Our World Tour in a Land Rover

Today, we have chosen to introduce you to Agathe and Mathieu, a young couple in their thirties whom we have been following for several months on social networks. They left France 4 months ago to embark on a world tour in a Land Rover Defender. Yes, they decided to traverse the globe for a year aboard their modified vehicle! Their journey around the world has already taken them through Europe and the Orient, with America next on their itinerary. We love them so much that we asked them to become our "ambassadors." Thanks to them, we feel closer to our local partner agencies. When their itinerary allows, they stop to meet our local experts across the world. Currently in Russia, they took the time to answer a few questions so we could share their incredible adventure with you and maybe inspire some of you.

How did the idea of touring the world in a Land Rover come about?

A year ago, we were in South Africa for a few weeks and stumbled upon a 4x4 land cruiser equipped for long-distance road trips. Professionally, we were starting to feel the need for a break and potentially going abroad. The project started with the idea that it would be nice to make a trip to reach our new home, then gradually, the trip became our new experience. The #WeCanGoAnywhere adventure was born! And who knows if we won't find a country along the way where we might want to stay longer!

Who is Leo?

Leo is our 4x4! We bought it shortly after deciding on our trip. It's a Defender (Land Rover brand) produced in 1998 with already 272,000 km on the clock and several RAIDs in Morocco under its belt (with its previous owners). It is one of two car models known to be sufficiently reliable for this type of long journey. The most important thing is that its engine has no electronics, which means any mechanic could repair it. Before setting off, we had to redo the entire interior and equip it (roof tent, fridge, heating, water heater) to make it comfortable and livable for a year.

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A post shared by Agathe_et_Mathieu (@wecangoanywhere) on May 10, 2019 at 2:42 PDT

How do you occupy those long hours on the road?

As we love visiting and discovering as much as possible in the countries we travel through, we end up covering quite a few kilometers, which can be more or less fast depending on the road conditions! To pass all this time in the car, we read books to each other or listen to podcasts. But above all, we enjoy the stunning views of the landscapes we traverse!

And from time to time, we enjoy other means of transportation! #slowlife

How did you choose your destinations?

Before thinking about this new type of journey, we had already traveled quite a bit with backpacks and there were countries we had visited, often loved, but couldn't explore fully due to time constraints. Notably, Iran and Mongolia were at the top of the list as these are vast countries where transportation can be problematic with a backpack. Starting from there, we generally had an axis and refined the route depending on whether it was possible or not to enter certain countries by car (for example, entering China is extremely complicated and expensive). For the second part of our world tour in South America, we thought it was a great opportunity to visit Patagonia and it fit perfectly with the seasons for spending a year in the sun!

What are your best memories so far?

Among our best memories is this chance meeting with Bulut, a Turk from Izmir city, also a big fan and owner of a Defender. First, he helped us find parts for the car but above all invited us to spend an evening at his home with his cousin. We quickly found ourselves tasting the best street food dishes of the city (which we would never have dared try without him) then he took us up to the highest mountains overlooking the city to enjoy the best view around a campfire.

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A post shared by Agathe_et_Mathieu (@wecangoanywhere) on March 6, 2019 at 2:58 PST

Another moment that holds special meaning for us is our arrival at Song Köl Lake, very remote in Kyrgyzstan. First of all, we crossed an uncountable number of wild horse herds in nature where we could enjoy special moments among foals. Then once the lake was in sight, traversing this green grass steppe gave us a unique sensation of not having any track (let alone road) on which to drive.

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A post shared by Agathe_et_Mathieu (@wecangoanywhere) on May 29, 2019 at 9:47 PDT

This camp was idyllic because it was completely remote. Only about twenty yurts around the lake but they were invisible due to how large the lake was.

What do you take away from meetings with our local agencies?

So far, we've had the opportunity to meet managers from two of your local agencies in Iran. It has been a real asset during our trip. We love combining business with pleasure! We met Alireza (Fantastic Iran Travel) at the very beginning of our month in Iran and his knowledge of the country amazed us; within an hour we had gone over all points of interest on the map, areas that were flooded at that time and roads that were closed; from this information, we could shape our stay because we love driving kilometers! As a result, we managed to see almost all UNESCO sites in Iran! When meeting Mehdi (Irandelle Voyage) in Isfahan, his first gesture was to offer us small hand-decorated plates. This gesture was so representative of Iranian hospitality (which begins by inviting you for tea then inviting you for dinner then insisting you stay overnight) that it touched us deeply.

How can people follow you?

We regularly post our adventures on Instagram: @wecangoanywhere and for those more "old school" on Facebook: WecanGoanywhere