Dubai: In a bylane near Bur Dubai, a car was seen attracting lot of attention. Onlookers passing by paused for a while, clicked pictures and selfies. The car, painted in vibrant colours, was promoting the Indian state of Karnataka and its tourism and bore the state’s registration plate.
The car was owned by Mohammad Sinan, a 30-year-old Indian resident who was on a mission to travel to 75 countries across three continents by road. After having started his journey in Karnataka, he is currently in Dubai before he begins his trip across the GCC.
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Journey of a lifetime
“I have been thinking about this for a long time. Finally, the journey has begun. The idea is to promote Karnataka and India tourism, interact with people and promote the region’s culture as I travel,” said Sinan, who worked in Dubai for nearly a decade, in an interview with Gulf News.
“I love this city and I loved working here. That’s the main reason I wanted to start my international journey from Dubai. I will be staying here for a couple of days and through my Instagram (United Wander) I will show my followers my daily adventures.
“From here I will move on to other GCC countries and then Asia, Europe, UK and Africa. So I’m looking at over 100,000 kilometers in another two years,” said the father of two. “The initial idea was to do a world tour and I began the ground work in 2019, but COVID-19 struck and everything came to a standstill. I had to cancel all my plans and move to the UK to do some business. But the passion was always there and I couldn’t take my mind off of it. So I wrapped up everything in 2021 and returned to India and initiated my plans to pursue my dreams.
Solo trip
“Initially, I wanted to take my family along, but since we had our second kid, my wife couldn’t join me. So I will be doing it solo. But if things go according to plan, they might join me during my journey once in a while,” Sinan added.
Having worked in the travel industry for a substantial period of time, Sinan said that experience helped him plan the itinerary, which included getting the visas, understanding the travel regulations and preparing the logistics. “The cost of the trip is touching close to Rs10 million (about Dh500,000). I started with a minimum budget but alongside I’m actually also looking for sponsors who can help cover the expense. But however difficult the challenge, I will achieve it.”
Overcoming challenges
Sinan said during the initial part of his journey, he has friends across the GCC who he can stay with. In Europe and the UK, however, he plans to stay in the car to cut cost on accommodation. “I’m keeping a tight budget. But I’m confident of overcoming all challenges and completing my dream in the next two years. I hope everything goes according to plan.”
