"Is it a TukTuk?" – After answering this question what felt like the 200th time in agonizing detail, we eventually got tired of explaining and just started saying: "Yes, kind of." Summer 2020. Corona. Lockdown. Sadness. – Two East Germans, a crazy idea, a motorized invalid carriage, and 7,000 km to the last bratwurst before America. The adventure could begin. Under the motto: "We want to travel like our parents, only borderless!", we planned a trip that would turn out to be unforgettable and bizarre. Looking at the limited variety of GDR vehicles, our focus fell on the Krause Duo – the so-called "invalid carriage" (Krankenfahrstuhl). Built for disabled people to return half-dead from a trip to the pharmacy after three hours, if the machinery didn't break down completely. Could it get any more bizarre? No! Our previous successful long-distance trips including film shoots with GDR vehicles like Simson mopeds, Trabants, and Wartburgs told us that East German engineering, despite its rattling nature, was quite capable of making the borders of the former GDR disappear far into the rearview mirror. The dream of the "capitalist foreign countries," which our parents were denied the realization of until 1989, moved within our grasp within a few days. Despite all the Corona adversity. 7,000 KM from Dresden to Portugal on three wheels – a project for which our parents and friends could only shake their heads in disbelief at the sight of the vehicle. After a quick purchase and several days of modifying the invalid carriage unit, we were able to set off into the Wild West on the evening of June 21st. Without a test drive and packed with surfboards, three pairs of underwear, ten liters of fuel-mix oil, a spare canister, and (as always) no tent, we set off on the first leg toward the Atlantic. Over bumpy village tracks, remote country roads, and well-maintained highways, the journey headed southwest via France and Spain at a maximum speed of 60 KM/H. Five days and one night, 3,000 KM, two police checks, 25 liters of energy drink, and 30 magnesium capsules (against muscle cramps from steering) later, we landed near Vigo on the Spanish west coast. Finally, the boards could hit the water and we could continue our journey from one beautiful surf and climbing spot to the next. Of course, the first minor technical defects didn't take long to appear, which usually only held us up for a short while. Because another travel motto was: "Progress through technology" and spare parts were taken care of in our hand luggage. After putting our TukTuk to a rigorous test on a go-kart track and stopping for repairs and wine in Porto, we then set off along the beautiful coast to continue our tour to the south. Past nature reserves and remote climbing areas. We didn't miss out on surf spots like the notorious Nazaré and Ericeira either. But the goal was clear: "We have to get to the sausage at Cabo de São Vicente!" To where no road – neither south nor west – goes any further. Tipsy and physically battered, we celebrated our arrival at the cape almost carefree. Were it not for that thought of the 3,000 KM journey back that still lay ahead of us...
