2wheeledadventures are two Lithuanian motorcycle riders who, in their own words, are chasing summer around the world. Using the power of social media, Linas and Asta have shared their passion for riding with the community. They’ve given back to the community by sharing information on how they built their Instagram following, how to ship motorcycles from Canada to Russia, and just their thoughts on the current place they are in.
Let's start with an introduction of yourselves and how the two of you met.
We are a couple of adventure riders from Vilnius, Lithuania. We share the great passion for traveling and therefore it’s been already a year since we left Lithuania on a world-wide-ride on our motorcycles.
We met each other thanks to motorcycles too :) We were both already enjoying life on 2 wheels separately until eventually, we found out that these adventures, when shared with a loved, one are even better!
What does an average day in your life look like?
We wake up in a place we haven’t woken up ever before, hop into a shower, a river or a lake (whichever is available), then find something for breakfast, do some urgent stuff online or around the motorcycles (if there is any urgent stuff to do) and then get on the bikes for the day’s ride.
While riding we stop for pictures, launch the drone in beautiful places and then stop somewhere for lunch. After lunch, we usually ride some more. In the evening, depending on where we have arrived, we either cook dinner in our camping place, hang out with other travellers in hostels or established campgrounds, or meet the locals and explore the new city.
Do you think travelling with a partner makes the journey more fulfilling?
Absolutely! We both can be sure that there’s always someone we
can trust completely, someone who will always be there. We can share the excitement and the joy adventure brings us with one another and can help each other in sticky situations. We use Scala Rider helmet intercoms and therefore can share our impressions as we go, discuss the things that we like or dislike about the country we are traveling through and keep each other entertained if the road gets too long and boring.
And we split responsibilities, so we both can do something we are good at and be sure that the other one will take care of the rest. For example Asta is good at languages and communicating with people and can convince a police officer to let us go without paying a fine (on rare occasions when we get caught doing something wrong :)) or can find friendly locals in various places who can help if we are in need, while Linas can disassemble motorcycles and put them back together with his eyes closed, so he does an amazing job keeping them both in an excellent shape.
Having a right person to share your journey with is an amazing thing!
Something most people wonder about: How have you funded your trip around the world?
There’s no magic in that: it’s our savings. Having some great companies as our partners also helps a lot, as we get to use great riding gear and don’t have to spend a fortune on spare parts for motorcycles. And we also get small amounts of money donated to us by some lovely people who enjoy following our adventures or maybe simply like us :)
We have a strict philosophy about our spending while on the road. We use every opportunity available to spend as little as possible while maintaining the minimal amount of comfort and safety and keep track of every cent we spent to be sure we will have enough to return home eventually :)
What goes into the route planning? Your routes seem to be very close to the seas.
The most important thing was to plan such a route which we could take without rushing too much and not getting trapped somewhere in the wrong season of the year. We need to constantly chase summer from the Southern Hemisphere of our planet to the Northern and back.
We also had our own preferences on countries we wanted to visit and some places we wouldn’t want to miss. Everything else just comes naturally - we know where we want to get, we check the map for route options, we speak to the locals or other travellers to know which way is the most beautiful or the shortest depending on what we need at that moment.
We have never thought about the fact that we ride mostly near the seas. It’s not the seas or oceans that we long for, but the most beautiful places and roads. And we were very lucky to ride through so many of them, we even got spoiled and now have no desire to cover long distances on flat and straight roads. This was one of the reasons, for example, why we chose not to ride to the east coast of USA or Canada - to avoid long stretches of boring riding just to get to the other side.
You mentioned on your website how the aim is to ride both gravel tracks and paved roads equally. Is there a reason for this and how do you go about looking for the gravel tracks?
Some people aim to ride only on dirt and gravel, some prefer to stick to paved roads. We try to find balance between the two. We don’t look for one or the other option intentionally: whatever road we get on that day, we ride it.
