Totò and Peppina a Year As Gypsies
Motorbike Trip Around the World
A trip dreamed of for a very long time. Courage mustered in 2 in May 2012 when I meet the woman who will be my companion in discovering the world. And after a trial run, the confirmation that a couple is born: ready to leave together for a round-the-world tour. In September 2014 we leave for Turkey, then Iran, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bangkok, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Then we embark for South America: Chile, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela. Then Africa or Europe, we don’t know yet. We have a whole year to find out. We will never do the same thing for 2 days running, we will be hosted by people who trust us and we will stop wherever we feel like it. Follow us in our incredibly free, passionate, adventurous, motorized ‘year as gypsies’!
Around the world motorcycle trip itinerary
THE PROTAGONIST
Totò and Peppina
THE PROTAGONIST
Totò and Peppina
Totò and Peppina are two ‘capa tosta’ (stubborn) Italian Southerners, suffering from incurable ‘nomadism’. Uninterested in the superhero rhetoric that fascinates many travellers, what counts for them are the people they meet and the stories of which the world is full. And they want to see this world with their eyes, with no filters. They cross whole countries by motorbike in a position of apparent disadvantage that inspires respect and admiration, and induces locals to give them a hand and welcome them after having done kms and kms of dust and rain.
Antonio Femia aka Totò
Originally from the Ionic coast of Calabria, 42 years old, for 12 years he worked as an architect then he decided to go out and see the world. He started riding motorbikes when he was 32, mainly travelling alone: Balkans, Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. Returning from Samarkand in 2012 the idea struck him: in the heart of the Kazakh steppe he understands that it is possible to live as a traveller in the long term. The two following years he works to save enough to survive a year around the world. After the forums, he tells his travel stories on his blog www.totlemoto.it and writes for the magazine ‘Motociclismo’ publishing reports. He chose his nickname “Totò le Motò” as a tribute to the movie “Totò le Mokò”, where the hero finds himself in a casbah and, after the initial shock, he does very well despite the many difficulties.
Alessandra Reale aka Peppina
Neapoletan, 36 years old, support teacher in Milan after years as a social worker in the Spanish Quarters and Rom camps of Naples. She loves her job. Here first motorbike trip was with Antonio, in 2013, between Romania and the Balkans. It took him a second to give her the nickname ‘Peppina.’
And who is Sofia?
Sofia is their bike: a 2008 Yamaha XT660Z Ténéré. They celebrated its 100,000kms reaching Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos, halfway through the trip. It is a versatile bike and very good off-road. With about 45hp it is not the most powerful of bikes, but it’s enough to go anywhere in two and with a full load.