Latest / The Overland Journal Podcast / Adventure Motorcycle Rider Henriette Thiim on Lessons Learned from 200,000 Kilometers of International Travel

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Adventure Motorcycle Rider Henriette Thiim on Lessons Learned from 200,000 Kilometers of International Travel · The Overland Journal Podcast

0:05
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I'm your host,
0:09
Speaker 1: Ashley Jordano, and today I have a special guest named
0:13
Speaker 1: Henriette Team, a Danish motorcycle adventure rider extraordinaire. Welcome to
0:18
Speaker 1: the podcast, Henriette. I'm so excited to chat with you today.
0:22
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, thanks for having me.
0:25
Speaker 1: So I'm in Canada and you're back home after a trip,
0:29
Speaker 1: right you just got home.
0:30
Speaker 2: I just got home. Yeah, I'm in Copenhagen right now.
0:34
Speaker 2: Very cold Copenhagen, but it's good to be home too. Yeah.
0:38
Speaker 2: I just came back from India. I was there two weeks,
0:40
Speaker 2: and before that, I spent three months in Northern Africa.
0:45
Speaker 1: I'd love to dive into your trips in both India
0:49
Speaker 1: and Northern Africa. I had been following your trip through Algeria, Moreitanian,
0:56
Speaker 1: Morocco a couple months, where you gone a couple months.
1:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, I started fifth of November and then I was
1:05
Speaker 2: there three months at total wonderful.
1:09
Speaker 1: So what I loved so much about your trip and
1:12
Speaker 1: following you and your adventures through that region was just
1:16
Speaker 1: like the absolute joy that was on you know, your
1:20
Speaker 1: joyous face giving updates from the field. Every day on Instagram.
1:24
Speaker 1: And it wasn't kind of like I'm here because I
1:27
Speaker 1: need to be, or I hear because I want to
1:29
Speaker 1: say that I've done this, you know what I mean?
1:31
Speaker 1: You were like I could see from your face that
1:34
Speaker 1: you were just having you were where you wanted to be,
1:37
Speaker 1: and you're having such an amazing time and that like
1:40
Speaker 1: authentic joy radiated from your face when I was watching.
1:43
Speaker 1: So it was such a pleasure to follow. But yeah,
1:46
Speaker 1: so thank you for sharing that with us.
1:48
Speaker 2: That is so spot on, you know it is. It's
1:50
Speaker 2: amazing to be in a situation where you can just
1:52
Speaker 2: say there's there's nowhere in the world I would rather
1:56
Speaker 2: be than right here, right now, with this setup, in
2:00
Speaker 2: this close, in this state of mind, Like often we
2:04
Speaker 2: have a tendency to dream of where we're going to
2:07
Speaker 2: be tomorrow or the next week or the next month,
2:10
Speaker 2: but to actually really feel that, wow, I am, I
2:14
Speaker 2: am just where I dreamt of being right now. And
2:19
Speaker 2: I just wanted to stretch it so much because I
2:22
Speaker 2: was so aware that it was going to be over
2:25
Speaker 2: in a few days, you know, like that right through
2:27
Speaker 2: the desert, I knew that I could probably do it
2:30
Speaker 2: in three days if I really went hard, but I
2:34
Speaker 2: just stretched it to six days because it was so amazing.
2:37
Speaker 2: But yeah, it was really a dream and I have
2:39
Speaker 2: to pinch myself honestly that I did it. Some days
2:42
Speaker 2: I'm just like, no, you did not just do that,
2:45
Speaker 2: But I did it and it was unbelievable.
2:48
Speaker 1: Really tell us a little bit about the route, because
2:51
Speaker 1: I think that that route through Algeria has been done recently,
2:56
Speaker 1: but it's not necessarily really popular and there are logistics involved.
3:01
Speaker 1: I'd love to learn more.
3:03
Speaker 2: Algeria is a little bit difficult because it's one of
3:06
Speaker 2: the countries where, first of all, you have to have
3:09
Speaker 2: a visa from your home country, so you can't apply
3:12
Speaker 2: from an embassy in another country. And it's it's old school,
3:16
Speaker 2: either physically showing up at the embassy with your passport
3:20
Speaker 2: or sending you a passport there. There's no eVisa, and
3:24
Speaker 2: they're very strict. They refuse a lot of people, and
3:28
Speaker 2: you have to have a fulletin area with all the bookings,
3:31
Speaker 2: and they will actually check whether it's real bookings. They
3:34
Speaker 2: will call the hotels and check if you if you
3:36
Speaker 2: really have made a booking or if you know, just
3:38
Speaker 2: mad like fake bookings. So they will te and then
3:42
Speaker 2: they're really strict on like you can't bring a drone
3:45
Speaker 2: or walkie talkies or you know, satellite devices stuff like that,
3:51
Speaker 2: and they will really search you very thoroughly. And then
3:53
Speaker 2: on top of that, you will also have like tourist
3:56
Speaker 2: police escort and military escort when you write through the country,
4:00
Speaker 2: and it's very difficult to get out of that. It's
4:03
Speaker 2: just standard for them. It's just a policy. It's not
4:06
Speaker 2: necessarily connected to a current threat picture or anything. It's
4:12
Speaker 2: just a policy. They do not want any visitors hurt
4:16
Speaker 2: in their country, and so it's just what they do.
4:19
Speaker 2: They have the staff for it, they have the vehicles,
4:21
Speaker 2: so it's just what they do. And none of them
4:24
Speaker 2: are gonna be the one to say, oh, yeah, you
4:27
Speaker 2: can just take off on your own, because that's not
4:29
Speaker 2: going to benefit his career, you know, like he's going
4:32
Speaker 2: to get into trouble if something happens to me. And also,
4:36
Speaker 2: in all fairness, some pretty bad things happened a while ago,
4:40
Speaker 2: you know, so did Anything's happen in many countries. People
4:43
Speaker 2: get killed everywhere, and so I don't think that there's
4:46
Speaker 2: a bigger risk there, but there is. Historically, things have happened.
4:51
Speaker 2: That justify the policy that they have, but it also
4:56
Speaker 2: means that I can't just you know, when I normally,
4:58
Speaker 2: when I ride through a country, I go right and
5:01
Speaker 2: left wherever I feel like it. But you can't do
5:03
Speaker 2: that there. You have to go with the escort. And
5:06
Speaker 2: even though they really try to accommodate you, and they
5:09
Speaker 2: will ask when you want to leave and which route
5:11
Speaker 2: are you're taking, then still it's I can't just go
5:14
Speaker 2: off road somewhere. I can't just stop in the middle
5:16
Speaker 2: of nowhere and talk to locals. And I did that sometimes,
5:20
Speaker 2: but they will Then you have like seven police officers
5:23
Speaker 2: next to you, and the locals that you speak to
5:25
Speaker 2: they just go whoa, you know. So it's it's it's
5:29
Speaker 2: not as an overlander. The whole point is to travel independently.
5:34
Speaker 2: That's the whole point of what we do. So to
5:37
Speaker 2: suddenly be locked into these escort guys is just really annoying.
5:42
Speaker 2: But still I had a feeling that Algeria was really
5:48
Speaker 2: like this duel that I had to explore, And mainly
5:52
Speaker 2: I went to Algeria because I wanted to cross that
5:54
Speaker 2: little border in the middle of the desert to Mauritania.
