From Russia, with love

TUNOHOLE MUNGOBAIn August 2014, Oleg Kharitonov decided to embark on a journey to explore the world with nothing but his motorcycle. Two and a half years later, he has stopped in Namibia before departing for his next destination. The Zone asked him to share his story.“I wanted to see the world with my own eyes and make my own impressions from what I have seen and also experience different cultures,” Kharitonov says about why he decided to leave his home in Moscow to go sightseeing. He wanted to prove to himself that if he set his eye on something, he could achieve it.Kharitonov’s life basically revolved around his wife, his son and daughter and his work in the trade industry. “For 15 years, my life was a cycle. It became boring and I needed a change.” That was when he decided to plan his journey around the world and leave his family behind. “It took me about six months to prepare myself and get all of my equipment in order. I also had to plan the routes that I was going to use and the methods of transport besides my motorcycle.”Kharitonov says leaving his family behind was not that difficult, as his children encouraged him to go. “My five-year-old daughter is interested in nature and animals. So she wanted her father to go to bring her souvenirs and beautiful photographs of the wild.”The encouragement from his son was quite different. “My son is a teenager and he was going through that phase where he wanted to be alone and my decision to travel was well received by him,” he adds jokingly. Kharitonov believes his journey has been remarkable so far, but it has not been smooth sailing all the way. The borders are a big challenge for him. “I always have problems with the authorities from different countries and some of them are not welcoming to foreigners,” he says. Because of these problems, Kharitonov was forced to fly from China due to difficulty experienced at the border. The high level of corruption in North Africa also delayed his journey.Asked what he has enjoyed most during his travels, he says he expected the landscapes, animals and scenery of the different countries to blow him away, but “the people are the most interesting”. Kharitonov says he has learned much from his journey and that is what makes everything worthwhile.“I have also come to the realisation that the average person is very friendly and they would like to assist wherever they can,” he says. What amazed him the most about humanity was in some countries with political unrest and threats of terrorist attacks, where ordinary civilians tried to help regardless of the situation.The technology of the 21st century has made it easy to communicate with his family back home. “My younger daughter uses Skype a lot so she can talk to Daddy whenever she wants to,” says Kharitonov with a smile.He started his journey with 60kg of luggage in his saddlebags, but has since reduced it to 30kg to improve the bike’s handling. To save money, he rarely books accommodation and usually sleeps in his tent.He wants to be back home by August 2018 to escort his daughter to school when she starts grade one in September. “It is a very important milestone and I would not miss it for anything in the world,” he says.He has returned home a few times since his journey began in 2014, and his wife and daughter have also visited him on separate occasions. The last time he saw them was last year in Berlin, Germany.Namibia is his 61st country so far and he says Namibia is the cleanest and most developed country he has visited on the African continent. Kharitonov loves our people and says he would like to stay a bit longer before departing for his next destination, which is South Africa. He is not sure of the exact route he will take, but from South Africa his next stop will be the Americas, starting at the southernmost tip of South America.Plans for the future? He would like to combine his photographs and videos from his journey and work with directors to release a movie, but Kharitonov says this is just a sideline project and his main aim is to help other people realise their potential and that hard work is the only thing standing between them and their dreams.

From Russia, with love

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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From Russia, with love

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-25

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