Mumbai: 52 countries by road, a donation per km - Mangalurean couple's inspiring journey


Pearl D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Mar 5: It's not uncommon to see Europeans take road trips in India or even East-Asian tourists click away on the streets and alleys of our cities. Nor is it bizarre for Indian couples to travel the country and places abroad. But it's not every day that one finds an Indian couple, hovering around the age of 60, taking a 57,373 km road trip from Mumbai to London and back in eight months.

The exotic journey of a lifetime which Janet and Louis undertook along the roads least explored in parts of Europe and Asia "Tells the story of dreaming together in marriage, of seeing the world together, of reliving glorious moments of life in lands unseen," says the couple.

Louis (62), who grew up in Udupi, and Janet (56) who grew up in Mumbai, first met in 1978 and got married in 1982. But they signed their tryst with the 8-month long road journey across almost half the world on May 20, last year. They covered 52 countries in their new BMW X5, and were back home on January 26.

While being an inspiration to travellers across age brackets, the couple claims to have been inspired themselves by the 'Little Indian Family of Explorers' who traversed their way to Paris from Bengaluru.

Apart from the exploring, the couple raised funds and donated Rs 10 for every kilometre they travelled toward two social change organisations, the White Doves, Mangaluru and Muskaan, Mumbai. Additionally, all the money that came in from sponsors was donated to the two organisations.

The journey that began in India, continued to Myanmar, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Prague, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Belgium, UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan,Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, China, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and finally concluded back in India, in their own car.


The teacher called 'Road'

The couple learnt to use navigational tools and take professional-like pictures over the course of their journey. The car was equipped with details for the journey between Mumbai and London, along with social media links for travel convenience.

Besides enhancing technological skills, the couple enriched their experience when they encountered an array of cultures along the way. They met people of various cultures, speaking various dialects almost on a daily basis.

They did not go to the usual tourist spots in most countries. They explored some wonderful towns and cities in Croatia, Turkey and France.

The sheer joy of Indians in these countries when speaking with the couple was among 'proudest moments' for them in the journey. Some of the warmest moments for the couple was when people stopped them and invited them home.

Some of their cherished moments include being invited by the Indian Ambassadors in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to spend time with them and their families.


Roadblock meets grit

The couple was scheduled to come back home on December 18 last year. However, due to a conflict in the northern region of Myanmar, early December, they could not cross into Myanmar from the China. They considered the option of shipping their car back from Shenzhen. But they simply did not want to give up concluding the journey by road. So, they took a detour to Myanmar but were denied permissions and could cross over to India only in the New Year. They left their car in Myanmar and flew back to celebrate Christmas and new years with their family and friends.

"But The Lifetime Journey had a wonderful ending to its script. We flew back into Myanmar and resumed the Lifetime Journey in our car and came back to India," said Janet. The couple reached Mumbai on January 26 with a broad display of determination.

In a world moving rapidly towards a cultural cloister and closed national boundaries, the couple offers a ray of hope to fellow globetrotters regardless of their age.


Grand Homecoming

They were welcomed back with great fanfare and celebration in their locality of Powai in Mumbai. People who knew them, who came to know about them and ones who wanted to know about the Lifetime Journey came in numbers to welcome them. Some friends and ex-colleagues from Hughes joined them from Thane after garlanding amidst fire crackers and driving with them to Powai where family, friends and Rotary Lakers Powai organised a parade for them with the beats of drums and shower of rose petals. Children from Muskaan (one of the NGOs they supported during The Lifetime Journey) and a representative of White Doves brought flowers to welcome them.


Travelogue

Janet, beautifully encapsulates the blend of history and geography, in her travelogue on the website. The blogs walks the readers through rustic roads, museums, city streets from the lens of the couple.

The itinerary on the site can be used as a guide and reckoner for travellers. The itinerary incorporating unique places and settings was planned months in advance. There were strict timeframes to keep to and unforseen hiccups along the journey, but all worthwile.

The journey is an inspirational story of two people who said, “Why not us? Why can’t we?” when they first thought about this. They never hesitated, planned meticulously and most importantly, shared it with everyone. To understand the gravity of the huge journey they undertook and came back successfully travelling around almost half the world, and for more pictures and information of their journey visit the website www.thelifetimejourney.in. or The Lifetime Journey 2016 Facebook page.

 

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Comment on this article

  • Rathik, Mangalore/ Mumbai

    Tue, Mar 07 2017

    You both are truly an inspiration...it has been a tremendous achievement. You have indeed made us proud. May God bless you abundantly.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Rathik, Mangalore/ Mumbai

    Tue, Mar 07 2017

    You both are truly an inspiration...it has been a tremendous achievement. You have indeed made us proud. May God bless you abundantly.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Noel Pereira, Mangalore/Toronto

    Tue, Mar 07 2017

    The journey to 52 countries was inspiring . I would like to travel to many countries with like minded people.noelp13f@gmail.com.

    DisAgree Agree [1] Reply Report Abuse

  • srphadke, Bangalore

    Tue, Mar 07 2017

    Great, achieved

    DisAgree Agree [1] Reply Report Abuse

  • Jyoti Tauro, Mangalore

    Mon, Mar 06 2017

    Truly inspiring and I hope you continue and share your journeys. I've gone through your site and read all your blogs. How did you manage the visas to all these countries? And the budgets in each country? I couldn't find a summary of it on the website, it would be good to know. Please if you can share that too on your website.