5:58
Speaker 2: That opened up, I believe, and a half or two
6:00
Speaker 2: years ago it opened up and I didn't know that
6:04
Speaker 2: that was an option. And when I met last year,
6:06
Speaker 2: I met a guy in Senegal who had just done it,
6:12
Speaker 2: and it just blew my mind, you know, I was like,
6:14
Speaker 2: what can you you do? That? Is that possible? Then
6:17
Speaker 2: since then I started to looking into it and have
6:19
Speaker 2: been planning ever since to do it. And it meant
6:22
Speaker 2: that I followed. So I crossed from Spain to Algeria
6:26
Speaker 2: in the far west, to a little port called Gaza Wet,
6:30
Speaker 2: and then I more or less followed along the Moroccan
6:33
Speaker 2: border in western Algeria all the way down to Tinduff,
6:37
Speaker 2: which is the most southern southwestern city in Algeria. And
6:42
Speaker 2: then after there it's like eighty kilometers down to the border,
6:47
Speaker 2: which is in the middle of absolute nothing, and then
6:49
Speaker 2: you cross into Mauritania. And it's so funny because it's
6:53
Speaker 2: not even like you know that there is like a
6:55
Speaker 2: three hundred meter stretch of asphalt. No, it's just straight
6:59
Speaker 2: into desert and then you have eight hundred and sixty
7:03
Speaker 2: kilometers through the desert before you hit asphalt again. And
7:07
Speaker 2: it's not a place that you don't see any overlanders,
7:11
Speaker 2: You don't see any other travelers. You might see another
7:14
Speaker 2: vehicle a day or something like one day, I didn't
7:17
Speaker 2: see any Yeah, if you stay kind of where the tracks,
7:20
Speaker 2: there are many tracks in the desert, but you might
7:23
Speaker 2: meet a vehicle, but it's you're really alone and it
7:27
Speaker 2: is just absolutely magical, but also difficult to plan, like
7:31
Speaker 2: it just in terms of carrying and off petrol to
7:34
Speaker 2: make it through that distance and water and food and
7:38
Speaker 2: making sure that you definitely do not cross the line
7:41
Speaker 2: into Western Sahara today called Morocco, because that is complete
7:48
Speaker 2: no go. But there is no border, you know, they's
7:51
Speaker 2: just open desert, so you just got to make sure
7:53
Speaker 2: you don't cross that imaginary line. So yeah, then you
7:57
Speaker 2: come to a city called Suarat, which from there then
8:02
Speaker 2: there's asphalt again connecting the rest of Mauritania. And Mauritania
8:07
Speaker 2: is a very very special country. It's like, first of all,
8:10
Speaker 2: only Sahel country like real Sahara where you can travel independently.
8:17
Speaker 2: Today you can't do it in Nigeria, you cannot do
8:20
Speaker 2: it in Mali, Niger, Chat all that is just closed
8:24
Speaker 2: and it's not safe at the moment. But in Mauritania,
8:28
Speaker 2: you can really enter deep deep desert independently and it's
8:32
Speaker 2: completely safe. I know. I mean, the whole stretch that
8:36
Speaker 2: I went through is categorized red in the Foreign Ministry
8:40
Speaker 2: on the Foreign Ministry websites, but that is I wouldn't
8:44
Speaker 2: say that that doesn't really reflect the reality at the moment. Honestly,
8:48
Speaker 2: Mauritania is completely safe. But it's really magical to be
8:51
Speaker 2: able to enter that huge desert independently. That that is
8:55
Speaker 2: just something very very special.
8:58
Speaker 1: How did you manage? You were talking about water and
9:01
Speaker 1: fuel and which bike were you writing.
9:05
Speaker 2: I was riding a two thousand and five Susuki deer,
9:08
Speaker 2: I said four hundred. Normally I ride a Hundas R
9:11
Speaker 2: F to fifty L. But I was in the desert
9:14
Speaker 2: last year and just realized that it's a little bit
9:17
Speaker 2: too heavy for the power that it has, and like
9:19
Speaker 2: going uphill on dunes and stuff. And when I say dunes,
9:23
Speaker 2: it's smaller dunes. I don't do like really big breaking dunes.
9:27
Speaker 2: But even in the smaller dunes, it was really struggling
9:30
Speaker 2: with the weight, and so I thought I wanted something
9:33
Speaker 2: a little bit more powerful and that was lighter as well,
9:36
Speaker 2: so the Deer's four hundred is pretty perfect for that actually,
9:41
Speaker 2: and it's still an adventure bike, you know, with it
9:43
Speaker 2: added a very big tank. So I exchanged the tank
9:46
Speaker 2: to a twenty eight liter, which is very big, and
9:49
Speaker 2: then I had three fuel bladders from Giant Loop. And
9:54
Speaker 2: then on top of that, I bought two ten liter
9:57
Speaker 2: canisters of fuel in Tindu, And I was really lucky
10:01
Speaker 2: that the military escort they accepted to take that for me,
10:06
Speaker 2: because that was too much weight to put on the bike.
10:08
Speaker 2: And so what I was hoping was that I would
10:10
Speaker 2: meet someone at the border, a local truck driver or
10:13
Speaker 2: something who would then be able to take that for me.
10:16
Speaker 2: I would be happy to pay for it, and then
10:18
Speaker 2: I would follow him and like then slowly use that
10:22
Speaker 2: patrol and then eventually let him go. And that's more
10:26
Speaker 2: or less actually what happened. So I was lucky that
10:29
Speaker 2: the military took it from the last town to the border,
10:32
Speaker 2: because at the border you cannot get anything. And then
10:36
Speaker 2: it was quite funny because then at the border there
10:38
Speaker 2: was nobody. It's a very big, very professional, super cool,
10:42
Speaker 2: like very clean border with clean toilets even and I
10:44
Speaker 2: tell you that's unusual because Nothing in Mauritania is clean.
10:48
Speaker 2: That's not in their culture. It is really really dirty everywhere.
10:52
Speaker 2: But this border building was just so professional. But I
10:55
Speaker 2: was alone there, so there was nobody to ask if
10:58
Speaker 2: they could help me. And then when all the process
11:01
Speaker 2: was done, I spoke to the immigration officer and asked
11:07
Speaker 2: him if he knew of anybody who was going to
11:09
Speaker 2: go into the desert, and he was like, hold on, maybe,
11:13
Speaker 2: and then he said, okay, hold on, I'm gonna get
11:17
Speaker 2: a car and you're gonna follow me, which I mean,
11:20
Speaker 2: imagine that at a border. Where does that happen anywhere
11:23
Speaker 2: in the world. And then he took the petrol, the
11:28
Speaker 2: petrol canisters and threw them in the back of his
11:30
Speaker 2: foe wheel drive and then we just took off into
11:33
Speaker 2: the desert like seven kilometers or something like that, and
11:36
Speaker 2: there there were these Saharawi camps. So the Saharawis are
11:40
Speaker 2: the local people living in Western Sahara and that like
11:44
Speaker 2: north northern Mauritania and southern Igeria. And since they have
11:48
Speaker 2: been pushed out of Western Sahara, which is all like
11:53
Speaker 2: it's a conflict down there about borders and stuff. There's
11:55
Speaker 2: a lot of people in big immigration not immigration camp,
11:59
Speaker 2: what do you call it? Refugee camps in southern Algeria
12:02
Speaker 2: and trade is happening, and I guess that's not really
12:06
Speaker 2: related to this situation. It's just like trade has always
12:09
Speaker 2: happened everywhere in the world, like people trade. That's how
12:12
Speaker 2: we live, right. So seven kilometers from the border there
12:15
Speaker 2: were these camps. It really looked like these mad Max camps.
12:19
Speaker 2: It was just so weird. And so this immigration office
12:22
Speaker 2: that he says, Okay, stand here and I'll be back
12:25
Speaker 2: in a few minutes, and he takes off, and it's
12:28
Speaker 2: just weird. You know, everything is super cool at the
12:30
Speaker 2: same time. And I have enough experience to just trust
12:35
Speaker 2: in these situations. I don't get frustrated or like nervous
12:39
Speaker 2: or afraid because I don't know what's going to happen.
12:41
Speaker 2: I just completely trust. And then after ten minutes he
12:45
Speaker 2: came back with another guy and this guy said, yeah, yeah,
12:48
Speaker 2: I'm going south. I can take your patrol. We can
12:51
Speaker 2: go together, and so he said, so, but just follow
12:54
Speaker 2: me first to this other camp. So we went to
12:57
Speaker 2: a camp just a few kilometers from there, and he said,
13:00
Speaker 2: but first we eat, and then he said, go into
13:03
Speaker 2: this tent and there is these Mauritanian beautiful tents, and
13:07
Speaker 2: in there there was an old lady cooking, and a
13:10
Speaker 2: younger lady and a teenage girl, and then two guys.
13:15
Speaker 2: And then I just sat down and I had my
13:17
Speaker 2: first meal of camel stew. She was just so nice,
13:22
Speaker 2: and this teenage girl, she was just laughing so hard,
13:25
Speaker 2: like she was giggling, and she really wanted to take photos,
13:28
Speaker 2: but in that place you don't really take photos of women,
13:31
Speaker 2: but she still wanted it. And in the end, you know,
13:34
Speaker 2: she wanted to take photo with me, and so we
13:37
Speaker 2: were just laughing and having fun then. And then yeah,
13:40
Speaker 2: eventually they just tied the petrol outside there. Whatever they
13:45
Speaker 2: were carrying, they had a huge load on two Toyota
13:49
Speaker 2: High looxes. Of course, it's always Toyota High looks. And
13:53
Speaker 2: I was wondering, what's in there, you know, is it
13:54
Speaker 2: some kind of counterband or weapons or whatever is in there?
