Max Klawath and the Global Detour

Everyone should do something fun before they are 25. I had my years with rock n roll bands and sound companies. Today I’d like to introduce you to Max Kawlath, a German fellow who’s going round the world in a Land Rover at 23. So far he's been to France, Spain , Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Holland, England, The Faroes, Iceland, Canada and now the USA



Here's Max's Land Rover. It's a well equipped Defender 110



All Defenders are capable off road. We had to be careful with this one in brushy terrain because he has a roof top camper setup.



I met Max at the Amherst Brewery this Saturday night. He came down from Canada, where he landed when his Rover was shipped from Iceland. He stayed with my friend Julie Jones, who is hosting him here through a group called Couch Surfing



Max is on Facebook, and he has a website, Global Detour where you can follow his journey.


When I heard he was coming to town I called my friend Dave Rifken and we got our three Rovers together for what turned out to be Max’s first experience snow driving. Here are Max and Dave, on their respective Defenders:



Here are a few shots of our run . . .






We went up and over Mount Toby at the end of our day. The area is popular with hikers, and we met a group of four lost in the middle of the woods. I don’t think they had any grasp of the difficulties they’d have been in once it got dark out there. Anyway, I stuffed them into my red Discovery and brought them out of the woods.

It’s not often that we see foreign vehicles in Western Massachusetts. It was really cool, having Max and his Land Rover pass through on his way round. We wish him the best of luck in his travels . . .