{"id":570827,"date":"2026-03-28T22:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570827\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T22:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:32:09","slug":"numb-butts-and-fuel-woes-the-father-and-son-riding-from-australia-to-italy-on-a-vespa-australia-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/570827\/","title":{"rendered":"Numb butts and fuel woes: the father and son riding from Australia to Italy on a Vespa | Australia news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Riding pillion on a vintage Vespa from Sydney to Italy<\/a> was never going to be easy.<\/p>\n

But doing so amid a war in the Middle East, global oil shocks and shuttered borders? That was something Mario Gabrieli, 54, and his 11-year-old son, Leonardo, never planned for.<\/p>\n

Their aim was \u2013 and still is \u2013 to complete a coming-of-age pilgrimage from their home down under to Gabrieli\u2019s birthplace of Trieste almost entirely on the back of their 1976 blue Vespa, bar a few necessary water crossings.<\/p>\n

Almost three months in, they\u2019ve already dealt with fuel restrictions, petrol station closures, extremely sore bums and a complete engine failure. But they\u2019ve taken it all in their stride. It\u2019s the journey, not the destination, after all.<\/p>\n

Map of Mario and Leonardo Gabrieli\u2019s Vespa journey from Australia to Italy<\/a><\/p>\n

Sitting at a bamboo bus stop about 150km north of Songkhla, a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border, Gabrieli says it has always been his \u201cdream\u201d to complete a journey across the world on a Vespa. He\u2019d driven a Vespa for a month at a time through parts of Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t until Leonardo reached year six, and their apartment was getting knocked down, that it felt like the right time to take him out of class and complete home schooling before he reaches high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the perfect timing for me in my life,\u201d he says. \u201cI thought \u2018maybe this dream can come true\u2019. The main reason [to do this] for me is really to pass on my sense of adventure to Leonardo.\u201d<\/p>\n

They tested the waters on a two-week moped trip around northern Thailand, and Leonardo adapted easily. In early January, they got ready to ship their Vespa on a container to Bali \u2013 and then, a week out from their trip, there was a complete engine failure.<\/p>\n

Mario Gabrieli at Scooter Meccanica in Sydney, where he and a mechanic friend got his 1976 Vespa ready for the trip. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a classic moment,\u201d Gabrieli says. \u201cWe had to take the engine down, open it and rebuild it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the help of a mechanic friend, they sourced the rare parts, fixed it up and shipped the Vespa off to Bali. Since then, they\u2019ve travelled throughout Indonesia via Surabaya, Java and Sumatra, hopped over the ocean to Malaysia and crossed into the south of Thailand.<\/p>\n

From there, they will journey through Laos and China before traversing the epic, 1,200km Pamir Highway through the Stans and over the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, which borders Iran.<\/p>\n

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Border restrictions mean this will be the toughest part, but if all goes well they\u2019ll make it to Georgia, Turkey and Greece, winding up on the Adriatic Coast to Italy.<\/p>\n

Their backup, if they can\u2019t make it to Azerbaijan, is detouring via Russia, almost circling Ukraine \u2013 but that also may be impacted by visa restrictions.<\/p>\n

