Niko and Sandra Triantafillidis

                                        Niko and Sandra Triantafillidis

            Niko and Sandra Triantafillidis are wrapping up the third leg of their around the world tour.  Niko had been working fourteen-hour days at a job that gave him little time for leisure, so he saved up his money to take an extended vacation.  He bought a Ford F150 and tricked it out with a canopy that can lift and expand in the bed of the truck so that the couple can stand up inside when they like.  Niko bolted an extra gas tank to the truck, attached a special filtration system for dusty roads, and then shipped the truck to Africa and the United States for their road trip.  There was also a fold away bed so the F150 had everything that the young couple needed for an extended road trip except a shower and toilet.

            For the first part of their trip, Niko and Sandra flew to Brazil and took a bus trip to Ecuador, Columbia, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina.  They learned that the problem with taking the bus was that when they were at a beautiful spot where they wanted to spend some time, they couldn’t do it because the bus wouldn’t stop.  Therefore, for the second leg of their trip, they shipped their truck to South Africa and drove it to Botswana, Zambia, and Namibia.  Then they flew to Asia to visit South Korea, Bali, Japan, and Australia.  The final stop of their trip included a stopover in Hawaii before they pushed on to Los Angeles where their truck was waiting for them.  Niko and Sandra drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco.  On their way to Louisville, the young couple drove down to Las Vegas, up to Wyoming, down to Austin, across to Pensacola, and then up to Kentucky.  They only had a 90-day visa, so instead of going to Alaska, as they wanted to do, they drove to Toronto and flew home to Germany.

            Because they were on a budget, a favorite activity for the couple was to visit national parks, where the admission was free.  And since they had a lot of time on their hands, Niko and Sandra volunteered at different places.  Helping to raise baboons at the animal rehab center in South Africa, for example, was an outstanding memory.  The parks that they will remember the best are Victoria Falls in Zambia, Machu Pichu in Peru, and Iguazu Falls in Brazil.  Swakopmund in Namibia was a good memory because it had been a Germany colony before World War I and traces of the old empire still remained.  For example, the street signs, are still in German.  The National Forests in the United States are also free so the couple visited Yosemite, Death Valley, Yellowstone, the Monument Valley, and many others.

            Of course, no trip of this magnitude can happen without a few snags.  Niko and Sandra had a hard time finding clean water and relied on bottled water.  It is easy to forget to use the bottled water when doing mundane tasks, like brushing your teeth, and one little slip up can result in diarrhea.  There is nothing worse than being sick while on the road.  Another problem was when they shipped their F150 to South Africa, the port authority demanded a bribe to release the vehicle.  They paid the bribe but once they had the vehicle in their possession, they were afraid to leave it alone.  They were the lone white couple in many of the areas that they visited and that drew a lot of unwanted attention.  Since they were outstanding, anyone could track their movements and break into the truck when they knew that Sandra and Niko would be gone for a while.  Another example of unexpected frustrations was when the young couple was trying to obtain the right stamps for their passport to move from South Africa to Zambia.  They had to wait four hours to get the stamps and still didn’t know if they bought the right ones or if they paid too much for them.  There was no official present to help.

            Still, life is short.  When the time comes for looking back, what great accomplishments of yours would you like to look back upon?  Wouldn’t you like to say that you have travelled around the world?  Niko and Sandra will always have memories to share.  They have laid on their backs and listened to lions roaring at night as they drifted off to sleep in their truck.  They have seen Lake Titicana, the birthplace of the Incas, while touring Peru.  They saw the deep ravines in Fish River Canyon in Namibia, the game reserve in Botswana, and the canopy of stars at the Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah.  All of these memories were gathered through the course of one long trip, and now they can spend a lifetime enjoying them.