HU Travellers Meeting Switzerland 2024

Josh Priestley, Travelling Ent How to Travel When You're a Donkey Travelling is hard. I'll share some stories of my complete lack of preparation, due care and attention, and general ability.

In 2017, I left on a 60,000-km solo trip from the UK to Australia. I was woefully underprepared, despite spending 12 months preparing. I'll share some stories and lessons from my experiences so that you, too, can learn vital skills.

HOW TO:
- How to spend three months selecting the correct seat cover only to lose it three weeks into your trip;
- Which mechanical skills to brush up on that you will never use;
- How to carefully plan and select a route you will never stick to;
- How to take a break from your trip to do another trip within your trip.

JOSH PRIESTLY bought his first motorbike in 2015 and travelled overland to Italy, fell in love with the travelling style, and left on a UK-to-NZ trip from 2017-2018. Since then, he's been travelling on-and-off around Europe.

Sabine Krauss and Uwe Eisenmann, #followthebluesky How Do You Prepare Your Life For Travel How do we manage our lives to have enough time for travelling. What kinds of models are good solutions?

We share our experiences to find the right idea to get more time for travelling. How to find the best job arrangement. What about the travel budget, tax, costs, long-term travels versus stop-and-go trips, leave your vehicle in a foreign country, go back home for work and restart your trip? In this workshop, you'll find the best idea for you to go travelling. The only borders are mostly in your mind - now we start the border crossing!

SABINE KRAUSS and UWE EISENMANN travel on two and four wheels to some beautiful countries of the world. Looking always for the "bright side of life", making new friends on the road, and following the blue sky. Our favorite areas are Africa, Middle East, and Europe. We start with a long-term ride over 19 months from our hometown to Cape Town. Now we're spending six months per year for travel and we don't want to wait for retirement.

Karin and Ralf Kuehl, RCG on Tour Georgia on Two- and Three-Wheeled Bikes The European balcony into Asia, or how we become the first westerner tourists to conquer the Abano Pass on a Dnepr sidecar.

Georgia has become one of our most beloved countries we ever visited. We had the chance to travel all over Georgia not only on our own bikes, but also got the possibilty to make use of vintage Kiev Dnepr sidecars and, even partly, a Russian Wolga. We got introduced into the impressive landscape from the sea up to the 5000-m Kasbek Peak, but we also learned about the warm hospitality of the Georgian people which most times comes along with Chacha and Chatschapuri. We introduce you to a city where the public transport is mostly operated by cable ways and a traverse with a pass which climbs up to 2800 m. We hope you will find Georgia as impressive as we like it and we will be open to all your questions.

KARIN and RALF KUEHL have travelled together, mostly on motobikes, since 2008. Meanwhile, they have been on four continents on rented or our own bikes. We love to meet our future friends on the road or at nice and cute places.

Maxime Berberat From the Alps to the Himalayas Riding a 34-year-old bike across Eurasia in a post-covid world, and discovering life on the road

Leaving Switzerland in April 2022, I had one goal: riding my bike in Ladakh, northern India, on the highest passes on Earth. In reality, I realized a few months into the trip that I was getting at least as much stimulation and satisfaction from living on the road. When daily life becomes interesting again, faraway goals lose their importance. You just begin to let yourself flow. Encounters with locals and other travellers, magnificent landscapes, struggles to get the right documentation, and dealing with loneliness: all these experiences distorted the significance of the ultimate goal of reaching Ladakh, altering my vision of what the purpose of this journey was. Between mountains and sea, snow and scorching hot deserts, sun and monsoon, hugs and firearms, join me on a solo journey from Switzerland to India via the southern route (Turkey, Caucasus, Iran, Pakistan).

MAXIME BERBERAT has always been riding motorcycles, but he only recently started travelling with them. Before discovering Horizons Unlimited in 2019, he had not at all been aware of the existence of long-term overland travel. In 2022, the opportunity to ride across half the world arose, and he took it.

Michael Schröder Longing for Patagonia Total freedom, or three months and 16000 km on a bike in Patagonia

The longing for Patagonia grew bigger and bigger. Over 30 years after his first motorcycle trip through this wild south of Chile and Argentina, Michael, a professional journalist, returned to this windswept part of the world. He spent three months on the road, traveling 16,000 kilometers on his BMW R1250 GS through rainforests and passed active volcanoes, huge glaciers, and unique mountain landscapes. Later, strong winds chased him through a seemingly endless steppe, where he felt total freedom on his bike.

When he finally arrived at Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world on Tierra del Fuego, the rough charm of Patagonia made him fall in love with this part of the world again! On his way bac,k he also crossed the Andes on one of the most spectacular high mountain roads you can imagine: the Paso de San Francisco (4726 m).

