From: Subject: Couple going strong on Longest Driven Journey | The Brunei Times Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:54:32 -1000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_006D_01CA4CFF.C442BD00" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.5579 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_006D_01CA4CFF.C442BD00 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.bt.com.bn/en/motoring/2007/12/12/couple_going_strong_on_longest_driven_journey =EF=BB=BF Couple going strong = on Longest Driven Journey | The Brunei Times

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Couple going strong on Longest Driven Journey =

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Worldwide home: Emil and Liliana = Schmid in=20 Taiwan with their car-turned home, the trusty Toyota Land Cruiser. = Picture:=20 EPA

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

IN 1984, Swiss couple Emil and Liliana = Schmid=20 travelled to the US to get away from the monotony of office work. They = became=20 hooked on travelling and haven't stopped since.

Now 23 years, 157 = countries and 626,000km later, Emil 65, and Liliana, 66, with their = Toyota Land=20 Cruiser turned into their home, are still going strong in their = record-breaking=20 drive around the world.

The couple, who dropped by Brunei = Darussalam in=20 September, recently spent time in Taiwan after seeing Timor Leste.=20

"Taiwan has a unique combination of natural scenery and city = life. A few=20 hours from cities, you are at the seaside or in tall mountains," Emil = told DPA.=20

"And Taiwan has beautiful temples and rich culture. I feel sad = we are=20 not staying longer."

Liliana said: "Another thing about Taiwan = is that=20 the Taiwan people are not sticky. They are friendly and helpful, but = give you=20 space. In some countries like India, locals hang around you and don't = leave you=20 alone. They can look at you for two hours."

The couple have since = left=20 Taipei for Hong Kong to visit the city as well as China and afterwards = Papua New=20 Guinea. Their Land Cruiser was shipped to Hong Kong a few days=20 earlier.

More than two decades ago, Emil, a computer software = engineer,=20 and Liliana, a company secretary, decided to go to the US to get away = from=20 schedules for a year.

However, 12 months proved not to be long = enough,=20 and now, 23 years and six continents later, they keep prolonging their = journey.=20 They have returned to Switzerland only three times.

Living off = their=20 pensions, they now hope to visit every country in the world, and have = just 33 of=20 the 194 states recognised by the United Nations left on their = list.

In=20 1997, they entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the "Longest = Driven=20 Journey", a world record they still hold today and almost certainly will = for a=20 long time to come.

Summing up their adventure, the couple said = the=20 biggest reward from the trip is that they had seen the beauty of the = world and=20 experienced boundless friendship from strangers.

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