Category: Overland (Page 4 of 15)

In 1989, at the age of 51, Gunther Holtorf quit his job as an airline executive, packed up his 1988 Mercedes Benz 300GD he lovingly named “Otto”, and took off to see the world. A year later he was joined by Christine, 34, who later became his wife. The original plan was explore Africa for 18 months. After 5 years and about 100,00 km – 62,000 miles – exploring Africa, they decided to keep on driving.

Otto completed the journey with few modifications, retaining it’s original 3-litre 88-horsepower diesel engine. The original gearbox and transfer case have never been touched. It also the original axles and differentials. The journey was completed without electronics and little technology. They, for example, didn’t have a GPS, and only near the end of the journey did Gunther acquire a basic mobile phone.

Christine’s journey came to an end in 2010 when she passed away from cancer. Gunther continued on with her son, Martin, to honour Christine and to fulfill a promise he made to her.

In 2014, at the age of 77 Gunther returned home to Germany after being on the road for 26 years and having travelled 897,000 kilometres – approximately 560,000 miles – through 215 countries.

Gunther stated the best part of travelling independently overland is having the freedom to decide where and when to go.

Otto is now on display at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart.

Gunther and Christine are incredible inspirations.

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Home By Seven

Steph Jeavons is the first British woman to ride a motorcycle on all seven continents. And she did it solo, all on one trip, aboard a small Honda CRF250L. Her adventure took her to 54 countries over 4 years.

And she’s written about it in an upcoming book entitled “Home By Seven – One woman’s solo journey to ride all seven continents on two wheels”

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Twenty years later, and armed only with a stern tone of voice she reserves for naughty dogs, drunk Turks, Iranian taxi drivers, semi-conscious British soldiers and Saudi truckers, she rides her trusty steed Rhonda the Honda solo around the world, to the highest, driest, wettest, hottest and coldest corners of the earth. She gets caught up in a Himalayan landslide on the highest road on the planet, sails her motorcycle across the Drake Passage to Antarctica, crashes it in Colombia, and claims an unwished-for title as the first person to fall off a motorcycle on all seven continents, as she heads for home up the length of Africa.

This is a powerful and honest memoir written from the perspective of a liberated single woman taking on the world with a dogged determination to complete her mission at all costs.

This is a journey of self-discovery born from a need to shed some light on the darkest crevices of the soul. An inner drive that propelled Steph forward into the unknown and forced her to find her strengths, while exposing her weaknesses.

Find out more about the book »