Meet the Love Bugs with the Travel Bug
Domi and Zainab covered over 140,000 miles during their world adventure in two 1963 Volkswagen Beetle Herbie replicas, visiting 80 countries and six continents and crossing 115 international borders.
As you’d probably imagine, sleeping in a classic Beetle would certainly have its pitfalls and spending money on hotels every night for four years would have most people filing for bankruptcy. Instead, the couple opted to use a 1985 “QEK” camper and Herbie’s 34bhp would tow it around the globe. Who said you need a Toyota Land Cruiser for globetrotting?
Domi and Zainab’s overlanding adventure started at their Vienna home in 2009. They set their sights on Melbourne, Australia, but to reach that, they had to cross Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey and then venture deep into the Middle East.
By crossing eight Middle Eastern countries, they later arrived at the east coast of India and shipped Herbie and the camper to Oz. “In the meantime, we backpacked all over Southeast Asia by buses and trains. After touring Down Under, we put our set-up onto another container ship from Brisbane to the Port of Long Beach in California.”
2010 soon arrived and the goal, later achieved, was to cover 48 US states by driving from coast to coast. Of course, this meant stopping to take in some dramatic scenery and famous landmarks. They visited Salvation Mountain before moving on to the red hills of Arizona and Utah. They further explored Nova Scotia, Canada and then some of Mexico before it was time to visit the entirety of Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize). From Belize, they headed back to California.
While the “Love Bug” was clearly capable, the couple opted to store it in California, possibly due to mechanical sympathy, and resurrect a second identical 1963 Beetle that Domi’s father had in his garage, complete with Herbie livery, for “Herbie’s Euro Trip” in Summer 2011.
A second camper was needed as the old one was left with the original “Love Bug” in California – this meant a ‘minor’ trip from Vienna to Eastern Germany to collect another “QEK” camper.
The Euro trip was a massive success with Herbie visiting around 20 countries taking in everything from the Swiss Alps to the Scottish Highlands. After Europe was ticked off, it was time to head back to the USA to reactivate Herbie No. 1 as they realised that they hadn’t yet covered a large section of the Pan-American highway – can't leave stones unturned!
Herbie No. 2’s most adventurous chapter began in December 2012 – Africa. Starting from Vienna, Herbie, with the camper attached to the rear, headed to Genoa, Italy to catch a ferry to Morrocco. The car was then driven to the most South-Western point of Africa via the West and then back up the East via the notorious “Trans-East-African Highway”.
“The Trans-East-African Highway is for sure the toughest road along the main route across East Africa. But it should be manageable for all kinds of cars if you drive there during the dry season. Unluckily, we hit the rainy season, which is normally only two months of the year – somewhere between March and May. It took us 24 hours of “driving” (or rather “digging”) to manage this stretch. We drove all through the night because we were afraid that it could rain even more, as we already felt like we were in a “muddy battlefield”, not knowing if we could make it or not.”
Along the journey, Herbie had its photo taken with everything, from the Egyptian Pyramids to the lush palm trees of Mozambique, and was even photographed towing the camper through one of the largest puddles a Beetle has surely ever been through without drowning. Even through the toughest of terrain, both cars never broke down once.
After spending four years on the road together capturing nearly every sight that the world has to offer, the couple tied the knot in 2014 in California, and of course, Herbie No. 2 was there.
Words Matthew MacConnell