Globe-trotting 'Vespanda' touches Munnar on his `Vespa’

Italian traveller Ilario Vespanda calls his Vespa scooter his wife and girlfriend. Recently, the 'couple' stopped by Munnar, amid travelling around the world enjoying each other's company. 

The 33-year-old reached Munnar on a 1968-model Vespa scooter. He set out on a journey across the globe in January 2017 from Milan, Italy, and visited several countries on the European block, such as Germany, France, Norway, and Sweden, besides 40 African nations. From there, he travelled to the Gulf countries to finally reach India via Pakistan and Bangladesh three months ago. 

Ilario has visited over 100 countries so far and covered a total distance of 1.9 lakh kilometers on his scooter. After touring India for another one-and-a-half months, he will be leaving for China via Nepal. 

“My plan is to visit all countries around the world in a span of ten years,” he says. While touring the destinations, he also finds out the time to experience the local cuisine of each of the locations.

Ilario would note down the names of countries that he visits on the body of his scooter upon reaching there. The vehicle body is already decorated all over with the country names. “I regard this scooter as my wife and girlfriend,” he adds. 

Owner of a tourist cottage in Milan -- one of the most famous tourist destinations around the world, he is meeting the expenses of his travel through the income received from his enterprise. Barring the bans imposed on travel during the pandemic period, which prolonged his stay in some countries, Ilario is yet to experience any major troubles in his globe-trotting mission.