This Couple Went On A Road Trip In 1989. Decades Later, They Still Haven’t Returned

In 1989, the same year George H.W. Bush entered office and German citizens took sledgehammers to the Berlin Wall, one married couple set out on a remarkable journey. Gunther and Christine Holtorf’s ambitious road trip was scheduled to be an 18-month jaunt through the African countryside, but it quickly became a voyage that spanned multiple continents — and decades.

When they were finished, the couple had visited 177 out of a possible 195 countries, traveled 550,000 miles, and spent 23 years on the trip of a lifetime…all from the front seat of their 1988 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon.

Gunther and Christine Holtorf had planned for their extensive journey to take them through the African countryside. However, the road trip that was supposed to last 18 months took many, many years longer, and it brought them far beyond Africa.