, when we are offline we have more questions than answers, we look around, write and draw the thoughts that come. Without having Google to reply straight away, getting information turns into something like a treasure hunt game," Samalea writes on the blog.

"After a very long and dusty road across Tibetan mountains, a few sleepless nights, we were tired and Marta had a bleeding leg due to an unfortunate encounter with a nasty dog. We walked for hours the streets of Dege searching for anyone who could exchange US dollars for Chinese yuan to cover the rabies vaccine and a few nights of hostel stay to rest. As laid back as our travel may seems, it actually involves a lot of preparation." Kanev told NDTV . Unfortunate incidents are something that nobody can escape when they head out on a journey of this nature.

They said that getting a grip of the regional cultures was a far greater challenge than internet access. However, when it came to picking up languages the couple were quite adept.

"During our first days in every country we usually gather useful words and phrases, write them down and try communicating. The result is usually a lots of fun and misunderstanding, but people most of the time find it cute because it shows interest in their place." writes Marta Samalea

Photo: Facebook/Roving Snails Photo: Facebook/Roving Snails

Funny encounters and meeting quirky people are the best part about hitch-hiking through Asia. The cherry on the cake in all their travel diaries was of a Sadhu baba from India who spoke in English and claimed to communicate with God over the phone. A tad bit of irony to complete their story.

Boris Kanev and Marta Samalea set off on this magical journey in October 2013, for more interesting reads do have a look at their travel diaries at rovingsnails.com .