Turkish female thrillseeker motorcyclist to pen memoirs in book

Ece Çelik - ISTANBUL

Following her adventurous trip to 45 countries in five continents on a motorcycle, Asil Özbay, a 35-years-old academic from the western province of İzmir’s Gediz University, is now preparing to collect her years of experience into a book titled “Anın İçinde Rutinin Dışında” (In the Moment Out of Routine).

“I have been writing about my journeys for years; it will be a motivational book with warnings for travelers,” said Özbay, who ended her Africa route in April, which she started in the middle of the pandemic.

“I attended all the youth programs I came across while I was at university,” Özbay said, adding that she started to explore different geographies with these student programs.

Özbay decided to work as a chess coach in prisons in her spare time when she started her master’s degree. “During this period, I realized that even being able to take risks is a freedom, and I decided to take trips on a motorcycle.”

Özbay, who set on her first trip with the Balkans route, started to go on trips for three months during summer vacations. In her second tour, Özbay went to Spain, France and Morocco, which was followed by Georgia-Russia-Mongolia, Iran-India-Pakistan-Nepal routes and finally Africa.

First trips were decided after a research and a plan, but after a while, it turned into a lifestyle, Özbay said. “Motorcycle is like my home now. I drove for 11 hours straight in Siberia because I couldn’t find a place to stay.”

“I collect a piece of land from every country, and I want to plant an olive tree, a symbol of peace, with them,” she said.

“I also leave letters to my future children in different parts of the world. Sometimes I bury it in a certain place whose location I know, and sometimes I give it to a family I met,” she added.

She also pointed out that being a female traveler in some geographies has disadvantages. “There were towns in Pakistan where I had never seen a woman.”

But as a woman, one seems more reliable, according to Özbay.

“The families you meet invite you to their homes, and you can learn about those cultures more easily.”