    DisAgree Agree [1] Reply Report Abuse

  • Ronald D, Udupi

    Mon, Mar 06 2017

    Hats off to Louis couple! An amazing inspiration to many! Keep it up!

    DisAgree [1] Agree [5] Reply Report Abuse

  • mujeeb, mangalore

    Mon, Mar 06 2017

    Congratulations to this couple for their successful trip. God bless you.

    DisAgree Agree [5] Reply Report Abuse

  • Rob Stan, Udupi / US

    Mon, Mar 06 2017

    I'm inspired by the journey by road of Louis & Janet. I still remember my journey by bike from Davanagere to Udupi (2 riders) in 9 hours & 5 1/2 hour journey from Abu Dhabi to Muscat. Both were almost non-stop. I wish I could take a journey by road from here (West coast of US ) to all the way to Udupi. I checked on google maps and found that the gap between the continents on the west side is little as compared to the east side (over Atlantic), but I'm not sure about if there are roads or if it's possible to take the journey through Siberia or if it's possible to cross continents in between through ship. I know it might take almost an year, but it's not impossible if planned well.

    DisAgree [1] Agree [3] Reply Report Abuse

  • Alfred D'souza, Bendur / Dubai

    Mon, Mar 06 2017

    All I can say - you have carried the INDIAN spirit across the world. Thank you Janet, Louis - for such a wonderful, successful and uniting trip. God bless you.

    DisAgree Agree [11] Reply Report Abuse

  • CRD, Mangalore

    Mon, Mar 06 2017

    Congratulations Janet & Louis on your successful mission. You are an inspiration to all travel lovers..

    Well written article Pearl..keep it up!

    DisAgree Agree [5] Reply Report Abuse

  • Jimmy Noronha, Bellore/Lucknow.

    Mon, Mar 06 2017

    It is a shot in the arm for all those who want to venture into the world of adventure. Well done.

    DisAgree Agree [6] Reply Report Abuse

  • Henry and Rita lasrado, Germany

    Mon, Mar 06 2017

    Dear Louis and Janet,nice to know you both reached home safe and healthy.It was a pleasure to meet you without a previous plan , knowing our address spontan.Sad we couldnt spend more time withanother.But we really enjoyed your very short company .Hope to meet you again suppose time and place allows.Please let us know when you cross over our way.Thank you and God bless.

    DisAgree Agree [2] Reply Report Abuse

  • Nish, M'lore/Sharjah

    Mon, Mar 06 2017

    Wow...such an inspiring article..

    DisAgree Agree [3] Reply Report Abuse

  • Nithya, Mangalore

    Sun, Mar 05 2017

    Congrats sir and mam. Many will be inspired to go on road trips now. I admit am one of them.

    DisAgree Agree [9] Reply Report Abuse

  • Royston and Amitha, Mangalore

    Sun, Mar 05 2017

    Congratulations Louis and Janet on your great road journey. It will be an inspiration to all those travel lovers to explore the unseen and experience the unknown.
    All the best for your next trip.

    DisAgree Agree [5] Reply Report Abuse

  • Ronnie, Kinnigoli/Canada

    Sun, Mar 05 2017

    A thousand mile journey begins with one step. A journey, after all, neither begins at the instant we set out, nor ends when we have reached our doorstep once again. It starts much earlier and is really never over, because the film of memory continues running on inside of us long after we have come to a physical standstill. Indeed, there exists something like a contagion of travel, and the disease is essentially incurable. Truly inspiring indeed. I personally find travel by air is boring. Travel by road is the way to go. I have done multiple 2 to 5 days road trips across Canada and United States and I can say every hundred meters the world changes!

    DisAgree Agree [9] Reply Report Abuse

  • Max and Jessie Rasquinha, Mangalore, Houston/Dallas, Texas

    Sun, Mar 05 2017

    What a fantastic achievement of road travel of 52 countries by Louis and Janet in their own vehicle. A daring yet a successful journey that deserves all praises and all congratulations. This is a journey worth exploring and worth imitating. We might require more medication and more Doctor's consultation in order to earn the courage that we need to fulfill this historic journey. The most important characteristic of this 52 nation road journey is that both Louis and Janet have been smart enough to avoid the route of the Middle East via Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq and rest of the difficult and sensitive nine yards of journey that could have encountered more obstacles and handicaps, whereas journey via Mynamar and China was the ideal thought and the best thought.

    We would like to meet Louis and Janet in Powai during our next visit to India so as to be able to seek all possible guidance thru their successful achievement, so that we may also try and attempt such a road journey and explore some of the unknown facts and experiences of driving on our own. Travel by road, rail, plane and cruise is certainly the best gift one can desire in life so that we can meet people of all backgrounds of cultures, languages and colors and learn more about the "small world, a beautiful world".

    Life is indeed short, and sooner we accomplish our mission and follow the pathway of Louis and Janet is to our advantage.

    DisAgree [1] Agree [14] Reply Report Abuse

  • Janet, Mumbai

    Sun, Mar 05 2017

    Thanks for your lovely words. Would be happy to meet you and share details.

    DisAgree Agree [5] Reply Report Abuse

  • Jossey Saldanha, Mumbai

    Sun, Mar 05 2017

    I admire this couple.
    I get fully exhausted driving from Mumbai to Mangalore ...

    DisAgree [1] Agree [20] Reply Report Abuse

  • MN, Mangalore

    Sun, Mar 05 2017

    Simply Superb.

    DisAgree Agree [13] Reply Report Abuse


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Title: Mumbai: 52 countries by road, a donation per km - Mangalurean couple's inspiring journey



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