- Description: Olabisi Ajala was a Nigerian journalist, travel writer, actor and adventurer. After studying pre-medicine at the University of Chicago and embarking on a 2,280-mile bicycle tour from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1952 - during which he lectured on Africa in traditional Nigerian dress - he was deported from the United States to the United Kingdom, where he conceived his world tour. On 27 April 1957, aged 26, he departed London on a Vespa scooter on a journey he named "This Safari", intending to cover 40 countries. Over six years he visited 87 countries across Asia, Africa, Oceania and Europe, meeting world leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nikita Khrushchev, the Shah of Iran, Golda Meir and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. His most dramatic moment came at the Mandelbaum Gate between Jordan and Israel, where Jordanian guards fired at him as he accelerated through the crossing, a bullet bursting his rear tyre. He financed the journey by selling travel writing to newspapers and magazines across West Africa. He returned to Nigeria, where he became a celebrated socialite and was immortalised in the 1972 album Board Members by jùjú musician Ebenezer Obey - the chorus "Ajala travel all over the world" made his name synonymous with wanderlust in Nigerian culture. Despite his fame, he died in poverty in Lagos on 2 February 1999. His memoir An African Abroad was published in 1963 and republished in 2022
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: Ajala the Traveller, Travel Ajala
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Nigeria
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: 1934-1999
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Vespa
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olabisi_Ajala
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q96187854
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Ajala, Olabisi. An African Abroad. London: Jarrolds, 1963.
- Description: Günther Markert was a German long-distance traveller and photographer. Between 22 February 1954 and 8 May 1955 he completed a round-the-world journey on a modified Kreidler R50 scooter, covering approximately 50,000 km (31,000 miles) through 33 countries across four continents. His route went from Germany through Italy, Egypt, Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, Mexico and Morocco, returning to Berlin. During the journey he set an altitude record for Kreidler at 4,600 metres on the slopes of Popocatépetl, the second-highest mountain in Mexico. He was a photographer throughout the journey and documented it with numerous photographs. The original Kreidler R50 used on the journey is on display at the Technikmuseum Sinsheim. He recounted his journey in Die Welt war meine Strasse ("The World Was My Road")
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Germany, Germania, Allemagne
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Moped, Motorino, Cyclomoteur
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: https://www.zweirad-museum.de
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Markert, Günther. Die Welt war meine Strasse: eine abenteuerliche Rollerfahrt um die Erde. Bertelsmann, 1958. "Günther Markert und Kreidler R50." Schwalbennest Forum.
- Description: Santiago Guillén and Antonio Veciana were two Spanish law students from Albacete who met at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. Inspired by Michael Anderson's 1956 film adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, they decided to beat the fictional record by one day, circling the globe in 79 days on a single Vespa 150 GS scooter. Their journey, named "Operación Elcano", was supported by the Delegación Nacional de Juventudes, the Spanish Foreign Ministry and Piaggio Spain, who provided a brand new Vespa named "Dulcinea" - after the heroine of Don Quixote, in homage to their origins in La Mancha. Shortly before departure, Salvador Dalí painted the scooter at his home in Cadaqués, signing it with the names of himself and his wife Gala. They departed Madrid on 25 July 1962 and rode through France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, then flew to Malaysia, continuing by scooter through Hong Kong, Japan and across the United States, returning via the United Kingdom and France to arrive in Madrid on 12 October 1962 - 79 days after departure - covering more than 40,000 km. Upon their return they were awarded the medals of Youth, Sports Merit and the Gold medal of the Vespa Club of España. They established a prize for the best youth adventure of each year with the proceeds of the sale of Dulcinea. The "Dalí Vespa" is on permanent display at the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera, Italy
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Spain, Spagna, Espagne
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Vespa
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_79_d%C3%ADas._Vuelta_al_mundo_en_Vespa
- Multimedia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bexFd606a-M
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5831866
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Guillén, Santiago; Veciana, Antonio. En 79 días: Vuelta al mundo en Vespa. Madrid: Editorial Doncel, 1964.
- Description: In the mid-1950s, departing from Genoa on a Vespa - initially a three-wheeled model, which he exchanged for a solo scooter on reaching Iran - he completed a 15-month round-the-world journey covering 59,500 km (37,000 miles) in total, of which 33,800 km (21,000 miles) were ridden on the scooter. His route went through Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Ceylon, before he boarded a ship to Australia and then crossed the United States to New York. The journey was sponsored in part by Piaggio and several other companies. He recounted it in Poet on a Scooter, published by Dial Press in 1958
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: Jean de Ballard, Rollin Coss, H.R. Rose
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: USA
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Vespa
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b776143
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q94407284
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Roskolenko, Harry. Poet on a Scooter. New York: Dial Press, 1958.
- Description: Walter Küpper was a German long-distance moped traveller. Inspired by a book about round-the-world motorcycle riders, he departed in 1959 on a 1.2 hp, three-speed Miele moped - which he had already tested the previous year on a holiday ride to Turkey - and completed a round-the-world journey over 902 days, returning in 1962. His route covered Europe, Turkey, Persia, India, Malaya and Australia. In Japan, media interest in his story had grown to such a degree that press were waiting for him at the dockside, and the Bridgestone Motorcycle Company donated a new moped for the final leg across the United States and back to Europe. In the United States, by contrast, his journey attracted no attention. He covered approximately 72,000 km (45,000 miles) in total and recorded five hours of Super-8 cine film during the journey. He recounted his experiences in Tausend Tage Abenteuer ("One Thousand Days of Adventure"), published in 1966
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Germany, Germania, Allemagne
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Moped, Motorino, Cyclomoteur
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: https://www.berndtesch.de
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Küpper, Walter. Tausend Tage Abenteuer. Munich: F. Schneider, 1966.
