Our 5 Years Motorcycle Travel FAQ: Everything You’ve Asked Us

Because two moments matter equally to us. On July 27, 2021, we closed the door of our apartment in Valais for the last time. On August 1, 2021 — Swiss National Day, fittingly — we actually crossed the border and left Switzerland with Falkor. We mark both dates every year: one is « the letting go, » the other is « the leap. »

We didn’t — instead, our nephew spun a wine bottle on a world map, surrounded by family and friends. It landed pointing southwest. As a result, southwest we rode — through Western Europe and into Morocco. Five years later, we still believe some of the best decisions are the ones you don’t overthink.

121,300+ km and counting, across 46 countries — by motorcycle, by bicycle, on foot, and by boat. In fact, not all of it was on two wheels: about 10 months were spent backpacking across Asia while Falkor waited for us in a garage in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Not in every single one — but nonetheless, helping people out in exchange for a place to stay has been a recurring thread of this whole trip, wherever it made sense. Right now that means TrustedHouseSitters in Rayong, Thailand; earlier it meant Workaway stays across Europe, the Balkans, and Central Asia. If you want to see exactly where and when, it’s all logged on our Polarsteps.

Kyrgyzstan, without a doubt — including covering the World Nomad Games in Kazakhstan as media, an incredible event to witness up close. The Pamir Highway, which stretches into Tajikistan, was another one that flipped every expectation we had. Full story: our Pamir Highway guide.

Of course — extreme heat, a stalling motorcycle in the middle of nowhere, homesickness, exhaustion. That said, every time, staying a little longer or riding into the next country reminded us why we left that apartment door in Valais in the first place.

Frankly, it varies enormously. Sometimes visas force us to keep moving after just a few days; sometimes we can extend and stay for months. We generally try to stay as long as we possibly can. Right now we’re at over 6 months in Thailand, and previously we spent 6 months in China, 5 months in Greece, 5 months in Portugal, 3 months in Taiwan, 3 months in Morocco, 2 months in Laos, and 2 months in Turkey — alongside plenty of countries where a few days was all our visa allowed.

Yes — a 2014 BMW F800 GS, named after the character who refuses to let despair win. Specifically, in the film, people must keep dreaming or the world gets swallowed by the Nothing. That’s exactly the spirit behind this trip: keep riding, keep dreaming, don’t let the Nothing win.

Zero. Not one. Indeed, across deserts, mountain passes, and some genuinely brutal roads in Central Asia, our Heidenau K60 Scout tires have never let us down. It’s the single piece of gear we recommend without hesitation to anyone planning long-distance overland travel.

Honestly, just one — and to be fair, it wasn’t even a full breakdown, more a known weak point. The 2014 F800 GS has a fuel pump that can struggle in extreme heat; ours would cause the bike to stutter and occasionally stall. We had it replaced in Crete, and we haven’t had a single issue since.

Our Insta360 X5 and GO Ultra are our main cameras — they’ve survived dust storms, monsoon rain, and more drops than we’d like to admit. Meanwhile, for everyday shots, an iPhone 13 Pro Max does most of the work. Between the three, we cover action, 360°, and everyday storytelling without carrying a full camera bag.

It’s evolved a lot: first, we started with a dedicated GPS unit, moved to Google Maps on the phone once data coverage improved across Asia, and today our go-to solution is the Carpuride W702 Pro — a smart display and TPMS unit mounted right on the bike. 30% off with code TAKEMEEVERYWHERE if you want to try it yourself.

A bike forces you into the world — no windshield between you and the smell of the road, the heat, the rain, the strangers who wave you down. Granted, it’s less comfortable. However, it’s also the reason half our best stories happened at all.

Some borders and routes just don’t work for a bike — ours didn’t, for a stretch through East Asia. So we flew to Taiwan, backpacked for close to 10 months through Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, China, and South Korea, and left Falkor safely garaged in Bishkek until we came back for him.

In short, different kinds of hard. The motorcycle demands more logistics, more maintenance, more paperwork at borders. Backpacking demands more physical stamina and constant improvisation. Five years in, we’d say the bike gives more freedom, but backpacking forced us to slow down and actually notice things.

Above all, savings from our working years in Switzerland, plus a few honest income streams — and a lot of Workaway. In exchange for a few hours of work a day, we get free accommodation and meals, which cuts our costs to almost nothing for long stretches.

Workaway connects travelers with hosts — farms, hostels, families — who offer food and lodging in exchange for a few hours of help a day. Overall, we’ve used it across almost every country on this trip. If you want to try it, our invite link gets you 3 free months.

Basically, years of documenting motorcycle routes across Europe in real detail turned out to be exactly what Lonely Planet needed. Moto en Europe, published in October 2025, is our contribution — practical routes drawn straight from what we actually rode, not desk research. Find it in the Lonely Planet catalogue.

We haven’t ruled it out. Co-authoring Moto en Europe for Lonely Planet came directly out of years of documenting real motorcycle routes across the continent — and we still have 46 countries’ worth of notes we haven’t fully used yet.

First of all, since 2002 — we met at a skate park, long before Falkor, long before any of this was a plan. Our first real trip together came in 2004: a trip to Spain, for which we actually needed a signed permission letter from our parents to cross the border as minors. It took years of smaller trips before things really shifted — in 2009, we left for a full year on a round-the-world tour, and that’s the trip that got us hooked for good. Read that story here.

Yes, both of us — and previously we were vegan before starting full-time travel. Simply put, it wasn’t realistic to maintain reliably once we were constantly in unfamiliar food environments without our own kitchen. When we do cook for ourselves, it’s still vegan by default; otherwise, it’s vegetarian. Central Asia was, without question, our toughest test — but we made it through 🙂

For example, a fake-license-plate story from the Pamir Highway that somehow reached 6 million views ranks high. Five years on the road produces a lot of « you can’t make this up » moments — and this list has a few more of them.

Not a plan at all — a genuine accident. We were actually trying to enter Moldova when a pack of dogs charged at us; we fled the attack, missed our intended entry point, and ended up crossing into Ukraine instead, mid-war. One of those « you can’t make this up » travel stories. More in our Year 3 story.

Probably that he’s finally earned a long nap. After all, 121,300+ km, deserts, mountain passes, a fuel pump replacement in Crete, and not a single flat tire — for a 2014 bike, Falkor has more than lived up to his name as a luck dragon.