[Indian2003]

Meet my friend Steinar. He is 79 years old and travels alone around the world in a 31 year old VW T3 4X4 with a 1,6 liter diesel engine. Once he starts to talk about cars and engines he never stops talking.

After the meets he meticulously picks up the smallest piece of garbage from around his car and takes it with him. He says, to keep the place clean for the next man.

The Covid restrictions stopped him from his trip to Mongolia last year. He has travelled from coast to coast in North and South America, Russia, Singapore/Laos. Australia, China/Russia.

He has bought a Mercedes Sprinter and touring Norway right now until covid goes away. Then is back to his VW and Mongolia.

Her he is in Germany just before he shipped his car to Canada.


2 spare wheel which he locks together to prevent thieves from breaking through the back door.


The car had driven over 400,000 km and 150,000 km on his trips and has crossed 50 border crossings. Mileage should be approaching 600,000 km.


We met last time at a local meet in 2019 where he laid out his plans for the Mongolia trip.


The viking helmet and horns have actually brought strangers to him. They want to find out what it is.


He needs a walker to help him move around.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Indian2003

Meet my friend Steinar. He is 79 years old and travels alone around the world in a 31 year old VW T3 4X4 with a 1,6 liter diesel engine.

Wow, wow and wow! Thank you for sharing! What sprit, strength and civic sense. Kudos to Mr. Steinar at 79 years young!

God bless Mr. Steinar and wish him all the best for the future. May he never cease doing what he loves!

Cheers

[thiagar]

Wow! This is epic. He is awe-inspiring. Hats off to him.

[Red Liner]

Absolutely brilliant. And he needs a walker! That threw me off my bed. What wonderful motivation to start the week.

Would be wonderful if Steinar did a book. I know its a very non Norwegian thing to do considering its a country of introverts.

Hope to meet him sometime out there. Lykke til Steinar!

[GTO]

Awesome thread of an awesome dude . Reminds me of my late father. While not 79, when he was 70-71 years old and on dialysis treatment, he still made me take him on road-trips. We chose destinations that had dialysis centers open to guests (e.g. Deolali & Nashik) or places which were just ~5 hours from Mumbai (Panchgani) so we could bunk just one dialysis session and be back in time for the next one.

All pics post-Dialysis. Lonavla:


Mahabaleshwar. Covered up because he would feel real cold (even in summer):


Pawna:


Man loved to ride shotgun with me . He did a couple of Bombay-Goa road trips with me in the 2000s, but that is one drive that had to be stopped after dialysis:

[snr]

May we all have the same enthusiasm for travel even at his age! Wonderful write up! Would love to meet this gentleman some day!

[AZT]

I wish all of us can be this guy at 79. Special mention to that camper van doing 600,000 kms and still going strong, those Germans make cars to last!

[PrideRed]

Older generation folks were built to last long without medicines. My generation live on unhealthy food, stress and constantly run against time. We also live on lot of medicines and I feel immunity levels are nowhere close to my ancestors. My grandfather died 2 years ago when he was 89. Only medicine I remember him take was paracetamol tablet may be once a year. The best part, he made to a road trip with me from KA-Varanasi at the age of 81. Just a week before his death he made a 600KM day trip without any hiccups.

[Indian2003]

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Older generation folks were built to last long without medicines. My generation live on unhealthy food, stress and constantly run against time.

When I was in India there was no junk food. The only soft drink was Fanta. Watching youtube today it was shocking to see people eating pizza and hamburgers for dinner.
The US exports garbage junk food to African and Asian countries countries. This is an act of war.

In Malaysia a McDonalds that is open 24/7 is crowded throughout the day and night. The good old traditional foods have gone.

If I remember right, the salary for a labourer was 100 rupees or less. I paid 25 rupees with a fake student card for a train ticket from Madras to Delhi in third class with AC. This trip took 3 days and 4 nights. A bus ticket from Cochin to Thakhazi was under 10 rupees.

A meal of grilled meats at a Taj restaurant I paid 25 rupees.
2 eggs and a coffee at the Indian Coffee Shop in Delhi cost 1,50 rupees. A room at Mrs Colaco in Delhi was 15 rupees. I stayed at the youth hostel in the Red Fort for 10 rupees.

[Fiestaboy]

Inspiring story to start the day.

Along with his age (& need of walker to move around), the choice of the 31 year old VW -T3 adds further boost of confidence to us, since we think of changing vehicles when it is 8 or10 years old due to fear of parts availability or vehicle reliability.

May his passion gets him more journeys in coming days.

[RoadAtlas]

All I pray to my God is that when I reach that age, I can do just that. Kudos to Steinar for the inspiration.

But would hate to mention, it is still very difficult for common Indians to conduct cross-country trips like this. The last time I checked, the CARNET for my small car costs three times its actual price. The process is very long and requires at least two approvals from government offices (IIRC).

Due to the unstable government there, crossing the Moreh-Tamo border to Myanmar is always a hit or a miss. You need to be in a big group of similar cars, hire a local car, and guide to accompany you for your entire trip in that country (Costs about 1L INR). It is just the same while crossing the Kodari-Totopani border between Nepal and Tibet. Trips sponsored by big corps (e.g.: Bajaj, RE) could be achieved, individual tours are almost impossible to complete.

Even if there were no pandemic, a car owner had no possibility of crossing into any of our three major neighbours: China, Pakistan, Myanmar (current military coup).

For coming years, we have to be content with tours within our country only.

[Dhillon]

What an inspiring man Mr. Steinar is! Planning cross country trips takes a lot of research and at this age Mr. Steinar doing all this alone is incredible and that too when he is using walker to move around.

I wish him many more healthy years! Thanks for sharing this inspiring short story Indian2003.

[GT007]

Wow what an inspirational story. Hats off to your friend Mr Steinar for having such amazing spirit. Wish him many more years of tours ahead along with good health.

[ShankarG]

Hats off to him. Planning & executing a cross country trip at this age is commendable and serves as an inspiration for all of us.

Originally Posted by RoadAtlas

... The last time I checked, the CARNET for my small car costs three times its actual price. The process is very long and requires at least two approvals from government offices (IIRC).

..Even if there were no pandemic, a car owner had no possibility of crossing into any of our three major neighbours: China, Pakistan, Myanmar (current military coup).

For coming years, we have to be content with tours within our country only.

This is interesting. We have a thread from 2017 exploring possible cross country road trips from India. Not sure if there are any updates / other threads on that. May be we can have our own Tbhp cross country chapter.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...dia-spain.html (Embarq Tours: Drive from India to Spain)

[Indian2003]

Originally Posted by ShankarG

This is interesting. We have a thread from 2017 exploring possible cross country road trips from India. Not sure if there are any updates / other threads on that. May be we can have our own Tbhp cross country chapter.

I have been playing with a trip like this in my head. I found out the safest and cheapest would be to drive to Iran. From Bandar Abas, a RORO ferry to Mumbai and ship the car back in a container.

The prices were very reasonable. I dont remember the prices now.
This must be a much safer route and shorter than travelling through Burma.

It is a pity that Indians cant travel west without the risk of being shot at. India is a huge country and there are many places to see that you wont find in Europe. A trip around India must be like travelling through many countries.