MICHAEL SHRÖDER became Editor at MOTORRAD after travelling through Patagonia for six months in 1989. He spent another five months on a bike in South America in 1993, followed by trips all over the world, including Mongolia, central Asia, and southern Africa, and South America again for six months in 2001. Two kids changed his lifestyle, but in 2023 at the age of 60, he shipped his bike again to South America. Why? Because of Patagonia, where he spent another three months. You can read the full story in his latest book, Sehnsucht nach Patagonien.

Educational Sessions

Because Horizons Unlimited events are about informing, not just inspiring, we also have a great line-up of educational sessions for you... Further information will follow.

Celine Dubois, Break-A-Way Outdoor Emergency Medicine & First Aid / First Aid Kit On-The-Go: What to Pack?

1. Outdoor Emergency Medicine & First Aid
Injuries and illnesses in the middle of nowhere: possibilities, limits, and being prepared!

Handling medical emergencies is a challenge, even in countries with good medical standards. What do you do with an injured travelmate after an accicent or your fever infection is getting worse and worse? Are you prepared? In this workshop, we help you learn how to size up the situation, to overcome the stress, and to react appropriately. You learn how to check your patient, do the recovery position in bike gear, when and how to remove a helmet (or not!), do a body check, fix broken limbs, and stop bleeding. In the end, you get a chance to provide your new skills and knowledge in a scenario from a real case study.

2. First Aid Kit On-The-Go: What to Pack?
A huge list of essential items and so little space - what do you really need to pack for your travels

Are you prepared to provide immediate and proper attention using the first aid kit in your panniers, even if you're in a country with good medical standards? How do you treat persistent diarrhea or the bite of a strange insect? In this workshop, we go through the whole range of emergency possibilities and discuss what to pack in to your personal first aid kit. We learn to recognize severe illnesses and how to treat them appropriately. We talk about the possibilities and the limits, how to avoid and to treat bites and stings, and how to handle medical problems before they turn in to serious emergencies.

CELINE DUBOIS has been exploring the world for over 30 years with her partner and for 10 years now with a Toyota Landruiser - adventurous roads and a wildcamp away from it all, that's all they need. As a passionate paramedic with more than 15 years' experience, Cel teaches First Aid and Outdoor Medicine and prepares people for their own travel adventures.

Judith Seeberger Women's Discussion Session

How to travel light and woman on bikes - a contradiction? This and many other female topics There are many female topics we can discuss about: security, what to take with or not, what bike on a solo trip, how much technical or mechanical knowhow is needed, etc..... with the experience of me and - hopefully - other female travelers there will be a interesting discussion started.

JUDITH SEEBERGER - Riding motorcycle since 27 years, I spent my motorcycle holidays mainly in Europe on road and since 5 years off-road as well. Finally I dared to go for 6 months on a solo trip from Anchorage to Santiago de Chile. The best decision in my life!

Filippo Fania Solving Mechanical and Electrical Problems on the Road

No need to worry about mechanical or electrical problems - all you need is a little basic knowledge and lots of creativity, Filippo "McGyver" will show you.

This will be an interactive workshop where we will focus on what people are interested in. Bring your questions and problems, and together will try to find a solution - in particular, for electrical and electronic issues. Bring your bike and show us also your modifications and special fixes. Filippo will also explain and present some modifications that have proven to be very helpful during his world trip with his wife Heike, 2 Live the Dream

FILIPPO FANIA has extensively travelled the world by motorcycle, truck, 4x4 - he has huge experience in motorcycle mechanics and in particular the electrics and electronics. He now runs a business specialised in motorcycle and automobile electrics and electronics.

Xenia and Tinu, XT Adventures Gear and Tools for Your Trip

Welcome to our gear-up session where we're all about sharing the knowledge to fuel your two-wheeled adventures! Whether you're dreaming of a globe-trotting expedition or a leisurely ride into the unknown, we've got the lowdown on essential camping gear and motorbike tools to make your journey a breeze.

When it comes to camping gear, think lightweight, durable, and packable. We're talking about tents that can weather any storm and sleeping bags that'll keep you snug under the stars. And let's not forget about the joy of cooking al fresco with portable stoves and utensils designed for life on the road.

Now, onto motorbike tools because every rider should know how to handle basic repairs on the fly. So bring your tool rolls and we'll talk about all the essential tools you will need to get you around the globe. So grab a seat, bring a beer and lets talk gear and tools!

About the presenters: XENIA and TINU are the new hosts of HU Switzerland! The couple travelled around the world for a bit more than three years with their XT Yamaha motorbikes. Mostly spending the nights in their tent and cooking their own food.

More to come...

How about you? We're all here to learn, and there's LOTS to learn! We want to do more presentations and seminars - but we need volunteers to give them! Any topic you can contribute having to do with motorcycle travel, maintenance, planning etc, lasting 20 minutes or more, would be great. Please sign up here.