Welcome to mad nomad’s adventurous website! This site is about travelling the way I’ve been dreaming of as a child! When I took the decision to make my dream come true, it seemed remote and totally unfamiliar to me. Finally, after two years of profound research and intense preparation, I hit the road!

   On the 14^th of April 2007, I set off solo from Thessaloniki, Greece by my small motorcycle (Honda XR 250S), on a journey to four countries, for ten months’ time: Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India. During my trip, however, there were many changes in my schedule, and, finally, I ended up returning to Greece after two years and two and a half months, having covered 73,000 km. (45,361 miles), after travelling to 14 Asian countries: Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh! That was my journey known as “greece2india“. You will find my trip reports from that time at moto.gr forum

The black line indicates my route to Asia, while the grey one shows the way back.

   On July 18^th, 2013, we hit the road for an even longer journey! Africa and Middle East were calling us and we were eager to explore those lands! Why do I use the plural form? This time, Christina Pefani, the she-mad nomad, was travelling with me for 10 months. Therefore, we were riding two motorcycles of the same type (Honda XR 250), travelling according to my usual recipe: innumerous detours, in order to visit everything interesting, years on the road, to catch the scent of the local societies we visit, always guided by the love for People and Nature. Since August 2014, I kept traveling solo, as Christina decided to fly from Zambia back to Greece because of personal reasons. I finally completed this three-year adventure on June 29th, 2016 having covered 96,000 km (59,653 miles) in 39 countries. That was the expedition called “mad about Africa“! You can check out our route on Live Trip Traveller and you can enjoy our reports at the Trip diary section.

My route around Africa and the Middle East (short reports at: livetrips.gr)

   On July the 23^rd, 2023, we set off on a different expedition… During the “mad about Americas“, we shall explore the entire American continent, from Patagonia, all the way to Alaska! The composition however will differ this time round. I shall be traveling, as per usual, on my favourite motorbike, the Honda XR 250S that we named Cactakis. Angeliki Doucas though will be traveling in a van, which we reconstructed over a period of three years and turned it into a campervan. This van, Don Rufos, as we call it, will be our home for the following years. We equipped it with all the creature comforts, so we can sleep, cook, bathe, have endless energy and carry all our equipment for the activities that we wanted to include in our journey, in order to implement what we named “Action Traveling”. The activities in question are: enduro motorcycling (off-roading), kayaking in lakes and rivers, sailing (which is my profession), paragliding, horse-riding and trekking in areas that are inaccessible for all other means of transport! Don’t ask us how long this will last… We hope that it will last as long as possible and certainly longer than my previous expedition, more than three years that is! You can follow our journey on Live Trip Traveller.

Check out our reports at: livetrips.gr

Another dream of mine has become a reality… This time round I shall be, finally, using the saddlebags I have always wanted! They are safer for the legs, lighter, more durable and more waterproof than aluminium panniers! Since this time I won’t have to carry and lock all of my belongings on the motorbike, I won’t be needing the aluminium panniers and thus will be able to use saddlebags instead, which are much better for off-roading.

I picked the Mosko Moto ones, which I consider to be the most durable and smartly designed! I was impressed by the way these products germinated in the mind of two American motorcyclists, who were traveling the world. Mosko Moto’s current saddlebags are the result of years of improvements, as well as hundreds of comments and recommendations from motorcyclists, accumulated through the pages of the ADVRider.com forum.

The company provides countless products and accessories for every use imaginable. I picked the Backcountry 35L Pannier Kit, since I have a rack for panniers. By using a set of numerous bags, small and large, the idea was to adjust my motorcycle to each individual expedition. This way, I will be able to carry with me just the essentials, when exploring rough terrains, while leaving the rest in Angeliki’s van. When, however, we part for a few days, I will use the saddlebags and the duffle bag in order to load my camping, cooking and photographic gear, as well as food, water and clothing.

The first trials were encouraging… I massively enjoy my much lighter motorcycle! This way I can savour all of my XR 250’s charms on the dirt roads and trails of the American continent! Mosko Moto’s products are not available through shops or dealers. They can only be purchased through the company itself via its websites in Europe (https://moskomoto.eu) and America (https://moskomoto.com).

Here is my live interview through telephone from Thessaloniki, Greece at the radio show “Dangerous Missions” with Anastasia Karipidou and Sotiris Kyriakidis. It was live on February 3^rd, 2021, 10:45 on Praktorio FM 104.9 (Athens – Macedonian News Agency). It is in Greek.

Hosted by: Thessaloniki Motorcycle Club