14:00
Speaker 2: And it turned out it was eggs. Just so funny.
14:03
Speaker 2: I was like, where did these eggs come from? This
14:06
Speaker 2: is so random, you know, it was just so funny.
14:09
Speaker 2: And then we took off together, and it was really
14:12
Speaker 2: nice to start the ride together with some locals and
14:16
Speaker 2: they were super considerate and all the time whenever we stopped,
14:20
Speaker 2: they would give me water and they were just so cute.
14:23
Speaker 2: And then in the afternoon or like late afternoon, when
14:26
Speaker 2: it started to get dark, they stopped to do their
14:29
Speaker 2: prayers there. It's Muslim there, and it was getting dark,
14:33
Speaker 2: and I realized I couldn't continue because it's you know,
14:37
Speaker 2: it's super sandy, it's difficult, and you can't ride in
14:40
Speaker 2: the dark at all on the motorcycle, and they were
14:42
Speaker 2: going to continue all through the night. So I made
14:47
Speaker 2: an agreement that I would camp there and then they
14:50
Speaker 2: would continue. I filled up then as much as I
14:53
Speaker 2: could in the tank, and then they would continue, and
14:56
Speaker 2: then there would be like another camp similar to the
14:59
Speaker 2: one where I met them, about one hundred and forty
15:01
Speaker 2: kilometers from there, and then they would leave those two
15:04
Speaker 2: the remaining petrol there so that I could fill up
15:07
Speaker 2: when I got there, and they knew a friend there,
15:09
Speaker 2: so they gave me a name. And then the next day. Yeah,
15:12
Speaker 2: but then I stayed there in the desert for the
15:15
Speaker 2: first night and it was just freaking magic, like just
15:20
Speaker 2: so amazing, And you know, it was really interesting because
15:22
Speaker 2: before I crossed the border. I was super nervous, like
15:27
Speaker 2: I was actually scared, and I was a little bit
15:29
Speaker 2: doubting all the time whether I was being a bit
15:33
Speaker 2: too crazy. I was like, is this just are you
15:36
Speaker 2: being suicietal? Suicidal? Now? Are you being adventurous? You know,
15:40
Speaker 2: there's a big difference, but I kept Also, I had
15:43
Speaker 2: talked to people who had done it. I found a
15:46
Speaker 2: guy from Algeria who had done it two months earlier,
15:50
Speaker 2: and he was very encouraging, gave me all the GPA's
15:53
Speaker 2: locations of where I might get water or you know,
15:57
Speaker 2: so I still felt that I could do so. Yeah,
16:01
Speaker 2: once I crossed the border, all that fear just completely disappeared.
16:04
Speaker 2: I just felt really so prepared and strong and on
16:09
Speaker 2: top of my game, and I just trusted the bike
16:12
Speaker 2: and I trusted my riding abilities. Everything came together and
16:16
Speaker 2: it was really such an amazing moment really, and then
16:21
Speaker 2: I woke.
16:22
Speaker 1: Up the what do you think the shift was just
16:26
Speaker 1: the act of crossing in the border and being like,
16:28
Speaker 1: I have what I need, I have the resources. Why
16:31
Speaker 1: did that change?
16:36
Speaker 2: I think that the anticipation or the expected troubles is
16:40
Speaker 2: always way worse than the trouble. You actually need. This
16:45
Speaker 2: is something that goes for most things in our life,
16:48
Speaker 2: that the thought of something happening is often way, way worse.
16:53
Speaker 2: I have an example of that. I mean, obviously, since
16:55
Speaker 2: I'm riding a motorcycle, it's a real risk of being
16:58
Speaker 2: heard on the road. I was wonder very close to
17:00
Speaker 2: my house. I was riding through this roundabout and I
17:05
Speaker 2: was already in the roundabout, so I had the right
17:07
Speaker 2: of way, and this guy came in a car and
17:10
Speaker 2: he came from the next road, so he had to
17:13
Speaker 2: wait for me to pass, but he didn't see me,
17:15
Speaker 2: so he just wait went straight into me. I hit
17:18
Speaker 2: my brakes and both our rear wheels were kind of
17:21
Speaker 2: sliding against each other, and I never crashed, And because
17:26
Speaker 2: it happened so fast, I just never got scared. You know.
17:30
Speaker 2: It was just amazing that these really it was super dangerous,
17:34
Speaker 2: but even afterwards I wasn't really shocked because I just
17:37
Speaker 2: never had time to get scared. And that's the thing
17:40
Speaker 2: that fear and danger is a mental thing. Often it's
17:44
Speaker 2: such a big thing in our heads that we can
17:47
Speaker 2: be scared for such a long time. For it can
17:49
Speaker 2: be a meeting with our manager, or it can be
17:52
Speaker 2: a conversation with our husband or whatever. We're scared of
17:56
Speaker 2: a challenge that we want to throw ourselves into, and
18:00
Speaker 2: it just takes up so much space in our heads.
18:03
Speaker 2: But then when you're in it, then you just deal
18:07
Speaker 2: with stuff. Things happen all the time, and we just
18:09
Speaker 2: deal with stuff. But for some reason, we choose to
18:13
Speaker 2: worry about some things a lot. And I, again, I
18:17
Speaker 2: have enough experience to know that there's such a big
18:20
Speaker 2: difference between mental fear and real danger. I mean, like
18:24
Speaker 2: being alone in my tent at night, somewhere in a
18:28
Speaker 2: somewhere in a vadi in Oman, and suddenly hearing sounds
18:31
Speaker 2: around me. I know now that the probability that it's
18:35
Speaker 2: someone who wants to kill me, it's almost such a
18:39
Speaker 2: small probability that it's most likely some animal. It's a fox,
18:45
Speaker 2: it's the wind, it's whatever creating sounds that makes me scared.
18:49
Speaker 2: But in my head it's very dangerous. And I just
18:53
Speaker 2: know this from having been in those situations so much
18:57
Speaker 2: that that but I was actually quite scared going into
19:01
Speaker 2: going to this border. So and I can be honest
19:07
Speaker 2: now and say another thing that I also added to
19:11
Speaker 2: this fear myself. I made a little bit of a
19:13
Speaker 2: stupid decision, which was to bring a drone with me,
19:17
Speaker 2: which is super illegal in Algeria. And it wasn't that
19:20
Speaker 2: I wanted to use it in Algeria. I wanted to
19:23
Speaker 2: just bring it so that I could use it in Mauritania.
19:26
Speaker 2: But first of all, they searched all my stuff at
19:28
Speaker 2: the border and I was so lucky they didn't find it.
19:32
Speaker 2: And the second, since I had the police and military
19:36
Speaker 2: company all the time, I was like, oh my god,
19:39
Speaker 2: if I have a mechanical issue, I'm going to need
19:41
Speaker 2: to because I always hide it somewhere on the bike,
19:43
Speaker 2: then then they're going to see it. So it just
19:46
Speaker 2: created this tension within me. And this was something I created,
19:50
Speaker 2: you know, so honestly, I mean, for Algeria, I would
19:53
Speaker 2: definitely never ever bring something illegally and because it just
19:57
Speaker 2: my anxiety just brah so. But then as soon as
20:01
Speaker 2: I was into Mauritania, I was so happy I had
20:03
Speaker 2: it because obviously it's amazing to fly the drone there.
20:06
Speaker 2: But yeah, so I mean I could blame myself for
20:09
Speaker 2: that part.
20:10
Speaker 1: So you I don't know if these numbers are still accurate,
20:14
Speaker 1: but you've traveled two hundred thousand kilometers through seventy two countries,
20:19
Speaker 1: so you alluded to you know, you have quite a
20:22
Speaker 1: bit of experience. Now take me through those two hundred
20:25
Speaker 1: thousand kilometers where you've done Pan American, a lot of Africa. Yeah,
20:31
Speaker 1: bring us along on that journey. Those journeys, it's obviously
20:34
Speaker 1: more than one.
20:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, so quite a few European journeys, which is where
20:39
Speaker 2: I kind of started traveling with the motorcycle. And then
20:43
Speaker 2: the first really big adventure was eight months from the
20:47
Speaker 2: top of Alaska to the tip of Argentina, which was
20:51
Speaker 2: absolutely unbelievable. I mean, like you can never really come
20:56
Speaker 2: back afterwards because you just want more after doing something
21:00
Speaker 2: like that. It was so amazing and it really changed
21:03
Speaker 2: my life. And then later and that was with my
21:06
Speaker 2: former boyfriend, so that was not a solo ride. And
21:09
Speaker 2: then later I went off alone from North Cap Cape
21:14
Speaker 2: in Europe northern Norway and I wanted to go all
21:16
Speaker 2: the way to the southern tip of South Africa and
21:19
Speaker 2: then go back up. That was intended to last one year,
21:23
Speaker 2: but it ended up taking three years. And it was
21:25
Speaker 2: during COVID I got stuck in Morocco for six months
21:28
Speaker 2: because of COVID, and it was really so amazing because
21:33
Speaker 2: it just forced me to really slow down and that
21:36
Speaker 2: was a huge gift and ever since I haven't been
21:38
Speaker 2: able to pick up pace again. I traveled very slowly,
21:42
Speaker 2: and that was a difficult journey because of COVID. So
21:46
Speaker 2: there were so many borders that were closed and all
21:48
Speaker 2: the time had to kind of go where I was allowed,
21:52
Speaker 2: besides being stuck in Morocco for six months. Yeah, so
21:55
Speaker 2: I ended up having after spending six months in Morocco,
21:58
Speaker 2: having to go back to Europe because the country's southern
22:01
Speaker 2: Morocco was still closed. And then eventually I shipped the
22:05
Speaker 2: bike to South Africa, and then I quit my job
22:10
Speaker 2: at the same time, and suddenly I didn't have any
22:13
Speaker 2: end date for this adventure. So then I just started
22:16
Speaker 2: six sagging my way. So I went to South Africa, Esotho, Muzambique, Eswatini, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Sambia, Malawi,
22:26
Speaker 2: let me see Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, back to Uganda,
22:32
Speaker 2: back to Kenya, and then from there I shipped to Oman.
22:35
Speaker 2: Initially I wanted to ride up through Ethiopia and into
22:38
Speaker 2: Sudan and then crossed from Sudan to Saudi Arabia. But
22:44
Speaker 2: just before I wanted to enter Ethiopia, they implemented a
22:48
Speaker 2: new law which was that when you enter Ethiopia with
22:52
Speaker 2: a vehicle, you have to pay three hundred percent of
22:56
Speaker 2: the value of your vehicle from new in dollars in
22:59
Speaker 2: cash at the border.
23:01
Speaker 1: Oh oh wow, that's.
23:03
Speaker 2: A very interesting rule, which obviously nobody can. So they
23:06
Speaker 2: just basically stopped any import or temporary import of vehicles.
23:12
Speaker 2: And they did say that you would get the money
23:14
Speaker 2: back when you left the country, but you would get
23:16
Speaker 2: it in local currency. So I was like, okay, I
23:18
Speaker 2: doubt that anybody who's going to do that, and of
23:21
Speaker 2: course nobody does that, but so that meant I then
23:25
Speaker 2: shipped to Oman, which was another great change of plans
23:29
Speaker 2: because Uman was just unbelievable overlanding heaven really And then yeah,
23:35
Speaker 2: from there, I went up to the Emirates into Saudi Arabia,
23:38
Speaker 2: Qatar terrain, crossed over to Jordan, and then from Jordan,
23:42
Speaker 2: it's a little bit difficult because obviously you cannot cross
23:46
Speaker 2: straight through Syria to Turkey, so I had to go
23:50
Speaker 2: back east to Iraq and cross the Syrian desert to
23:54
Speaker 2: get there. Which is a little bit of a tough ride,
23:57
Speaker 2: and then up through Iraq Curti then and then Turkey
24:01
Speaker 2: and then back to Bulgaria and Romania and that way
24:06
Speaker 2: home through Europe again. So yeah, that was that was
24:08
Speaker 2: quite a big journey there.
24:13
Speaker 1: Really big journey. What was it like coming home after
24:17
Speaker 1: that or were you kind of like, oh, I've been
24:20
Speaker 1: back home and on trips back and forth, like I'm
24:23
Speaker 1: kind of used to it, or what was it like?
24:27
Speaker 2: The first time coming home from the Pan American trip
24:30
Speaker 2: was really difficult, but this time it was really super nice.
24:34
Speaker 2: First of all, I didn't have a job that I
24:36
Speaker 2: needed to show up for Monday morning afterwards, which can
24:40
Speaker 2: be super hard. But my goddaughter was getting married the
24:45
Speaker 2: two weeks after I came home, So I came home
24:48
Speaker 2: and then we had you know, like a welcome session
24:51
Speaker 2: for me, but then the focus went towards her and
24:54
Speaker 2: the wedding and you know, like planning together, writing speeches
24:58
Speaker 2: and buying gifts for her. And that was so nice
25:01
Speaker 2: because it also meant it meant that the whole family
25:03
Speaker 2: was going to be together, and it wasn't just about me,
25:06
Speaker 2: but it was about this very happy occasion that timing
25:09
Speaker 2: was just really really perfect. And then I already had
25:13
Speaker 2: several bookings for speaking events, and that was really perfect
25:18
Speaker 2: because you come home when you sit in your sofa
25:21
Speaker 2: and you really doubt that you probably just dreamt all this,
25:25
Speaker 2: like it can't be true that you just like I
25:27
Speaker 2: crossed Angola in the most lonely remote sand road thousand kilometer.
25:34
Speaker 2: I still can't believe I did that, that I dared
25:36
Speaker 2: to do that, And you sit there on your sofa
25:38
Speaker 2: and you're like, surely this was just a dream, Like
25:41
Speaker 2: I didn't just do that. And so it's the speaking
25:44
Speaker 2: events for me have really meant a lot in terms
25:48
Speaker 2: of reliving the adventures. And another thing is that nobody
25:52
Speaker 2: in your family are going to sit down and listen
25:55
Speaker 2: to you talk about your adventures for two hours. They
25:58
Speaker 2: have attention span of maximum five minutes before they need
26:03
Speaker 2: to whatever do something. That's just how it is, because
26:06
Speaker 2: people have lives and it's too big of a thing.
26:10
Speaker 2: You cannot come home and expect people to sit and
26:13
Speaker 2: listen to three years of the adventure. So having that
26:17
Speaker 2: opportunity to do the speaking events where I really tell
26:21
Speaker 2: about this adventure and also use the visuals and all
26:24
Speaker 2: the beautiful drone recordings I've done and put together with
26:29
Speaker 2: nice music and stuff, and having people listen for two
26:33
Speaker 2: and a half hour and asking questions afterwards, and also
26:36
Speaker 2: having my family there to see this has actually been
26:39
Speaker 2: really amazing and they went from not really understanding what
26:44
Speaker 2: this was all about to really like getting it, and yeah,
26:47
Speaker 2: it changed a lot for them as well.
26:50
Speaker 3: Not a week goes by that someone doesn't reach out
26:52
Speaker 3: to ask how they can help support the podcast. We
26:56
Speaker 3: are supported entirely by Overland Journal the magazine. So when
27:02
Speaker 3: you become a subscriber to the Overland Journal print magazine,
27:05
Speaker 3: you get this beautiful book that comes in five times
27:08
Speaker 3: a year. It also gives you access to our digital
27:10
Speaker 3: archive and it's well over one hundred pages of gorgeous
27:14
Speaker 3: images and detailed testing and adventures from around the globe.
27:18
Speaker 3: So if you go to Overland Journal dot com and
27:20
Speaker 3: you subscribe to the magazine, use the code Overland Podcast
27:25
Speaker 3: and that'll get you twenty percent off. It's only available
27:27
Speaker 3: to our podcast listeners. We don't advertise it anywhere else,
27:31
Speaker 3: and then you help us to maintain that independent, employee
27:35
Speaker 3: owned journalism that we have been famous for, so it
27:38
Speaker 3: allows us to conduct those tests without any advertorial Another
27:43
Speaker 3: way you can help out too. I produced a book
27:45
Speaker 3: last year with Simon and Schuster called Overlanding One oh One.
27:48
Speaker 3: You can find it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble
27:51
Speaker 3: or even your local bookstore, and that encompasses my decades
27:55
Speaker 3: of travel around the world, all my mistakes and failures,
27:58
Speaker 3: and the lessons that I've learned in traveling around the globe.
28:02
Speaker 3: Many of those that you hear on the podcast have
28:05
Speaker 3: been distilled down into print form with great lists and
28:08
Speaker 3: beautiful imagery, so you can find that at your local bookstore.
