Reisebegleiter: Really good things for on the go

The two of you are close friends despite an age difference of more than thirty years. Where did you meet?

Eberhard Holder: Micha applied with me for a spot at HFT Stuttgart, where I was a professor. During the entrance exam, we realized that we had both driven the same route through the Sahara to Mauritania. Over the years, we became friends. We both enjoy traveling and love exploring and discovering things outdoors. That’s our passion. At some point, Micha said he would like to cross the Gobi Desert. I had been thinking about traveling to the origin of the tulip in Central Asia. Looking at the map, we realized that they were almost next to each other. In 2015 we spent six months traveling together, driving two off-road vehicles from the former Persia to Mongolia.

Is it still the same car?

Holder: I drove the first one for ten years, and I've had the second one for the past twenty-five.

Klein: My first trips to Africa were in one of those Red Cross team cars. For the trip with Eberhard, I bought a Land Rover Defender, Td5, built in 2006. We then set off with the two cars, Germany against England, so to speak. During the trip, I had six months to discover that the G-Class was the better off-road vehicle after all.

Holder: Of course, he never admitted that while we were on the road. Actually, I find the Land Rover’s silhouette to be more attractive because it’s a bit longer. With the G-Class, you can see this absolute subordination of design to function; it’s a bit shorter and slopes more at the front, which makes it easier to drive uphill. Micha can repair cars himself, but I haven’t got a clue. So I just have to rely on the German engineers. And that has worked well so far.

Have you never had any major breakdowns along the way?

Holder: Oh, yes, all the time.

Klein: I’ve had my share. In any case, I ended up buying a G-Class as well. It’s simply the more solid vehicle. What’s more, the global network for spare parts from Mercedes is far better than from Land Rover. If something really basic breaks, it can be repaired more quickly.

Holder: At the beginning of our trip, we thought about whether we needed a concept or not, but ultimately decided against it. This is where the serendipity principle comes into play. We love to just let things come to us. Perhaps we should point out again that we didn’t have a sponsor. Real freedom lies in being allowed to do things that nobody expects you to do. We financed and organized almost everything ourselves, with great support from our friends.

An interesting way of doing things.

Holder: At some point, a colleague of mine said that the way we traveled reminded him of serendipity. I first had to look up what that meant: finding something that you weren’t looking for and discovering that it is exactly what you needed. I liked that. It’s a bit different from (…)

→ Read the full interview in ramp #65.