Travelling is my passion. As soon as I am in a place for longer than a month I feel this urge to move on. I get bored and I feel that I am missing something out there. Some great adventure could happen and I am missing it because I was lazy, lying on my sofa. That’s why I have spent the last two years on the road.

People often ask me if I miss having a home. A safe place to be. A place where friends and family are around and where everything stays the same no matter what happens. A stable place. No, I simply don’t miss it. But maybe it’s because my truck is my home.

Two years ago I had no clue about cars, trucks, engines or mechanics. Yes, of course I had a driver’s license, but usually I was getting everywhere by bike. But then I finally decided to ease my urge to be constantly on the move. I traded business trips and three weeks’ holidays for a truck; a truck I was driving for a big adventure tour company from Cairo to Capetown and from Rio de Janeiro to Quito.

Life feels so much lighter when you do not have to make a choice of which of your 30 T-shirts in your closet you should wear. Life feels free when your only mission for the day is to get from Wadi Halfa to a bush camp in the desert in Sudan. And yes, even fixing your truck feels like an answer to freedom. Before I had to rewrite my sentences and articles five times and even then you still could find another or better way to write research papers. But if you manage to fix your truck and it runs again, there is no better or different way. It’s fixed and it’s done!

The truck starts to take over your whole life. You are dependent on it. You will have to take care of her (yes, the truck becomes a “she” for you and has a name) because if she breaks down in the middle of the Sudanese desert you are in trouble. You learn to listen to all the different noises she makes. In every town you stop in, you keep your eyes open for hardware stores and spare parts you might need. When she is tired and stuck in the desert sand, you dig her out. You have your hands dirty every single day. You start dreaming about fixing broken injector lines.

And then it happens. Your truck is broken down. She refuses to engage into reverse. You are stuck with the nose pointed to a wall. 15 passengers are tired after a game drive and they want to get to the next destination to relax. The pressure is on you. Local mechanics show up and try their luck. But in the end it is you who knows your truck best. You sit back, take a deep breath and think. And the solution pops into your head. It takes you 15 minutes adjusting the gear lever and she pops into reverse! Relief! And the feeling of being invincible. You made it on your own, without any help. And it gives you confidence for your next breakdown…

Maybe my truck is not only my home. It is more: a symbol of freedom, challenge, and empowerment. That’s why I started my own company together with my boyfriend, whom I met during my truck travels in Africa. We are currently remodeling an old school bus. With our tour company, Infinite Adventures, we will be taking passengers into the wilderness of Alaska. If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough! Come and join me for my next travels on the roads of Alaska. My truck will be your home, too! I promise you will fall in love with her as many of my former passengers did! You will find me either in the driver’s seat, on top of the truck sleeping at night or under the truck giving some love to my beloved big beast: be sure there is always something to do!