28:12
Speaker 3: Overlanding one on one, And thank you all for listening
28:15
Speaker 3: and for supporting us so much throughout these years.
28:19
Speaker 2: In general, it's tough coming home, There's no doubt about it.
28:22
Speaker 2: I was also a little bit tired, especially because all
28:26
Speaker 2: the way from Uman to Europe, I was a little
28:29
Speaker 2: bit in a hurry. First of all, I was running
28:31
Speaker 2: out of money and I needed to be home for
28:33
Speaker 2: that wedding. I mean, had I had more money, I
28:36
Speaker 2: would have just left the bike somewhere, flown home, been
28:39
Speaker 2: part of the wedding, and then flown back and continued.
28:42
Speaker 2: But since I was also running out of money. I
28:44
Speaker 2: needed to get home anyways and started, you know, make
28:47
Speaker 2: some money. So I was kind of in a hurry.
28:50
Speaker 2: And that's something I really learned is that I do
28:53
Speaker 2: not like to travel in a hurry. I need time.
28:57
Speaker 2: I need time to just be. I can't move every
28:59
Speaker 2: single they and sleep in a new place every single night.
29:03
Speaker 2: It's just too stressful for me. I know some people
29:05
Speaker 2: do it, it's just not for me. So I need time.
29:08
Speaker 2: And therefore the last few months it was stressful. So
29:11
Speaker 2: it was actually quite nice to come home.
29:15
Speaker 1: Nice. What have you been doing, Like when you come
29:18
Speaker 1: back home for work, do you kind of do like
29:20
Speaker 1: a project and then go back out or I know
29:23
Speaker 1: you're also doing some motorcycle tours in India, but yeah,
29:28
Speaker 1: what's the work situation like?
29:30
Speaker 2: So mostly I do speaking events, that's the main income,
29:34
Speaker 2: and then do drone courses and so I teach people
29:38
Speaker 2: flying the drone since I have like thousands of hours
29:41
Speaker 2: of experience with that. And then whenever I'm away, like
29:45
Speaker 2: just if I leave for a weekend or a week
29:47
Speaker 2: or whatever, I always rent out my house. So the
29:49
Speaker 2: house has been a great way to finance a lot
29:52
Speaker 2: of my adventures. Honestly, then, twice a year now, I
29:56
Speaker 2: do guided tours to India. That's not a huge, huge
30:00
Speaker 2: income generator, but give a it does give a little bit,
30:03
Speaker 2: and it's it's a fun thing to do. It's I
30:06
Speaker 2: you know, I like to travel, but I also like
30:08
Speaker 2: to be creative. I like to just create. I like
30:12
Speaker 2: to work. I always like to work. So to also
30:15
Speaker 2: be something for somebody and do something is important for
30:19
Speaker 2: me as well. I don't think I will thrive being
30:21
Speaker 2: just a full time no made so so I like
30:24
Speaker 2: to have this come back to to being, you know,
30:27
Speaker 2: working with colleagues and having yeah, just not be because
30:32
Speaker 2: also you get a little bit weird when you travel
30:33
Speaker 2: all the time. I'm very aware that I'm super weird,
30:36
Speaker 2: but so yeah, I try to stay normal by doing
30:39
Speaker 2: a little bit of work.
30:40
Speaker 1: Sometimes we're just too weirdos on a podcast together right
30:43
Speaker 1: now talking to other weirdos.
30:46
Speaker 2: So true, it's true.
30:48
Speaker 1: It's true though. Yeah, yeah, Oh that's funny, great stuff.
30:53
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you some rapid fire questions, and
30:56
Speaker 1: these questions can be answered for any of your travels.
30:59
Speaker 1: That's just one, But what has been your most ingenious repair?
31:02
Speaker 1: That's the first question.
31:05
Speaker 2: Ingenious repair? I don't know if they've been ingenious. It's
31:10
Speaker 2: just been like, I don't know, just fixing flats and
31:13
Speaker 2: changing clutches and that's been like the yo. Maybe. Actually no,
31:17
Speaker 2: I think my windscreen is probably the most ingenious. So
31:22
Speaker 2: I had a day in Morocco. I was actually leading
31:26
Speaker 2: a tour and we were going through the desert and
31:29
Speaker 2: I was just riding so well that day. You know,
31:32
Speaker 2: I was just a queen of the desert and I
31:35
Speaker 2: know sand could take me out. And then we were
31:38
Speaker 2: going to lunch at this little family in a little village,
31:43
Speaker 2: and we were riding through this narrow road or street
31:47
Speaker 2: with lots of sand on it, and then these mud
31:49
Speaker 2: walls on both sides, and I was in the front
31:52
Speaker 2: with the whole team behind me, and then these kind
31:56
Speaker 2: of you know, sandy patches came and then one just
31:59
Speaker 2: took me out so hard and I just drove straight
32:02
Speaker 2: into the wall. Everybody were filming and I was just
32:06
Speaker 2: so funny. So I was really humbled by the desert there.
32:10
Speaker 2: And then my windscreen cracked in several pieces and I
32:15
Speaker 2: put it back together like I stitched it back together.
32:19
Speaker 2: I with like a heat gun. I think it's called
32:24
Speaker 2: I made like holes in it, and then I could
32:26
Speaker 2: stitch it back together with electrical strips so it looks
32:31
Speaker 2: like a scar. And yeah, so that's pretty ingenious.
32:34
Speaker 1: I think nice. I like that one.
32:38
Speaker 2: Food. Best food I know exactly what the best food
32:43
Speaker 2: that was on a mountain side in Mexico, middle of nowhere.
32:47
Speaker 2: Me and my boyfriend. We stopped there and there were
32:49
Speaker 2: two horses parked outside the restaurant. It was just so stereotypical.
32:53
Speaker 2: And we went in and we had tacos and it
32:55
Speaker 2: was just so simple, basic, you know, plastic chairs, plastic tables,
32:59
Speaker 2: and just the best tacos I've had in my entire life.
33:04
Speaker 1: Hmmm, do you remember what kind of tacos they were?
33:09
Speaker 2: There was definitely nice, avocado and chili and tomato, but
33:14
Speaker 2: I don't remember.
33:15
Speaker 1: It's irrelevant at this point. It doesn't matter. It's just
33:19
Speaker 1: that they were tacos and delicious and the vibe right.
33:22
Speaker 2: Just go to Mexico. That's all I can say.
33:24
Speaker 1: Worst illness, there's a.
33:26
Speaker 2: Few, okay, no no doubt, malaria and thank you fever
33:29
Speaker 2: at the same time in the in Santania. Yeah, that
33:32
Speaker 2: was really rough. That was super rough. But I also
33:35
Speaker 2: had two days of stomach cramps in Rocco, where I
33:38
Speaker 2: honestly thought I was gonna die, Like I've never had
33:41
Speaker 2: pain like that, but obviously the malaria was way more serious. Yeah,
33:45
Speaker 2: that was that was no fun at all.
33:49
Speaker 1: What how long did that last for? And did you
33:53
Speaker 1: have to go get like to the hospital?
33:57
Speaker 2: Yeah? You that's if you know, For anyone who's planning
34:01
Speaker 2: to go to Africa, I can just say, whenever you
34:03
Speaker 2: get a fever, you go to a clinic immediately. If
34:07
Speaker 2: you get a fever in Canada or and Denmark, you
34:09
Speaker 2: just you know, stay home a few days and then
34:12
Speaker 2: you'll be fine after a week or something. But you
34:15
Speaker 2: don't do that with the malaria because it will if
34:18
Speaker 2: there are two versions of it, and if you have
34:19
Speaker 2: one of them, it's going to kill you really fast,
34:22
Speaker 2: and if you have the other, it's going to kill
34:24
Speaker 2: you slow. And you have to go to the clinic
34:26
Speaker 2: right away, and you ask for a full blood test.
34:29
Speaker 2: If you just get a test, it will be like
34:31
Speaker 2: a quick test. Just you know, with COVID you can
34:33
Speaker 2: get a quick COVID test and then you can get
34:35
Speaker 2: a PCR. So you need a full blood test and
34:37
Speaker 2: they will one hundred percent see if you have it
34:39
Speaker 2: or not, and you get so ill so quickly and
34:42
Speaker 2: you need medication immediately. But it works very fast, and
34:46
Speaker 2: it's way better to get treated in Africa because they
34:49
Speaker 2: know exactly what they're doing. If you get home to Europe,
34:51
Speaker 2: it's not the first thing that they will suspect, unless
34:53
Speaker 2: you're lucky and you tell them that you just come
34:56
Speaker 2: from malaria areas. But yeah, it's really super serious. Happens
35:00
Speaker 2: is that the parasite will lay its eggs in your
35:05
Speaker 2: red blood cells, and the red blood cells are those
35:08
Speaker 2: that transport oxygen to all the cells in your body.
