I am Jorg. She is Birgit. Together we make up the couple in Couple on Tours. In summer 1983 we met on a small Greek Island named Amorgos. Jorg was on a trip from Hamburg to Israel and was told that he could take a boat to Rhodes and from there to Israel. He was not told that the ship only docked once a week, so he got stuck on Amorgos. Birgit came down by bus from Amsterdam and landed on Amorgos because friends told her about this secret spot in the Mediterranean.
While waiting and enjoying the time on the island Jorg’s backpack got stolen and he was left with only his clothes on, passport, travellers checks and a book from Günter Grass “Der Butt.” That was the moment Birgit crossed and we put things together and the trip to Israel was cancelled. We went on to other islands until we parted and Jorg went on to Turkey and Birgit to Ireland.
After being home again, Birgit in Amsterdam and Jorg in Hamburg, we stayed in touch and started a long-distance relationship with visits in both places. We went on studying, Jorg studied pedagogy while driving Taxi at night and Birgit Social Geography. In between we went on travelling together to countries like Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, Myanmar, China, Russia, Rwanda, Kenya, Zanzibar, Israel, and Egypt, just to name some of them.

Moving to Amsterdam

In 1988 Jorg finished university with his degree and moved to Amsterdam. We lived together near Leidseplein and had a wonderful time in these changing years in this vibrant and pulsing city. The Melkweg, the Paradiso, L’Afiche and of cause Onnis verjaardag were our favourite spots. In 1990 we decided to follow the offer of one of Europe’s biggest tour operators and Jorg moved to Sousse in Tunisia while Birgit kept on in Amsterdam to finish University. From now on we had our long-distance relationship again, but now even more far away than before. While Jorg was working in Morocco, Cuba and Thailand Birgit came over frequently and we even had time to visit other countries like Jamaica, Mexico, United States, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
In 1992 we moved together in our lovely old oil mill on Karpathos in Greece and had our first animal with us: Sidi, a street cat we found in Tunisia. After a phenomenally successful and enjoyable season we went on to work in mainland Spain and the Canary Islands before we moved to Alanya in Turkey to face a booming touristic season.

In 1995 we went to live in our beloved house in Mtwapa creek, Mombasa Kenya. In the following years we stayed in Kenya and visited all national parks even the ones in Tanzania like Serengeti, Ngorongoro Lake Manyara. Several times we had been in Zanzibar, one of the most wonderful and multifaceted islands in the world. In this time our dog Mexx joined the family, and we grew bigger.
In the beginning of the year 1998 we moved on to Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands with the most wonderful beaches. We arrived right in time when Birgit gave birth to our son León in February. From now on things changed as we had to adapt our lives to the needs of our young toddler.
Work kept me busy while Birgit started to get her driving licence. The free time together we spend on the beach with our son and dog. In this time, we made only short trips to Holland and to Malta. Our daughter Deniz must have heard somehow that life is good on the beach that she could not wait to join us on earth in June 1999. And again, our family grew bigger.

Home for many Years – Gran Canaria

In 2001 we went on to the neighbour island Gran Canaria to live there in Maspalomas close to the famous dunes. In the next years we explored all other islands several times and started to a lot of tours all around the world, like Canada, Alaska, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Scandinavia, Dubai, California – always with our kids.
In the meantime, our family grew bigger – three cats joined us.
In 2007 we started our own business with a travel agency and a small apartment complex close to the dunes in Playa del Ingles and another part of life commenced. We were terribly busy to get our companies running and growing but never forgot to take our time to travel. In 2007 we got married “with children” on a glacier in Alaska and we began to fall in love with campervan tours which gives you such a freedom, especially with children. Stop where you want and stay where you want. We first went on tour with a motorhome to Canada and later to the North Cape.

There is still more to come.

In 2016 and 2017 our kids graduated from high school and moved to university in Bremen, Germany and left us alone as empty nesters. The dog, the three cats and four birds still stay with us, and another capital of life began. We love to be on cruise ships crossing the Atlantic. Twice we left from Las Palmas to the Caribbean and once from Barcelona to Brazil. 6 days on the sea with 360º view on water. This is the time to come down, to relax, to reflect and to enjoy life with a cool Mojito in hands. But our best cruise we did from Athens to Dubai, cruising along the Suez channel, visiting Petra en Jordan and Muscat in Oman. From Dubai we flew on to Kathmandu to meet our children with whom we went on to the Himalaya and later to India.
In 2021 during the pandemic was enough time to think over our further life and we decided to do my truck permit and buy a luxury intercity bus to transform in a motorhome. We hope to finish the bus in the end of 2023 and a new life as the Couple on World Tour will start.