Christopher Many

Christopher Many, born in New York City in 1970 to an American father and German mother, has always had an unnerving knack of breaking conventional norms and following his own dreams. More than anything else, he wanted to find out what lies "beyond the horizon". After completing an apprenticeship as a boat builder in Bavaria, Christopher hitchhiked a ride with a sailing boat over the Atlantic. He lived modestly at various locations around the world, alternatively working and backpacking through the Caribbean, Asia, Europe and Australia.

In 1997 Christopher set off on his first motorbike world trip with Puck, his Yamaha XTZ660 Ténéré, and rode from Germany to New Zealand via India. Three years later he returned to Europe, found a job in Scotland, and began to save up funds for his next venture: a round-the-world voyage with an ailing Land Rover he purchased from a Highland farmer for the equivalent of USD 1000 (or GBP 700). He named the Landy Matilda and, between 2002 and 2010, travelled through 100 countries. His book about this journey, "Left Beyond the Horizon" (2011), became a bestseller in Europe. In 2012, Christopher decided to reunite with Puck, and together with his partner Laura Pattara, left on a four year ride from Europe to Australia. His book "Right Beyond the Horizon" tells the story of their adventures on two wheels, and was published in September 2016.

Christopher and Laura spent 24 months in Australia, during which they rode once around the continent and crisscrossed the Outback on numerous sandy trails. Then, after six years absence, they briefly visited Germany in 2018 … but only to buy an old, decommissioned Mercedes 308D post-office truck, and to immediately set off again: first through Europe, then to Iran, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula. Tales about this journey appear in the third volume of the Horizon-trilogy, “Somewhere Beyond the Horizon” (published in November 2024).

The future? Well, that’s anybody's guess. Only one thing seems certain: even after decades on the road, Christopher has no intentions of settling down with still so much to explore on our wonderfully surreal planet.