They expect the whole journey will take about 10 months.<\/p>\n

\u2018Send the chopper\u2019<\/p>\n

So far, the pair have been \u201cblessed\u201d to have been welcomed into countless Vespa communities dotted throughout Asia, who have opened their homes as a place to board and supported them on the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to do two days riding, one day stop whenever possible,\u201d Gabrieli says. Their off days give them time to stretch the legs and complete Leonardo\u2019s home schooling \u2013 they\u2019ve been able to access the internet with local sim cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s a bit harder because you might have to cover a bigger distance and there is not much on the road to stop. There\u2019s tiny, tiny villages.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut people welcome you because you\u2019re on a Vespa. It becomes almost like a passport because it\u2019s such an iconic vehicle. The areas that we\u2019re in now is Vespa country because it [was] manufactured here in the 70s, all through south-east Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabrieli knows of Vespa communities in China, Kazakhstan and Turkey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe section of the Pamir Highway, we don\u2019t know [anyone there], but apparently there is a lot of travellers in those areas,\u201d he says. \u201cIt has lots of mountainous areas and [will] probably be the toughest moment, where you\u2019re going to get maybe a slightly different version of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be like \u2018ah, I can\u2019t do this any more. Send the chopper. Pick us up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I think don\u2019t get caught up in the day-to-day. A lot is on the fly \u2026 that is the essence of travel\u2019: Mario and Leonardo in Sydney. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say it\u2019s been easy so far. The global fuel crisis has been somewhat of a curveball. Gabrieli says once they entered Thailand, they faced fuel restrictions preventing anyone from purchasing more than 10 litres of petrol \u2013 if you could get it at all. He says about 70% of the petrol stations are closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tricky part of that is, for us on the Vespa, we have a 150km range with the tank. But you don\u2019t know if you\u2019re going to find a petrol station that is open. So you just have to guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pauses, as if reflecting on this for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, I\u2019m not thinking too much. I\u2019m just going. And it\u2019s incredible that you can always find a way. There is always a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the higher petrol prices?<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t looked at the budget really,\u201d Gabrieli muses. \u201cI think we\u2019ll be fine. I think don\u2019t get caught up in the day-to-day. A lot is on the fly \u2026 No plan \u2026 Because I think that is the essence of the travel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Three stages of pain\u2019<\/p>\n

The hardest days have been when they\u2019re on a deadline and need to get somewhere fast \u2013 which means about 10 hours nonstop on the moped, slamming over potholes and swirling through traffic.<\/p>\n

Leonardo describes it as \u201cthree stages of pain\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne, the flaming butt. Two, the numb butt. And three, the steam butt,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Gabrieli says there\u2019s also a fourth stage: \u201cThe prayer. The prayer to make it stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

It helps, though, that they\u2019ve become minor celebrities as they amass followers on their journey. Leonardo has been coined \u201cIndonesia\u2019s Justin Bieber\u201d, thanks to their newly surging social media presence.<\/p>\n

The pair are documenting their journey on Instagram and Facebook, which has also allowed them to reach out for assistance if their Vespa breaks down or they\u2019re in need of advice.<\/p>\n

Leonardo with the blue Vespa in Sydney before their trip. Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian\u2018The places are all so new \u2026 And you\u2019re like, \u2018wow\u2019! And you feel the adventure.\u2019 Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Leonardo says he\u2019s been picking up new friends wherever he goes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Indonesia, there\u2019s these big families and if you know one of them, they all come out and say, \u2018what\u2019s your name? Where are you from,\u2019\u201d he says excitedly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then all the places are all so new \u2026 And you\u2019re like, \u2018wow\u2019! And you feel the adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalls one moment, in Sakra, East Lombok, when it started to rain and everyone ran undercover.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then a funny guy went inside, got his swimmers and started dancing around in the rain,\u201d he laughs. \u201cIn five minutes, everyone\u2019s dancing around in the rain. And we did that until the rain stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

If they do arrive in Europe, Gabrieli says they\u2019ll reunite with his partner and Leonardo\u2019s mother, Jocelyn, and spend two months in Trieste doing \u201cnormal things\u201d before flying back to high school for Leonardo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be almost like a full circle, [growing up in] Trieste, always on the Vespa,\u201d he says. \u201cCome back to Trieste with the Vespa, with Leonardo. It will be an entrance. It will be such a huge moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I started with the mentality that to take Leonardo on a journey with no planning and be open to what happens on the road really is the point.\u2019 Photograph: Jessica Hromas\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Though it would be great to finish the trip, Gabrieli says at the same time, \u201cit\u2019s not that important\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Leonardo has started enjoying the road and started to see the beauty of [things] changing every day,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started with the mentality that to take Leonardo on a journey with no planning and be open to what happens on the road really is the point. Everything else is like a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonardo\u2019s friends at home are excited for him, but he doesn\u2019t think they\u2019ll ever understand the significance of what he\u2019s experienced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll think, \u2018oh, he\u2019s travelling the world, how cool\u2019,\u201d he says. But I don\u2019t think they\u2019ll know how much meaning it actually has.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Riding pillion on a vintage Vespa from Sydney to Italy was never going to be easy. But doing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-570827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}