We’ve all dreamt of leaving our worries behind and zooming off on a round the world trip, but Radim (Rad) Cejnar took the bull by the horns and did it.

Having travelled across six continents thus far, and racked up more than 150 000 kilometres on two wheels, Rad has a few stories to tell.

He told some of the better ones to Stuff, starting off with the “deepest” he had to dig:

[He] was deep within the Australian outback when the cooler bust on the motorbike that had carried him across six continents.

With temperatures edging toward 45 degrees celsius, exacerbated by the surrounding bush fires, he began to make his way back toward the main road some 100 kilometres away, feeding the bike his own drinking water to keep it as cool as possible. It was slow progress…

Rad and the biker who had joined him for this leg of the trip were running out of water and planning to call for help (Rad has a GPS tracker with an inbuilt emergency function) when a huge cloud of smoke from the bush fires began chasing them down the road.

“We thought that if we waited we were going to die so we had to keep going”…

Eventually, they came across some firefighters who were attempting to salvage equipment in the area and gave them each a two-litre bottle of water, which Rad says they downed in seconds.

“It was the deepest I have had to dig on this trip. We got out but I think it was close… But the next week I felt more alive than I ever had. Thinking about it still gives me goosebumps.”

Nothing like almost dying to give one a sense of perspective.

Some of his other memories are recalled with greater fondness, including an important change he had to make when touching down in New Zealand:

After finishing up his six-month Australian tour, he parted ways with his heavy-duty KTM 990 Adventure bike – New Zealand’s strict quarantine rules convincing him it was better to ship it back to the US and pick up up a new bike here.

“I went on TradeMe and got the cheapest bike I could find, which happened to be a beautiful, 20-year-old Vespa,” he says. It turned out to be “the best decision ever”.

Rad soon discovered New Zealand has a vibrant community of Vespa enthusiasts eager to show off their favourite spots. Used to hanging out with bikers who “sometimes think they’re tough and stuff,” he found it refreshing to spend time with the Vespa crew, who seemed to ride purely for the fun of it.

On his first ride from Auckland to Raglan he met a guy named Andrew who introduced him to Vespa riders in the next town he was headed to and, before long, he was being met by at least one scooter fan wherever he rolled up.

Love me a little Vespa get together, and New Zealand is prime terrain for zooming around on two wheels.

So too is Cape Town, considering the traffic, and if you’re keen to meet up with your fellow Vespa riders tomorrow is your time to shine:

And one for you fine Jozi folk:

Don’t stress, Durbs and Pretoria, you get your own vibe too. You can find all that info on Vespa SA’s Facebook page.

Maybe a few stories from Rad’s travels will inspire you further:

Throughout his journey, Rad says he has only ever felt threatened by nature, not people. The first time was about a month into his journey when he was staying at a beach hostel in Nicaragua and a magnitude seven-plus earthquake struck late at night. He woke to pandemonium: alarms going off, people running about in panic and cries that a tsunami was headed their way. He escaped unscathed…

Having embarked on his nomadic lifestyle after becoming disillusioned with the corporate world – he worked in the oil and gas sector – Rad goes out of his way to find off-the-beaten track destinations that appeal to his renewed sense of independence and freedom. The kinds of places you learn about by asking locals taking random turns and venturing where other tourists daren’t, not consulting guidebooks…

While he’s reluctant to get too philosophical about his journey, Rad says it has made him reassess what it means to live a happy, fruitful life.

He advises anyone contemplating a similar journey to travel light and not overthink things.

That’s it, throw caution to the wind and give it horns – or something like that.

A friendly reminder that if you’re looking to join the Vespa crew, Seth can hook you up with a discount.

Email editor@2oceansvibe.com, subject line ‘Hook me up with a Vespa’, and let him work his magic.

Ride like the wind, and safe travels to Rad.

[source:stuff]