35:11
Speaker 2: Once they grow, they break. Basically, they destroy the red
35:15
Speaker 2: blood cells and you lose blood very very fast. So
35:19
Speaker 2: the smallest tasks are exhausting. Breathing is exhausting, You get
35:25
Speaker 2: so much pain in your body, and within very short
35:28
Speaker 2: time you just lose like leaders of blood. So it's
35:31
Speaker 2: really serious and you have to react on it very quickly.
35:36
Speaker 1: So that must have taken some time for you to
35:37
Speaker 1: get back on the bike because of the recavery and
35:40
Speaker 1: energy expenditure.
35:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, it took about a month for me to get
35:45
Speaker 2: normal again.
35:47
Speaker 1: All right, good to know, good tips there. Okay, next
35:51
Speaker 1: is highest high.
35:55
Speaker 2: So many, there's so many high it's unbelievable. But I
36:01
Speaker 2: really must say that this situation I just told you
36:03
Speaker 2: about it before in Mauritania was really super high. But
36:07
Speaker 2: then I honestly have just had so many highs. And
36:11
Speaker 2: it's not like when you travel your mood swings are
36:14
Speaker 2: the same as at home, Like you have good days,
36:17
Speaker 2: you have bad days. You sometimes you're lonely, sometimes you're overstimulated,
36:21
Speaker 2: sometimes you're bored. Sometimes you're like, oh my god, this
36:24
Speaker 2: is too much. And so it's pretty much the same.
36:26
Speaker 2: But I must say I get an unusual amount of
36:29
Speaker 2: highs when I'm traveling. I always say it's very hard
36:32
Speaker 2: to be angry when you are on two wheels. It
36:35
Speaker 2: just always makes me smile, Like every day I get
36:37
Speaker 2: on the bike, I just smile too many. But obviously
36:40
Speaker 2: when you do some of the challenges, like riding the
36:43
Speaker 2: Sunny Pass in South Africa, which is a challenging past,
36:47
Speaker 2: you get that high that you know, you just like
36:49
Speaker 2: a little bit outside your comfort zone. We all know
36:51
Speaker 2: that outside the comfort zone that's where magic happens. And
36:54
Speaker 2: it really is, you know, it's whenever you push yourself
36:56
Speaker 2: a little bit further and you kind of trust that
36:59
Speaker 2: I can do this. That's when those incredible moments arise.
37:04
Speaker 1: So true, so true. Okay, the opposite is.
37:09
Speaker 2: Low also many I'm good at forgetting them, honestly, but
37:14
Speaker 2: I've had days where I just really wanted to get
37:16
Speaker 2: out of there. I had a situation also in Mauritania,
37:19
Speaker 2: which is funny, it's the same country, but I was
37:21
Speaker 2: in the south and I had arrived at this desert
37:25
Speaker 2: town that was very unappealing in every way, and the
37:28
Speaker 2: hotel I was staying at was just disgusting. It was
37:31
Speaker 2: just dirty, so dirty, and I had to a little
37:35
Speaker 2: bit fight with them to get some clean bed linen,
37:37
Speaker 2: and you know, they charged full price. It was very expensive.
37:42
Speaker 2: So it was like, because I don't mind if you
37:44
Speaker 2: pay a little and you get basic, that's fine, but
37:47
Speaker 2: if you pay a lot, you want at least clean.
37:49
Speaker 2: And then the next day I wanted to get out
37:51
Speaker 2: of there, and it was also hot, and I was
37:53
Speaker 2: a little bit worried in general because I was running
37:55
Speaker 2: out of money and I just wasn't really comfortable there
38:00
Speaker 2: at all. And then I had a puncture as soon
38:03
Speaker 2: as I left, and I had ripped off the valve
38:06
Speaker 2: of my tube, so it wasn't an easy repair. And
38:09
Speaker 2: then I walk up to this tire repair store and
38:13
Speaker 2: ask if they can fix it, and they say, oh no, sorry,
38:15
Speaker 2: this this is beyond repair. And then this is a
38:18
Speaker 2: local guy who obviously lives like next door. He stops
38:21
Speaker 2: with his car. He says, hey, I can take you
38:23
Speaker 2: not far from here. There are a few small motorcycle
38:27
Speaker 2: part stores, so maybe they have a tube for you.
38:30
Speaker 2: And I'm like, oh, that's so kind of you, thank you.
38:31
Speaker 2: And I jump in and you know, at that time
38:33
Speaker 2: point like I'm sweaty, I'm in my motorcycle. Hear I'm
38:36
Speaker 2: dirty because I've just taken the tire off. I'm very
38:39
Speaker 2: focused on fixing this issue. And then immediately after I
38:42
Speaker 2: get into the car, he starts insisting that we go
38:46
Speaker 2: back to the hotel room and have sex, and this
38:48
Speaker 2: is how he phrases it. And I'm just like up
38:53
Speaker 2: in my head, I'm just like so confused, like where
38:56
Speaker 2: did that come from? Like we didn't even have a
39:00
Speaker 2: I don't even know my name yet, and we didn't
39:02
Speaker 2: have a conversation, like what in the world, And I
39:06
Speaker 2: just got so upset. And on one hand, I just
39:11
Speaker 2: I always have a knife on me, and I just
39:14
Speaker 2: wanted to kind of, you know, start just cutting in
39:16
Speaker 2: the interior in his car. But on the other hand,
39:19
Speaker 2: I was always a little bit like, just take me
39:21
Speaker 2: to that motorcycle part store. So so, and also I
39:27
Speaker 2: didn't want to escalate it. I didn't want to really
39:28
Speaker 2: you know, have a angry conversation with him. But I
39:32
Speaker 2: definitely wasn't polite either. I was just like, just cut
39:36
Speaker 2: it out, the idiot. And then it was just like
39:39
Speaker 2: everything was just in that place. I was like, let
39:41
Speaker 2: me get out of here, and then I left. But
39:45
Speaker 2: you know, when I hear myself saying this, it's just
39:48
Speaker 2: such a small problem in the end, But it is
39:51
Speaker 2: because I know that it ended well. But when you
39:55
Speaker 2: are in things, you don't know am I gonna be
40:00
Speaker 2: able to repair this? Am I going to be stuck
40:02
Speaker 2: in this hole for a week now because I can't
40:05
Speaker 2: get out of here? So you don't know that. So
40:08
Speaker 2: you can have these extreme loaws that are connected a
40:10
Speaker 2: little bit to that what I talked about before, that
40:13
Speaker 2: we tend to worry more than necessary, and so you
40:17
Speaker 2: can have that super low that is really connected to
40:21
Speaker 2: an expectation of that this is going to be really
40:23
Speaker 2: bad more than the actuality of it, because then when
40:27
Speaker 2: you're out of it, you're like, oh, yeah, I guess
40:29
Speaker 2: it wasn't that bad. And again, this is something that
40:31
Speaker 2: comes with experience, is to really just relate to what
40:35
Speaker 2: is the situation right now? Like, am I am I hurting?
40:41
Speaker 2: Am I? You know? Is it dangerous right now? Or
40:44
Speaker 2: do I just think that it can become dangerous right now?
40:47
Speaker 2: So to really be aware of that brain mechanism is
40:51
Speaker 2: super important. But yeah, I just freaking hated everything about
40:55
Speaker 2: that place, but I also know that I'm sure if
40:58
Speaker 2: I go back there, I'm going to meet the nicest
41:01
Speaker 2: people and have the best time of my life there.
41:03
Speaker 2: So it's just very much a coincidence who you happen
41:07
Speaker 2: to run into in that situation. So yeah, but usually
41:12
Speaker 2: breakdowns don't cause a mental low for me. I really
41:16
Speaker 2: know that breakdowns is often where it becomes really fun.
41:20
Speaker 2: It's not that I kind of wish for breakdowns, obviously not,
41:24
Speaker 2: but it's always those stories that you tell about afterwards.
41:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's the next level of challenge, right, Like, you know,
41:34
Speaker 1: everything's going according to plan and it's great, but when
41:37
Speaker 1: that happens. It's like a whole nother that's where your
41:40
Speaker 1: confidence turns in to be built.
