Brazilian military reservist Gean Neide Andrade, 49, spent the last four months traveling around the world alone on her motorcycle. During the course of her journey, the stalwart adventurer traversed a distance of some 40,000 kilometers and visited 28 countries.
As Andrade told Sputnik Brasil, she decided to go on a journey about a year ago when she retired from active duty and divorced her husband.
"Why do I need this?… First, I think I still know nothing, so I need to test myself. One other thing: people rarely undertake such journeys alone. There are few stories in the world about women accomplishing such a feat, so I decided to see how far I could get. And that’s how I got started. In truth, it was a journey of self-discovery," she said.
Her journey however was not devoid of dangers. Once, while traveling across Alaska, she experienced a close encounter with a bear: the animal stumbled upon her tent when Andrade stopped for the night, but ultimately decided not to intrude upon her privacy and went on his way.
Another dangerous encounter took place in Guatemala and featured predators of a different sort.
"For example, in Guatemala I was chased by two armed men on bikes. Fortunately, my motorcycle was more powerful and I managed to outrun them," Andrade said.
Such encounters however did little to discourage the Brazilian globe-trotter, as she intends to continue her journey, to discover and experience different cultures and traditions.