In Patagonia, for example, we rode hundreds of kilometers on gravel simply because in some places these roads took us to most scenic places, while in other places they were the only roads available. Meanwhile, in Alaska, all the roads are paved (except for a few famous dirt highways) and there’s no option to get somewhere without riding on pavement.
Did you face any challenges that you didn't think could happen on the journey?
When you understand that anything can happen on the journey, there are no more things that can happen that you didn’t think will happen, right? You can’t be prepared for everything, but you can keep your eyes and mind open to be able to find a solution if some sticky situation occurs.
We were robbed at gunpoint, we experienced two earthquakes (that was very unusual for us cause we have none of them in Lithuania), some of our things were stolen from us at night - that was all unexpected, but somehow all of these situations (or challenges?) and many more had eventually ended well for us. Seems that Our Luck is traveling together with us.
What navigation tools do you use for long distance riding?
We use a Garmin Zumo 595 satnav when riding. Some mobile apps like iOverlander, Maps.me or Google Maps come in handy when we are planning the routes and the stopovers.
Did you learn anything about yourselves on the journey?
Many things! The most important [thing is] we have proved to ourselves that we can successfully work as a great team on a challenging long-term project and while being together every day and night, still enjoy each other’s company a lot. Every moment of it.
Did you get to meet other world travellers on your journey?
Oh yes we did! We met so many awesome people on the road. People, traveling in 4x4s, on bicycles, motorcycles or by whatever means they can find. We also met Lisa and Simon from 2Ridetheworld duo and the legendary Ted Simon who travelled around the world on a motorcycle twice and wrote some amazing books about his “Jupiter’s Travels”. The world is full of people who constantly move around traveling, exploring, adventuring around it.
Name a country/ place where:
- you would like to go to next:
We have just loaded our motorcycles into a container to ship them from Iran to Kenya, so that’s pretty much the next country we are looking forward to visiting.
- you might think about migrating to:
We are very happy to be Lithuanians and live in Lithuania (this is what we will proudly continue doing after finishing this trip). But if we had to choose one other country we would enjoy living in, it would probably be Canada.
- you think would be the cheapest for someone to go:
We heard that Southeast Asia is very cheap, but we haven’t been there. One of the most awesome countries we have visited, which did not hurt our budget and made our hearts happy was Mexico.
- you loved riding in the most:
South of Chile for the nature, Colombia for the people, Mexico for the culture.
What would you say to someone who wants to plan for a big adventure?
Just do it! It will make you and break you and change you in so many ways.
What would you recommend to someone looking for sponsors and partners for their journey? Did Asta's experience in sales and marketing help in reaching out to them?
Asta had experience in sales, Linas had experience in purchasing, these experiences combined probably added some advantages, but the biggest advantage in the beginning was the fact that we would have done it with or without the partners – we had the budget, all the basic gear, motorcycles, equipment and some travel experience. It helped people believe in us and therefore some great companies joined our project and by that made it much more comfortable and interesting for us and hopefully for our followers.
Some additional companies like Motoz tires, Cardo (Scala Rider), Promaksa (DJI distributor) joined the team of our partners later, as we were already on the road, because apparently they liked what we are doing and how we are communicating it.
So our guess is that the most important things when looking for partners are: the project being interesting (for example we plan to be the first Lithuanians to circumnavigate the globe on motorcycles), but at the same time real and doable, and well-communicated.
Who inspires you?
First of all every day we inspire each other. That’s one of the advantages you get when traveling with someone who is special for you. And then we get inspired by so many other people we meet on the road, in the small remote villages we visit, even those who we follow online, it’s hard to name the specific ones. I guess you could say, the whole world inspires us!
What are your plans for the future?
That’s a good question for two homeless and jobless people. Our plans currently are all related to the successful continuation of our journey and then… we will see what life has prepared for us…
Check their website out to get to know them better. You can also find beautiful pictures and videos on their Facebook, Youtube, or Instagram(Linas and Asta). All photos are courtesy of Linas and Asta.
