Press & Media

What the article says, in English

The magazine records the visit and the shape of the journey so far: the Chilean rider who left with his BMW F800 GS in 2015 and had by then taken it from California to Tierra del Fuego, with the smart Jack Russell who rides in the tank bag, protected behind the windshield, and enjoys it.

It notes the family connection to Germany, through a grandfather from Aachen, and Rodrigo's own observation that the dog is the best possible way to fall into conversation with strangers. At the time of writing the pair were touring Europe, with Africa planned for 2021.

What the article says, in English

Rodrigo was thirty three at the time, and had come over the Susten pass a few hours earlier. The piece describes him arriving in Lengnau on a heavily loaded BMW, with a five year old Jack Russell who jumps off the bike to greet the household.

It notes that he has a GPS fitted but mostly follows his nose, and that he sleeps outdoors: sleeping bag, tent, tools and spares all stowed on the machine. The motorcycle was bought in California, and a Chilean flag flies from the back.

On money, he is direct: he has to work as well, or he cannot pay for the fuel. In 2018 he spent half a year working at a hotel in Gstaad. By the time of the article he had seven sponsors helping with his living costs, the upkeep of the motorcycle and even the dog food.

The friendship behind the visit began years earlier on the Pan-American highway in South America, where they shared a container to ship their vehicles. It held: Rene and Barbara Kuert went on to meet Rodrigo's family in Chile. The visit came out of a surprise phone call the week before, saying he was nearby in Basel and asking if he could come.

Asked what he wanted for dinner, he asked for cervelat, the Swiss sausage, and got it with potatoes and a home baked plum cake. He tells the paper he prefers mountains to the sea, that what fascinates him about Switzerland is the four national languages in such a small space, and that he can camp almost anywhere and always feels welcome. It started eight years earlier, when he felt hemmed in and wanted to see the world; in 2015 he bought the motorcycle and simply left.

His next destinations, at the time of writing, were Germany, Austria and then the Baltics on the way to the North Cape, which he reached the following year.

What the article says, in English

A full page portrait of Rodrigo, written at the end of 2024 after the fourth Eurotrip. It puts the count at around sixty countries ridden, describes him as a commercial engineer of thirty seven who becomes a long-distance rider whenever he has time free, and notes that his journeys have run from two months to eight, camping wherever the night catches him.

The 2024 route was meant to be different. It began in Frankfurt, took in Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, crossed to mainland Italy, then went by ferry to Greece and on to Turkey. Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan were next. Turkey refused him entry over paperwork for the motorcycle, and the whole plan was rebuilt through countries he did not know: Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and from there Ukraine.

Getting into Ukraine took several refusals and a long run along the border, which was under military control, before a crossing from Romania worked. Inside, he used an app that maps in real time where the fighting is, shaded dark where there are clashes and pale where it is quiet, and built his route from that.

It took him to Odesa, where rockets had fallen but people carried on more or less normally, with the raid sirens sounding four times a day and everyone moving calmly to the shelters. He also got close to Kherson, a strategic port, and watched from a distance as bodies, Red Cross vehicles and soldiers came and went. He was not allowed in. That was enough: he rode to Kyiv and started back towards Frankfurt.

The second half of the article is where the travelling came from. His paternal grandfather left Chile at twenty five and spent five years crossing Europe, later adding Africa, at a time when the neighbours came to see him off at the airport. His maternal grandfather moved the family to Crete and then Spain. Rodrigo was travelling south with friends by fourteen, then spent three months working in the Peruvian jungle and rode extensively through Bolivia, always as a backpacker.

The motorcycle came about ten years ago, while he was working in hospitality in Croatia and Switzerland. What convinced him was seeing riders arrive loaded and stop wherever they liked. He moved to Kirkenes, in the far north of Norway, where winter reaches forty below, and worked five months to save for the machine.

In 2015 he moved to California to study, bought the BMW F800 GS he still rides, and set off across California, Utah, Arizona and Nevada to learn. He admits he knew nothing: he rode in Nike trainers, with no proper kit, a bad tent and too much weight, and learned by falling off. The first real journey followed, seven months from the United States through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru to Chile.

Back home he wanted company, and in 2017 a Jack Russell terrier joined the team. Two months later Jacko was already riding in a tank bag, and at six months they made their first trip out of Chile, to Mendoza. In 2018 came the long run from San Pedro de Atacama south, the start of the Chilean and Argentine chapters.

The piece also records a Guinness World Record: in 2018 Rodrigo and his family became the largest family to complete the six Abbott World Marathon Majors. The photographs are his own, and the captions place him at Torres del Paine, in Grindelwald in the Swiss Alps, and in Kyiv.