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| '''Gunther Holtorf''' is a German who in 1990 embarked on what became a 26 year round the world road trip in a ] ] he christened "Otto". Having visited 177 countries and travelled 549,000 miles, the trip was concluded in 2014. | |||
| {{Orphan|date=March 2015}} | |||
| {{more footnotes|date=October 2014}} | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Gunther Holtorf''' is a ] traveler who, with his ] Christine, became famous in the late 1980s when they began a journey across the world in their ] ] named "Otto". | |||
| == Biography & motivations == | |||
| Holtorf was born in 1937 in Goettingen. He worked for Lufthansa for 30 years, the last three as the chief of air transport for Hapag Lloyd, and retired in 1988. Afterward, he made and sold maps of the city of Jakarta, making money for his future travel. | |||
| == |
== Story == | ||
| In 1988, before the fall of the ], Holtorf and his wife decided to take an on-the-road journey that would be their life for 26 years, through 177 ] and 550000 miles long. The couple began with the idea of spending 18 months discovering the ]n countryside in their G-Wagen, but their travels turned into a journey of 26 years, interrupted only briefly by the need to rest. Without sponsorship or grants, they traveled the world at their pleasure. For over two decades, the Holtorfs lived out of their ], slept in their ]s, and lived in touch with other cultures. They encountered dangerous situations across six ]s: the ], rural ]s in ], ]ian ]s, ] ]s, the ]i ], and the forbidden ]. | |||
| The couple remained with the vehicle on the journeys, travelling in the daylight and camping at night, sleeping either outside hammocks or inside Otto (having been fitted with storage areas under a bed before the main Africa trip). Sticking to rural areas, they only ventured into towns for supplies. Meals were cooked on a gas stove. | |||
| Gunther Holtorf says about his life: "You more travel, more understand what a little you see. And more you see, more you experienced, more you want see and start living." | |||
| The trip involved around 300 ferry voyages for Holtorf, with the G-Wagen being shipped in a container 41 times. When not being used for travelling, Otto was placed into storage at any convenient location, and the couple would return to Germany by air. | |||
| Christine Holtorf died in 2010, but Gunther continued travelling with a photo of his late ] hanging on his ]. The odyssey of the 76-year-old gentleman ended in 2014, and Gunther has returned home to ]. His car is displayed in the Mercedes ] in ]. "When people compliment me, I say it is Otto who has the merits, and the robustness and reliability of this car is absolutely amazing." | |||
| == Cost == | |||
| Adjusting for inflation, taking into account fuel, spare parts, transport fees and air fares, Holtorf estimated he spent 450,000 Euros on the journey, rationalising the cost as being better expressed as just 1,500 Euros a month or 50 cents per km. | |||
| == External links == | |||
| Preferring the freedom it allowed, Holtorf chose not to be sponsored for the trip or carry any advertising, although he did receive other varying assistance from Mercedes-Benz as they came to realise the benefits for their company's reputation. This included worldwide third party car insurance from Axa, paying the shipping costs from Australia to Germany for the model's 25th birthday celebrations, paying for the escort car required by China, and persuading the Philippines to drop the demand for a $30,000 bond. | |||
| * | |||
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| == Countries & territories visited == | |||
| * | |||
| Holtorf's journey took in 179 countries - missing out only 16 from the 195 officially recognised by Guinness World Records (193 UN member states, plus Taiwan and the Vatican). The last two were Ireland and Belarus, using the repaired G-Wagen after the rollover in Madagascar. It also took in dozens of partially recognised territories, such as Kosovo and Western Sahara. | |||
| == Obstacles to travel == | |||
| After diplomatic assistance, Holtorf and Martin were able to enter North Korea, with the North Korean government having gained special permission from China for conveyance on a container ship. They had to pay 5,500 Euros to travel for a fortnight, had to stick to an arranged schedule, and were escorted at all times by a second vehicle. They reported encountering extraordinary security measures, including all traffic being cleared from roads on their route. | |||
| Entry to Cuba was personally authorised by Fidel Castro, one of whose sons worked for the Mercedes distributor in the country. | |||
| Diplomatic assistance could not resolve the refusal of permission to enter Japan, resulting from a decades long dispute between Germany and Japan over the recognition of German car registrations. As a result, Holtorf entered via a South Korean ferry route in spite of the lack of permission, commenting: "Technically Otto was illegally in Japan. It was a gamble and there was a danger that the car would be confiscated.". | |||
| Despite assistance from Mercedes and trying from both Laos and Cambodia, entry into Vietnam was only possible after Holtorf paid an agent $2,000 to arrange it. Entry into China required significant amounts of paperwork, for each province, as well as an escort car. Entry into Austrlaia was only possible after costly and time-consuming sterilisation of the G-Wagen. | |||
| == References == | |||
| * (all) | |||
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| {{Persondata | {{Persondata | ||
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Gunther Holtorf is a German traveler who, with his wife Christine, became famous in the late 1980s when they began a journey across the world in their G-Wagen Mercedes Benz named "Otto".
Story
In 1988, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Holtorf and his wife decided to take an on-the-road journey that would be their life for 26 years, through 177 countries and 550000 miles long. The couple began with the idea of spending 18 months discovering the African countryside in their G-Wagen, but their travels turned into a journey of 26 years, interrupted only briefly by the need to rest. Without sponsorship or grants, they traveled the world at their pleasure. For over two decades, the Holtorfs lived out of their car, slept in their hammocks, and lived in touch with other cultures. They encountered dangerous situations across six continents: the Sahara Desert, rural villages in Kenya, Parisian streets, Buddhist temples, the Iraqi war zone, and the forbidden North Korea.
Gunther Holtorf says about his life: "You more travel, more understand what a little you see. And more you see, more you experienced, more you want see and start living."
Christine Holtorf died in 2010, but Gunther continued travelling with a photo of his late wife hanging on his rearview mirror. The odyssey of the 76-year-old gentleman ended in 2014, and Gunther has returned home to Berlin. His car is displayed in the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart. "When people compliment me, I say it is Otto who has the merits, and the robustness and reliability of this car is absolutely amazing."
External links
- Coppia tedesca viaggia per 26 anni, 177 paesi e 550 mila miglia con un Mercedes Classe G
- German man drives Mercedes G-Wagen on 557k-mile, 26-year road trip
- Gunther Holtorf completes 884,000km world tour in a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen