We are a family of four who have started this adventure around the world in the 1st of April 2006 while landing in Brisbane in Australia, our daughters at that time were six and eight years old and made their first overlanders’ steps. During our first journey in Australia we were driving a bit more than 35,000 kilometres with a modified Nissan Patrol and a camper trailer to explore the eastern part. We have crossed six states by following the coast from south to north and the Red Center to the south to close the loop. We have visited some legendary places like Uluru and spend most of our time in National and Marine Parks.
After this year in the land of kangaroos, we decided to hop into the kiwis’ land. It is not a huge country but we nevertheless remained two years to visit most of the place on the two main islands and the little rock at the bottom of South Island near Antarctica called Stewart Island.
In 2009 we have moved to New Caledonia, a little paradise in South Pacific Ocean situated between Australia and New Zealand, and we stayed for three years and have participated in an environmental project on corals, turtles and birds preservation all around the country. During the latest year in New Caledonia, we have actively organised our non-stop, round-the-world in 10 years by road. And in February 2012, we have flown to Australia for a second time. We quickly found our new vehicle – a 1993 Toyota Landcruiser 75 series and modified it ourselves to fit our needs. We have fitted two rooftop tents and a solar panel to load our batteries to feed the fridge and the power points for the girls to do schooling on their computers while we drive.
In April 2012 we started our long journey around the world and became overlanders for life. Our primary target was, driving on six continents and going through 100 countries in 10 years to visit highlighted and remote places, and meet other cultures and traditions. On the way, our plan and our route have been modified a few times for diverse reasons, breakdowns, budget, war or visas. At the start of our journey we would have ended our adventure in 2022 but because of the time we spent in different countries, we had to extend it to 2024 or probably more. We have been travelling for the last years with only 500€ per month for four people to pay all our expenses, which is just enough for fuel, food and visas. Our major problem is the lack of sponsors especially when we have to cross a sea or an ocean to reach another country or another continent, or when our vehicle breaks down, like recently in the UAE.
So in 2012 for this new start, we have decided to explore the main Australian remote places we haven’t done in 2006 and we have driven another 35,000 kilometres down under and visited some amazing untouched places but the rough roads have been hard and at the end of the year our budget was not enough to send our vehicle to Asia to continue our trip. So we decided to leave the car in Australia for a year and continue our journey as backpackers in Southeast Asia. To save some money we didn’t use transport and accommodation as less as possible and we used individual tunnel tents to sleep and walk as much as possible.
In 2013 we haven’t done a lot kilometres on our theoretical route, we have just visited the main islands of Indonesia, and Malaysia including Borneo and Brunei but we have had a lot of fun and met a lot of people who helped us all along our walk. In the beginning of 2014 we got just enough money to bring our vehicle in Asia and the family was very happy and really appreciated the luxury of a moving car, despite the fact that we have had less opportunity to meet people and take pictures. We were able to visit more places and access remote places in the jungle.
In 2014, we drove through Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. We discovered the wonders of Southeast Asia with their wonderful landscapes, inland and on the coast and offshore. While also exploring the beautiful temples and sculptures, the huge diversity of birds and mammals and the fine and delicious cuisine which was sometimes surprising and spicy. We were able to visit some unforgettable places like Angkor Wat, one of the Wonders of the World and some unknown places still untouched.
In 2015, we visited Myanmar in convoy with a guide, the only solution to cross this country with our own vehicle was from Thailand to India. We visited a few amazing places in this country like Bagan and met the friendliest people of Asia. The day before we crossed the border to Nepal, the 8.1 magnitude earthquake happened so we changed our route to South India and we tried to keep a distance from the monsoon. We stayed in India for five months and visited almost every state to discover this world within a world, where everything is different and where we needed more time than other countries to adapt ourselves. We were lucky to obtain our Pakistan visas and were able to cross the country. The people were so kind and amazing we extended our visas to be able to visit the north of Pakistan all the way up to the Chinese border to discover Hunza Valley. It was the most amazing place we have ever travelled to in the past nine years. During this month a large community of bikers helped and supported us.
We spent one month in Iran where we met really warm and welcoming people. It’s the country where we used our rooftop tents the least. We have visited some beautiful religious places and historic places such as Persepolis. During this one month trip around Iran we have been supported by the tourist guides of Iran who helped us to have a better understanding of their country.
We crossed the Strait of Hormuz to arrive in the UAE — where we ended 2015 and started 2016 on the beach in Dubai where we watched the biggest and most spectacular fireworks we have ever seen. We have visited some interesting places and discovered extremely modern architecture. Not to mention the incredible vehicles as well.
We have been welcomed in every country and many people along the way, some more welcoming than the others. In the 10 years we’re travelling, we are so delighted that it pushed us to go further in our quest for the discovery of the planet and the people. Our next destination will be Oman, then Africa, but for the moment we are looking for the cheapest way to go to Africa as we are not able to drive through Saudi Arabia because of our right-hand drive car.
Our adventure will continue until we reach Ushuaia. Before this, we will try to achieve the tour of Africa from east to south and up north by the west coast in three years to reach Europe where we estimate staying for two years and visiting the west and the east with a small hop into northern countries during warmer periods. We then go to the Americas by crossing Central Asia, Mongolia and Russia to get to Alaska by the Bering Strait. From there we want to travel from North America to the most southern tip of South America in Tierra del Fuego.
The Trastours is a family that has been overlanding the planet for as long as they can remember! Made up of Greg and Magali as well as their daughters Natasha and Anastasia, The Trastours is a family filled to the brim with an unstoppable sense of adventure for the ultimate goal – to explore the world. You can check out their next stop at www.nomadsroad.com or look for Nomads Road on Facebook and Twitter.
Words By: Grég Trastour
Photos By: Grég, Magali,Natasha and Anastasia Trastour
