Thessaloniki motorcyclist Ilias Vrochidis, 31, started a journey in July 2013 aimed at exploring Balkan and African countries so as to deliver letters to the families and friends of migrants who have come to Greece, legally, illegally or … in between. His goal was to raise public awareness on migrant issues. He began his endeavour at a time when the refugee crisis was still in the news but prior to the sudden impact of conflicts in the Middle East lead to the tsunami of refugees heading to Europe (… instead of the Gulf States, Saudi etc. etc…)

“Traveling to the homes of migrants that I met in Greece, I met people that were surprised and did not realize that I had met their children, their brothers, their friends and had taken on the task of delivering their letters. Even though most of them keep in touch with their relatives through the internet, they were all very excited about the letters but also the fact that I had met their families,” he said, who has been traveling for 22 months. At the moment he is staying at the coast of Mozambique, having covered 58,000 km since his journey kicked off from the White Tower in Thessaloniki.

He said that the experiences gained on the journey were indescribable – such as the chance to play in a Nollywood movie in Nigeria and the chance to cross the jungle of Congo.

He has already visited Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. He was joined by his girlfriend, Christina Pefani, who accompanied him to Morocco where they began their journey in west Africa. Their next stops were Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Nesoto, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.