- Description: Walker Willem "Wim" Dussel (1920-2004) was a Dutch photojournalist who had previously covered the Dutch Marine Brigade in Indonesia and the Korean War. Manfred Uschold was his German photographer and cameraman companion. Between July 1955 and July 1956 they completed a round-the-world journey, departing from Groningen, Netherlands, on a red 250 cc Maico Maicoletta scooter with sidecar and an 8.5-litre fuel tank, nicknamed "Pechvogel" (unlucky bird), collected from the Maico dealership in Munich. Their route covered Yugoslavia, Iran, Pakistan, India, Burma, Thailand - where they boarded a ship to Hong Kong with 50 cattle - Korea, Japan and then North America, riding through the western and eastern United States and returning to Europe. In Japan, Uschold purchased a Fuji Rabbit scooter for the American leg of the trip. Dussel photographed approximately 10,000 negatives during the journey, of which only 36 appeared in his book. The photograph archive is held at the International Institute of Social History (IISG) in Amsterdam. Dussel later made a second world journey by DAF car, recounted in In 'n drafje de wereld rond (1964)
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Netherlands, Olanda, Hollande
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Moped, Motorino, Cyclomoteur
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iisg/albums/72157622841573224/
- Multimedia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17EGUD3fsxU
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Dussel, Wim. De wereld is nog altijd rond: per scooter dwars door Europa, Azië, en Noord-Amerika. Amsterdam: C. de Boer jr, 1957. Dussel, Wim. In 'n drafje de wereld rond. 1964. "Travel Around the World by Scooter in the 1950s." Vintage News Daily. "Wim Dussel's 1950s Photo Collection." Expedition Portal.
- Description: Between 1957 and 1964 he completed two round-the-world motorcycle journeys, visiting approximately 100 countries across four continents and meeting around 40 heads of state, kings and political leaders, carrying greetings from Syrian youth. His first journey covered Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, then the USSR, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, West and East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, returning to Syria. His second journey covered Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Yugoslavia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, France and England, then Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil, before returning via the United Kingdom, Senegal and across Africa to Syria. In total he covered approximately 153,000 km. He wrote ten books in Arabic about his travels, including East Meets West on a Motorcycle (1959) and Around the World by Motorcycle: 153,000 km in 7 Years Between 64 Capitals of the World (1982)
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Syria, Siria, Syrie
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: http://www.berndtesch.de
- Description: In June 1961 they departed Helsinki, Finland, on two 50 cc Solifer mopeds provided free of charge as test vehicles by Solifer Oy of Helsinki, the main sponsor of the journey alongside Bosch, Semperit and other suppliers. Finnish embassies worldwide were notified and spare parts depots with timetables were arranged along the route. Over approximately two years they covered some 70,000 km through 25 countries across several continents, returning to Helsinki in May 1963. Their journey was reported in newspapers and weekly magazines, which also helped finance the trip
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Germany, Germania, Allemagne
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Moped, Motorino, Cyclomoteur
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Description: Born in the suburbs of Tehran, Issa Omidvar (1931-) and Abdollah Omidvar (1932-2022) were Iranian explorer brothers, mountaineers and self-taught filmmakers. In 1954, each with only $90 in his pocket, they imported two 500 cc Matchless motorcycles from the UK and departed Tehran on a ten-year round-the-world expedition, with the stated goal of documenting the world's most remote and isolated peoples. Their motto was "all different, all relative." Their route covered Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Tibet, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Siam, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia - where they lived with Aboriginal communities - New Zealand, and then across the Pacific to Alaska, Canada and the Arctic, where they spent four months living with Inuit communities. They continued through the United States, Central America, South America and the length of the Andes, then Europe and back to Iran, arriving in 1964. The films they shot on 16 mm cameras are considered among the earliest travel documentaries made by non-Westerners, and were broadcast as a weekly television series in Iran in the late 1960s. Their book was published in Persian in 1964 in an edition of 10,000 copies. After the journey, Issa established the Omidvar Brothers Museum at the Sa'adabad Complex in northern Tehran, housing artefacts collected during the expedition. Abdollah settled in Chile, where he founded a film company and cinema, and subsequently joined a Chilean naval scientific expedition to Antarctica. In later years Issa drove a Citroën 2CV through Africa
- Alias-Pseudonimo-Pseudonyme: -
- Nationality-Nazionalità-Nationalité: Iran
- Birth/death-Nascita/morte-Naissance/mort: -
- Means of transport-Mezzo di trasporto-Moyen de transport: Motorbike, Motocicletta, Moto
- Geographical description-Riferimento geografico-Référence géographique: Around the World, Giro del mondo, Tour du monde
- Internet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_Ommidvar
- Multimedia: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/video/2013/jul/26/adventure-travel-film-festival-iran-explorers-video
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107588457
- Additional references-Riferimenti complementari-Références complémentaires: Omidvar, Issa; Omidvar, Abdollah. In Search of the World's Most Primitive Tribes from 1954 to 1964. Teheran, 1964.
| Precursori, Forerunners, Précurseurs |
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| Viaggi stravaganti, Weird travels, Voyages insolites |
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| Globetrotter contemporanei, Contemporary globetrotters, Globetrotteurs contemporains |
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| Personaggi fittizi, Fictional character, Personnages de fiction |
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About us
Museum of Travel and Tourism is a virtual museum dedicated to travel and tourism, founded in 2016. It began as a research platform focused on the biographies of women and men travelers from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and has gradually expanded to include contemporary journeys.
Impressum
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