Аrhive

Man traveling around world stops in GF
By Lisa Davis
Herald Staff Writer

The stickers on his bike and the journal he carries tell the story of a journey that has lasted three years and will continue for many more months. Vladimir Yarets Alexeevich left Minsk, Belarus, a former republic of Russia, on May 27, 2000, on his 1990 Jawa 350 motorcycle. He has since traveled thousands of miles through states, provinces and countries and arrived in Grand Forks Thursday. The well-worn sign he carries with him explains why.

"I want to enter the Guinness Book as the only deaf and mute individual who has traveled all of the former Soviet Union, Europe, Africa and the Americas on a motorcycle," it proclaims in English on one side and Spanish on the other. Alexeevich, 62, said he has two sons who are happy that he is taking this journey.
As he stopped for the evening at Westgate Inn, he communicated his thoughts through gestures and body language, while his sparkling blue eyes danced as he explained his feelings.

He described his days by miming riding a motorcycle with his arms held out in front of him as if on imaginary bars, then placed his hands on the side of his tilted head to indicate that he sleeps, then gets up and starts riding again the next morning. So far, he has traveled through Europe, Canada, parts of Africa and the Caribbean and much of the continental United States.
But his journal and the many pictures he carries with him indicate that although he spends plenty of time on his bike, he has seen and done much more than travel. He has names and phone numbers of people he has visited with, a list of all the businesses he has stopped at, along with a stamp from the business and plenty of pictures of people he has met.

His bike also shows the distance he has traveled, with stickers plastered all across the windshield of his bike, along the front fender and even across the two carriers on the side. The stickers name places he has been or have funny sayings to keep his spirits up.
Alexeevich keeps a running total of the distance he has come since his journey began, and has numbered every stop he has made. As of Thursday, he's traveled 83,280 km (51,747 miles) on his bike, 7,500 km (4,660 miles) by boat and 16,400 km (10,190 miles) by plane.
And he'll soon be reaching a milestone. He indicated he has three more states to visit before he has traveled the lower 48.
He will travel to Minnesota, Iowa and Kansas to complete his journey.

Then, he's off to Mexico.