41:44
Speaker 2: Right.
41:45
Speaker 1: And like you said, story the stories, and yeah, I
41:49
Speaker 1: was going to say, some places they just don't vibe.
41:52
Speaker 1: It's just and I love what you said about that.
41:55
Speaker 1: If you went back there again, you probably could potentially
41:58
Speaker 1: have a completely different experience. But there's just like no
42:02
Speaker 1: rhyme or reason other than maybe certain cues we're picking
42:06
Speaker 1: up on or experiences we're having. We're just like, I
42:08
Speaker 1: hate this place. It happened. Not every place is great,
42:12
Speaker 1: you know, it could be just your day or your
42:14
Speaker 1: mood or yeah.
42:16
Speaker 2: It just happens exactly. Yeah. That's that's why I never
42:21
Speaker 2: really listen much to other people what they think, because
42:25
Speaker 2: it's really just up to whoever you meet. And I
42:29
Speaker 2: don't really care too much about like touristy places that
42:32
Speaker 2: oh I need to check off these places and take
42:34
Speaker 2: photos of them. It's way more about the locals that
42:37
Speaker 2: you meet. So staying with a private family in VM
42:40
Speaker 2: McGrain in northern Mauritania is like a highlight for me
42:45
Speaker 2: and for others they would say, like, bea McGrain that's
42:47
Speaker 2: like in the middle of nowhere, that's nothing to go
42:50
Speaker 2: there for. I'm like, no, it's beautiful, but it's just
42:53
Speaker 2: all often about the people actually that you meet.
42:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to ask you kind of what
42:59
Speaker 1: have you learned learned or one of the most powerful
43:01
Speaker 1: experiences you've had interacting with other people on the road,
43:04
Speaker 1: And I'm sure that's numerous at this point, but any
43:08
Speaker 1: come behind.
43:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, I you know, there's something very liberating about travel
43:15
Speaker 2: because nobody knows you and you you don't have to
43:19
Speaker 2: prove yourself to anybody when you leave your own culture.
43:23
Speaker 2: You also don't really completely know all the social cues
43:27
Speaker 2: or rules or whatever, so you're kind of a little
43:31
Speaker 2: bit in this privileged situation that you're just a little
43:35
Speaker 2: bit of a clown. And two, there's one thing I
43:40
Speaker 2: think a lot of us spend too much energy with
43:42
Speaker 2: in our life, and it's it's not being embarrassing. Like,
43:46
Speaker 2: nobody wants to be the clown in our life, so
43:50
Speaker 2: have we all have ego and we want to be cool,
43:53
Speaker 2: but to let go of that because I mean, riding
43:57
Speaker 2: a motorcycle through Africa, I'm like, I'm sweaty, I'm dirty,
44:03
Speaker 2: i am dusty, I have black nails. That's why I
44:06
Speaker 2: always have red nails because it covers the black nails.
44:08
Speaker 2: You know, you're not very cool, and you're weird, and
44:11
Speaker 2: you look like a robot in your motorcycle gear, and
44:14
Speaker 2: you're just this weird thing. And when you completely let
44:17
Speaker 2: go of the fear of being embarrassing and off and
44:22
Speaker 2: strange and you just let people laugh at you and
44:24
Speaker 2: laugh with you, that is just so liberating. I mean,
44:28
Speaker 2: it's just amazing. How Yeah, And I don't see I
44:33
Speaker 2: don't see the value in the clothes that people are wearing.
44:36
Speaker 2: I don't see I don't know the signs that tell
44:39
Speaker 2: whether they are in some level in society. Obviously I
44:41
Speaker 2: can see whether people are are rich or poor, but
44:44
Speaker 2: I don't see all the cues. So I think I
44:46
Speaker 2: just meet people way more open, and it's liberating for
44:50
Speaker 2: both sides. And then I learned that just a big
44:54
Speaker 2: smile just always is the way forward. And I might
44:59
Speaker 2: not all always get the smile back, but usually, actually
45:02
Speaker 2: I do get the smile back, and it's really beautiful.
45:05
Speaker 2: And then I learned also that all people can be
45:08
Speaker 2: nice for twenty minutes. And so a lot of people
45:12
Speaker 2: that follow me say that, oh, it's amazing you always
45:14
Speaker 2: meet such nice people. And I'm like, yeah, I meet
45:17
Speaker 2: a lot of nice people. But I also realize that,
45:20
Speaker 2: you know, after half an hour, I see how he
45:22
Speaker 2: talks to his wife, I see how he kicks his dog.
45:26
Speaker 2: I you know, I realize he's not such a nice person.
45:29
Speaker 2: But he can be nice for twenty minutes, and we
45:32
Speaker 2: can have a nice exchange for twenty minutes. And that's
45:36
Speaker 2: worth something. It's worth meeting each other across cultures. And
45:41
Speaker 2: I feel sometimes it brings the best out of people
45:44
Speaker 2: when you just and it's a nice thing. So maybe
45:47
Speaker 2: that is worth something to just have that little positive
45:50
Speaker 2: energy in your normal And I can see that there
45:54
Speaker 2: are a lot of locals they're like, oh my god,
45:56
Speaker 2: you know you can never leave. You have to stay
45:58
Speaker 2: for a week. And I know things would be different
46:00
Speaker 2: if I stayed four days. It wouldn't be so much
46:02
Speaker 2: fun anymore. But and that little piece of the kind
46:07
Speaker 2: of problem free adventure bubble that I show up with,
46:13
Speaker 2: it just kind of makes them a little bit more
46:16
Speaker 2: playful for a little while. And it's quite beautiful. I
46:20
Speaker 2: never actually knew that, Like I thought that I would
46:25
Speaker 2: travel and get something from people from low that I
46:29
Speaker 2: would get experiences. But I realized more and more that
46:33
Speaker 2: actually I am also giving them experiences, So that's quite amazing.
46:40
Speaker 2: I never thought that that was something.
46:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, I wouldn't have thought of that either. Actually that's
46:47
Speaker 1: a really interesting point. And I love what you said
46:50
Speaker 1: too about being the clown right, because I get so
46:54
Speaker 1: sort of intense. We worried going into somebody's place if
46:59
Speaker 1: I've been invited over that I'm going to do something
47:02
Speaker 1: wrong because I don't know or haven't read enough about
47:05
Speaker 1: you know, how you're supposed to act properly. But I
47:08
Speaker 1: think also people, if I think about myself, if I
47:11
Speaker 1: was having somebody over from like a traveler coming through,
47:15
Speaker 1: I wouldn't get all like sort of upset about somebody
47:19
Speaker 1: acting into certain movies and like, but they're passing through
47:21
Speaker 1: the how are they supposed to know? You know, like
47:23
Speaker 1: they're probably giving you more grace than you think. So yeah,
47:29
Speaker 1: I love what you're saying about that. Just kind of
47:30
Speaker 1: relax a little bit and the interaction will probably be
47:33
Speaker 1: better than you, like, worried about doing something wrong. Yeah,
47:40
Speaker 1: great stuff. I wanted to ask you before we wrap
47:44
Speaker 1: up what your current favorite pieces of gear are because
47:47
Speaker 1: I'm assuming you've tried out quite a few objects items
47:50
Speaker 1: and you probably have some favorites.
47:52
Speaker 2: Right now, I can just mention so much. I think
47:56
Speaker 2: maybe in terms of the amount that I use it
48:00
Speaker 2: my phone setup, that it's so easy to put it
48:04
Speaker 2: on and off on the handlebar. I think that's because
48:07
Speaker 2: the phone is like I take photos all the time
48:10
Speaker 2: and communicate with people, I navigate. I love the navigation part.
48:13
Speaker 2: I love making tracks and you know, following those tracks,
48:17
Speaker 2: and so having a phone setup that really works for
48:21
Speaker 2: me is is really my yeah, a favorite thing. But
48:25
Speaker 2: it's just so funny. Things like having like a really
48:28
Speaker 2: nice knife in my pocket. It just sounds so stupid
48:31
Speaker 2: to say that, but I just really enjoy having a
48:34
Speaker 2: super good knife in my pocket. I use it all
48:36
Speaker 2: the time. And then yeah, but you asked for one thing.
48:40
Speaker 2: It's just so hard to pick.
48:42
Speaker 1: Oh, it could be more than one, all right, cool,
48:45
Speaker 1: it's easy.
