About the Trip – An Overview
The idea of the trip was born a couple of years ago when my time in New Zealand seemed to have come to an end. Instead of flying back like all of my fellow students did, I figured that it would be much more fun to actually drive all the way back to Europe. Travelling overland along the old Silk Road, the way Marco Polo travelled many centuries ago, crossing India, Pakistan and the heart of the Middle East seemed to be a fitting adventure before returning to an organised life behind the office desk again.
Over time, the trip – as we from then on named it – evolved to something more than a mere Silk Road crossing to a quite complex half-way round the world expedition. This was mainly because we both had become increasingly fascinated by South-East Asia. Sarah of course had always been predisposed through her genes and her living and working in Bangkok for almost two years had made these bonds much stronger. As for me, it has always been curiosity about an exciting part of the world Westerners can probably never fully understand. The fact that many of the countries have long been off-limit and have only recently been opening up for tourism was also a bonus.
Looking at the other end of the Silk Road, we also figured that going from Turkey straight to Greece and then "home" was not enough to satisfy our curiosity. Why not, we thought, add the heart of the Middle East to the trip? And go via Jordan, Syria, Egypt and North Africa to Germany. By doing so the trip would combine both ends of this half of the world – Asia on one and Africa on the other end, with the Middle East in between.
There was also one other thought: what could we make differently, what could we do to make the trip more rewarding, more interesting, and lift it beyond a mere adventurous drive? We spent countless hours checking the net, checking sites, reading stories, watching travel pictures and videos. Most of the sites were mainly travel blogs without focus on photography. So, with both of us serious photographers (although amateurs) and keen writers, we set out to put main emphasis on high quality, crafted pictures which capture the atmosphere and bring the spirit of such an adventure across – in other words, which make you want to be there.
We are not saying it hasn't been done before and doing it by motorbike is also far from original. And, of course, when everything is said and done, the trip is also about itchy feet and seeing the world before it is too late. We are all travellers, one way or the other, but being on the road for so long is not getting from A to B anymore. It also takes you back to yourself, clears the mind and makes you realised that a lifetime is probably not enough to see it all.
No reason not to give it a try though, and we would like to show you what's out there.
Once we begin the trip, the images in this website will be updated regularly, so check back to see where we're up to.