Fifth Year on the Road: Crossing China with Falkor, Laos Chaos and Finding Home in Thailand

Five years of motorcycle travel: the year everything shifted

Five years. 121,300 km. 46 countries. And somehow, the world still finds new ways to surprise us every single time.

Year 5 of motorcycle travel started where Year 4 ended: Falkor freshly retrieved from a Bishkek garage, the open roads of Kyrgyzstan ahead. However, this year would take a turn we genuinely didn’t see coming. We crossed China on two wheels for the very first time. We sank into Laos mud up to the axles. We scored a Thai DTV visa that could keep us here for five years. Furthermore, we ended up caring for five dogs in a house in Rayong, with a Saleng scooter replacing Falkor as our daily transport. And on August 1st 2026, we celebrated five years on the road surrounded by the people we love most.

This is the story of Year 5. Buckle up, it’s a long one.

Four Years Down, One Canyon and a Bold Plan

In Year 5 of motorcycle travel, we celebrated our 4th anniversary of nomadic life on July 27th 2025 in Karakol, then set off toward Kazakhstan. On August 1st, four years exactly since leaving Switzerland, we toasted the occasion at Charyn Canyon: red cliffs, glamping/camping and the growing feeling that China was calling.

We had first tried to enter China with Falkor independently and were turned away at the border. Impossible to pass through without « being announced »… As a result, we spent a week at Altyn-Emel National Park, parked in a cosy caravan, filing every document required to enter China with a foreign vehicle through the specialist agency China Road Trips. The paperwork was less scary than expected. Moreover, a few days later we were back at the border « announced at the custom », and this time it worked. If you want informations about riding your motorbike or your own vehicle in China by yourself, without tour, without group, you can check our YouTube video bellow. All the informations about « how to travel in China with your own vehicle ».

Laos: Motorcycle Travel Meets Its Match in the Mud

We crossed the Chinese border into Laos at Boten on October 7th. The contrast was instant. Six months of pristine Chinese roads, then suddenly: craters, mud and potholes you could park a small car in. After four years and two months since leaving Switzerland, we were finally in Southeast Asia on the same motorcycle. The feeling was huge.

The second shock, after the roads, was the tourists. In China we had seen almost no foreign travelers for six months. In Laos, backpackers were everywhere. After years of being a curiosity to locals, we suddenly had to readjust to not being special at all. It took a few days to recalibrate.

Laos made us slow down in the best possible way. We stayed two full months and embraced it fully. Nong Khiaw kept us for 8 days: we fell ill, wrote, drew and watched the river. We attempted the track to Muang Ngoy by road, got stuck axle-deep in red mud, turned back and took the boat like reasonable person. Luang Prabang was a deeply emotional return: 16 years after our first visit in 2009, back again, but this time on Falkor.

Swiss Encounters and a Fateful Embassy Visit

One unexpected joy of Laos was the number of Swiss travelers we kept meeting: Valérie and Gabriel, Domi and Jess, a whole Lausanne family, and our cyclist friends Michèle and Nicole who we had already crossed paths with in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Every reunion felt like proof that the long-distance travel world is smaller than it looks.

In Vientiane, we applied for Thailand’s new DTV visa for digital nomads. We put together a solid dossier, dressed smartly, attended an interview at the Thai Embassy, and waited. A few days later, we had a visa that could theoretically keep us in Thailand for five years. We were, as the French say, completely out of our minds with excitement.

Five Dogs, One House, One Saleng: Life in Rayong

After Songkran, we headed to Rayong for what became the most unusual chapter of five years on the road. Through TrustedHouseSitters, we connected with Sigrid, a German woman who needed someone to care for her home and five dogs at short notice: her husband was ill and she had to return to Germany urgently. One week of intensive handover, then she was gone, leaving us responsible for Mayo, Leo, Blacky, Foxy and Daisy in a beautiful house with a pool in Nairai, Rayong.

Six months after settling in Rayong, our DTV visa required us to leave Thailand briefly for a renewal. Since we couldn’t both go at once (the dogs needed care), we went separately. Nathalia flew solo to Ho Chi Minh City, her first time traveling entirely alone in her life. Meanwhile, Vins took Falkor on a solo week-long road trip through eastern Thailand, sleeping in a hammock under the Milky Way in Pang Sida National Park. Two very different solo adventures, both exactly what we needed.

The Motorcycle Travel Moments That Defined Year 5

Five Years of Motorcycle Travel: What Comes Next?

Honestly? We have no idea. And we mean that in the best possible way. Five years ago we had no idea we would end up in Thailand, co-author a Lonely Planet book, cross China with Falkor, sleep in a yak barn in Tibet, attend a Shan national day in Myanmar, or spend three months walking five dogs on a beach in Rayong.

Therefore, the plan for Year 6 is the same plan we started with on August 1st 2021: follow what excites us, say yes to the unexpected, keep Falkor moving, and tell you all about it here. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia? All of the above? None? We will find out together.

In the meantime, you can follow the full journey step by step on Polarsteps, where every stop is written in real time. Additionally, if this story makes you want to take your own leap, start with Workaway (3 months free) and TrustedHouseSitters (25% off). They are not just platforms — they are how long-term travel actually works.

Finally, we wrote a special 5-Year FAQ answering every question we get about how we do this, how we pay for it, and whether you could do it too. Spoiler: yes, you probably could.