YouTube campervan couple reach Malaysia

A couple who found YouTube fame with their travels around the world in a camper van are part-way into their next big adventure.

Chris and Marianne Fisher from Shropshire visited 29 countries and travelled 66,000 miles in their last great journey, receiving 27 million views on their Tread the Globe channel.

After returning home in 2024, they took a break before setting off on their latest trip - from New Zealand to the UK.

Taking a new pop-top campervan called Trevor, they have reached Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and they said this was just stage one of their plans, with more trips planned after this one.

The couple plan to visit at least 50 countries over the next six years, travelling through Africa, South America and North America, finishing in Canada.

Their current route has already taken them through New Zealand and Australia and will continue through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, China, Kurdistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia, before arriving in Europe and then back to the UK.

Their last van, Trudy, has been replaced, partly because it was getting old and parts were becoming hard to come by.

But their new vehicle is also cheaper to ship when they have to travel across the sea, because its top can be retracted.

The couple said shipping the larger Trudy was expensive and cost them £8,000 on one journey from Malaysia to India.

Trevor was picked up in March and Chris said it has also been responsible for a few dramas after developing a leaky roof.

That had to be replaced in New Zealand.

On their latest trip they have taken the time to visit Thailand, where they had their honeymoon, 27 years ago.

There, they met a man who they had stayed with on their first visit.

Marianne said: "We rocked up and they called him to come down to the resort and he literally saw us and just cried.

"He still remembered us from, well, nearly 30 years ago."

Reflecting on their travels so far, Marianne said the worst roads had been in India, while the best food had been in Turkey.

"I love the whole Mediterranean thing," she said, while Chris said he had preferred the food in Malaysia.

The couple said their favourite scenery had been in New Zealand and Canada.

"I've got to say they are two epic places for views," Marianne said.

But her favourite moment came in Africa, where they met a mother elephant and her baby.

"I still cry when I think of that moment," Marianne said.

"When the mummy elephant came along and I literally reversed Judy a little bit to give her a bit more space and a baby came out... lifted his trunk up and like squealed.

"She looked at me and she nodded and I'm so grateful that Chris caught it on camera to be able to share it because it was just epic."

With a long way yet to travel, Marianne said: "People say to us all the time, 'oh, the world's so small.'

"I laugh and say, not if you're driving this, because it's thousands of miles."

They have not forgotten their first van, Trudy though.

While Trevor was shipping from Auckland to Sydney, they "dipped home to see family in Shropshire" and while they were there, they got to take Trudy out for another spin.

Marianne said: "We had an epic time and realised everything we loved and missed about her."

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