48:48
Speaker 2: I love my tool role. The phone set up set
48:51
Speaker 2: up is from sp connected just to mention which one
48:53
Speaker 2: it is, and then yeah, the tool role is from Odinsburg.
48:58
Speaker 2: And then this winter I added a hydration pack like
49:03
Speaker 2: a little backpack with water. And I never thought that
49:06
Speaker 2: I would want to enjoy having a backpack because normally
49:09
Speaker 2: I don't like to have a backpack. But it was
49:10
Speaker 2: so so awesome and I was way better at hydrating
49:14
Speaker 2: in general, and that was a usuree hydration backpack, and yeah,
49:18
Speaker 2: that surprised me how much I enjoyed writing with that?
49:23
Speaker 2: What else can I say? So many things? You know,
49:25
Speaker 2: the gear I have, I spent like five years selecting
49:28
Speaker 2: exactly that. And it's so funny because often people ask
49:32
Speaker 2: me like, oh, so I guess you have sponsors and stuff,
49:34
Speaker 2: and I'm like, yeah, I do have sponsors, but it's
49:36
Speaker 2: only those that gear that I already selected years ago
49:40
Speaker 2: that I wanted that, and then later in life they
49:43
Speaker 2: picked up that, oh, you know, you enjoy using our
49:46
Speaker 2: gear and should we maybe work together then I can
49:50
Speaker 2: do it. Other than that, I'm not really interested in
49:53
Speaker 2: sponsors at all, because there's no free lunch. You gotta
49:57
Speaker 2: work a lot for us for sponsors, and I I
50:00
Speaker 2: just want to have exactly what I have, and I
50:02
Speaker 2: want to be able to change it when I want.
50:04
Speaker 2: I want to be able to say what I want
50:06
Speaker 2: about it and be completely honest about it. So it's
50:10
Speaker 2: it's never something I really I don't do a lot
50:12
Speaker 2: of effort in getting sponsors, but really having the right
50:16
Speaker 2: like being comfortable in your boots, being comfortable in your
50:18
Speaker 2: riding suit, having a helmet that you really just love
50:21
Speaker 2: putting on that you also feel attractive in. I like
50:25
Speaker 2: to look fairly good as well. I don't want to
50:29
Speaker 2: look like, you know, too much of a micheling man
50:33
Speaker 2: and something that you're just comfortable sitting on your bike
50:36
Speaker 2: a full day. And the same with the bike, it's
50:39
Speaker 2: the same thing. It doesn't matter which one day. It
50:41
Speaker 2: does matter a lot which which bike it is, So
50:43
Speaker 2: it's I'm very, very very specific with my gear.
50:47
Speaker 1: I like that. And also you want it to not
50:49
Speaker 1: take away from what you're doing right like it has to.
50:51
Speaker 1: It's there to sort of be in the background so
50:54
Speaker 1: that you can do the things you want to do
50:57
Speaker 1: easily and have the experiences.
51:00
Speaker 2: That is really super important what you say there, and
51:02
Speaker 2: that is actually something I've been reflecting a lot about lately,
51:06
Speaker 2: is that I feel that traveling on a motorcycle has
51:11
Speaker 2: become so much about the gear, like on all the forums,
51:15
Speaker 2: and it's all about all the questions about gear, gear,
51:18
Speaker 2: gear gear, and whether you have the right bike or
51:20
Speaker 2: where you know. And the funny thing is that when
51:22
Speaker 2: you get out there, the locals are actually the real
51:26
Speaker 2: adventure riders because they are on small bikes overloaded five
51:31
Speaker 2: people and they are awesome riders. And then they are
51:34
Speaker 2: in their flip flops with no helmet and they are
51:37
Speaker 2: so bad as And then we come there with all
51:40
Speaker 2: our perfect, very very expensive gear and it's just like,
51:44
Speaker 2: come on, just chill. And I'm not saying you shouldn't
51:47
Speaker 2: have good safety gear, because I think you should, but
51:50
Speaker 2: it's just not about the gear that should be in
51:54
Speaker 2: the background, and it's way more like, why don't we
51:56
Speaker 2: see questions about what part of the Algeria and culture
52:00
Speaker 2: should I not miss and what food do I definitely
52:04
Speaker 2: need to check out in Senegal and what And once
52:07
Speaker 2: in a while you see the questions pop up, but
52:10
Speaker 2: mostly it's really just so I don't know, so commercialized,
52:16
Speaker 2: and it's it doesn't matter. And then when you're out there,
52:19
Speaker 2: you meet those people who are not on social media,
52:22
Speaker 2: who don't share anything, and they've been going for years
52:25
Speaker 2: and years, and they have the most crappy gear and
52:30
Speaker 2: you know, just whatever suit they bought somewhere in a
52:32
Speaker 2: little town in Turkey or whatever. It's not it's a
52:35
Speaker 2: no name and they're having the biggest adventures and it
52:40
Speaker 2: doesn't matter really, but I think, yeah, I think it's
52:44
Speaker 2: something that social media is really affecting us a lot.
52:47
Speaker 2: That it seemed to me like whenever you're doing it
52:50
Speaker 2: kind of the wrong way, then people have so many
52:53
Speaker 2: opinions about you, like I would rather be a crappy
52:58
Speaker 2: off road rider doing it than sitting in my sofa.
53:03
Speaker 2: That's it.
53:04
Speaker 1: Get out there, yeah, get out, just do it.
53:08
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter, Just do it.
53:12
Speaker 1: I like what you said. I think that's so true.
53:14
Speaker 1: It's always like, well which vehicle is the best or
53:16
Speaker 1: this or that? And what you said about well, what
53:19
Speaker 1: should I eat in Senegal? Or what should I know
53:22
Speaker 1: about more taine and culture? What should I you know?
53:24
Speaker 1: All that stuff that's really important too, really really really important,
53:28
Speaker 1: like why are you going there in the first place?
53:30
Speaker 1: What do you love about this way of travel? What
53:33
Speaker 1: is your motivation behind it? And those are all great questions.
53:37
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, but thank you. We're going to wrap up.
53:43
Speaker 1: I have a couple quick questions. Do you have some
53:46
Speaker 1: tours coming up in India this year or what's next
53:48
Speaker 1: for you? In twenty twenty six, I have a.
53:53
Speaker 2: Big year coming up, so I am now going to
53:56
Speaker 2: sell my house in Copenhagen. Hopefully that's going to finance
53:59
Speaker 2: that I can can travel the rest of my life. Whoa.
54:05
Speaker 2: So that's the plan, and I still want to come
54:07
Speaker 2: home and do some speaking events because that's just really fun.
54:11
Speaker 2: And I can reveal that I just signed a contract
54:14
Speaker 2: with the ABR Festival that I'm going to be speaking
54:17
Speaker 2: on the main stage there this summer.
54:19
Speaker 1: So that's pretty cool cogrets, thank you.
54:22
Speaker 2: Otherwise, I will still also go to India twice a year,
54:27
Speaker 2: so in August it's to Himalaya and then in January
54:30
Speaker 2: it's a Carolina in the southwestern part of India. And
54:33
Speaker 2: as part of my now coming very big journey, I
54:37
Speaker 2: really would like to spend a lot of time in
54:39
Speaker 2: India and visit every single state. I think there's twenty
54:43
Speaker 2: eight states there. India is just so interesting. The culture
54:46
Speaker 2: there's unbelievable. It's so colorful, so diverse, the religion, everything
54:51
Speaker 2: is just so freaking amazing. The food of course, so yeah,
54:54
Speaker 2: I really want to spend a lot of time there.
54:57
Speaker 1: Fantastic. Well, I look forward to following along with your
55:02
Speaker 1: next adventure and best luck with all of it. I'll
55:06
Speaker 1: see you see you online. But where can the Overland
55:10
Speaker 1: Journal podcast listeners find you?
55:14
Speaker 2: Oh, you can find me on Instagram my handle is
55:18
Speaker 2: Henrietta on the score for the Love of Wheels, and
55:21
Speaker 2: then on Facebook It's just for the Love of Wheels.
55:26
Speaker 1: Fantastic. Well. I look forward to following along with your
55:29
Speaker 1: next adventures and thank you so much for taking the
55:32
Speaker 1: time to chat with me on the podcast. It's been
55:34
Speaker 1: a real pleasure.
55:36
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
55:38
Speaker 1: Thank you also to the Overland Journal podcast listeners for
55:41
Speaker 1: tuning into today's episode. We're so happy to have you
55:44
Speaker 1: and you know where to find us next time.